Premier League Title Contenders 2021/22

The last season of Premier League was pretty much a one-horse race which in that Manchester City claimed its fifth Premier League title with accumulating 86 points. The closest club to them was their neighborhood rivals, Manchester United which finished the season with twelve points less than Guardiola’s side. Then there were Liverpool and Chelsea who barely managed to finish the league in a top-four position. But the Premier League standings as of January 2022, are suggesting that we are going to enjoy a much closer race between the

Premier League title contenders

2021/22 which are Manchester City, Chelsea, and Liverpool.

For the purpose of having a better perspective of what is going on in this season of Premier League, let’s have a flashback of this same period from last season. After 20 rounds of Premier League 2020-21, Manchester City was sitting at top with 44 points and Man. United was chasing them with 40 points to their name. There was a four-point margin that separated Leicester at third place from

at sixth place with 35 points and Liverpool and Spurs were fourth and fifth respectively. Now, let’s have a look at Premier League title contenders 2021/22 and review the first half of the season:

The Premier League 2021-22 Odds

The title race in England is one of the most exciting ones across Europe top five leagues. There are three competitors out there that all of them have nothing short to push for the championship until the last day of the season. In this article, we are having an evaluation of these three clubs (Man. City, Liverpool, and Chelsea) in terms of their results and form so far into the season, their needs in January transfer market and their schedule for the coming months. If you are curious about the

Premier League 2021-22 odds

, you have come to the right place.

Chelsea

Let’s start our list of Premier League title contenders 2021/22 with the current UCL defending champions Chelsea.

is experiencing his first full season at the London side after winning the club’s second UCL title on his debut season where he joined Chelsea at January of 2021. Since the very first weeks, Tuchel proved that he was a good choice to coach this Chelsea side. Not only he led his team to win the Champions League gold medal by beating Real Madrid and Man. City on the way, he also had a relatively successful run in the Premier League as well. 

As the first ever German coach in the club’s history, Tuchel made a perfect first impression with an unbeaten run of 14 games in all competitions. That helped him to drag up Chelsea from seventh place to top four which eventually led to a third-place finish in the Premier League. It all started when Tuchel chose a 3-4-2-1 system which is proven to be so difficult for the opponents to breach. Chelsea might not score as much as you would expect from one of the

Premier League title contenders 2021/22

, but their effective back-line and a capable shot-stopper named Édouard Mendy are winning them some points.

Chelsea Results and Schedule 2021-22

The first match of the season for Chelsea was the UEFA Super Cup against

which the won on penalty shoutouts. That certainly was a mood booster to start a challenging season. In their next seven matches in all competitions, Chelsea won six matches and only conceded a single goal in a draw against Liverpool away at Anfield. Their first loss of the season was handed to them by one of the other Premier League title contenders 2021/22, Manchester City at Stamford Bridge. After another 1-0 loss to Juventus in UCL, Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea had an impressive unbeaten run of 12 games. After losing to West Ham in a dramatic match that ended 3-2, Chelsea’ form has dropped a little bit and they have failed to beat Everton and Wolverhampton in the Premier League.

During the same time at the European front, a 3-3 draw at Russia to

costed them the group leader’s spot. But they were lucky enough to get one of the relatively easiest teams in the UCL round of 16 draws as Chelsea is going to play against Lille in late February. Reaching the semi-finals of league cup means that Chelsea has a difficult schedule for the coming weeks as they have to play two legs against Tottenham and a Premier League match against Man. City in between them. For the last 10 fixtures of the league, Chelsea has a smooth calendar and that could be decisive in the title race. 

Chelsea January Transfer Window Plans

Premier League is one of the most physical football leagues in the world and in addition to that, the fixture congestion because of the boxing day schedule and having two domestic cups, forces the big sides to equip their squads with some depth. That is why teams like Chelsea are always looking for opportunities to add new players to their squad roster. In the 2021-22 season Chelsea has a decent starting XI that helped them to maintain a position near the top of the table so far. But the season-ending injury of Ben Chilwell was an unexpected challenge that now Tuchel has to deal with. In his 3-4-2-1 system, the wingbacks have a crucial role both in defense and offense.

Therefore, relying on Marcus Alonso without a suitable back-up for the rest of the season could be a huge risk that Tuchel may not want to take. The French left-back Theo Hernandez is a dream option for Chelsea but it’s hard to imagine that Milan will let him go at the midseason. The other important issue that Chelsea directors has to look into are the renewals negotiations. There are not much left on Thiago Silva, Cesar Azpilicueta, and

contracts and losing any of them could dismantle Chelsea’ effective defense line. 

Liverpool

After winning the Champions League trophy in 2019 and winning the Premier League for the first time in the following season, Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool faced a decline in the 2020-21 season. Not only Liverpool gave up early on the title chase but also, they had to fight until the last day of the season to secure a top-four finish in the

Premier League standings

and qualify for the UCL football. Klopp knew that in order to be able to fight for the silverwares, he has to address a few things in his team.

For the time being, it seems that those changes are working out. Liverpool is still playing with a 4-3-3 shape that relies heavily on its wingers. But the difference is that the full-backs are contributing in the attacking play more often than before and due to Mo Salah’s extraordinary form, the majority of goals are coming from the right side of the pitch.

is now the first choice ahead of Firmino and van Dijk returning from a heavy injury has shaped up the defense for Liverpool.

Liverpool Results and Schedule 2021-22

In their opening 16 matches in all competition, Liverpool has won 14 of them and didn’t loss any. It gets more impressive if you consider that they have been in the group of death in the Champions League alongside Atletico Madrid,

and AC Milan. During this span, Liverpool faced Chelsea and Man. City but both of those matches ended in a draw. Humiliating Manchester United with five goals at Old Trafford and another big win against Arsenal with four goals were the highlights of Liverpool results so far.

As one of the

Premier League title contenders 2021/22

Liverpool has only lost two matches in the first half of the season to West Ham and Leicester which both of them were away from home. On the other hand, they have won all of their cup games so far. As a matter of fact, Liverpool is the first English side in history that has won all of its six matches in the group stage of Champions League. They are going to play against Inter in the round of 16 and after that they have some tough fixtures versus Man. United in round 30th, Man. City in round 32nd, Everton in round 34th, and Tottenham in round 36th. 

Liverpool January Transfer Window Plans

Arguably Mo Salah has been one of the best football players in the world in the 2021-22 season, if not the very best. He is currently the top scorer and at the same time the top assist man in Liverpool’s squad. The bad news is though, he is going to miss nearly a month of club football due to the African Cup of Nations which is going to take place in the January. Losing a player like him is diffidently a huge blow for Jurgen Klopp’s side. Filling the

void is almost impossible given to his influence on Liverpool’s attacking front.

Nevertheless, using the January transfer market opportunities is the best option to manage the absence of Mo Salah. And let’s not forget that even after returning from international duty, he is going to need dome rest to get back on his form. That’s why we think finding a reliable back-up winger is a must for Liverpool if they want to keep their place amongst Premier League title contenders 2021/22. That’s why there are some talks about the possible reunion of Philippe Coutinho with Liverpool. The Canadian striker Johnathan David from Lille and Porto’s winger Luis Diaz are some other names that could pack their bags and head to Liverpool in this winter. 

Manchester City

According to the Premier League 2021-22 odds, Manchester City has the higher chance compared to other

Premier League title contenders 2021/22

. Pep Guardiola is on his way to win his fourth league title with the English club. He also has an eye for the famous Big Ear trophy which he failed to achieve last season as they lost the UCL final to Chelsea. Guardiola is also using a 4-3-3 shape at City and just like Klopp’s team, the full-backs play a huge role in the attacking phase at Man. City.

Joao Cancelo is having one of his best seasons throughout his career and having a natural defensive midfielder such as Rodri has made City’ defense line one of the bests in the league. Currently Manchester City is sitting at the top of the table and if they keep up with their good form, it would be a difficult task for Chelsea and Liverpool to catch-up with them. But we have just reached the halfway mark of the season and a lot can change during the upcoming months.

Manchester City Results and Schedule 2021-22

Manchester City didn’t have a promising start to the season as they lost the Community Shield match to Leicester and started the Premier League with a one nil defeat at Tottenham. But since then, Guardiola’ side only dropped points in three Premier League matches: a goalless draw with Southampton, a 2-2 draw at Anfield a surprising 2-0 loss at home to Patrik Viera’s

. Before round 20th, Manchester City has accumulated 47 out of 57 possible points. In addition to an unyielding defensive line, Pep Guardiola is also enjoying his flawless attackers up on the pitch that are delivering goals week in and week out.

Two 5-0 wins against

and Arsenal, humiliating Leeds with seven goals and a 6-3 win against Leicester should give you the idea of how frightening Man. City is for the opponents. On their European journey, City has topped their group higher than PSG and they have Sporting CP on their plate for the round of 16. In the second half of the season, Manchester City is the host team against Chelsea, Tottenham, Man. United, and Liverpool. Playing those big matches at home could be a huge perk in order to maintain their position at the top of the Premier League standings.

Manchester City January Transfer Window Plans

After Sergio Aguero left the club for Barcelona, Manchester City were craving a high caliber striker in the summer transfer window of 2021. They were on the verge of signing Harry Kane but at the end, the Tottenham’s skipper stayed at the club at least for the 2021-22 season. But rather unexpectedly, Manchester City managed to become one of the high scoring teams across Europe even without a classic number nine. Just like the last couple of seasons, Guardiola’s side doesn’t rely on certain individuals. Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Riyad Mahrez, Jack Grealish, and even Joao Cancelo are amongst the players that are creating goal scoring chances for the Citizens.

That being said, as one of the Premier League title contenders 2021/22 Manchester City could still benefit from some newcomers in the January transfer window of 2022. Just recently Ferran Torres was sold to Barcelona for about $50m and that means City would be looking for opportunities to add to their squad depth. Torres was a versatile attacker who could play on both wings as well as at the middle of the attacking line. So, filling his void will need some high-quality signings. The Serbian wonderkid Dusan Vlahovic from Fiorentina and Dortmund’s Erling Haaland are some of the hot targets that Manchester City is linked with them. Also, the Scottish left-back Aaron Hickey who is playing at

seems to be an option for City to provide some competition for Cancelo, Walker and Zinchenko on their squad. 

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