Is this the most open the Premier League has ever been?
How long is a rope? This is one of those questions that feels impossible to answer definitively, but what you can say is that a lot of teams have been inconsistent.
From second to 12th, Manchester City, Arsenal, Brighton, Fulham and Newcastle are the only teams to win more than one game in a row throughout the season, while nine of them have. Three games in a row without a win.
Many of the teams we expected to challenge for Champions League places have underperformed this season.
Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa, Newcastle and Manchester United all have fewer points at this stage than last season.
Aston Villa have one win from seven games in the Champions League this season but remain just four points adrift of second place. Third-placed Chelsea have recorded two wins in six games, while fourth-placed Arsenal have recorded one win in five games. Manchester City have lost their last three games and remain in second place.
Meanwhile, it’s fair to say that Brighton, Nottingham Forest and Fulham have exceeded many expectations and are significantly better on points than they were at this stage of last season.
Only five teams have won three in a row – Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest.
As we enter the busiest period of the season, there will be plenty of teams still looking forward to the chance to hit Europe.
