Leading contenders in the 2021/22 English top-flight title race

The English Premier League was established in 1992, replacing the Football League First Division, which had run from 1888 until its formal dissolution that year. The most successful Premier League clubs do not win the biggest European and international competitions as often as some of their continental rivals, yet the league is widely described as the best and toughest professional football league in the world.

Clubs in the First Division believed that radical change was needed, together with a thorough restructuring of the whole English professional game. In July 1991 the Founder Members Agreement was signed, laying the foundation for the new competition, and in February of the following year the Premier League was founded as a body separate from the Football League.

Around the same time, the clubs of the First Division left it to join the newly created Premier League. The inaugural season kicked off on 15 August 1992.

The twenty-two founding clubs included Tottenham Hotspur, Sheffield United, Wimbledon, Southampton, Sheffield Wednesday, Queens Park Rangers, Oldham Athletic, Nottingham Forest, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Middlesbrough, Leeds United, Everton, Crystal Palace, Ipswich Town, Coventry City, Chelsea, Blackburn Rovers, Aston Villa and Arsenal.

What Happened During the Previous Season?

Most of the 2020/2021 Premier League matches were played without fans because of the Covid-19 pandemic. As in every season of the competition, there was no shortage of thrilling, high-scoring and genuinely unpredictable games, several of them involving the biggest clubs in the country. In the end Manchester City were crowned champions, finishing first with eighty-six points.

Manchester United finished second with seventy-four points, followed by Liverpool with sixty-nine, Chelsea with sixty-seven, Leicester City and West Ham with sixty-five each, Tottenham with sixty-two, Arsenal with sixty-one, and Leeds United and Everton with fifty-nine each.

One of the most remarkable matches of that season was Aston Villa against Liverpool on 4 October. Shortly before that extraordinary game, Tottenham had scored six goals against Manchester United.

The Villa-Liverpool match ended with Aston Villa scoring seven and Liverpool only two. Another memorable game was Tottenham against West Ham on 18 October, which ended in a draw.

Any list of the most entertaining matches of 2020/2021 has to include Manchester United against Southampton on 2 February. United scored five goals in just twenty-one minutes and finished the game with nine.

Manchester City met Liverpool on 7 February and scored four times to win the match, even though Phil Foden and Gündoğan both missed penalties.

On 3 April Chelsea faced West Brom, and West Brom won an unforgettable match after scoring five goals. Manchester City's fifth Premier League title made them one of the main favourites for the 2021/2022 crown as well, alongside Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham.

Favourites to Win the 2021/2022 EPL Title

The thirtieth Premier League season kicked off on 13 August 2021 and was scheduled to run until 22 May 2022. By 9 December 2021, one hundred and forty-nine matches had been played.

At that stage of the season, Liverpool's Mohamed Salah led the scoring charts with thirteen goals, followed by Jamie Vardy with nine, Diogo Jota with eight, and Mané and Silva with seven each. Ronaldo, Son Heung-min, Raphinha, Maupay, Dennis, Antonio and Wilson had six goals apiece.

Manchester City, as defending champions, were among the main contenders. The team was in excellent shape and playing with great confidence, but faced very strong competition, especially from the two other leading favourites, Liverpool and Chelsea. Jack Grealish had joined City at the start of the season, and with stars such as Kevin De Bruyne, Benjamin Mendy, Phil Foden, Cole Palmer, Bernardo Silva and Rodrigo Hernández, City looked capable of repeating their success.

On 9 December City were top with thirty-five points from eleven wins, two draws and two defeats. According to all the major bookmakers, Chelsea were another strong candidate for the title.

Chelsea had signed the formidable Romelu Lukaku to play alongside Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, Christian Pulišić, Édouard Mendy and Timo Werner. They were third with thirty-three points from ten wins, three draws and two defeats.

Bookmakers also favoured Liverpool alongside City and Chelsea. Jordan Henderson, Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk were back in action, and the Reds could also count on Sadio Mané, Mohamed Salah, Diogo Jota, Harvey Elliott, Takumi Minamino and Ibrahima Konaté.

With thirty-four points from ten wins, four draws and one defeat, Liverpool were second. Manchester United, Tottenham, Arsenal and Leicester were also mentioned among the title candidates. United were sixth with twenty-four points, Tottenham fifth with twenty-five, and Arsenal seventh with twenty-three, so all three still had plenty of ground to make up on the leading group.