Arsenal won the League in 2004 by 11 pts. over Chelsea. They only reached the Champions League quarter-finals once during this stretch, but won the FA Cup twice.
And when Arsenal were "Invincible", it was only the Big Four in the EPL. (Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool & Manchester United)
2018-19 Liverpool 30 wins, 7 draws, 1 loss = 97 points (2nd)
2019-20 Liverpool 28 wins, 2 draws, 1 loss = 86 points (1st)*
(* with 7 matches still to play)
Liverpool have lost a total of 2 Premier League matches in more than 2 years. And they haven't lost at home in more than 3 years. They lost the Champions League final to begin this run, and then won it. Throw in winning the Super Cup and the Club World Cup in the midst of this run, and I'll take Liverpool.
They currently lead the League by 23 points, the largest lead in its history, and have a chance to demolish the all-time point total for a season.
And now, on top of the Big Four, you have Manchester City swimming in oil money, along with Tottenham, who was good enough to play in the Champions League Final last year.
@fireboltninja being invincibles would just have been the icing on the cake, they've still smashed a bunch of others records in addition to finally winning the league...the fact they didn't go unbeaten isn't really something to mock considering it's only been done once ever.
It may come as a hell of a shock to some jetpunkers but these quizzes are not typing competitions but light knowledge seekers. If you want typing competitions there are plenty to be had on this site.
So yeah, I would say the Prem is pretty competitive. Especially considering not many teams have repeated as champions consecutively unlike some of these leagues (PSG and Bayern especially). Also, the Prem is fairly unique in its depth as most teams (I would say the top 15) could beat any team on their day. Liverpool's only loss this season? Watford, who were relegation candidates since the beginning and currently sit only one point above the drop.
Interesting. In comparison, National Football League: 15; Major League Baseball: 15; National Basketball Association: 9; National Hockey League: 15. (Note: both MLB and NHL had a cancelled season in there.) Without getting into the relative merits of particular sports, this may be a factor in why soccer has traditionally had trouble gaining traction in the US.
Or more likely the draft system, which in most leagues is designed to give the worst team the best new signings to promote balance. There are also salary caps in place in most (if not all?) US sports leagues. Less to do with the sports and more to do with the running of leagues. Of the 12 current teams, the A-League in Australia (Football/Soccer) has had 8 different premiers in the last 15 years; surely evidence it's not the sport that impacts merits, rather the system.
Titlewise, I wouldn’t say that this year was very interesting. In general, this year is pretty much as interesting as it gets. Four teams vying for two/three Champions League spots, five teams fighting it out for Europa League spots and five or six teams trying to avoid relegation.
Leicester City still amazes me. They were given the same pre-season odds of winning as Elvis being found alive that year: 5,000-1. Biggest loss for bookies in British history on a single event with £25 million paid out. One guy was set to win £250,000 on a £50 bet but cashed out early with about 70 grand. Dunno how he feels about that! One woman put a tenner on them as a joke and walked away with 50 grand. Biggest winner I heard was £200,000. Crazy days...
The bookies lost on those few people who bet on Leicester but won on the many people who bet on Man Utd, Chelsea, Man City, etc. etc. Bookies like paying out on long odds winners as all the favourites have fallen and they keep those stakes.
I guess that's why Leicester City was so fun, because EPL never has Cinderella teams win like US sports. The Patriots played in 10 superbowls and won 6 in this stretch, which for Americans is an insane level of dominance, but there's still been 13 different teams winning. MLB's had 16.
Literally don't know anything about soccer, got 5/7 because those are pretty much the only Premier League teams I can name aside from Tottenham I think, missed the 2 lowest
L-E-I-C-E-S-T-E-R
2003-04 Arsenal 26 wins, 12 draws, 0 losses = 90 points (1st)
2004-05 Arsenal 25 wins, 8 draws, 5 losses = 83 points (2nd)
Arsenal won the League in 2004 by 11 pts. over Chelsea. They only reached the Champions League quarter-finals once during this stretch, but won the FA Cup twice.
And when Arsenal were "Invincible", it was only the Big Four in the EPL. (Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool & Manchester United)
2019-20 Liverpool 28 wins, 2 draws, 1 loss = 86 points (1st)*
(* with 7 matches still to play)
Liverpool have lost a total of 2 Premier League matches in more than 2 years. And they haven't lost at home in more than 3 years. They lost the Champions League final to begin this run, and then won it. Throw in winning the Super Cup and the Club World Cup in the midst of this run, and I'll take Liverpool.
They currently lead the League by 23 points, the largest lead in its history, and have a chance to demolish the all-time point total for a season.
And now, on top of the Big Four, you have Manchester City swimming in oil money, along with Tottenham, who was good enough to play in the Champions League Final last year.
Premier League Champions (England): 7
La Liga (Spain): 5
Bundesliga (Germany): 6
Ligue 1 (France): 10
Serie A (Italy): 5
So yeah, I would say the Prem is pretty competitive. Especially considering not many teams have repeated as champions consecutively unlike some of these leagues (PSG and Bayern especially). Also, the Prem is fairly unique in its depth as most teams (I would say the top 15) could beat any team on their day. Liverpool's only loss this season? Watford, who were relegation candidates since the beginning and currently sit only one point above the drop.
The reds will win the prem!
and this comment will be true!