Linfield: Why they are fast becoming a team to watch in Northern Ireland

The Northern Irish Premiership can be a bit of a drab affair year on year, with Belfast rivals Cliftonville and Glentoran engaging in an annual competition to lift the league trophy and everyone else forced to settle for the race to be best of the rest.

Whilst that dynamic hasn’t changed this time around, there has been a lot more excitement in the way that the season has gone, with matches a lot closer and several sides putting on strong performances. The gap between the top two and the rest of the division has certainly narrowed, with Glentoran and Cliftonville level on points at this moment in time, although Glentoran have played one game more, whilst just three points is all that separates them from third-placed Lisburn Rangers.

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Whilst the team currently closest to the top two have been this season’s surprise package, they have not been the only side worth keeping an eye out for. Linfield are another, with them currently occupying fourth spot in the standings and enjoying another positive campaign. Whenever on the field, they have generally played in a positive manner and have demonstrated why they are not a team to take lightly.

With them currently having a seven-point gap between themselves and fifth-placed Derry City, Linfield have their sights firmly trained on those above them in the table, and they are certainly playing their part in making the 2024 Premiership campaign a more unpredictable affair.

Attacking threat

When watching Linfield play, it is immediately noticeable just how little interest they possess in constructing passing sequences, with it a rarity to see them keep the ball in one area of the field for too long and instead more common to see them shifting it up the field as soon as there is a chance to.