For the Premier League, the 2000s saw the world get introduced to the notion of the Big Four concept. In that time, the world saw Arsenal become the Invincibles in 2004 and Chelsea haul a then-record by accumulating 95 points in 2005.
The 2010s however, brought us new change. With the emergence of Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, the Big Four reshaped into the Big Six, as competition at the top found new challengers. In the nine years since, the league has seen City win in the final seconds of the final day at the expense of United in 2012, Leicester defying the odds in 2016 and City breaking Chelsea’s record of 95 points with a century of points in 2018.
Ever since City’s emergence, the noisy neighbors have taken the league by the scruff of the neck. Other clubs fear them and at the same time want to be them, both in position, pull and power.
But this season, hasn’t seen the blue side of Manchester fly away. The Reds of Liverpool – scoring for fun and housing the best defense in the league – have have menacingly followed them in every round and have proved themselves to be worthy contenders for the title.
The current PL season has seen Liverpool and Man City dominating throughout, accounting for 17.9 percent (something that hasn’t been achieved since the 1890s according to the New York Times) of the total points won, which is a remarkable statistic in its own.
This season, Manchester City and Liverpool account for 17.9% of all the points won in the Premier League this season.
This sort of dominance has not been seen in the English top division since the 1890s. pic.twitter.com/NgZItfSOMF
— UtdArena. (@utdarena) April 28, 2019
Talking about the title race, City and Liverpool are a cut above the rest. This season particularly, City seem to have maintained, if not, improved their performances from last season, looking absolutely ruthless and flawless in style of play.
The two-club dominance can be seen throughout in attack, midfield and defense. Salah (21) and Mane (20) lead the way on goals scored, closely followed by Aguero (20). Robertson has 11 assists, which is third on the stats list, with Sane and Sterling locked on 10. Liverpool have 20 clean sheets with City on 19. All season, these two have gone toe-to-toe against each other in a bid to be crowned champions.
Regardless of how this season ends, both Liverpool and City have been incredible, and both are more than deserving of the title.
To lose only one game all season and still not win the league is testament to how brilliant City have been. Since January they’ve been near flawless
— Josh (@KloppStyle) April 24, 2019
This season’s title race is set to go down to the wire, as both clubs constantly swap places at the top. City are currently leading by a point, with both clubs having two games left. They have entertained us all season with their unique styles of play, and are providing us with a grand-stand finish as the season closes.
The main takeaway from this season however, is the standards that these two clubs have set for others to follow.
City and Liverpool have maintained otherworldly standards and it looks like a daunting task for the rest of the chasing pack. Will there be any club to usurp these dominators, or will it be a repeat of this season in seasons hence?