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The Premier League is undoubtedly the most competitive League in World Football. While Leagues like the La Liga, Bundesliga and Ligue one have two maybe three teams in the title race each season, the Premier League has a mindboggling Six: Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, and Tottenham Hotspur.
Each team has a host of strengths and an array of quality players. No matter what form each of these teams are in, a match between two teams of the "Big Six" is always an exciting one because of it's sheer unpredictable nature. With the league, just a few weeks away from it's testing winter, taking a look at each side's Weakness seems like a good idea.
So in order of the Premier League's current points table, let's take a look at each title contenders weaknesses.
#1 Manchester City
A tough one to begin with. Finding flaws in Pep Guardiola's Manchester City is like looking for a needle in a haystack but, if you look hard enough, you may just find your needle.
The "Sky Blues" are like a well-oiled machine and look unstoppable at the moment. Every aspect of their game is just beautiful too watch, the pace, recovery of the ball, finding space with ease and most importantly their ability to be oh so clinical in front of goal. City also have unbelievable squad depth in every position... Ah Ah Ah. Let me stop you there. While Guardiola's side seems to have most of his bases covered, Manchester City lack depth in one very important position - Defensive Midfield.
Brazilian International Fernandinho is the only viable first-team option Manchester City have in the CDM position with England International Fabian Delph the closest thing they have to a backup. An Injury to the aging Brazilian International will put City in a spot of bother and overplaying him during the busy Christmas Period may not be the best Idea.
Furthermore, City's Full-Backs always take up very advanced roles and if a team can beat them for pace and is good on the Counter-Attack they can very well exploit Manchester City.
#2 Liverpool
Liverpool is probably the most flamboyant side in the Premier League after Manchester City. Jurgen Klopp's team seemed to have fixed most of their issues after acquiring Virgil Van Dijk in the winter window last season and signing up Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson Becker to solidify defensively. But they still have a weakness or two.
They have some minor vulnerabilities like the inexperienced full-back duo of Tent-Alexander Arnold and Andy Robertson. Though both of them have performed pretty well in recent times, they're still inexperienced with no experienced back-ups to guide them. Liverpool also lacks some creativity from Midfield and haven't found a suitable replacement for Philippe Coutinho. But with Roberto Firmino dropping deep at times and Xherdan Shaqiri also decent in that role, the Reds shouldn't face any issues.
The big chink in their armor is the fact that despite having an amazing squad, Jurgen Klopp doesn't have a lot of winners in his team and the players haven't won anything big. Liverpool, in the past, have fallen at the Final Hurdle and who's to say they won't again?
#3 Chelsea
Chelsea have looked resurgent under Maurizio Sarri and the Italian's attractive "Sarriball" is at full display. There was a lot of skepticism surrounding Chelsea at the start of the season as they had hit the reset button once again and were starting with a new coach in Maurizio Sarri. Though the Blues have been impressive and are the only unbeaten team in Europe's Top Flight, they do have some flaws.
Maurizio Sarri has helped us out in pointing out this one. The Defence. Though the backline consisting of Marcos Alonso, David Luiz, Antonio Rudiger, and Cesar Azpilicueta has been pretty solid on paper, they have looked shaky at times. Sarri demands a lot from all his defenders, offensively and defensively and it's one aspect they can definitely improve on.
Alvaro Morata has looked better this Season for the West London outfit but is too inconsistent while Olivier Giroud sets up more goals than he scores. Though Chelsea are getting Goals from Eden Hazard, Ross Barkley and Willian, Sarri will want his strikers to contribute more.
#4 Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham have immense Quality and have proved to the football world that you don't need colossal transfer fees to have a great squad. On their day, Tottenham can beat any team in the World. Exhibit A: Spurs were the only team to beat Real Madrid in the lead up to their Champions League win last season.
Mauricio Pochettino's side are almost everything you want in a football club - defensively solid, probably the best striker in the country and a hard-working team that has crashed the "Big Boys" party. But one overwhelming fact is that Spurs have no silverware to show for all their great performances and like Liverpool, they seem to succumb to that pressure at the final hurdle.
They have some weaknesses in terms of squad depth as well but the main weakness seems to be the lack of consistency in big games and the lack of intent from the players towards the fag end of the season. The fact of the matter is that Spurs themselves are their greatest weakness as they aren't able to get past their own problems when it comes to winning the knockout games.
#5 Arsenal
Under Unai Emery, the Gunners have looked a lot more attractive, and the desire to win games is evident. Watching Arsenal break the shackles from the Wenger era and now become a genuinely dangerous side is an excellent sight to behold. Though they have some great strengths, like rivals Chelsea, their biggest weakness is their defence.
The defensive problem at Arsenal though is way more serious than Chelsea as the Gunners' main objective in most games seems to be to outscore the opponent without being too concerned about the defense. This style of play reminds me of Liverpool during Jurgen Klopp's early days and though that system was immensely entertaining even, the Reds sorted out their defensive problems eventually.
Arsenal needs a Centre-Back or they need club captain Laurent Koscielny to recover quickly in order to bring some calmness to their chaotic back-line.
#6 Manchester United
The fact that the sixth team part of the "Big Six" isn't even in the Top 6 gives you an idea of their weaknesses. United have had a turbulent campaign that has had some highs, but the lows have been significantly longer and have been more evident.
Pointing out weaknesses in a side that's going through a rough patch is easy and yes, United are looking defensively vulnerable, barring Pogba, they have no creative outlet in midfield and their strikers haven't been clinical. These are all evident and easy to point out but, the one weakness that is really haunting Manchester United is the fact that they have no identity.
Jose Mourinho is tinkering with his team too much and it seems like the players haven't been given key instructions or even have assigned roles. The forwards on some days drop deep and try to hit on the counter and on some days play a very direct game. Mourinho seems to have confused his players and really needs to bring some clarity to the team if they're to salvage anything from this season.
