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Post being replied to

Is the Premier League that bad or is Liverpool that good? by irishlaw2010

Last year, all 4 of Premier League teams advanced to the CL quarterfinals and the final was all English. Additionally, the EL final was all English.

And this year once again, all 7 English teams advanced out of their respective CL and EL groups.

Even within the Premier League the evidence doesn't seem to support a total collapse at the top, the average top 3 finishers over the last 10 years have had the following average point totals with the given ranges:

1) 89 points (100-80)
2) 82 points (97-71)
3) 74 points (82-70)

The current top-3 are on pace for the following finishes:

1) Liverpool - 110.96 points
2) Man City - 77.52 points
3) Leicester - 74.48 points

I think there is something to your point that the next tier of teams has been handicapped either with dumb spending, transfer bans, etc. But is that really different than mediocrity that other big clubs have had at times (Man U before Ferguson showed up, Liverpool in the 2nd half of the Hicks/Gillette era, etc.).