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The 2018-19 Premier League season is shaping up to be incredibly close, with the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City all being unbeaten after the first 12 games. Last year's champions City sit just two points clear at the top, and Liverpool and Chelsea are only slightly behind in second and third respectively.
Fortunately the Premier League trophy can't be shared because, well, imagine Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho sharing something! Their cordial relationship ended back in the La Liga days itself.
Anyway, from the looks of things Mourinho won't even be involved in the title picture; instead, his United team is likely to be in contention for the Europa League spots, battling with the likes of Everton.
So who is looking most likely to be crowned the football kings of England by the end of the season? Liverpool and Chelsea boast great starts to the season, showing off both great defense and attack. They have conceded a combined 13 goals and scored 50 in a combined 24 games, with Liverpool conceding three less than Chelsea and Chelsea scoring four more.
However, not many will disagree that Manchester City have looked even better than last season. Bernardo Silva has excelled in the role of the injured Kevin De Bruyne, having created five big chances and been involved in six goals in 12 appearances from midfield. This highlights Man City's depth that no other club has in the league.
City had arguably the best player in the Premier League taken away from them, yet that is barely noticeable due to their great squad. The likes of Silva and Ikay Gundagon have come in and played at the exact same tempo as every other player.
The key difference between Manchester City on one hand and Liverpool and Chelsea on the other is this: if Eden Hazard was taken away from Chelsea for a long period of time, then Chelsea would automatically struggle to even lay a finger on City's title credentials. Without Hazard's seven goals, four assists and nine chances created, Chelsea could be sitting much lower down the table; Hazard has scored really important goals so far this season, such as his goal in the 1-1 draw against title rivals Liverpool and an assist against Arsenal.
The same goes for Liverpool; if you took Mo Salah away from them - and I've heard that if you do want Salah removed then give the latest footballing villain a call, who is currently struggling in seventh place with the Los Blancos in Spain - and they will unravel.
Even though the so called Egyptian king is arguably yet to reach his Ballon d'Or worthy goalscoring form of last season, wherein he netted 32 goals in 36 games, Salah's six goals and three assists this season have aided Liverpool's just-beginning title quest. His goal at Huddersfield was the match winner, so without him Liverpool would already be five points behind Manchester City.
In conclusion, Manchester City look like favourites to lift the Premier League trophy for the fourth time. Moreover, they also seem likely to extend their winning run beyond this year, with the likes of Phil Foden coming through the ranks to join an already young and strong squad.
City will have remarkable depth that outweighs that of Chelsea, Liverpool, Spurs, Arsenal and Manchester United, which could be the key to their dominance of English football over the next few years.
