The Premier League is the most watched competition on the planet, attracting over 600 million viewers in the world, and this season is shaping up to be one of the very best ever.
Despite Manchester City’s dominance in recent campaigns, this year the top-flight is super competitive from the top to the bottom of the table.
The title race looks likely to go down to the wire while the race for the Champions League places is hotting up too. Some big guns have underperformed and some un-fancied teams have enjoyed an excellent first half.
Meanwhile, the desperate fight to avoid relegation is as fierce as ever with just three points separating Southampton in bottom place from Leicester City in 14th.
It’s all bubbling up to be a sensational second half so let’s take a look at five Premier League 2023 news stories which are set to dominate until May.
Can Arsenal hold off the Sky Blues?
A last-gasp goal from the in-form Eddie Nketiah gave the Gunners a 3-2 win over Manchester United on Sunday and three vital points which kept Mikel Arteta’s side five points clear at the top and with a game in hand, which all sounds great until you see that it is Arteta’s old boss, Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City, in the rearview mirror and yet to get into third gear.
Arsenal have been magnificent led by Martin Odegaard and with young stars, Bukayo Saka, Eddie Nketiah, and Gabriel Martinelli in the form of their lives. But City have won four of the last five titles and are capable of winning every game until May.
The latest Premier League 2023 betting odds make the Gunners marginal favourites but it’s going to be nail-biting.
Who can keep Everton up?
Here at SBOTOP, we’ve been pondering who would replace Frank Lampard in the event of his time running out at Everton, and now the moment has come after he was sacked following the Toffees’ 2-0 defeat to West Ham on Saturday.
Lampard has been at Goodison Park for less than a year but, after a run of 10 games without a win and nine defeats in the last 12, the Everton owners finally lost patience.
Reports have emerged that the club wants Brentford head coach Thomas Frank as their new boss, but why on earth would Frank make that move with his club going along very nicely?
Other names in the hat are former Burnley boss Sean Dyche and ex-Leeds United supremo Marcelo Bielsa. Both have successfully fought relegation battles in the past and I suspect the Everton fans would favour Bielsa.
Will Liverpool or Chelsea make the top four?
They currently sit ninth and 10th in the league table and 10 points behind fourth-placed Manchester United and it’s hard to see how either Liverpool or Chelsea can grab the top four place they fully expected at the start of the campaign.
The Reds have a game in hand, while the Blues have been breaking the bank in an attempt to turn their season around, but it’s a big ask.
These two Premier League juggernauts clashed at Anfield on Saturday and played out a goalless draw as Chelsea’s latest big money signing Mykhailo Mudryk impressed, but a point was not ideal for either.
The only thing in their favour is that there is a long way to go.
Who will be the highest ranking underdog?
Before they reach Tottenham Hotspur in fifth place, the chasing big guns will have to leapfrog Brighton, Fulham, and Brentford who are in sixth, seventh, and eighth.
All three were predicted to be battling in the bottom half, particularly after Graham Potter left the Seagulls to manage Chelsea. But they have played some great football and deserve to be where they are.
Brentford’s Frank is being courted by Everton while Roberto De Zerbi is doing a great job with Brighton and Marco Silva’s new boys Fulham are winning admirers by the week.
In 2016, 5001.00 outsiders Leicester City won the league in the biggest shake-up in Premier League history. And then in 2018, Sean Dyche’s Premier League gatecrashers Burnley finished seventh to qualify for the Europa League.
So these three clubs can realistically hope for a European trip if they continue to perform, and my money is on Brighton.
Which clubs are coming up from the Championship?
Bournemouth, Everton, and Southampton are currently the three teams in the relegation zone and are all odds on to take the drop, but who is in line to take their place?
Well, Burnley are highly likely to make an immediate return, managed by Vincent Kompany and with a young, exciting side which has some records in their sights, currently 18 points clear of third place. And they should be joined by Sheffield United who have a cushion of 13 points.
Slow starters West Bromwich Albion and Middlesbrough are on the charge and look set to battle it out in the play-offs.
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