Premier League (England):
The Premier League, now 15 games into the season, appears to have the potential for a genuine title race. Arsenal, the league leaders, have only won two of their last five, including a dramatic 1-2 loss to Aston Villa, which saw their opponents score with the final kick of the game.
Their five-point lead has shrunk to just two, and with both Manchester City and Villa breathing down their necks and in much better form, Arsenal need to improve their momentum if they are to win the league.
Crystal Palace still surprisingly sit in fourth, and while it’s hard to say whether their extra European fixtures will take a toll on their squad’s health or not, for now they’re sitting in a Champions League spot.
Chelsea, Manchester United, Everton, Brighton, Sunderland and Liverpool all sit just one game back in a crowded table that hasn’t seen much separation.
The relegation battle appears to finally be taking shape. Wolves are more or less down already, barring a miracle turnaround; their two points after 15 games have broken all sorts of records, none of them good.
A change in manager hasn’t helped, and their squad seems to be multiple steps below the Premier League level. Burnley have also lost their last five, and any early-season momentum seems to have faded away at Turf Moor.
The final spot looks like it will come down to one of Leeds, Nottingham Forest or West Ham, though Brentford and Fulham are not out of the woods either.
La Liga (Spain):
When Real Madrid beat Barcelona 2-1 in October to go four points clear at the top of the table, it looked like they were in total control of the league. Since that win, however, Real Madrid can best be described as in crisis.
New manager Xabi Alonso’s increasingly public clashes with key players have deteriorated the mood around the squad to the point where his job is reportedly in danger, not helped by an incredible meltdown in a 0-2 loss to Celta Vigo, where three Madrid players were sent off. Barcelona, for their part, have responded by winning every game since, and they now find themselves four points clear at the top.
Despite poor showings in the Champions League, Villarreal are in great domestic form and now sit just one point behind Real Madrid. Atletico Madrid find themselves right behind in fourth. Surprise packages Espanyol, Getafe and newly-promoted Elche all find themselves around the European spots. The other two teams that came up this year, Oviedo and Levante, sit in the bottom two spots and appear destined to return to the bottom. The third spot is currently occupied by Girona, who were playing in the Champions League just one season ago.
Serie A (Italy):
The most unpredictable and entertaining league in Europe once again seems to have an enthralling title race. The top three teams: AC Milan, Napoli and Inter Milan, all sit just one point apart from each other. Milan came back from 0-2 down to beat Torino 3-2 last weekend, with American star Christian Pulisic scoring twice. Napoli beat Juventus in a close rivalry game, and Inter handed Como a 4-0 defeat, being Como’s first loss since August. Roma have fallen out of the picture with two straight losses, but they still sit just four points from the top.
Sassuolo and Cremonese, two newly promoted teams, sit in eighth and ninth, respectively, and both look set to comfortably stay up. The big disappointments of the season have to be Juventus, Atalanta and Fiorentina. Juventus fired Igor Tudor after they fell out of the title race, but new manager Luciano Spalletti has failed to improve their form substantially. Atalanta lost influential long-term head coach Gian Piero Gasperini in the summer, and the result has been a return to being a mid-table team. The biggest surprise, however, is surely Fiorentina.
Fiorentina, who finished seventh last season, find themselves at the bottom and without a win through 14 games. Relegation is now a real possibility for La Viola, an unthinkable proposition just a few months ago. They sit seven points behind No. 17 Lecce, who they must catch up with to survive.
Bundesliga (Germany):
After two years of exciting title races, it appears the Bundesliga has reverted back to the status quo. Following the mass exodus of players and staff from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer, Bayern Munich are already eight points clear, winning 12 of their first 13. Vincent Kompany’s team has all but wrapped up the title and should consider themselves among the favorites for the Champions League as well.
RB Leipzig sits in second, and after a disappointing 2024-25, they appear to have found yet another talented young player in winger Yan Diomande. Expect him to leave the Bundesliga sooner rather than later. Elsewhere, despite a dramatic squad overhaul driven by sales, Bayer Leverkusen remain in the top four, right behind third-placed Borussia Dortmund.
St. Pauli and Mainz seem to be the most likely relegation candidates. Mainz had a very impressive season last year, but failed to replace key striker Jonathan Burkardt and have struggled as a result. Both promoted sides, Köln and Hamburg, are comfortably clear of the drop for now.
Ligue 1 (France):
Despite being the best team in the world last season, Paris Saint-Germain currently finds itself in second. Whether it’s fatigue from a marathon season, the impact of several injuries to key players, or a drop in form, RC Lens currently leads the Parisians by a point. With no household names and a squad valued at one seventeenth of PSG’s, Lens’ success at this point in the season is remarkable. Expect first-year head coach Pierre Sage to be linked with a host of bigger jobs in the next year.
Olympique Marseille, headed by former Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi, are in third, tied on points with Lille in fourth. Nantes and newly-promoted Metz are both currently in the relegation spots; however, there is not a large gap between them and safety.
Championship (England 2nd Tier):
Coventry’s 0-3 loss to Ipswich last week was their first loss since October, but they remain the favorites due to their incredible start to the season. Middlesbrough lost manager Rob Edwards to Wolves, but their form has gotten better since he left, while Ipswich have steadily recovered from a slow start to find itself in fourth. Millwall and Preston are both surprisingly still in the top 6, which is rounded out by a Stoke City team in miserable form.
Norwich, former Premier League regulars, are now five points back from safety in 23rd place. Portsmouth, Oxford, and Swansea are bunched between 20th and 22nd, and the third relegation spot could come down to one or two of those teams. Sheffield Wednesday, currently in administration, up for sale and under a transfer embargo, find themselves on -10 points due to multiple eight-point deductions after failing to pay wages on time. They are almost guaranteed to break the all-time record low points total for the division, and at this point, they are more concerned with finding a new owner so that they can keep the lights on.
Remaining European Countries:
There are a few other notable stories from around smaller European leagues. In Turkey, a massive betting scandal has led to more than 1000 players, hundreds of referees, and multiple club presidents being arrested and/or banned for gambling on games. As this is a recent scandal, there is almost certainly more to come, but it’s a very bad look for the Turkish federation.
Norway and Sweden, two countries whose calendars operate on the opposite cycle of most European leagues due to their winter weather, have both crowned surprise champions. In Norway, Viking won their first title in 34 years and now find themselves just one qualifying round away from next season’s Champions League. In Sweden, meanwhile, Mjällby won their first-ever league championship. Based in the small town of Hällevik, their stadium holds nearly five times the population of the town, which has just 1,485 inhabitants.
FC Thun, newly promoted to the Swiss league, are six points clear at the top of the table. Thun has never won a trophy in their 127-year history, but that could change this year. Europe’s longest league winning streak in Bulgaria could be broken this year, as Ludogorets, who have won 14 straight league titles, are 10 points behind league leaders Levski Sofia.
And finally, in Scotland, Heart of Midlothian leads Celtic by three points following a second win over the defending champions this season. Either Celtic or Rangers has won every single title since 1985. A win for Hearts would be a remarkable success and mark their first championship since 1960.