This season the Premier League has had some truly surprising results and performances.
Looking back on some of the teams that now find themselves inside the top six and comparing this to where they were going into Christmas last year, nobody could have seen this coming. Even if you look at where the champions now find themselves, it shows that the most unpredictable things can happen in football and it is all part of the drama that we love.
Leicester City, who are amazingly leading the lead heading into Christmas were struggling in completely the opposite position this time last year in 20th. They are 28 points better off this time around, have scored 22 more goals, conceded five less and their results have basically been reversed having had two wins, four draws and 11 losses compared to the 11 wins, five draws and one loss that they have this year.
The main reason behind this has been the amazing goal scoring form that Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez have been in. In scoring 15 goals so far this season, Vardy was also able to break Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record after finding the net in 11 consecutive games from August through November. Mahrez has not only contributed 13 goals of his own, but has also played a large pert in setting up his target man, supplying seven assist so far this year. The Algerian has been by far one of the best midfielders playing this year in the Premier League and has made the bigger clubs such as Manchester United and Tottenham sit up and think about possible moves to draw him away from the KP Stadium.
Coach Claudio Ranieri will want to hold on to the midfielder and possibly try and build on what he already has as, looking to secure his sides possible top four finish. Ranieri does have a concern over Vardy though, who is in doubt for this weekend’s match against against Liverpool with a hamstring injury.
Crystal Palace are another side who have had a miraculous turnaround from the position they found themselves at Christmas time last year. It must be said that the shift in momentum happened when they sacked Neil Warnock just before the beginning of 2015 and brought club legend Alan Pardew into replace him. The Eagles’ record of three wins, six draws and eight losses to be sitting in 17th before last year’s festive period is compared to nine wins, five draws and six loss at the same stage of this campaign, now occupying sixth spot and 14 points for the better, scoring only four more goals but conceding an impressive 11 less times.
If there is one concern for Alan Pardew, it is that they have struggled to find a goal scoring forward. In fact, it took Connor Wickham scoring from a penalty against Stoke last week for a Palace striker to record a goal in the league. Despite this, one of the bigger improvements in the team and maybe in the competition overall has been Yannick Bolasie. His speed and strength have caused serious issues for the full-backs of the Premier League all season and have been the centerpiece for much of the forward movement from the Eagles.
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Alan Pardew has also had a far better year not only based on results, but also the respect he has with the fans and now has the confidence to ask for a long term contract extension. Again like Ranieri, Pardew has injury concerns heading into this weekend for his main striker, after Wickham had to come-off with a knock after scoring his first goal, however, he is still a chance to play this week at Bournemouth.
The biggest fall from grace this season has without a doubt been Chelsea. Having been crowned champions just seven months ago, they are now languishing in 15th position and sacked Jose Mourinho after losing to Leicester City two weeks ago. With a record at this time last year of 12 wins, three draws and one loss, they are now 21 points worse off at five wins, three draws and nine losses heading into Christmas, scoring 15 less goals and conceding 14 more.
That itself points towards one of the major issues that Chelsea are confronted with. The defence is aging and there are no real up-and-coming defenders to come in and takeover the roles, with the exception of Kurt Zouma. Because of this, they have often been caught out for having slower full-backs, that were unable to deal with the speed of the likes of Bolasie or Mahrez during this season. If you look at the team that won the league last year there has been almost no change, which makes this fall even more astounding to see.
With the second part of the season fast approaching it will be interesting to see whether Leicester can hold on to a top four position and how much of an improvement Guus Hiddink will make after taking over at Chelsea as a caretaker.
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