The 25th season of the Premier League has restored the natural order of things to an extent – Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal are all in the top four with Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United a further three and six points behind.
Manchester City, the bookies’ favourite are not far off Liverpool in first place, however manager Pep Guardiola has seen a dip in form; City picking up six points in their last five games after notching up 18 in their first six.
Guardiola has also masterminded a 3-1 victory over ex-club Barcelona in the Champions League and has performed reasonably well given that this is his first season at the club. But it is the Liverpool manager who must take the early gong in this season’s managerial race.
Jurgen Klopp
Liverpool have not been outstanding in defence but that has not mattered much for the Reds as they have outscored all their rivals, netting 30 goals at a rate of 2.7 goals per match.
Klopp’s summer activity was low-key and even ridiculed by some pundits who chastised him for not buying a left-back or additional cover for the defence, but Joel Matip and Sadio Mane have proven to be shrewd buys with the versatile James Milner ably slotting in at left-back.
It is important to note that despite the swift breakaways of the front five in Pool’s 4-3-3, they rank 16th for both long passes and cross but joint first for short passes made, level with Guardiola’s possession tactics at City. Liverpool also top the league for most number of passes (6,597) with captain Jordan Henderson topping the list for individuals (904).
The interplay between Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane, Adam Lallana and Philippe Coutinho has been a joy to watch with Firmino’s excellent movement as a nine and a half negating the need for an out-and-out striker.
Klopp deserves credit for re-invigorating a squad which seemed bereft of ideas at time following Luis Suarez’s departure. While problems at the back persist, Liverpool have scored almost reached half of their last season’s tally (63) in less than a third of the games.
Nobody exemplifies this more than Adam Lallana, who has scored three goals and has also contributed a team-high 5 assists, tied with Phillipe Coutinho. The little Brazilian has been at his sparkling best, creating 30 chances for his teammates.
Liverpool’s next seven fixtures are against Southampton (Away), Sunderland (Home), Bournemouth (A), West Ham (H), Middlesbrough (A), Everton (A) and Stoke (H). By the time they play City on New Year’s Eve, Klopp’s men could have built a sizeable lead at the top of the league.
Sean Dyche
The 45-year old Englishman has led Burnley to two promotions to the Premier League in four seasons but seems more equipped for the big league than his last stint in the top flight.
Of the three promoted teams, Burnley are the highest placed, sitting in the top half of the table in 9th place with 14 points. The Clarets know that to guarantee survival, home points are a must and Dyche’s team have done just that, garnering 13 points from seven home games, winning four of those including the matches against Liverpool and their Merseyside rivals, Everton.
It could have been more, if not for Laurent Koscielny’s contentious last-minute winner which condemned Burnley to their first home defeat of the season. Teams paying a visit to Turf Moor can expect a tough 90 minutes and Dyche’s side have proven difficult to break down.
Goalkeeper Tom Heaton leads the league with 60 saves, 11 of those coming in a 0-0 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford. Micheal Keane leads the league in both blocks and clearances while partner in defence Ben Mee follows closely in both categories.
Combative midfielders Jeff Hendrick and Steven Defour have proven to be useful acquisitions and have helped in keeping things tight at the back.
In their last match, Dyche’s men went 2-0 up before needing a last minute winner to overcome Alan Pardew’s Crystal Palace. Burnley may yet suffer the same fate as last time, but they are showing greater fight this time and will be tough to beat, especially at home.
Mauricio Pochettino
It would always be a difficult act to follow for Pochettino and his young Spurs team in the Argentine’s third season at the club. They finished fifth in 2014-’15 and third last season, faltering badly after they were second for most of the campaign.
This time, Spurs are in fifth spot, having drawn their last four matches but it is difficult to take credit away from the North Londoners who have conceded only six goals all season, keeping five clean sheets all season.
Their 2-0 victory over Manchester City where they pressed and harried Pep Guardiola’s side into making mistakes, laid out the blueprint for other clubs to defeat the seemingly-invincible Citizens.
Victor Wanyama, Vincent Janssen and Moussa Sissoko were the only arrivals but have settled in well into a side which has missed its two most important players, Toby Alderweireld and Harry Kane in the recent run of matches leading to a dip in form and results.
Spurs’ Champions League campaign has suffered due to a lack of squad depth but it is important that they remain in contention in the league. The performances of Son Heung-Min have seen the South Korean temporarily fill the void left by Kane.
If Christian Eriksen can hit top stride and Janssen is afforded some more time to acclimatise himself to the rigours of the league, there is no predicting where Spurs can end up this season.
For now, Pochettino and captain Hugo Lloris must be given credit for building on last season’s defensive solidity, where they conceded only 35 goals all season, the lowest of all teams. His next job is to sort out the kinks in attack, but he has ensured that they remain stubborn and miserly in defence.
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