1. Leicester are serious contenders
After their 3-0 victory away at Newcastle United on 21st November, many pundits and fans alike suggested that Leicester City wouldn’t be top of the table or even in the top four after their next six games.
But four games into those six, they have taken 10 points from a possible twelve – drawing 1-1 with Manchester United (home), beating Swansea City 3-0 (away), defeating Chelsea 2-1 (home) and today they won 3-2 against Everton (away).
Such results have proved many doubters wrong and Claudio Ranieri’s Foxes are currently five points clear at the Premier League summit, with second placed Arsenal to play tomorrow, of course.
Leicester do have to travel to Liverpool on Boxing Day and then host Manchester City just three days afterwards, but nobody looks like they could stop Leicester’s momentum at the moment.
2. Spurs look set for top four
Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham Hotspur side continue to go about their business in professional style, as they took all three points home from Southampton after a 2-0 win.
This victory saw them climb above struggling Manchester United into the final Champions League spot and with their current form they look set to stay there.
Pochettino has built a young and hungry team, who, until last week at home to Newcastle, hadn’t lost a top flight fixture since the opening day of the season.
This could be the campaign where they stop being the ‘nearly’ team and qualify for the Champions League rather than settling for the Europa League.
3. Chelsea players showed their true colours
This week brought us the sacking of Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, which then raised the question ‘where did it all go wrong?’.
At the end of the last term, Chelsea finished as champions under Mourinho’s guidance, but he left them just one point above the relegation zone.
It has since been revealed that Mourinho had clashed with several egos in the Blues’ dressing room, including the fan-labelled ‘three rats’ (Diego Costa, Cesc Fabregas and Eden Hazard).
The Chelsea fans even booed the names of every player in the starting 11 that were read out by the PA announcer, except for club captain John Terry. They also chanted Jose Mourinho’s name on a regular basis throughout the match.
It is clear the fans still believed in him, but the key players in his team didn’t agree with the ‘special one’, leaving his fate in no doubt.
Ironically, Chelsea went on to beat Sunderland 3-1 today in their first game since Mourinho’s departure.
4. Bournemouth can survive
Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth were tipped to be the team that earned many admirers, but would ultimately be relegated straight back into the Championship.
However, they’re now earning plenty of admirers, but they are also winning football matches and showing they can really compete at this level.
Howe likes his team to pass the ball which they do effectively, but they’re turning their possession into points and they made it three wins from three today at West Bromwich Albion.
A late Charlie Daniels penalty saw the Cherries take the spoils at West Brom – who finished the game with nine men after James McClean and Salomon Rondon were sent off.
This win, combined with the victories over Chelsea and Manchester United, will give them the confidence they need to try and accumulate as many points as they can. They certainly have what it takes to stay up.
5. Louis van Gaal under huge pressure
Out of the Champions League and now out of the Champions League places, Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal could be the next high profile manager to lose his job.
The Red Devils are in a bad run of form and the fans are becoming disgruntled at recent results, especially after losing 2-1 at home to Norwich City today.
The United hierarchy might act quickly with the managerial candidates available, Mourinho is out of a job and Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich future is uncertain.
Van Gaal is the latest gaffer to come under huge pressure and results like today’s will not help his cause. United fans are used to success, trophies and an attractive style of football, none of which look likely under the current regime.
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