Chelsea to Win EPL, Shaun Wright-Phillips Says

The current season of the English Premier League, the most followed football league on the planet, is still at an early stage. Not too early for speculations and odds, though. A look at the Betway English Premier League soccer betting odds reveals that the bookmakers already have an idea about which team will be declared the victor at the end of the season. The oddsmakers at Betway think that the winner will be Manchester City, followed closely by Chelsea.

But Shaun Wright-Phillips Says, a former winger at both teams (plus some others in the Major League Soccer) thinks otherwise: he claims that Chelsea will grab the trophy from right under the Citizen’s noses. Here’s why.

Not at full capacity

According to Wright-Phillips, Chelsea is not playing at full capacity yet - but this was already enough for them to reach the top spot in the standings after five matches played. They are currently tied with Liverpool in the top spot - the two teams have the same number of matches won and the same number of goals scored and conceded. Their one draw was played with Liverpool of all teams - and they played the second half of the match with ten people.

Chelsea won the last season of the Champions League - and that was before they added Romelu Lukaku and midfielder Saul Niguez to their already strong lineup.

Wright-Phillips thinks that Chelsea is already very strong - too strong for the other teams in the tournament to stand a chance against them. “I have to be honest and right this second, I think Chelsea would pip City to the title,” he told Metro this week. “The fact that they don’t have to play well and still come away with 3-0 wins is unbelievable and [Thomas] Tuchel has even said they haven’t played well yet. He still wants more from his team and wants them to play his way still, but they’re coming away with these wins still.”

Wright-Phillips praised Thomas Tuchel for the changes he made at Chelsea. During the time of Lampard, he said, the team had a really fluid attack but was conceding too many goals. Under Tuchel, Chelsea has a consolidated defence that works with the midfield like a well-oiled machine.

Who is Shaun Wright-Phillips

Shaun Wright-Phillips joined Manchester City at the age of 17 after being released by Nottingham Forest in 1999. He soon graduated from the youth team and joined the senior side - in the next six seasons, he played in more than 150 league games and scored 26 times, won the team’s Young Player of the Year award four years in a row.

He left for Chelsea in 2005, returning to his native London for a change. His first season with the team was inconsistent - he was struggling to find his scoring form - so he missed out on the FIFA World Cup in 2006. In the 2006-2007 season, he regained his form, starting in several matches, but in the coming seasons, he didn’t perform as expected.

Ultimately, he fell out of favour with the club’s manager and was allowed to leave the club in 2008. He returned to Manchester City for a few more seasons. He was a regular at first, but his appearances became more sporadic as time passed - in the 2010-2011 season, he only made seven appearances with the team. So he left - on the final day of the summer transfer window in 2011, he signed with Queens Park Rangers. During his time there, his role diminished further - ultimately, he was released by the team in 2015. He didn’t leave the turf, though - not before trying his hand (and feet) at Major League Soccer. His time there was short - after two years played with two MLS clubs he retired from active duty in 2017. He didn’t leave football behind completely - he is an occasional pundit making media appearances across the board.