Managerial Battle
At the beginning of the season, it was touted as the biggest battle of manager's any league has seen.
The 'Special One' and the 'Normal One' started their first full seasons in charge of their respective teams whilst Chelsea brought in Italian National Team Manager Antonio Conte. Manchester City added former Barcelona and Bayern Munich Manager Pep Guradiola and Arsenal's Arsene Wenger started his 21st season in charge.
With all these manager's just about at the height of their powers, we were in for an exciting ride and so far we have not been disappointed.
Antonio Conte
Conte brought stability to Stamford Bridge after a disappointing season under Guus Hiddink where the Blues finished outside of Champions League qualification in 10th - their lowest finish in over 20 years.
The Blues seem to be charging to the title this season, currently sitting 10 points clear of Tottenham with 11 games remaining. The title is theirs to lose.
So why such a drastic change in fortunes from the previous season? Besides Conte, the other man that has made himself a presence at The Bridge - N'Golo Kante. Kante has been the most dominant midfielder in the Premier League and arguably across Europe this season.
Conte has shown up all his counterparts and will surely claim the Premier League title at the end of the season.
Jurgen Klopp - Liverpool
Liverpool snapped up the former Borussia Dortmund manager when they dismissed Brendan Rodgers part-way through last season.
Klopp brought the fans a renewed energy and optimisim which they hadn't seen since the Reds' cup run two season earlier.
The self proclaimed 'Normal One' got off to a stellar start to the season though come the turn of the New Year, Liverpool's form has dipped badly. With Sadio Mane away at the Africa Cup of Nations and a foot injury to Phillipe Coutinho, the Reds lost their attacking flair and confidence.
They have been able to recover, although their form against the lower ranked teams is still cause for concern. They remain unbeaten against fellow Top Four aspirants with their only losses coming from teams placed 12th or lower.
Time will tell whether the Reds are able to claim a Champions League spot.
Arsene Wenger - Arsenal
Wenger has just clocked over his 21st season in charge of the Gunners - longevity that is a real rarity in football these days.
Astonishingly, under Wenger, the Gunners have qualified for the Champions League every season, a reward for finishing in the Top Four. Arsenal are the only club to do this in the past 20 years.
The downfall of that though is that this season, the Gunners exited at the Round of 16 stage for the seventh straight season after heavy defeats in both legs to Bayern Munich. This has added to calls for Wenger to step down with the 67-year old still to decide his future beyond this season.
A Top 4 finish is still not guaranteed but with Wenger's track record, it would be hard to bet against them.
Jose Mourinho - Machester United
Better known in the Premier League for his exploits at Chelsea, Mourinho finally secured a move to Old Trafford, something that he has been wanting for some time.
Throw in the world-record signing of Paul Pogba and the free transfer of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, there was plenty of cause for celebration at the start of the season.
United though got off to a slow start and only late last year were able to string together and unbeaten spell that cemented their position near the top of the table.
United are still challenging in the Europa League but find themlseves
currently outside the Top 4. Finishing in the Champions League positions is key in order to hang onto talisman Ibrahimovic next season or he will likely chase the money being offered by the MLS.
Pep Guardiola - Machester City
After enjoying a sabbatical, Guardiola joined the Sky Blues and largely retained the same squad with the main addition being John Stones in a record deal from Everton.
City has had a mixed bag this season. There form has been inconsistent throughout but are showing positive signs head towards the business end of the season.
Guardiola must be looking forward to the end of the season and the Summer transfer window in order to rejuvenate his ageing squad. Clouds continue to hover over the careers of Yay Toure and Pablo Zabaleta with the later seemingly content to end his City career.
Surely he would also like his time over with his goalkeeping stocks with Claudio Bravo form being questioned all season long.
