With around a quarter of the Premier League season through, the first 11 match days have been as intense as ever, with some shocking results. Many would be surprised to see Liverpool off to their unreal start to the Arne Slot era, picking up a whopping 28 out of 33 possible points. Not only have Slot’s tactics fully unlocked the potential of players such as Cody Gakpo, Ryan Gravenberch, Ibrahima Konate and Luis Diaz, but veterans such as Virgil Van Dijk and Trent Alexander Arnold are having some of their best campaigns ever. The highlight, however, is the Egyptian King himself; Mohamed Salah is currently the only player to accumulate 10 goals and 10 assists in the 24/25 season, doing so in 17 games. With the contracts of Van Dijk, Salah and Alexander-Arnold expiring at the end of the season, it will be interesting to see how the new Slot era pans out over the years.
Another team off to a sensational start is Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea, with star player Cole Palmer thriving as usual. The decision to sack Mauricio Pochettino, who currently manages the United States National Team, was somewhat unexpected but appears to be working out quite well for the Blues. Manchester City and Arsenal, sitting at second and fourth in the table respectively, have had some shocking performances after facing injuries, with both teams dropping points to Bournemouth and Brighton & Hove Albion. The most staggering sight in the top five is, of course, Nottingham Forest, who are also the only team to defeat Liverpool, which the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United failed to do. Nuno Espírito Santo, who also managed
Wolverhampton Wanderers a few years ago, manages to find himself at the wheel of another dark horse that Premier League fans cannot help but root for.
As for the underperformers, Manchester United sits at the bottom half of the Premier League, with the Glazers finally losing faith in Erik ten Hag’s leadership. The squad does look much better under interim manager and club legend Ruud van Nistelroy, winning seven points out of a possible nine so far. Tottenham Hotspur has also been quite — well, spursy — currently sitting in 10th place. However, a highlight of their season has been the superb Brennan Johnson, whose Spurs career is finally beginning to click. Everton are, for the third consecutive season, in a relegation battle, sitting in 16th. They are currently three points clear of the drop, with Crystal Palace, Wolverhampton Wanderers and the recently promoted Southampton sitting in the relegation zone.
With three-quarters of the season remaining, there is no telling where the season could go. Liverpool often has very convincing starts to their season before dropping off in form, so the title race is very much alive despite the 5-point gap between them and City. Arsenal and Chelsea are still in the picture, tied on 19 points. One thing is for sure: the league that never fails to entertain certainly doesn’t fail once again.
