Premier League 2019-20: Summing up the season so far during this break
As we sit at home with no football on for the foreseeable future (thank you coronavirus), we might as well take a quick look at the season so far. So here's what has happened so far this Premier League season with about 9 games left for all the teams.
Title race
To put it very bluntly, the Premier League did not have a title race this season. Liverpool have absolutely run away with the league. They are presently 25 points ahead of second placed City who have a game in hand. They need one or two wins and might clinch it at cross-town rivals Everton's home or even City's.
Race for Europe
With City's European ban for next season, the race for Uefa Champions League and Europa League places has been interesting. United, Wolves, Sheffield, Spurs and Arsenal are all in the thick of things and Burnley, Palace and Everton have a chance too. Leicester and Chelsea, who are third and fourth, have not assured their places in the UCL either.
Relegation battle
Norwich, Villa and Bournemouth currently occupy the relegation places but Watford, West Ham and Brighton are hovering around too.
Player of the year
With 8 goals and 16 assists, City's Kevin De Bruyne is the front-runner for the award. Liverpool's captain Jordan Henderson and right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold are in the running too. Liverpool trio of Virgil Van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane have been excellent as well and with a few more games to come, they might win it too.
Overachievers
Jack Grealish- Playing for an Aston Villa side who look destined to go down, Grealish has been nothing short of a revelation. Everything good about Villa comes through their talismanic captain and come transfer window, a lot of clubs will be wanting him.
Wilder's Sheffield- From the lower leagues to 7th in the Premier League, what Chris Wilder has achieved with Sheffield is extraordinary. Playing enjoyable football with almost a bunch of nobodies, Sheffield United have made pre-season predictions of them going down look silly.
A shoutout to Arsenal's youngsters, United's Mason Greenwood and Wolves' Adama Traore who have all been extremely impressive.
Underachivers
West Ham- Despite making a number of good signings, West Ham have been quite disappointing. 16th in the table, going down would be a horror ending to a season where they might have expected to challenge for European spots.
Joelinton- Newcastle owner Mike Ashley is usually very miserly. So when he bought little known Joelinton and in the process broke Newcastle's transfer record, several eyebrows were raised. Joelinton now has 1 goal and 2 assists in 29 matches. Safe to say that he has probably been the most disappointing player of the season.
Paul Pogba- Now this might be a little harsh. But the Frenchman has only played 7 matches this season, none of them coming in 2020. The reason behind his prolonged absence seems to be an ankle injury but with the likes of Fred and newcomer Bruno Fernandes in ominous form, one wonders where he might fit in.
Spurs,United and Arsenal have been disappointing too but do not make this list because there is still a solid chance that they might qualify for UCL.