Source: TheGuardian
Will a World Cup hangover spark an unpredictable Premier League season?
Fatigue from Russia could be a factor in the title race as Manchester City bid to retain the title for the first timeSo, we go again – and perhaps this season with an even greater sense of disbelief than usual that it’s back already. It won’t be long before we’ve returned to the familiar routine – just who is in crisis this week? – but for now it feels as though the Premier League will be swimming through the wash of the World Cup. The transfer window seems barely to have opened and yet is already in its last week, players have been still drifting back from holiday over the past few days, nothing seems to have had time to settle.That should, in theory, mean this title race is less predictable than usual, at least at its outset – and, while it would be misleading to suggest that the season after a World Cup has a habit of throwing up surprise winners, it is true that the Premier League in a season after a World Cup tends to be won with fewer points than usual. Not since Manchester United in 1998-99 has a post-World Cup league champion attained more points than the average of the champion over the previous three seasons – and that was in a pre-globalised world before every team had half a dozen players who had been at the tournament. Related: Premier League 2018-19 preview No 6: Chelsea | Simon Burnton Related: Premier League 2018-19 preview No1: Arsenal Continue reading......read full article
