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Premier League set for anticlimactic run-in
Remember when Southampton sat in fourth on Boxing Day? Since a 0-0 draw with West Ham United in early February, they’ve won just twice and their hopes of a top-four finish have petered away. Critics will be laughing — of course Southampton couldn’t pull it off. They now sit eight points from a Champions League position in seventh.
Remember when Manchester City had a decent shot at winning the title, or at least making it interesting for league-leaders Chelsea? Now, even Arsenal are closer to Chelsea than City, after the Sky Blues’ loss to Crystal Palace today. If City had any lingering title hopes beforehand, they have now been buried amid the raucous crowd in West London.
So…what is left to battle? Chelsea sits comfortably atop the table with a seven-point buffer, and the cap between fourth and fifth, Manchester City and Liverpool, respectively, is the same — the Champions League battle has long been all but over. Barring miracles, the only prestigious position left up for grabs is the anticlimactic fifth-place Europa League position.
Critics will again have their laugh. “Where’s the competitiveness?” they’ll hark. All major landmarks, bar relegation, are all but decided, and Leicester City have few prayers left of staying up, as well. However, the relegation battle remains tight and many teams, including Southampton and West Ham United, challenged the big boys for long periods; indeed, the sorting amidst the second, third, and fourth teams is still ongoing. The competitive appeal of the league still remains, but sorted itself such that the spectacle’s entertainment is slightly lost this season.
The season ranks relatively poorly alongside it’s predecessors: in 2011/2012 the title race was decided on goal differential and Chelsea took fourth place Tottenham Hotspur’s spot in the Champions League, while 2012/2013 saw an excellent top four battle. Last season Manchester City finished just two points above Liverpool, who spoilt their title campaign late on, but this season there will almost certainly be no such drama with the main landmarks settled with seven game-weeks left. Only once since the Premier League won four Champions League entrants has the finale been this anticlimactic — the 2010/2011 season also offered little run-in drama.
Yet this Premier League season has also been inexplicably lacking goals. 2012/2013 saw 2.8 goals per match, and last season had 2.77 — so far this season, we’ve had just 2.57 goals per game, the lowest since the 2008/2009 campaign.
The Premier League is always brimming with incredible moments — Southampton’s 8-0 win over Sunderland and long range goals from Charlie Adam, Wayne Rooney, and Matt Phillips come to mind — but it’s likely that this season won’t be memorable in the long term.
Photo credit: Jon Candy on Flickr