And The Favorite To Win the Premier League Is..........

Luis Suarez riding high this season
with 19 goals

Well, Christmas is here and in the English Premier League it traditionally means that at this point we sort of know who the favorites are to win it all. Seventeen games have been played and six points are the difference between the league leaders and the 7th place team and Manchester United are in 8th place. Who would have picked Liverpool and Arsenal being tied for 1st place in December? Surely the big spending team like Manchester City as well as defending champions Manchester United were heavily favored along with the return of Jose Mourinho's Chelsea. Well, the surprising teams thus far have been Arsenal, Liverpool (with the resurrection of Luis Suarez's career-breaking form) and their rivals Everton who are led by former Wigan manager Roberto Martinez as well as the emergence of young Gascoigne look-alike Ross Barkley.

Everton sensation Ross Barkley
having a great season thus far.

Manchester United are also a surprising team, but for all the wrong reasons. Typically Manchester United have always had slow starts, but this season has been a bit different. With the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson at the end of last season, David Moyes was the hand picked successor in the summer. "The Chosen One" has had a rough start beginning in the summer transfer market where he had to fend off Jose Mourinho's Chelsea attempt at luring Wayne Rooney away and not being able to effectively upgrade his current roster due to Rooney's uncertainty. His only signing was former Everton midfielder Marouane Fellaini and thus far it hasn't really panned out as he hoped it would. With crucial losses at Old Trafford to West Bromich Albion, Newcastle and his former team Everton, they currently sit in 8th place.

Arsenal had a rough season opening game with a loss at home to Aston Villa that sent shock waves to all their fans which forced Arsene Wenger to pull the transfer trigger. This resulted in their only summer purchase of German international sensation Mezut Ozil for a reasonable price of 42,500,000 pounds. In retrospect it was the most significant signing of the Premier League as Arsenal never lost another game until a 1-0 loss on November 10 to Manchester United at Old Trafford. That was quite a remarkable run and it continued until a 6-3 drubbing at Etihad Stadium to Manchester City and their 100 million scoring machines. After a goalless draw against Chelsea at the Emirates, they sit tied at the top with Liverpool with 36 points. They also have a very difficult draw against Bayern Munich in the round of 16 of Champions League.

Manuel Pellegrini has City fired up at
the right time

Manchester City have by far the most potent offensive players in the Premier League. With over 100 million spent in the transfer market in the summer, their ambitions are nothing short of multiple titles this season. As a result they are already in the semi finals in the League Cup and look set for a showdown their Red Devil rivals. They are also in the round 16 in the Champions League for the first time in their club's history with a much anticipated draw with four-time champion FC Barcelona.

Tim Sherwood taking over for just
sacked Andre Villas-Boas

Tottenham Hotspurs made a blockbuster sale of the century by selling Gareth Bale to Real Madrid for a record fee of 85 million pounds. However this wasn't able to save Andre Villas-Boas from being sacked due to massive losses against Manchester City and Liverpool with a combined score of 11-0. Many critics viewed the sacking as harsh because of the lack of time at the helm. But others also believed that AVB's inability to manage star players was his ultimate downfall. His replacement former player Tim Sherwood hopes to save the Hotspurs' season by trying to finish in the top four.

Eto'o, Torres and Ba have only accounted
for four premier league goals this season.

The January transfer are upon us and it will be a crucial time for the title chasers. Clubs will be looking for difference makers to open the gap in the table. This season more than any other seasons, all eyes will be glued to teams in need of that special player to take them to glory at the end of the season. Chelsea, Arsenal, Everton and Totteham will be shopping for much needed goal scorers. Manchester City and Liverpool will be looking to shore up their defense. Manchester United are in need of creativity in the midfield. While these teams are looking to upgrade their roster, they must also be aware of the possibility that they might lose players to the transfer market due to certain players fighting for places in World Cup teams. How will this affect the roster depth of these clubs? My guess is we'll wait and see, but nevertheless it will certainly be an exciting season.