WE’VE already had quite a season, with a rather unexpected title race, a handful of underwhelming starts from some of the Premier League’s big boys and even a World Cup shoehorned in there somewhere. Yet, we are only halfway through the season (there or thereabouts). So, with a cup weekend coming up, there’s no better time to have a look at those clubs who have enjoyed a particularly good first half of the 2022-23 campaign.
Even the most ardent (and optimistic) Gooner would have thought twice about placing Arsenal on top of the Premier League pile after 19 games, yet that is where Mikel Arteta’s young and hungry side find themselves. Their tally of 50 points is the club’s best-ever return after 19 games of a top-flight season, surpassing their 1932-33 haul under the great Herbert Chapman, when they had amassed 47 points (using 3 pts for a win) on their way to winning their second First Division title.
In top-flight history, only six other sides have hit half a century of points after 19 games, with all but one going on to lift the title at the end of the season. Liverpool were the unfortunate ones here, losing out to Manchester City in 2018-19 despite a whopping 97-points on the board, a fate the Gunners will be eager to avoid this time around.
The Gunners have seen an impressive 15-point improvement from the same point in the previous campaign, a considerable hike bettered only by two other clubs in the division.
*Fulham’s previous PL season was 2020-21
**Nottm Forest’s previous PL season was 1998-99
***Bournemouth’s previous PL season was 2019-20
It’s 20 years since Newcastle United, under the late Bobby Robson and fired by the goals of Alan Shearer, found themselves in the Premier League’s top three this late into a campaign, with the Magpies ending the 2002-03 season in third spot, behind only champions Manchester United and runners-up Arsenal.
A potent mix of Eddie Howe nous, improving players (a potent Miguel Almiron for one) and, er, just a little bit of cash, has propelled the Magpies back into the upper echelons of the table. The improvement from last season is quite stark, with the club accruing 27 more points after 20 games played this time around than in 2021-22. That hefty jump is the joint-biggest by a side in consecutive seasons in the history of the top-flight, with only Manchester United in 1907-08 and Derby in 1895-96 managing similar points gains.
Newcastle’s success this season has been largely built on a watertight defence, with the Magpies’ tally of 16 clean sheets in all competitions this season, the most of any side in Europe’s ‘big five’ leagues. Central to this defensive parsimony has been Nick Pope, who has flourished at St. James’ Park, who kept his 10th straight clean sheet in his side’s recent 1-0 EFL Cup semi-final first-leg victory over Southampton.
One other side in the top-flight this season has seen a double-figure improvement on their previous Premier League campaign, with Marco Silva’s high-flying Fulham adding a sizeable 17 points onto their 2020-21 haul after 21 games.
Fuelled by Aleksandar Mitrovic’s goals (he’s only the second Fulham player ever to hit 10+ goals in two Premier League seasons, along with Clint Dempsey), the west Londoners are enjoying their joint second-best top-flight campaign ever after 21 games, with their 31-point total eclipsed only by a 39-point haul in 1959-60 at this stage, which earned them a 10th place finish, a pinnacle they are well on track to better in 2022-23.
We’ve tried to inject a bit of positivity into your dull and dreary January here, however, it would be remiss not to mention those sides who have endured a more negative first half of 2022-23.
West Ham top this unwanted list, with David Moyes’ side 16 points down from their tally after 20 games last season and facing the domestic drudge of a relegation battle, a far cry from 2021-22’s Europa League semi-final berth and seventh-placed Premier League finish.
Wolves also find themselves perilously close to the drop-zone and a worrying 14 points down from 2021-22’s haul after 20 games. The west-midlands club will need all of Julen Lopetegui’s managerial magic to kickstart their campaign and ease them into mid-table comfort and out of harm’s way.
However, it is the big dogs of Liverpool and Chelsea who have posted the most surprising points drops. Last season’s runners-up to Manchester City (again!), Liverpool, are 12 points down after a campaign peppered with uncharacteristic sloppiness and unexpected defeats. Indeed, Jürgen Klopp’s charges have already suffered six losses this season, three times as many as they endured in the whole of 2021-22 and the most after 19 games since 2014-15, when they lost seven games at this stage in what was to be Brendan Rodgers’ last full season at Anfield.
Finding themselves in similarly alien mid-table environs, and on the same paltry number of points (29) as the Reds, Chelsea are 13 points down on last season’s tally, an unlucky drop for the club despite American owner Todd Boehly’s generous cash injections. Goals have been hard to come by for the usually potent Blues (oh for a reliable striker!), with their tally of 22 goals after 20 games a whopping 21 down on last season and their lowest total at this stage in the top-flight since 1995-96 (19).
The second-half of the season promises to throw up even more surprises – will robo-striker Erling Haaland’s goals inspire Manchester City to overhaul Arsenal’s lead at the top? And will we see a major relegation casualty in the form of Merseyside giants Everton? Whatever happens, it’s sure to be anything but predictable.
