After a long time halting of club’s football, due to the 2022 FIFA World Cup held in Qatar, domestic football leagues around the world are set to resume with the English Premier League restarting with the traditional Boxing Day fixtures on Monday, December 26, 2022.
As the EPL and other football competition returns to our viewing and conversations, here are 5 major points to look out for from the first half of an exciting 2022-23 season.
ARSENAL’S COMFORTABLE POSITION AS LEAGUE’S LEADER
Mikel Arteta maintained good position before the world cup break, with 37 points in 14 games leading Manchester City with five.
After their best Premier League start, this is the first time they will be top at Christmas since the 2007-08 season.
All seven teams to win 12 of their first 14 games have went on to win the Premier League title.
Another good omen for the Gunners is sides that topped the premier league table on Christmas Day usually end up being champions in 10 of the past 13 seasons.
IMPACTS OF WORLD CUP
An intense, mid-season World Cup always carried the risk of fatigue and injuries to players.
Leaders Arsenal could well be the worst impacted as a result of a serious knee injury picked up by Brazil striker Gabriel Jesus.
It could well be late February before we see him in action again after what had been an impressive start to his time with the Gunners, albeit one that had seen him fail to score in six league games before the break.
In contrast, despite having the most players of any club at the World Cup with 16, Manchester City currently have no injuries to report.
The majority of their representatives in Qatar were out of the tournament by the semi-finals, with only Argentina’s Julian Alvarez making it beyond the last eight.
FIXTURES COME THICK AND FAST
In order to incorporate the World Cup into the domestic season, matches will now be played regularly so all fixtures can be fulfilled in a timely fashion.
Between now and the end of January there are five rounds of English top-flight fixtures. These all come after some clubs have featured in the Carabao Cup fourth round, with those games having taken place on 20-22 December.
In addition, the FA Cup third round will be played 6-9 January, before some teams return to European action in mid-February.
MESSI & MBAPPE RIVALRY IN PSG
After a dramatic world cup final display, with Lionel Messi winning the world cup and the Golden ball, French International, Klyan Mbappe also added to his portfolio, by emerging as the tournament highest goal scorer, beating teammate (Messi) to secure the golden boot.
However, football fans around the world have been so anxious of how Lionel Messi would handle the atmosphere, beating his host community to the glory of his country.
