Premier League: The Most Competitive Football League In The World
October 21
The 2020-21 Premier League season has been off to a flying start. The league is back with more top teams, managers, and players. The big story of the 2020 campaign is arguably Leeds United who stormed the 19-20 Championship season under manager Marcelo Bielsa and made their way up to the big time after an absence of 16 years. West Brom and Fulham were the other two sides who were back in the top flight at the expense of AFC Bournemouth, Watford, and Norwich City. All the sides made valuable additions to their squad but Chelsea had the best transfer window among all the clubs signing top players like Timo Werner, Hakim Ziyech, Thiago Silva, and Kai Havertz to name a few. The 2020-21 Premier League campaign began with Arsenal’s 3-0 victory away to newly-promoted Fulham. The first week of Premier League football provided with a lot of exciting and high scoring football matches but the best of them all came in the match between Liverpool and Leeds United with the match ending 4-3 in favor of the Champions with star player Mohamed Salah scoring a wonderful Hattrick to top off a wonderful performance.
In the second match week, Liverpool went on to win 2-0 away at Chelsea marking off an impressive start to their title defense. Leicester and Everton ended the week in first and second place respectively when it comes to the title race and European spots, Leicester and Everton are certainly the underdogs but Ancelotti’s toffees and Brendan Rodgers’s Foxes have made a wonderful start to the campaign after signing some quality talent to bolster their squad, James Rodríguez is one of the top tier players Everton signed during the transfer window elevating their status from being a mid-table side to a team which can easily challenge for the top 4 and the European spots. Leicester City on the other hand having lost Ben Chilwell to Chelsea signed Timothy Castagne and a few other high profile names to make sure they are right up there with the bests and compete for the crown. Other clubs like Aston Villa, Newcastle United, and Brighton also made good starts to the season and have shown a very attacking intent.
In the 2019-20 season, Liverpool was deservedly the runaway winners of the Premier League title, winning the league with 99 points 18 points above second-placed Manchester City. However, in the present 2020-21 season, the league looks to be more competitive than any other league season before. The mid-table clubs have reinforced their squads with signings in their bid to fight for the Europa League spots. While teams like Chelsea and Manchester City have invested heavily in signings in order to fight for the title and close the gap on Liverpool. Even the dark horses and the relegation favorites have not stopped themselves from getting better players and improve their chances of staying in the premier division in English football. Competition in every front is needed in order to make a league successful as well as enjoyable to watch for the fans.
With all the new players bought into the squads, this season is expected to be the most competitive Premier League season since its inception. The inclusion of Leeds United a historic club brings with it the prospect of more derby matches which always hold a lot of history and prestige. Clubs like Arsenal and Wolves will have renewed ambitions about qualifying for the UEFA Champions League after making statement starts to their respective Premier League campaign. Champions Liverpool have themselves made two new acquisitions in the form of world-class midfielder Thiago Alcantara from Bayern Munich and winger Diogo Jota from Wolves. Liverpool were the favorites for the 19-20 season and it is no surprise that they are once again the favorites for the 20-21 season as well as Jurgen Klopp looks to guide the Reds to another successful season. Bitter rivals Manchester United also look to build upon their impressive third-place finish in the 2019-20 season but the lack of transfer activity might end up being a disadvantage for the Red Devils. The season also has a prospect of a tight relegation race which is completely unpredictable with all the bottom half teams making valuable additions to their side as they aim to avoid the drop.
Focus as always will be on the Champions Liverpool and Manchester City as the new season progresses. However, the spotlight will also be on free-spending Chelsea and Manchester United who look to close in the gap with the top 2. There is immense competition for points and places all across the table the competition will be higher than ever the expectations will be high but whatever happens during the season, the 2020 -21 Premier League season has all prospects of being a memorable season.