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The Premier League has reached the halfway point and it as exciting and nerve-racking as ever.
Money has been splashed, managers have been sacked, records have been broken and upsets have been a common fixture this season. Liverpool lead the Premier League table on Boxing Day, but current holders Manchester City are not too far behind the Merseyside club.
Here, we try to provide a holistic review of the English Premier League so far, looking at it from different angles.
Transfers and business
June always comes in with a lot of hope for clubs in England year in, year out as they get to open their large coffers and let loose on a hapless and inflated transfer market. This season was no different.
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July 19th was the day when Liverpool smashed the world transfer record for a goalkeeper by paying north of €62mn for then Roma and Brazil sensation, Alisson Becker. A few days passed and on the 8th of August, Chelsea broke the same record to smithereens as they paid €75mn for Spain and Athletic Bilbao keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, after Thibaut Courtois jumped ship from London to Madrid.
Manchester City were the talk of the town again as they strengthened an already strong squad by adding creative midfielder and Algerian superstar Riyad Mahrez for a club record €67.8mn.
Liverpool had to pay up for Naby Keita as he joined from RB Leipzig after signing on last summer itself. Naby was joined in midfield by defensive midfielder Fabinho and a certain Xherdan Shaqiri, giving the Merseyside club a well rounded squad to compete for all the silverware.
Manchester United were not far from the heat as they snapped up Fred and Diogo Dalot. But they failed to bring in a centre back that Jose Mourinho kept craving for.
Arsenal went through a sea change after club legend Arsene Wenger resigned from his post and let Unai Emery take the helm of a seemingly sinking ship. Lucas Torreira, Bernd Leno, Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Matteo Guendouzi were added to the side on a small budget, but they have been the ones making the most impact for the North London side.
Chelsea also snapped up midfield metronome Jorginho from Napoli whilst also stealing the headlines when they brought in Mateo Kovacic on loan from Real Madrid.
Tottenham became the first club in all of Europe to not sign a single player in the summer transfer window since it was introduced in 2003.
Newly promoted sides Fulham, Cardiff and Wolves didn't hold back as they spent millions of pounds on revamping their sides for the top tier of English football.
A lot of mid-table clubs also broke their record signing fees for better and versatile talent from across the globe, giving the Premier League an edge over the rest of the top 5 European competitions.
Managerial changes
Premier League clubs burn through managers like a hot knife through butter.
The season started off with a lot of changes at the helm for a lot of clubs. The most notable change of all was when French stalwart Arsene Wenger finally ended his 22 year reign as boss of the North London outfit. He was replaced by a Spanish tactician who had a glittering CV, Unai Emery.
Emery believes in beautiful and breathtaking football like Wenger once did, and boy has he turned the club on its head. Arsenal now play attractive football after a string of cheap and effective purchases.
Arsenal's neighbors went down to old tactics as they got rid of their Premier League winning manager Antonio Conte and brought in a tobacco chewing former banker in the shape of Maurizio Sarri from Napoli. Sarri brought along with him his famous Sarri-ball style of play that involves a lot of movement on and off the ball with focus on bringing the ball upfield whilst keeping possesion and using pre-determined passing formations.
Mark Hughes was sacked for the second time this year when Southampton brought in Ralph Hassenhuttl from RB Leipzig, while Fulham also sacked Slavisa Jokanovic to bring in Claudio Ranieri.
December broke headlines all over Europe when Jose Mourinho suffered his famous third season syndrome as he was sacked by Manchester United after he led the club to its worst ever start to a Premier League season. A 3-1 loss away to Liverpool was the final nail in the coffin for the Portuguese manager.
Club legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was ushered in as caretaker manager, much to the surprise of everyone associated with club. His term as interim boss couldn't have begun better than it did against his former side, Cardiff City. United absolutely thrashed Cardiff, scoring 5 goals for the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson's last game against West Brom.
Best players
The top teams require the top players, and the Premier League has most of them.
Best goalkeeper:
Alisson Becker is our pick of the lot with fine performances for Liverpool. Alisson kept 11 Clean Sheets and has only conceded 7 goals while making 43 saves in the process. He also completed 509 passes with a 95% accuracy.
The price tag looming on his head certainly seems like a bargain with his presence between the sticks giving a sense of calm to the outfield players, something that Liverpool missed when Karius was in goal.
Notable performers:
Saves: Joe Hart (Burnley) - 75
Penalties saved: Neil Etheridge (Cardiff) and Jordan Pickford (Everton) - 2
Best defender:
When Liverpool paid a world record 75mn for then Southampton captain Virgil Van Dijk, a lot of eyebrows were raised as to how much the transfer market has been inflated and how money is flowing like never before.
Well that certainly looks like a bargain now as Van Dijk is everything you want in a defender. He is fast, strong, agile, tall and carries the ball forward like many midfielders hope to be able to do. Liverpool have struck a jackpot when it comes to signing players.
Notable performers:
Andrew Robertson (Liverpool), Aymeric Laporte (Man City), Marcos Alonso (Chelsea), Matt Doherty (Wolves).
Best midfielder:
'One season wonder' is a claim that lots of players face in their careers when they perform exceptionally well one season but fail to replicate it the next time.
Mohamed Salah faced the same fate when he went on a record breaking 2017-18 season. Yet, 2018-19 has been just about the same for the Egyptian hero. He has already scored 11 goals and has provided 5 assists for his teammates.
Notable performers:
Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Raheem Sterling (Man City), Ryan Fraser (Bournemouth), Leroy Sane (Man City)
Best striker:
Pierre Emerick Aubameyang was a lethal goal scorer at Dortmund and he is a lethal goal scorer at Arsenal. If you have him in your FPL team, be sure to rejoice whenever you watch him score a goal and also do a front flip.
He has scored 12 goals and provided 4 assists for his teammates at Arsenal. Aubameyang has also formed a brilliant partnership with strike partner Alexander Lacazette. The two of them have terrorized defences in England throughout the season.
Notable performers:
Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Callum Wilson (Bournemouth), Sergio Aguero (Man City), Raul Jimenez (Wolves).
