Every top six Premier League club’s biggest fear this season

The Premier League’s top six are (mostly) having good seasons so far.

With the Premier League now 10 games old, five of the top six are the league’s top five, with only Manchester United lagging behind. But just because things are going so well thus far, doesn’t mean things will stay this way. Given it’s halloween, we’ve had a look at each of the big six sides and seen what their biggest fear this season would be.

Manchester City: a major injury to Ederson

Manchester City are a side with no apparent weaknesses. They’re top of the Premier League, playing superb football, and seem to have the squad depth to cope with any sort of problems. Kevin de Bruyne injured? No problem; up steps Bernardo Silva. Leroy Sané sluggish? No problem; here comes Benjamin Mendy on the left.

But there’s one area where they are short, and that’s in goal. Claudio Bravo is out for the season after rupturing his achilles tendon, and City had to recall 19-year-old Aro Muric just one match into a season-long loan at NAC Breda in order for him to act as cover.

So if the excellent Ederson goes down with a problem, then the rookie Muric would have to step up. Now, we all saw what happened when City tried to play their high-risk football without the security of a rock solid goalkeeper; they lost a whole lot of points and ended up winning nothing. Without Ederson, there’s a risk that could happen again.

Liverpool: a major injury to Virgil Van Dijk

Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool are a side that has learned how to defend over the years. Well, months. Well, since they signed Virgil Van Dijk. The Dutch defender is not just individually brilliant (and he truly is) but he is also a supreme leader at the back. An organiser.

Part of the reason Liverpool have been able to seamlessly integrate two different teenagers into their back-line as well as play expansive high-risk football whilst having Dejan Lovren at centre-back and a former Hull player at left-back is because Van Dijk can take all these disparate pieces and organise them into a cohesive whole. Without him, Liverpool’s defence falls apart, as do their ambitions.

Chelsea: the players losing their nerve

Chelsea are still unbeaten 15 games into Maurizio Sarri’s debut season, and they have adapted very quickly to the Italian’s tactics. They are a squad brimming with talent and enough depth to cover for almost any injury. Even their concerns over Eden Hazard’s future have been eased, with the Belgian saying he’ll stay for this season at least. They’re cruising.

But… what if they do finally lose? Responding to defeat (especially after so long without one) is not easy. Right now faith in Sarri’s system is sky high, but a loss that isn’t followed immediately by a win could shake all that apart. A Chelsea squad that doesn’t have absolute faith in what Sarri is doing will start to drop points with alarming regularity.

Arsenal: Emery bets big on the Europa and misses

Unai Emery is a Europa League legend. He won three in a row for Sevilla. Once they make it through the group, Arsenal should probably prioritise the competition as it provides a route back into the Champions League regardless of where the Gunners finish in the Premier League (and given their defensive frailties, there’s no guarantee Arsenal finish top four).

But the Europa League is a cup competition, and that means upsets are possible. Things don’t always go to plan, and so even if Arsenal put all their eggs into the Europa League basket they could still fail to win. Reducing their entire season to a futile exercise.

Spurs: Pochettino leaves for Real Madrid

Mauricio Pochettino is working wonders at Spurs. To keep a squad built around what is essentially a starting XI and two or three genuinely good back-ups so competitive over so many years shouldn’t be possible when you’re paying those players wages straight out of 2005.

Yet, here we are, Daniel Levy spends all the club’s money on a stadium, doesn’t sign anyone, and Spurs are still a thing because of Pochettino’s genius. But what if Pochettino leaves for the newly vacant managerial role at Real Madrid? Sure, Los Blancos looked elsewhere in the summer and the move would surely involve a huge payday for Spurs as Madrid would need to pay off his contract; but losing Pochettino would irrevocably sink Spurs under the weight of their new stadium.

United: Mourinho doesn’t leave for Real Madrid (or get sacked)

Manchester United are the only “big six” club that aren’t in one of the top six positions in the Premier League. That is largely because José Mourinho is a terrible, antiquated manager who doesn’t seem to understand young players and has little to no interest in playing attacking football and actually, you know, entertaining the fans.

Mourinho has argued with and alienated some of United’s best players (he tried to sell Anthony Martial in the summer and keeps on bickering with Paul Pogba). For some reason, Real Madrid are interested in bringing him back to the Santiago Bernabeu, but the nightmare scenario for United is that he rejects Los Blancos and stays at Old Trafford.

If Mourinho goes (whether he joins Madrid or simply gets sacked) then almost every player at United would see an uptick in performance. This phenomenally talented squad would start playing the kind of attacking football it is capable of. It’s not unthinkable that they make a genuine push to secure Champions League qualification. But if Mourinho stays? They’ll be lucky to make the Europa League.

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