For the past five years, the Premier League has been one of the most dramatic and fun soccer leagues to watch. However, it has been dominated by the same six teams. 

The 2019-2020 season has been significantly different so far. 

The first big surprise is how well the three newly promoted teams — Norwich City, Sheffield United, and Aston Villa — have started. 

Norwich came out firing, beating Manchester City away and giving the champions their first loss since last Dec. 26. Fans have also seen the Championship League Golden Boot winner, Teemu Pukki, score six goals in the first five games along with getting two assists. Norwich, though, have dropped off of late. 

Sheffield and Aston Villa, on the other hand, have been getting it done against teams that are fighting in the mid-table battle, and they have done well.

Another surprise, meanwhile, is seeing Leicester City sit near the top of the table. 

Leicester’s star Jamie Vardy is scoring plenty of goals, and the Foxes trounced Southampton 9-0 recently in one of the biggest margins of victory in Premier League history. Leicester saw five different players get on the score sheet in that game, with two getting a hat-trick. 

While those teams are all on the rise, it’s been interesting to see two of the usual “top six” teams struggling so much.

Tottenham Hotspur have been poor, especially in the second half of games, when they need to prevail and where fans expect a team of this caliber to come out on top. The Spurs are 11th in the 20-team standings, a big disappointment.

Manchester United have also been poor. They opened the season beating Chelsea 4-0, but have looked nothing like that scoreline would suggest since. They have dropped points to teams that they should have easily beaten. 

United two weeks ago was in 15th, looking like they might have a chance to be relegated. However, they have somewhat turned it around, getting four out of six possible points recently. And with the league being so close this year, they have jumped to seventh place, where most might expect them to finish. 

Less surprising is the team at the top. Liverpool, the current champions of Europe and the Premier League runner-ups last year, have started off the season undefeated, only drawing to Manchester United two weeks ago, 1-1. 

This team has been something else. Even when they look as if they are going to lose, somehow they come out and win. Jurgen Klopp’s team is very disciplined and plays a way in which no team seems to be able to compete with them for the full 90 minutes. 

Even though the season is only ten games, in they seem to be the favorites in an otherwise surprising season.