Chaos at the top: a season of volatility

A week ago, Chelsea were being talked about as potential Premier League title challengers. Enzo Maresca’s side had held their own against Arsenal despite playing with just 10 men for the majority of the match, leading many to suggest they could run the Gunners close this season. Now, they’re eight points off top spot and down in fifth.

Manchester City are now closest to Arsenal at the top of the table, trailing Mikel Arteta’s side by just two points after the 3-1 home win over Sunderland on the same day the Gunners suffered a damaging 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa. However, it was only a fortnight ago that City lost back-to-back games to Newcastle United and Bayer Leverkusen.

Liverpool, of course, are going through something of a crisis right now. The defending Premier League champions have won just one of their last five fixtures with Saturday’s 3-3 draw away to Leeds United the latest negative result in a downward spiral that shows no sign of stopping. However, Liverpool still managed to start their campaign with five straight wins.

This is the converse fortune of Aston Villa who didn’t win a league match until their sixth attempt, but are now on a resurgent run that has taken them to within three points of top spot. Unai Emery’s team are now being talked about as potential Premier League title challengers.

All this illustrates the volatility of the Premier League this season. Up and down the division, all 20 teams are capable of taking points from each other (possibly with the exception of Wolves). England’s top flight hasn’t been this well-matched for a long, long time. It’s making predicting anything impossible.

The standard in the bottom half of the table is higher. This is highlighted best by the three promoted teams who are more competitive than any promoted contingent from the Championship has been in recent years. With the exception of Wolves, there are no easy games in the Premier League right now.

Sunderland have been extremely impressive in their performances, taking points from Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and many others. The way the Black Cats are going, they could push for European qualification. A top-half finish very much appears to be on the cards, even after defeat to Manchester City on Saturday.

Leeds United have come through a sticky patch to take points from Chelsea and Liverpool. Daniel Farke’s team are growing in confidence and have recently found their attacking groove. Elland Road is earning a reputation as one of the toughest away venues in the Premier League. Leeds’ home atmosphere is fierce, as Liverpool discovered on Saturday.

Brighton, Crystal Palace and Everton are all sitting in the top half of the Premier League table as relative underdogs with sights on continental qualification. Even in the bottom half of the table, Brentford, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest have demonstrated their quality against the strongest opponents. Forest in particular have been resurgent after a slow start.

This is a consequence of the money swilling around the top level of the English game. Even the smallest Premier League clubs have the financial resources to spend, plucking some of the best talent from around Europe. See how Sunderland spent £160m on new signings in the summer as a promoted team.

The Premier League’s parity is the envy of Europe. Serie A has a high degree of competitiveness at the top of the table, but it lacks the quality of the English top division further down the league. It’s long been said that anyone can beat anyone in the Premier League, but that has never been truer than it is now.