Is The EPL Finally Becoming More Competitive?

The English Premier League has been hailed as one of the best leagues in the world for the past few years now—but in terms of competitiveness, there always seemed to be a gulf separating the top and the bottom halves of the table at almost every stage of the season.

Not anymore.

This season of the English Premier League has produced some fantastic performances from the "lesser" sides, with the monopoly that is the "Big Four" also under threat from both Aston Villa and Everton.

What is more intriguing, though, is that the bottom half of the table seems to be ever so open. A win for Sunderland, for instance, considering that things go well for them on a couple of match days, can propel them from 14th to up to eighth position in the table.

It's quite a fact considering that such a situation might have not been envisaged a couple of seasons back, when the bottom-half teams' fates slowly but surely started to unravel around this stage of the season.

Positive football seems to be the mantra of most teams, because they know that three points on a given day can lift them up two to three places. This could be the reason for the recent performances of Stoke City, who were barely given a chance of staying up by most "experts." Yet they seem to be defying all odds and are currently 15th in the standings, but are in no way out of trouble.

Hull City and West Bromwich Albion have played positive football all throughout the season. Never have I seen two promoted sides going for a win in almost every game they play. Hull City, especially, set the league alight in the first few months of the season with impressive wins over Arsenal and Tottenham away.

WBA, despite their current position under boss Tony Mowbray, like to pass the ball around and have certainly impressed many with certain performances—although their defence has left a lot to be desired.

Aston Villa have done their bit to shake up the "Big Four." With a solid defence and an impressive midfield and attack, Villa now occupy fourth position, although they haven't recorded a win in the last six competitive matches.

Everton seem to impress season after season under David Moyes, and despite their squad being stretched because of injuries—they are holding onto sixth position in the league.

The likes of Fulham and Wigan Athletic have also done very well, with both the teams in ninth and 10th position respectively. Fulham, who survived relegation last season, have done very well with a similar squad, with Roy Hodgson restoring some stability in the West London team. In fact, Wigan have looked very impressive despite losing their experienced marksman, Emile Heskey, to Aston Villa in the January transfer window.

The competitiveness of the Premier League cannot be questioned—with the bottom 10 teams separated by 11 points and the fight for fourth place still very much alive, and even the mid-table teams being able to nick wins instead of settling for draws, the English Premier League has certainly become a lot more competitive this season.

One can only hope that the trend continues in the seasons to follow.