The beautiful game can be oh so predictable at times, but on other occasions, it can throw up a couple of shocks.
The Premier League might have been fairly straight forward last season, but this time out the thrills and spills haven’t stopped.
From former Champions Chelsea to the promoted Bournemouth, some shocking results have occurred, and here are five things we think were the most shocking.
Chelsea’s collapse
Could anyone have predicted that the team who won the league with such ease last season would now be in a relegation fight?
Probably not, and if you had, you’d be pretty wealthy right now.
Chelsea are 16th in the league, have lost to pretty much everyone and now have a manager has lost his job and could well rock up at Manchester United.
To say the last few months of 2015 have been terrible for the Blues doesn’t even come close. Shambolic. Just shambolic.
Jamie Vardy’s record breaking goal run
For a player who was working in a factory and playing non league football only a matter of years ago, to say Jamie Vardy now holds the all time record for goals scored in consecutive games in the league speaks huge volumes.
Vardy has taken the Premier League by storm this year, and doesn’t look like slowing down yet. In fact, he could well become the Golden Boot winner.
Leicester City’s great escape and rise to the top
This time last year, the Foxes looked nailed on to go down into the Championship.
Roll on 12 months, and they look like topping the table as the Christmas period hits.
With Claudio Ranieri as their manager and their dream duo of Vardy and Mahrez up top, they now have to be taken seriously as not only top four contenders but title winners too.
Their odds to win the league are now 25/1 – a far cry from what you’d have gotten at the start of the season.
Real Madrid being booted out of the Copa
Imagine being so stupid that you field an ineligible player and see your team booted out of a cup competition.
Doing that once is bad, but doing it twice? That’s pretty much unforgivable, and that’s what Rafa Benitez has now done twice in his career – having seen Valencia thrown out of the Copa back during his time there.
As if a drubbing in El Clasico wasn’t bad enough, he then goes and allows that to happen.
The club as a whole should be ashamed of themselves, but the manager is responsible and Rafa is well on the way to his latest dismissal.
Bradford’s FA Cup run
The magic of the FA Cup was out in force last season, and there was no team who channeled it more than Bradford.
Coming from behind at Stamford Bridge to knock out Chelsea was their greatest achievement after being two goals down, and it’s hard to see anyone topping that.
To score four goals at Stamford Bridge used to be an achievement in itself before Chelsea’s collapse, so credit where it’s due.
