The Premier League title race over the previous few seasons has gone down to the wire and despite the relentless efforts of challengers Liverpool and Arsenal, no one has stopped the almighty Manchester City.
Could this year be different? We spoke to football writers to find out.
Could this year be different? We spoke to football writers to find out.
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00:00They're not going to lose many games at all this season are they? Because after the next
00:09break, okay, they've got Manchester City up pretty quickly, but Liverpool could raffle
00:14quite a few points from now between the festive periods and once it hits the halfway stage,
00:20I think if Liverpool are banging the mix then I think you'd be disappointed if they don't
00:25go all the way and challenge for the title until the end of the season.
00:30One thing Arnie Schlott's really showed up is the defence, just quickly on them and that
00:35fantastic defensive record. Can that be the difference when it comes down to it in terms
00:41of winning the title?
00:42Yeah, it's a little bit more pragmatic, isn't it? Liverpool, I think it's not just a defence,
00:48I think it's the way Liverpool play, it's a bit more measures, a bit more control. We
00:52aim clop. He likes his team to be a little bit, maybe a little bit fiddled, it's a little
00:58bit chaotic, but it's different than Arnie Schlott's. But just the way Liverpool approach
01:03games, it's settled things down a little bit and not made it as frenetic at times and that's
01:10definitely having a positive effect on the back four.
01:13But at the weekend again, a lack of incision, a lack of creativity at times and it is a
01:21concern and ultimately, I don't think they've ever been the most offensive, attacking, creative
01:26team under Arteta, but they've been keeping clean sheets. So it doesn't matter when you
01:30only have to score one goal in a game if you're keeping clean sheets. They're not keeping
01:34clean sheets at the moment, they're defensively struggling. I mean, as a quick sidebar, I
01:40brought three Arsenal defenders in my fantasy team a few weeks ago because they had a nice
01:45run of games against Leicester, Southampton and Bournemouth. They didn't keep a clean
01:48sheet in any of them and that probably sums up, I think, where they're at a little bit
01:51at the moment. So I think they'll improve, I think they'll get back to the levels we
01:54saw recently, but at the moment, just not quite playing as well as we know they can.
02:00Liverpool being at the top of the standings, I wouldn't have expected that so quickly.
02:04Arna Sloth settling in so well after Jürgen Klopp's departure. Thought it might take six
02:09months to a season maybe for him to get to that kind of form, but proving everybody wrong.
02:13Had it not been for that Nottingham Forest defeat as well, they'd be right even further
02:16at the top of the standings. But I thought it'd be Man City and Arsenal running away
02:20with it again. City, of course, losing away to Bournemouth, a massive surprise there and
02:25definitely makes things a bit more interesting. And then Arsenal losing against Bournemouth
02:30and losing against Newcastle. They just haven't quite been at the races so far. I think the
02:35injuries for Erdegaard, Saliba, Calafiore, Raheem Sterling as well has not been able
02:41to quite settle in as well as expected. Pakaia Saka has not been at best fitness. That is
02:45going to hinder them. And of course, now Edu leaving in the director's room, going away
02:50to Nottingham Forest, that might shape things up even further. Very disappointing start
02:54for Arsenal, but actually to try and keep themselves level-headed and realise it's a
02:58long season ahead.