Premier League Mid-Season Review: Ranking teams placed 11-20
2018 was an eventful year in the history of the English Premier League. In May, Manchester City became the first team to scale the ‘100 points peak’. However, the excitement carried over to the next season as well with three teams going toe to toe in a bid to outwit the other.
Liverpool currently lead the pack and are 7 points clear at the end of 2018. The defending champions, Manchester City, for a change, find themselves chasing the game in second. Tottenham are close on their heels a couple of points behind.
Chelsea round off the top four with Arsenal and Manchester United a further five and eight points behind respectively.
The lowest rung on the Premier League ladder is occupied by Huddersfield. Newcomers, Fulham, too find themselves in the relegation zone with last season’s surprise package, Burnley giving them company.
The 2018-19 season has been nothing short of breath-taking with teams breaching seemingly unbreakable barriers. Thus, with the dawn of 2019, it is warranted that we take a closer look at how all the teams have fared over the course of the season.
Through the lens of this article, we would rank each Premier League team, based on their expectations and how they ended up performing.
#20 Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield moved up to the Premier League after gaining promotion along with Newcastle and Brighton at the end of the 2016-17 season. The Terriers found the going tough in their first season and eventually stayed up by the skin of their teeth. However, this season, their shortcomings have been magnified and now look the most likely team to go down.
Huddersfield have found goals hard to come by and have mustered a grand total of 12 league goals across 20 games. The Terriers have failed to display any offensive pedigree and when your central defender is your highest scorer, you know something isn’t quite right.
To add to their woes, they haven’t been defensively sound and have let in 35 goals.
Everyone knew Huddersfield would find it extremely difficult to come through their second season in the top-flight unscathed. As it stands now, all those prophecies are very close to coming to fruition.
Rating: 4
#19 Fulham
Fulham entered the Premier League picture after coming through a playoff in May 2018. In order to preserve their status as one of the top-flight’s regulars, they spent enormous amounts of money. Yet, they have failed to inspire completely and find themselves rooted at the bottom of the table.
The Cottagers have shipped in goals quicker than the speed of light and had to dispense off their manager mid-way as well.
After a wretched start, Jokanovic was given the boot with Ranieri taking charge. Though the Italian has brought some sort of stability, they still look a million miles away from where they should be.
The summer was filled with enthusiasm as several new faces arrived at Craven Cottage. Yet, as the season has gone on, the feeling of impending doom has engulfed the club.
Things need to change if they are to stay up. And they need to change quick.
Rating: 3.5