Premier League Parity Will Reign This Season
By Chris Jones
Having Manchester City at the top of the table after the first week of Premier League action was a pretty safe bet, but having Leicester City, Crystal Palace, West Ham, and Aston Villa right behind them is something nobody could have predicted.
Obviously, only one week of fixtures have been played, and it is probably way too early to be looking at the table, but the action that took place during the first matchday of the seasonhas lead us to believe that parity could rule the Premier League this season.
Over the past couple seasons, the title has always come down to the likely suspects: Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, and Liverpool during the 2013/2014 campaign. There was a clear division between the 4-5 top clubs in the league, the mid-table, and those battling for relegation.
The last time a team to finish in the top four positions other than the usual top clubs (Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Tottenham) was Everton in 2006.
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There has been an utter dominance by the top tier of clubs in the league, but those days could very well be over.
In the first week of the 2015/16 Premier League campaign, fans saw Champions Chelsea struggle against mid-table Swansea City, hanging on for a point at home.
West Ham, who has spent a large part of their most recent tenure in top-flight football in the middle of the table, handled projected title contenders Arsenal with ease.
Watford looked in control at times against Everton, while Liverpool, Manchester United, and Tottenham all failed to looked convincing.
Other than Manchester City, who handled West Bromwich Albion 3-0 on Monday, there were no impressive performances from the top tier in the Premier League.
With the way we saw “mid-table” clubs compete with, and even take care of, the usual contenders, we could see someone new in the top positions of the Premier League.
Usually in the top flight of English football, it is only the big clubs, the ones that are constantly fighting for titles, that sign the international star players. The other clubs in the league were left to buy lower-level players, hope to develop them, only to see team eventually go to a big buying club if they end up panning out.
That is not the case anymore.
In this current transfer window, it seems like every club, even the newly-promoted sides, have greatly improved their squads.
Swansea City, who impressed last season and ended up finishing eighth, signed the likes of Andre Ayew, who turned down the likes of Liverpool, Ac Milan, and Roma. They also added productive players like Eder, who came to Swansea from Portuguese side Braga.
The Swans, at times, looked like they took control of defending champions Chelsea, and were not phased when they trailed the title holders twice on the road.
West Ham United, who had a brief spell in the top four positions last season, also had a big summer by signing notbale players like Dimitri Payet from Marseille and Angelo Ogbonna from Juventus. Payet played a large role in West Ham’s shock 2-0 victory at Arsenal.
Stoke City have been incredibly busy improving their team through the transfer window, signing the likes of Ibrahim Affelay from Barcelona and, most recently and most notably, Xherdan Shaqiri from Inter Milan.
These types of players usually would be out of Stoke’s reach, but now they are bringing in these top quality players.
Crystal Palace probably made the most surprising big signing this summer, signing Yohan Cabaye from PSG.
Even the teams who have hovered near the relegation zone last season are active in the transfer market, and spending some big cash.
Newcastle United, who were one loss away from possible relegation, added young stars like Georginio Wijnaldum from PSV and Aleksandar Mitrovic from Anderlecht. Aston Villa spent big after losing Christian Benteke, bringing in Jordan Ayew, Jordan Amavi, Rudy Gestede, Jordan Veretout and Idrissa Gueye. West Brom, who have never seemed to make a big signing, signed young Venezuelan star Salomon Rondon from Zenit St. Petersburg.
Why is this happening? The answer is simple: the money is flowing throughout the Premier League.
Earlier this year, the Premier League sold their television rights for a record $8.02 billion, 71% above last time when they sold it for $4.71 in 2012. This new deal means more Premier League games on television, and a lot more money for each of the Premier League clubs.
In anticipation of this new deal coming into affect next year, teams have more incentive than ever to steer away from relegation, leading teams to spend big on improving their squad with notable signings.
Star signings are going to more teams in the league more than ever, and that could contribute a lot to more parity within the league.
With a season of parity expected more so than many years before, who could possibly step into the top tier?
Southampton was the team that surprised the Premier League and punched above their weight against the top-tier teams, finishing an impressive season with a spot in the Europa League.
They lost the likes of defender Nathaniel Clyne and midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin to Liverpool and Manchester United, respectively. They added Jordy Clasie from Feyenoord and Cedric Soares from Sporting Lisbon, but the distraction and travel that the Europa League provides might be too much for a repeat.
So far, the most impressive teams have been Swansea City and West Ham, and they could be the teams to take a leap from the mid-table positions into the top-tier of the league.
Other squads such as Crystal Palace, who have won 11 of their 18 games under manager Alan Pardew, can not be overlooked to make a positive jump.
There might not be a team that go from the mid-table or lower table and crack the top four league positions, but as we have already seen, these teams will take points from the “big boys”.
If we see more outcomes like we did in the first week of Premier League, fans could be in store for one of the closest and most exciting seasons in a while.