The most watched and the most decorated league is also the most competitive – English Premier League. But does the English top division deserve the word ‘the most competitive’? EPL fans could give you a tough debate, but the statistics show there is no need for that.
The Bundesliga is always being considered as a single horse race as Bayern Munich are the only favorites and have dominated the league. Teams like Borussia Dortmund, Wolfsburg, and Leverkusen all are only competing for a European spot instead of giving competition to the Munich giant.
Comparing to Bundesliga, the points difference for the European spots are very short and can change in any direction in the EPL, but is it the Champions League spot that we have to compare to decide the league’s title race? Absolutely NOT. The title race is for the top spot and not for the rest of top 4.
Talking about the competitiveness, Bayern Munich were defeated by second placed Wolfsburg by a margin of 4-1. In EPL, not a single team in the top 4 managed to win a single game against the top placed Chelsea.
Bayern tops the Bundesliga, 10 points ahead of the second-placed team where Chelsea also have the possibility to be ahead of second placed team with the same margin of points. Hardly any difference there. Bayern has 7 more games to play and Chelsea has 8, the tough fixtures ahead for Chelsea could reduce the gap, but that is not going to take the title away from Chelsea.
The most competitive league is almost decided with 8 game weeks left to play, the same situation applies to the so-called single horse race league. Additionally, the Bundesliga toppers are alive in the biggest European stage and are one of the favorites to clinch the title.
The last placed team of EPL, Leicester City has 22 points from 30 games where the Bundesliga tail-enders VfB Stuttgart has 23 from just 27 games, 3 games in hand.
The league where all the top teams have well-known stars, well-established youth academies and better financial powers is failing to give competition to the top spot till the end of the season. How could the league race be competitive? The top teams failing against lower order teams show the passion and quality the lowly sides have, but in other sense, it is clearly the inability of the top teams to dominate.
Past glories and statistics can be different, but at present, Bundesliga is not behind EPL in terms of quality and competitiveness in the title chase. Fewer people watch the league and they earn less, which is the only criteria where the Bundesliga teams are behind EPL sides.
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