English Premier League Midseason Review & Odds

With half the tournament in the books, there are two clear favorites for the English Primier League title.  Chelsea and Manchester City have been a cut above all year and currently have identical records, right down to goals for and against.

Have these two heavyweights saved their best for the second half, or will one or both falter down the stretch?

The rest of the EPL will be hoping for the latter. However, all but one team (Manchester United) trail the c0-leaders by double-digits, so even a rough patch from Chelsea and/or Man City may not be enough to catch up.

Here’s a look at the top teams in the league so far, along with their odds to win the 2014-15 EPL title:

Chelsea (46 pts): 2/3

Chelsea has had an incredible first half, winning 14 games, drawing four and losing just two. The addition of striker Diego Costa has been a key part of their success. The Blues suffered a surprise 5-3 setback to Tottenham in their last fixture, which allowed Man City to pull level. However, there is still reason for optimism at Stamford Bridge: every time the Blues have led the league at the halfway point, they have gone on to win the title.

Manchester City (46 pts): 3/2

Man City has been the only team capable of keeping up with Chelsea. They managed a 3-2 win over Sunderland on New Year’s Day to pull even with the Blues. After Sunderland tied the game late in the second half, ageless wonder Frank Lampard came off the bench to score the winner. The Citizens will face off with the Blues on January 31, likely with the league lead at stake.

Manchester United (37 pts): 20/1

The Red Devils are the only team within ten points of the co-leaders. United got off to a rough start to the season, but appear to have righted the ship, going undefeated in their last ten matches. Still, when you recall that the team brought in Angel Di Maria from Real Madrid and Radamel Falcao from AS Monaco, it’s hard not to see the first half of the season as a disappointment.  The way Chelsea and Man City have played this year, nine points is too big a gap for United to be considered a real threat.

Southampton (36 pts): 40/1

Southampton has been the biggest surprise of the season, and continued to wow fans with a recent win over Arsenal (2-0). But it’s unlikely the upstart team can maintain the same level of play for another four months and, even if they do, they already trail Chelsea and City by ten points.

Tottenham (34 pts): 40/1

Spurs spent plenty of money in the off-season in an effort to compete with the top teams. Their efforts appeared to be for naught … until New Year’s Day, that is, when they hosted Chelsea;  Spurs surrendered an early goal to the Blues, but stormed back with four straight and ultimately shocked the league-leaders 5-3. While the win has Spurs feeling confident heading into 2015, like Man United, the first half of the season ultimately has to be seen as a bit of a let down.

Arsenal (33 pts): 20/1

The Gunners have a great squad with plenty of depth. In the Champions League, they qualified for the Round of 16 with ease (albeit in a weak group). Yet, they can’t make it work in the Premier League. Their recent loss to Southampton knocked the Gunners out of the top four. That said, the sheer amount of talent on their roster keeps their odds lower than some of the teams above them in the table.

West Ham United (32 pts): 150/1

West Ham have put together a decent first half, considering their roster. But the team has no realistic shot of winning the league title. A Champions League spot would be an over-achievement, but is not out of the realm of possibility.

Liverpool (29 pts): 100/1

At this time last season, Liverpool was on top of the EPL. This year, they sit 17 points back of the co-leaders.  The addition of striker Mario Balotelli has been beyond disappointing, and the departure of Luis Suarez still haunts the low-scoring Reds. Nonetheless, the talent is there and it may just be a matter of time until the team coalesces.

Swansea City (29 pts): 250/1

Swansea has been great at Liberty Stadium, taking 20 of 28 points at home this season. But their nine points on the road are not good enough to be considered a serious contender.

Newcastle United (27 pts): 1000/1

The Magpies are lucky to be in the top-ten of the EPL. The team has a -6 goal difference and doesn’t know how much longer manager Alan Pardew will continue in his current role; Pardew has an offer from Crystal Palace, and most people think he will take the job.

(Photo credit: Stuart Grout (Flickr: Champions of Manchester) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped.)