So far, the information that may be the most telling as we enter the season's waning weeks is how each of the teams in the battle to play Champions League football next season got to be where they now are.
The table below includes the five teams currently slated to play continental football next season. It indicates what percentage of available points they have secured against opposition in different parts of the table. For example, Manchester City have played four times against teams currently in the relegation zone and won each encounter. Therefore, they have attained 100% of the points available from those four matches. Chelsea, however, have managed only two wins and a draw from their four encounters with current drop-zone residents – a more sickly 58%.
Available points achieved by club (%):
|
|||||
Versus teams: |
Man United
|
Man City
|
Arsenal
|
Tottenham
|
Chelsea
|
In relegation zone |
100
|
100
|
78
|
87
|
58
|
Are relegation threatened |
86
|
100
|
52
|
90
|
76
|
In table's bottom half |
90
|
88
|
64
|
83
|
56
|
“Mid-table” |
79
|
65
|
71
|
69
|
52
|
In table's top half |
69
|
67
|
56
|
42
|
49
|
League Top 5 |
76
|
83
|
33
|
21
|
29
|
Total |
81
|
78
|
64
|
61
|
56
|
We can automatically surmise that this season's Premier League has more of a Spanish – or Scottish – appearance to it. The lack competition at the top is galling - and even worse in graphical form (click to enlarge the graph). While it's expected that clubs lose more points against higher opposition, for a league which champions itself as the most even in Europe, the strength of the Manchester clubs is starkly apparent.
Click to enlarge. |
This term displays a major duopoly as the twinn'd Manchester clubs have been markedly more adept at taking points from other so-called “elite” opponents.
This bodes well for City, in particular, as their April 30th derby approaches – soon after a trip to Arsenal. Given their record, prior games against mid-table Norwich City and West Brom could provide more hurdlese than their matches against the Red Devils and Gunners.
Once we depart Manchester, the numbers are just as revealing. Third and fourth positions are the subject of another local rivalry, as despite an ugly start to the season, Arsenal have earned their current tabular position, while Spurs appear a team of bullies. Redknapp's men have extracted only a win and two draws from eight encounters with Top 5 opponents (five points from twenty-four). For Chelsea, these numbers show definitively the poor fit between players and former manager Andre Villas-Boas: last year, Carlo Ancelotti was canned after accumulating more points (by percentage) against every category of opposition.
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