The 2020/21 English Premier League season is proving yet again to be a difficult and unpredictable season following the results from the latest rounds of fixtures.
Some clubs have played 15 games while others have played up to 17 games because of the postponement of some games due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Sheffield United remain the only club in the league yet to win a single game and are rightfully in the bottom of the table.
Out of 17 matches played, the club has lost a whopping 15 games and drew the remaining two with a goal difference of -21.
Many pundits and fans believe that Sheff United’s poor start to the 2020/21 campaign is down to something called ‘second season syndrome’.
‘Second season syndrome’ merely refers to a club that has performed above expectations following a promotion but performs below expectations in the following campaign.
As it stands, their chances of staying in the Premier League is dim as they are most likely to battle relegation till the season ends.
Defending champions, Liverpool have also tasted their second league defeat, losing by a lone goal to Southampton who are the first team to beat all seven winners of the Premier League in the season after a title win.
The Reds first league defeat was on October 4, 2020, losing 7-2 to Aston Villa who are 8th on the table while failing to score in back-to-back Premier League games for the first time since May 2018.
Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool side, for whom this was a second league loss of the season, remain top of the table on goal difference but have taken only two points from the past nine available.
Both Manchester United and Manchester City will leapfrog the reigning champions if they win their games in hand.
Arsenal continued their Premier League resurgence with a ruthless 4-0 victory over strugglers West Brom at The Hawthorns.
The Gunners, as they are famously called, have scored in all 25 of their Premier League meetings with West Brom, the best 100% scoring record by one side against an opponent in the competition’s history.
Arsenal at a point were going through a bad patch of form and fans waited desperately for 56 days for a Premier League victory which was a 3-1 victory over Chelsea on Boxing Day.
Chelsea, on the other hand, have not been impressive in their last 5 games with the 3-1 loss to Man City the ice on the cake as the Pep Guardiola side dismantled the Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea were embarrassed as Manchester City cut them apart with first-half goals from Ilkay Gundogan, Phil Foden and Kevin de Bruyne. The latter’s goal, in particular, hinted at a Chelsea team that was completely broken.
The loss was beautifully captured by popular football commentator, Peter Drury who said: “The Lamp in Lampard has gone off, now Stamford Bridge is in darkness”
Marquee signing, Timo Werner, has not scored in 12 matches in all competitions, the third longest goalless run of his top-flight career – 23 in 2014 and 25 in 2014-15, both as a Stuttgart player.
Meanwhile, Leicester City, Tottenham Hotspur occupy the 3rd and 4th position respectively as they battle Liverpool, Man Utd and Man City for the EPL title.
