The Premier League title race this year is already highly fascinating, and we are only seven games in. Every year, the title race is a spectacle but fans are lucky to sometimes get two teams even in a genuine race to the finish. This year, four real contenders stand out as the true Premier League title favourites. These heavyweights are Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, and Manchester United. The Premier League went on a spending spree this summer and so these English superpowers have already separated themselves from the rest of the pack. Therefore, this is why the Premier League title winner will be one of these four teams.
Why The Premier League Title Favourites Are These Four Teams
Chelsea
Chelsea are reigning European Champions and the current first-placed team in the league. Chelsea have sixteen points from seven games and has only lost once. That loss came to another team in the conversation, Manchester City, 1-0 at home. The Blues have admittedly looked average at best so far this year in most of their games. The London club has only put together one strong half which was the second half against Aston Villa where they scored three goals to run away with a 3-0 win. That scoreline flattered Chelsea immensely and did not tell the story of the game. The team’s top scorer is a new signing and old Stamford Bridge friend, Romelu Lukaku. The Belgian has three goals so far. After Lukaku it is two defenders leading the way in terms of goals scored in Trevoh Chalobah and Marcos Alonso. This stat signifies why they have struggled at times this season and is the same problem from last year that has reared its head and that is not enough goals from their attackers. The reason that this team is still outstanding is the defence with stalwarts at the back like Thiago Silva, Antonio Rudiger, and previously mentioned Trevoh Chalobah providing the rock-solid defense that the team from the Bridge have needed.
One last stat that shows why they need more attacking potency is that Antonio Rudiger leads the team in passes. No defender should lead the team in passes, and this is usually a sign of a relegation team or at least bottom half of the table-type team. All this considered, though, Chelsea ate still top of the table despite not looking anywhere near their best yet. The goals will come because when you sport Lukaku, Havertz, Mount, Pulisic, Werner, and Ziyech, amongst others, the goals are inevitable. The defence will always be great under a tactician like Thomas Tuchel, and Edouard Mendy is performing well in goal. It is scary to think what will happen once the attackers click because that combination of attack and defence is unmatched in the league. Chelsea showed last year by winning the Champions League, and by still being top after a shaky start this year have clearly shown themselves to be one of the Premier League title favourites.
Liverpool
The Reds hit the international break with fifteen points, one behind Chelsea in second. Liverpool come off an enthralling weekend matchup against another title hopeful in Manchester City where the two giants split the spoils 2-2. The game featured prominently why both teams are in this race for the long haul. The team from Anfield is looking to rebound from a disappointing year last year where they went seven games winless at home. The mid season  meltdown was overturned and Liverpool had to finish strong to secure third place. However, there is a great case to be made that this was a direct result of their whole defence getting injured. The club was without Virgil Van Dijk, Joel Matip, Joe Gomez, Andy Robertson, and Trent Alexander-Arnold, for extended periods last year.
Nevertheless, the vaunted front three carried the team last year and vaulted it on their late-season push for Europe. The important thing was the emergence of Diogo Jota as a legitimate fourth goal scorer. Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, and Roberto Firmino had been the driving force behind Liverpool’s dominance domestically and in Europe over the last few years. The former Wolverhampton Wanderers man made his presence felt last year by producing so many big goals for the Reds. Liverpool have been back to their best defensively, conceding only six goals in seven games. The recent match against City skews this number and the 3-3 thriller against newly-promoted Brentford a few weeks ago. The attack has more than done their job as well, notching twenty goals in seven games. The quartet of Mane, Salah, Firmino, and Jota are performing at their scintillating best and look unplayable right now. Let us not leave out that the Merseyside squad also boasts a top five keeper in the world in Allison. All of this, put together with the German genius in Jurgen Klopp as their leader, makes them a serious title contender all the way through and one of the genuine Premier League title favourites.
Manchester City
The Cityzens come to the break with fourteen points and sit in a tie for third with local rivals Manchester United. The sky blues are coming off the 2-2 draw with Liverpool last week. City finished a tough week in which they faced Chelsea in the league, PSG in the Champions League, and Liverpool in the league. The team from the blue side of Manchester was able to come away with four points from the two games against fellow title challengers Chelsea and Liverpool. Manchester City have not been at their best in all the fixtures this season. They have scored 14 goals which can be misleading because ten came in two games against Norwich and Arsenal. The sky blues have only been able to muster four goals in the other five fixtures. The defence have made up for this lack of goal-scoring, with only three goals conceded so far, two of which came last weekend. What has not even been mentioned yet is the presence of an elite keeper in Ederson and possibly the best manager in the world in Josep “Pep” Guardiola. Pep has been labeled a tactical genius and the best man-manager in the world and he knows how to get the best out of his players in every situation. On top of the goals, defence and elite manager, the Cityzens also have the experience of having been there and done that after winning last year and taking home three of the previous four titles. The sky was supposedly falling last year with how City started the year, and they ended up running away with the league thanks to an unprecedented 18 game winning streak. That run of prolonged success and invincibility is what this incredible squad of superstars has in their locker if they need it. Therefore the Manchester club will not be fazed by some of the adversity they have faced in this campaign. Even with their slow start, the sky blues are still the odds-on favorites to win the title by many of the betting sites. Manchester City is a juggernaut, especially when playing domestically; whether it is the FA Cup, Carabao Cup, or the Premier League, the club always is near the top of the list of favourites and this year will be no different, and Manchester City will have a considerable say in who wins the title; if it’s not them, that is. Manchester City have firmly established themselves as one of the Premier League title favourites.
Manchester United
The Red Devils entered the international break after racking up fourteen points, which ties them with Manchester City and Everton. United has had the usual peaks and valleys that encompass a typical season under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Since Ole took over a few years ago, the team has been a virtual roller coaster of results ranging from incredible to downright embarrassing. The team from the red side of Manchester have beaten City multiple times in the league under their manager but also failed to get out of the Champions League group last year after hitting their nadir in Leipzig on the last matchday. Even in that game, though, down 3-0, the Red Devils almost came back but eventually would succumb to a gut-punching 3-2 defeat. This team needs a trophy, specifically Solskjaer, who seems to be on the proverbial hot seat after every bad result. October will be what defines Ole this year, and that is laid out  in this breakdown of their upcoming schedule. United took full advantage of the summer transfer window this year, having the best window in the league. The ESL hopeful club brought in Jadon Sancho from Dortmund, Raphael Varane from Real Madrid, and the enormous signing of former phenom Cristiano Ronaldo from Juventus. When you have this caliber of names coming into a squad that already had talent, the expectations are massive, and nothing short of a trophy will suffice. This year, the results have been a roller coaster-like with a home loss to Aston Villa and a draw with Southampton, counteracting mauling Leeds 5-1 and winning at Europa League participant West Ham United. Throw in the shock defeat to Young Boys in the Champions League, and the roller coaster ride is well underway. A team with Ronaldo always has a chance to achieve something great. The Portuguese magician will have to perform his best magic trick ever to secure a Premier League title for this squad. In terms of title credentials, they have the least out of the four teams here. They have one of the best players of all time in Ronaldo and plenty of young talent like Sancho, Rashford, and Greenwood to go along with a Perennial Premier League best XI candidate in Bruno Fernandes. Manchester United might not boast the best defence or goal-scoring or even manager, but the Red Devils have Ronaldo, which will keep them firmly in the conversation as one of the Premier League title favourites.
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