The Premier League has seen six dominant teams in the past decade, but we are now seeing a change in the league table, which could reflect a shift.
What do you think of when the Premier League gets mentioned in conversation? Your mind wanders to recent successes of Manchester City, the mighty miracle of Istanbul involving Liverpool, the Invincible run of Arsenal in 2004 and the domination of the red side of Manchester under Sir Alex Ferguson. But the 2022/23 season seems to be rewriting this narrative of the ‘Big Six’.
Liverpool and Chelsea are misfiring on all fronts and Tottenham are well and truly living up to their expectation of being ‘Spursy’. Even City are beginning to struggle as the break for the World Cup has seemed to have brought an abrupt stop in their progress. Only Arsenal and Manchester United are playing great football in their quest to become champions as Newcastle, Fulham and Brighton are slowly infiltrating their way into the top seven of the table.
It begs the question: is the concept of the ‘big six’ over? And will the Premier League become more competitive than ever?
With Liverpool and Chelsea being pushed down to ninth and tenth respectively, it has paved the way for the re-emergence of Newcastle and perhaps the dark horses of the season so far: Fulham and Brighton. Liverpool and Chelsea have been very off colour this season, especially considering the top quality players they possess. Liverpool only managed two shots on target in their 3-0 loss to Brighton on Saturday and have kept only four clean sheets so far this season.
An even worse story presents itself at Chelsea as they have a goals per match average of 1.16 compared to Arsenal’s 2.33. With the lack of firepower up front and struggle for a solid defensive structure, both teams are feeling its effects.
If we move across London, up to Enfield, Spurs are not living up to expectations at all this season. Over the summer, Tottenham paid just under £170 million for Richarlison, Romero (loan to permanent transfer), Spence, Bissouma and Udogie (loaned back to Udinese) and the belief of being able to challenge for the trophy was felt for the first time since coming second in the 2016/17 season.
Tottenham’s problems have risen during the past few months. Bissouma has not had the required effect in the midfield and Spence has been left to rot on the bench for the whole of the season. Richarlison, albeit injured for a month, has only scored 2 goals against Marseille in the Champions League. A disastrous performance against arch rivals, Arsenal, has left Spurs five points off the top four with United holding a game in hand as they will almost certainly increase the gap to eight points when they play Crystal Palace on Wednesday.
For Newcastle, everything is pointing in the right direction for them currently. Third place in the league. One loss. Unbeaten since late August. Newcastle are definitely in with a great chance of finishing in the top four this season. The financial takeover from Saudi Arabia and the appointment of Eddie Howe has transformed Newcastle from the lower half of the table to being one of the most in form teams in Europe. A club enriched with historical glory, Newcastle seem to be taking back their place as one of the dominant forces in the Premier League and in the ‘big six’.
Perhaps most surprisingly this season, Fulham have laid their claim to the European spots and are not teams to be dismissed as easily beatable. They have toppled Chelsea and Leicester with commanding performances and have obtained decent results against top opposition. Unbelievably, Fulham were in the Championship last season, so to be currently in 6th place is a monumental achievement. Under the management of Marco Silva and star players including Mitrovic, Pereira, Ream and Palhinha, Fulham could challenge strongly for a European place.
Brighton have been even more impressive. With Chelsea buying out Graham Potter from them, they have gone from strength to strength after an initial shaky start under Roberto de Zerbi. An incredible 3-0 win over Liverpool and 4-1 win over Chelsea back in October show how Brighton have grown greatly as a team and that they can beat the ‘big six’. Somewhat lacking star players, they have played exceptional football with the players that they have and have taken the Premier League by storm.
With two games in hand on Fulham and only three points off Spurs in fifth place, it’s all to play for this season and the ‘big six’ will need to improve their act.
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