By Raoul Zayas, reporting from the UK
The Premier League is only 7 weeks into the 2019-2020 season, and while each club still has a long way to go, the top of the table has a few surprises. These surprises involve clubs playing better than expected and clubs not living up to expectations. With 31 matches remaining for each club, it is likely that preseason expectations will come to fruition as the season continues, but the EPL always seems to hold amazing twists. This year is no exception.
While the top two spots (Liverpool and Manchester City) are as expected, they too hold unanticipated aspects. Liverpool was expected to challenge defending champions Man City for the title, but no forecaster saw such a strong start by LFC. For a club that lost last year's title by 1 point due to 7 draws, they remain perfect with 7 straight wins. City, on the other hand, has already lost one match and drawn another. Most surprising was their road loss to newly promoted Norwich. Another "no surprise" is that these two have already created a gap between themselves and the rest of the league. LFC is atop the table with 21 points, while City are 5 points back with 16. The big shocker sits in the third spot. Only 2 points back of City, with 14 points, are Leicester City. For a club that finished 9th last season with more loses than wins (15-7-16), the Foxes are exceeding expectations. This leads us to a much more tasty match then first expected in Week 8 as Leicester travels to Anfield to take on Liverpool this Saturday. Will the Foxes be the first club to put a blemish on LFC's perfect start? This match will be quite tasty indeed.
On the negative side of the surprise list are Manchester United, sitting in 9th with only 9 points. Many expected the Red Devils to improve from last year's 6th place finish and fight for a coveted top four spot (the top four clubs gain entry to the following season's Champions League, Europe's most esteemed and financially lucrative tournament). Man U hardly seems like a club that will challenge for such a spot. They lack imagination and fire power. At this point, a bigger surprise would be them actually improving from last year's dis
mal 6th place finish. For a club with such a rich history, these are most definitely gloomy days for the red side of Manchester.
Not surprising at all are Arsenal and Tottenham. Both London clubs were expected to fight for third and fourth spot, and both are doing just that. Arsenal are 4th with 12 points, while Tottenham's 11 points sits them in 6th (due in part to Leicester's rise and a West Ham start that sees them 5th but with no real punch, at least not so far, but rather a somewhat easy set of match fixtures to begin this season. Chelsea, at 7th, too remain in this early mix but the Blue Devils like West Ham are in the least bit truly scary at this point). Also, neither
Arsenal nor Tottenham show signs of challenging City or Liverpool for the title. That too was expected. Arsenal still lack a solid backline. The Gunners have nearly allowed as many goals as scored (12 GF, 11 GA). Tottenham, on the other hand, are a rollercoaster ride just like last year. Spurs drew away at tough City only to lose the following week at home to lowly Newcastle. Some things just never change, at least not through the first 7 weeks of this EPL season. Then again, there are surprises.
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