With the English Premier League reaching its final stage, we need to make a quick breakdown of a few most interesting categories – Golden Boot, the top four race, and the relegation battle.
Golden Boot
We would need to see a miracle in order for someone other than Erling Haaland to win the Golden Boot award. The Norwegian has 28 goals, six more than his first rival, Tottenham’s captain, Harry Kane. Haaland has a much more offensive-minded unit, and even if he skips a few events, he will still have more chances than Kane.
De Bruyne, Gundogan, Foden and the rest of his crew are delivering assists on a silver plate, while on the other hand, Kane’s teammates aren’t in such great form. Overall, Tottenham has struggled since the year began, affecting Kane’s stats. Though, we must be honest and admit that Haaland had a dream campaign, like just a few people like him in Premier League history.
Erling Haaland would have won the Premier League Golden Boot in the last 4 seasons.
It's only halfway through the season.
RIDICULOUS STAT!🤯🔥 pic.twitter.com/5G2eFTliss
— Troll Football (@Troll_Fotballl) January 22, 2023
Brentford’s Ivan Toney has 17 goals, two more than Marcus Rashford, and we wanted to mention them in this text. Seeing either winning the Golden Boot would be sensational, but they deserved to be included in this article.
Pick: Haaland at BetXchange
Top Four Race
Arsenal and Manchester City are safe in the first two places. The Gunners have 72 points, City 64 with one game in hand, while Newcastle and Manchester United have 53 each. With one game more, Tottenham has three points fewer, while Brighton hopes to make a miracle with 46 points, and one game less than the Magpies and the Red Devils.
These four teams are bidding for the remaining two places that lead to the UEFA Champions League, and it seems that Liverpool won’t be in the combination for reaching the most prominent European competition.
Newcastle is in the best position because of their form and their recent victory over Manchester United. United oscillates but still looks better than Tottenham, who apparently slowly loses its grip. As for Brighton, the Seagulls have no pressure, and that’s the biggest advantage of the team from the Amex Stadium. Surprises are possible in the EPL, so it wouldn’t be a massive sensation to see them ending up ahead of more famous rivals, but we need to say that the prospects for that are rather poor.
Picks: Arsenal, Man City, Newcastle, Man Utd at BetXchange
Relegation Battle
Nine teams are in the mix, which promises to be one of the more intense relegation battles in the last 20 years. The last-placed Southampton has 23 points, while Crystal Palace, who occupies position No.12, has 30. In between are Leeds, Wolves, West Ham, Everton, Nottingham, Bournemouth, and Leicester.
Judging by the way they play, Southampton and Bournemouth are the worst teams in the league, and they often have more luck than quality. On the other hand, Leicester’s season is cursed, with the Foxes experiencing unreal jinxes and developments that eventually brought them down to the red zone.
Everton is slowly moving up, with Sean Dyche tightening up all the lines in the team following his arrival at Goodison. They are playing dull and ultra-defensive football, bringing better results than before. West Ham is in a slightly better position than other rivals because Hammers have a game in hand.
The third passenger to the Championship will be decided in a triangle Nottingham – Leicester – Wolves, with the team from Molineux presenting inconsistent performances, often having blackouts during games which eventually cost a lot.
Pick: Southampton, Bournemouth, Nottingham at BetXchange
