Premier League Mid-Season Review: Ranking teams placed 1-10

#2 Manchester City: 7.5

Manchester City are in the unenviable position of chasing Liverpool

Manchester City looked invincible till December. Then, on 8th December 2018, they tasted defeat in the league for the first time since the infamous 3-2 loss to Manchester United. After the defeat, teams have looked to get at City and they have not been able to cope with it.

The festive period saw City lose to Crystal Palace and Leicester. Though City are excused a defeat or two, considering their exemplary dominance last term, these losses could just end up proving the difference in a closely contested title race.

The 3-1 victory over Southampton showed City were getting back to their best. The Etihad faithful would hope that such performances are not followed by blips like Palace and Leicester.

On paper, City still look the best team in the land and if they get their attacking verve back, there are few teams on the planet who can stop them. Unfortunately for the Cityzens, one of those is Liverpool.

It might yet be a little too early but if City indeed lose out, they will be left to rue their twin defeats during the festive period.

Rating: 7.5

#1 Liverpool

Liverpool has underlined their title credentials on several occasions

Liverpool has simply been outstanding so far and sit pretty at the perch of the table, 7 points clear of their nearest rivals. The Reds are still unbeaten and they have achieved all of this without breaking into a sweat for the most part.

Liverpool has had heroes in every area of the pitch. Alisson has painted a solid picture between the sticks while Robertson and Van Dijk have been colossal at the back. Wijnaldum and Fabinho have forged a beautiful partnership whereas their front three are back to scoring truckloads of goals.

For years, the Reds were accused of lacking pragmatism yet this season they have been a perfect blend of poetry and prose.

The last time a team leading at Christmas failed to win the title was back in 2013-14, when Liverpool let the title slip.

For Liverpool’s sake, they would hope that they don’t continue the trend for if they can’t win it from here, the winner’s medal could just remain elusive for a very very long time.

Rating: 9