Will unpredictable year produce surprise champ?

The most astonishing set of results yet, in an already very unpredictable Premier League season, and the different environment in which the English top flight is operating have raised the prospect of unexpected champions.

With Manchester City having conceded five goals at home for the first time in 438 games at the Etihad Stadium last weekend against Leicester City, champion Liverpool continued the trend of extraordinary results at Aston Villa.

In its remarkable 7- 2 defeat on Sunday, Liverpool became the first reigning English top- flight champion to ship seven goals in a league match since Arsenal against Sunderland in 1953, but goals flowing this season are anything but abnormal.

The result came hours after Manchester United suffered its joint- heaviest Premier League defeat against Tottenham Hotspur, a 6- 1 drubbing, with both games contributing to a total of 41 goals in a single Premier League round of matches.

It is just three short of the Premier League record for goals in a single game week – which was set last month. This season has been anything but predictable, but it has only enhanced the excitement.

“I want the Premier League to be a bit more like this,” former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher told Sky Sports. “When you are talking about 95 points to win the league, it is remarkable, but in some ways it kills the Premier League.

“I think this season could be unique.”

With no fans in stadiums to add pressure as a result of COVID- 19 restrictions, home advantage is not as important this season as fewer matches, on average, are being won by home teams than in any of the last five seasons.

Also, with less time to fit fixtures in, clubs are going from game to game, with little time to regroup, ensuring matches in the empty stadiums have a distinct training- ground game feel, which has helped increase the volume of goals.

Carragher believes if teams like Villa can humble Liverpool like it did on Sunday, with Everton remaining top of the table, we could be in for more surprises to come.

“There was no pre- season,” Carragher added. “There is no time for coaches to work with their teams on the training pitch.

“We might get a Leicester season [ when it won the title in 2015/ 16] and get a new champion and a strange top four, and I think that bodes well for the league this season.” ( Reuters)