The battle is getting into its toughest stages, the English Premier League living up to its hype and this season in particular, living up to its expectations.

There has been failings and wailings, some unexpected albeit EPL-consciously expected happenings has given some teams the reason to lament and some, the reason to smile. As we journey into the second half of the season, below I take a look at the teams lamenting and the teams smiling.

Watch it Arsenal, Manchester United are catching up.

Coming into this season, Arsenal fans were finally blessed with the news they have long been waiting to hear, the replacement of former coach Arsene Wenger, as they feel he is no longer the man to lead them to glory. Former Sevilla and Paris Saint Germain coach, Unai Emery was employed, quality signings were made and Arsenal has since the season began, produced amazing performances worthy of title competitors only to be brought down by the same problem they have faced under their past manager, losses against top sides as a result of defensive shortcomings and inexperienced defenders.

Their recent drubbing at the hands of Liverpool has seen them sit 5th and fall 5 points below 4th place and are three points above 6th place.

Speaking of 6th place, rejuvenated Manchester United team under former player Solskjaer has seen them rack up 9 points out of 9 and are heading to the top four. Mourinho's sacking from Manchester United is appearing to be their turning point of the season as his replacement, former red devils player, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has overseen three wins out of three with 12 goals scored and three conceived. The freedom he offers to his players has got him positive rewards and the team is brimming with confidence.

Manchester City awokened?

Not too long ago, defending champions, Man city were sitting comfortably on top of the table, looking to defend their title without much difficulty until they were beaten by Chelsea FC. That loss exposed the flaws in the team and their loss of Central/Defensive midfielder Fernandinho to the treatment table played a vital part in their losses against Crystal Palace and Leicester City and currently lie seven points below Liverpool.

All eyes and thoughts were on City's last match of 2018 against Southampton after back to back losses, how would they react to going 10 points below leaders Liverpool. City responded positively by winning by 3 goals to 1 and kept the points at seven while going into the second half of the season.

Tottenham's inconsistency continues

Tottenham FC currently sit third with 45 points, 9 below first place and 2 below second place Manchester City. Are you aware Tottenham would have closed out the year in second position and 6 points below top spot? That would have been possible if they maintained their lead over Wolves and secured all three points. Instead, they blew a one goal lead and ended up losing 3 goals to 1 to the Wolves team. Prior to the match against wolves, Tottenham produced series of important wins and fans expected the consistency to continue, of course it did, or it looked like it would when striker Harry Kane put them ahead with an outside of the 18yard box left footed curler. They couldn't break the resilient Wolves team anymore and ended up paying for it after they equalized and ended up adding extra 2, not good for a title aspiring team.

For past seasons, Tottenham have only been recognized as a team that can upset top teams but not title contenders for they are known to be inconsistent at some point of the season and lose very vital points.

Sarri's Chelsea losing hope on the title already?

Coming into this season, Chelsea were one of the top teams that replaced their managers and former Napoli manager, Maruzzio Sarri found his flight touching down Stamford Bridge. He introduced his philosophy known as "sarriball" into the team and things were going fine until recently. Although they inflicted on defending champions Manchester city, their first loss of the season, they currently sit fourth in the table and 11 points off first position. Surprising losses and unacceptable draws against lowly rated teams has seen them fall further down the table. Their major problem appears to be in the striking position and injuries hampering the team, with Sarri acknowledging recently that they are in trouble after losing back up striker Giroud to injury.

Liverpool remain undefiled and indefatigable

Would it be safe to say Liverpool already has one hand on the title?

The reds made it clear, their intentions of wrestling the league title away from Manchester city with quality signings. They bolstered every weak position in the team, filled up every hole and increased the squad depth.

Now, their strikers are firing beyond all cylinders and the fans would only hope they keep up the consistency and always put on those goal scoring boots. It is no fluke that Liverpool seat comfortably atop the table with a seven point gap and are still unbeaten in the league after the first half of the season.

Questions begging for answers

Will Arsenal and Manchester United make top four come end of season?

Will Chelsea still mount a title challenge without a striker?

Will Manchester city retain the English Premier league trophy?

Will Tottenham defy all odds and go all out to win the league or end up as runners up?

Will Liverpool lift the English Premier league after a lengthy 28 year wait?

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Note: All images are twitter and Google sourced.