Often hailed as the most fiercely contested football league on the planet, the English Premier League this season is suffering from something it rarely experiences – a lack of edge.

With Liverpool on the verge of sealing the title and the relegation scrap already a done deal, the 2024–25 campaign has lost its usual bite far too early.

At the top, Arne Slot's Reds are cruising, having racked up 79 points and sitting a whopping 13 clear of second-placed Arsenal, with five games still to play.

The champagne may still be on ice, but it's already been chilled for weeks. A second Premier League title for Liverpool seems just a formality.

The bottom of the table tells a similar tale. Southampton, former champions Leicester City, are headed for the second-tier Championship, while also promoted Ipswich Town are all but doomed for a demotion.

Their fate has become a foregone conclusion, removing the thrill usually associated with end-of-season survival scraps.

All of this leaves fans wondering: where's the drama? The blood, sweat, and last-minute heartbreak and euphoria that made the Premier League the global juggernaut it is?

Well, what's left of the suspense lies in the top-five chase – a mad scramble for the final Champions League spot. Just three points separate five clubs in 3rd–7th position: Newcastle (59 points), Manchester City (58), Chelsea (57), Nottingham Forest, and Aston Villa.

Every pass, every slip-up, could decide who gets a golden ticket to Europe's elite stage.

Then there's the curious case of Tottenham Hotspur and 20-time champions Manchester United – both languishing in the lower half of the table, rubbing shoulders with sides they once swept aside with ease.

United sit 14th with 38 points, Spurs just behind on 37 – the only team alongside Forest to have played 32 games to date – a position that would have been unthinkable not long ago. Similarly to the ones above, a three-point margin involves teams placed 13th–17th.

Their decline adds a layer of schadenfreude for rival fans but indicates the strange imbalance in this year's race.

In short, this Premier League season has become a tale of early conclusions. The league that once kept viewers glued until the very last whistle of the very last matchday now finds itself coasting to the finish line – not with a roar, but a whimper.

As we approach the final stretch, the hope is that the top-five tussle – previously top-four – delivers the kind of tension and fireworks that defined the league's golden years.

Until then, fans may have to make do with what's left in the tank – and dream of more competitiveness next season.