The Premier League table since the turn of the year makes for interesting reading, with some surprise packages punching above their weight to pick up more points than the established powerhouses.
Arsenal and Man City have enjoyed largely very good form since New Year’s Day, while the likes of Aston Villa, Brentford and Brighton are doing brilliantly to compete with established members of the old ‘big six’ like Tottenham, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea.
The Gunners’ title charge has remained on course in 2023 so far – no side has picked up more points than Mikel Arteta’s Gunners this calendar year.
But reigning champions Man City have kept the pace with Mikel Arteta’s side in recent months. They’ve only picked up one fewer point in 2023, having played one game fewer, and remain in the title race.
Aston Villa are perhaps the biggest surprise package. Unai Emery has them in top-four form, while Thomas Frank’s Brentford and Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton have shown they’re genuinely capable of challenging Liverpool and Chelsea to qualify for European competition.
Erik ten Hag has done a sensational job to get Manchester United competing on four fronts. He’s ended their six-year trophy drought with the League Cup already, and they remain on course in the Europa League and FA Cup. No side in Europe has picked up more wins in all competitions this season.
However, their form has dipped just a little in their league campaign, with 18 points from 10 matches in 2023. They’ve fallen out of the title picture and may need to show improvement if they’re to achieve their objective of finishing in the top four.
At the other end of the calendar year table, Crystal Palace sit rock bottom with just five points from 12 matches. That run resulted in the sacking of head coach Patrick Vieira.
“It is with enormous regret that this difficult decision has been made. Ultimately, results in recent months have placed us in a precarious league position and we felt a change is necessary to give us the best chance of retaining Premier League status,” chairman Steve Parish explained in a statement.
Palace have followed Chelsea, Aston Villa, Wolves, Southampton (twice), Everton and Leeds United in sacking their manager this season. The latter three of those changes have come since the turn of the calendar year.
Sean Dyche, Javi Gracia and Ruben Selles have all come in and helped oversee an uptick in results for Everton, Leeds and Southampton…
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