Breaking down the Premier League

By Sonia Panesar, Contributor

The Premier League is a professional league for English football that is widely known as one of the most famous leagues in the world, including the UEFA Champions League and the European’s champion cup. The Premier League, which was founded on February 20, 1992 by a group of clubs known as the Football League First Division, consists of 20 participating clubs who are all shareholders.

The season starts in August and ends in May, in which the teams play 38 matches individually. It is the most-watched league around the world, being broadcasted in 643-million homes, with a TV audience of 4.7-billion people.

So far this season, 305 matches have been played with an estimated 10.5-million fans in attendance, 512 players, 3,341 shots off target, 4,358 shots on target, 221 wins, 84 draws, 156 clean sheets, 8 hat-tricks, 862 goals scored, 940 yellow cards, as well as 35 red cards. Last but not least, there have been 71 nationalities represented at these matches.

It may look like Manchester United is going to win, but a sudden turn of events could easily change the current rankings. They have dominated the Premier League in the past with their first ever win in the season of 1907-08 followed by 18 more years of finishing first overall including their most recent push being their hat-trick from 2006-09 where they won three seasons in a row. Exclusive of the great match that took place in the finals of the 2010-11 season, where Manchester played against the Blackburn Rovers on May 14, 2011—where even though the match ended with a 1–1 draw, United still won due to the amount of points they possessed.

The United are otherwise known as the “Red Devils,” with their very famous manager Sir Alex Ferguson who has been with the team ever since 1986 and is recognized as one of the most successful managers of all time. The “Red Devils” signed a new player from their rivals Arsenal with Robin van Persie for 24-million pounds, on a four-year contract. Their biggest sale was for one of their best players, Christiano Ronaldo, who now plays for Real Madrid since August 2009, for 80-million pounds.

The current team consists of Wayne Rooney, Ashley Young, Nani, Nemanja Vidic, Javier Hernandez, David De Gea, Anderson, Patrice Evra, Phil Jones, Rio Ferdinand, Chris Smalling, Danny Welbeck, Federico Macheda, Fabio Da Silva, Jonny Evans, Michael Carrick, Mame Biram Diouf, Michael Owen, Park Ji Sung, Ryan Giggs, Darron Gibson, Rafael Da Silva, Andres Lindegaard, Ben Amos, Paul Pogba and Ravel Morrison.

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Here’s a look at the current top goal scorers:

1. Robin Van Persie-Manchester United, 664 goals
2. Gareth Bale- Tottenham, 581 goals
3. Juan Mata- Chelsea, 546 goals
4. Luis Suarez- Liverpool, 517 goals
5. Patrice Evra- Manchester United, 516 goals

The top five teams on the table are:

1. Manchester United: 77 points
2. Manchester City: 62 points
3. Tottenham: 57 points
4. Chelsea: 55 points
5. Arsenal: 53 points