The first hour of the Manchester City vs Liverpool clash last night was the definition of fascinating as the two juggernauts of English football went back and forth in a relentless game. Then, however, in the final 30 minutes or so, the pace seemed to slow down as both clubs went in a more conservative direction.
While they’re still the two leading contenders in the race to win the Premier League title, there’s no getting away from the fact that they aren’t currently sat on top of the pile. After eight sets of fixtures Liverpool are in third, whereas City are all the way down in 10th with a game in hand that can only take them into the Europa League spots.
Today, we’re going to take a look at a few contenders who could mount a surprise title challenge – with all three being available to bet on for the remainder of the season over on the betting page.
Leicester
They’ve done it before, and once again Leicester City are starting to look like a team that will surprise a lot of people this season. They’re top of the table after eight games and after beating Wolves, Leeds, Arsenal and Manchester City already, we can’t imagine they’re going to fear the prospect of going up against Liverpool after the international break. They’ve got a squad full of blossoming stars, an impressive manager, and a fanbase that wouldn’t mind seeing lightning strike twice.
Tottenham
Jose Mourinho isn’t everyone’s cup of tea and there are real criticisms to be made about the way Tottenham Hotspur are playing right now, but at the end of the day, all that matters is getting results – and Spurs are doing that. They’re just one point behind Leicester and while they’ve got a tricky set of fixtures coming up, they have a squad that is full of players who are capable of turning any game on its head.
Chelsea
Chelsea didn’t start the campaign off all that well but now, they really are starting to put everything together nicely. It might take another year or two before they’re viewed as one of the favourites but they are slowly resembling the team that we were all expecting to see once the summer transfer window officially closed. They’re unbeaten in eight games in all competitions, they’ve established a fine balance between attack and defence, and it seems as if we’ve only just scratched the surface of what they can do.
Prediction
In our opinion, if they can continue to build some more momentum between now and Christmas, Chelsea are the team that we all need to be keeping an eye on. Yes, they’re still pretty green when you look at a handful of the poor performances they’ve had under Lampard so far, but that’s no reason to count them out. Liverpool are struggling to find their top form and City look like a shadow of their former selves, and when you put those two things together, it should become clear to see that the Blues are in with a shot.
