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Terence Wood
Terence Wood is an ardent Arsenal fan, football Writer & Contributor for @VAVELcom @VoicingFootball @ByFarBlog @punditfeed http://arsenaldailynews.com and an occasional radio and T.V pundit. Twitter:@Terence__Wood

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The English Premier League & the London Difficulty Factor


Since the inception of the premier league in 1992, A period that changed the phase of English football by ushering in an influx of foreign talent to the shores of this great footballing nation, there have been 6 different winners of the prestigious English Premier League trophy namely Manchester United (13), Chelsea (4), Arsenal (3), Manchester City (2), Blackburn Rovers and Leicester City (1).
Out of an achievable 24 league trophies over the years, 17 (representing 70.83%) have been won by teams outside London namely, Manchester United, Manchester City, Blackburn and Leicester City. The other 7 (representing 29.17%) have been won by teams in London namely Arsenal and Chelsea.
Reasons for such a disparity in league achievements can be attributed to these factors:

London Derbies:
Averagely a London football club will face at least 4 local teams within the capital in a premier league season. Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, West Ham, Charlton, Fulham, Crystal Palace, Queens Park Rangers, Wimbledon have all at some point played in the BPL.
Comparing this staggering number of rivals to previous winners such as Man United (only local rival being Man City) Man City (only local rival being Man United) and most recent winners Leicester City who have no local rivals in the premier league. This gives other teams outside London a psychological advantage over their London competitors. Reason being most derbies don’t follow form guides and serve as a form of bragging rights for the victors of that particular encounter. 

For instance, during the 1998/99 EPL season Arsenal needed an unlikely favour from their north London neighbour’s Tottenham Hotspurs going into the last game of the season by ensuring they prevented Manchester United from winning, however they lost the game 2-1  after scoring the1st goal, Of course they had nothing to lose. Fast forward 2nd May,2016 Tottenham were 2nd and had a mathematical chance of toppling eventual winners Leicester, however after leading by 2 goals they succumbed to a resurgent Chelsea a fellow London rival who had absolutely nothing to lose except of course bragging rights by drawing 2-2 at the end of 90 minutes. This eventually crowned Leicester City as champions of England. An unprecedented feat in the annals of the competition.
 European Commitments:
Arsenal, Chelsea and to some extent nowadays Tottenham are consistently in Europe competing for continental glory (UEFA Champions League or Europa League). Midweek commitments generally take a toll on the players and in turn affects league performances. Of course, same could be argued for the likes of traditional powerhouses like Manchester United and Liverpool have been in these competitions and the former has won 2 and excelled in the Premier League.
The truth is out of the perceived top 6, 3 are based in London (Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham) they have a relatively tougher task in combining both domestic and foreign competitions.
Apart from Manchester United winning the EPL and the Champions League twice in the same year (1999 and 2008), the only London team to win the Champions League in 2012 (Chelsea) placed a disappointing 6th in the EPL that season. Also in 2006, Arsenal reached the Champions League final and lost whiles placing 4th in the EPL.

 Formerly Big Four now Big Six Clubs:
 Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United since the early 2000,s have been consistent in placing between 1st and 4th in the EPL. Matches between these big teams have generally decided premier league titles. With the influx of Arab oil money via Manchester City and the amicable astuteness of Tottenham Hotspur it is safe to say the traditional top 4 has been jeopardized and replaced with Top Six clubs consistently aiming for the title. Since the emergence of Man City as a title challenger in 2010 Only Chelsea has been the sole beneficiary of a London premier league triumph in 2014/15 season the rest have been won by both Manchester clubs and surprise outsiders Leicester City.

A typical Arsenal season to emerge as champions would mean they will have to overcome
*1) London derbies (West ham, Chelsea, Tottenham, Crystal Palace)
*2) The other big 5 which already has Tottenham and Chelsea hence Man City, Liverpool and Manchester United.
 3) Mid table teams like Everton, Stoke City and Southampton are always difficult to beat at home.
4) Champions League football and other cup competitions depending on how far they go.
4) Another surprise package like Leicester City 2015/16.

*1)24 points available for grabs in London Derbies.
*2)18 points available in Big games.


 A premier league trophy win by a London club isn’t a mean feat and any team which emerges as a champion is a worthy winner. But hey Liverpool’s failure to lift the EPL is a curious case that will be delved into another time, afterall they only have a Mersey side derby and are virtually not a top 6 team anymore. (pun intended) Hahaha!!!

terencewood14@gmail.com
Twitter: @Terence__Wood
                                                                                                                                

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