Premier League winners and losers: Arsenal and United play game of the season
By Ty Finch
Winner: Chelsea
Manchester City might be running with the title race faster than Usain Bolt in his prime, but Antonio Conte and Chelsea could be hitting their stride at the right time to put pressure on them.
Chelsea have won six out of seven games since their embarrassing 2-1 loss against then win-less/goal-less Crystal Palace. Their one misstep, if you will, came against Liverpool, where they drew 1-1 away from home. Their trajectory is becoming eerily similar to last season, when they started poorly, won 13 matches in a row during the second quarter of the season and barely slowed down the rest of the way. The main difference this season is that Manchester City look like they can’t be beaten.
Chelsea beat struggling Newcastle 3-1 on Saturday. After a strange, slightly lucky opening goal for Newcastle in the 12th minute, the Blues dominated the rest of the match with relative ease. Eden Hazard continued his hot streak for his side, scoring twice and terrorizing the Newcastle defense all game.
The Premier League is infinitely more fun when there is a legitimate title race happening. This season, much like the past few, has been dominated by one side that looks impossible to take down. While City’s destruction of anyone who dares oppose them has been appointment viewing, a genuine title race is still more attractive than a runaway win by a dominant side. Chelsea seems like the team to provide such drama if they can keep their recent form up. There is obvious and immediate precedent for doing so.
Chelsea only face one current top 10 side in December, so they can put the first real pressure of the season on City if they continue to win. For the sake of the title race alone, we hope they do.