Wednesday 10 April 2013

My Thoughts #5 - Top 4 is still up for grabs:

Ok, so United can't be caught. 
They are out of the equation. 3 more places are up for grabs. Yes, 3 not 2. City aren't home and dry yet remember that. 
9 points clear of 5th placed Arsenal is not safe with 21 points to gain.

Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal, Everton and even Liverpool have a chance of qualifying for next season's Champions League.
3 of those teams above will not get a place, but still.

Here is the table at the moment:

1st: Manchester United with 77 points
2nd: Manchester City with 65 points
3rd: Chelsea with 58 points
4th: Tottenham with 58 points
5th: Arsenal with 56 points
6th: Everton with 52 points
7th: Liverpool with 49 points

Manchester City are not out of the title race despite being 12 points behind, but they are not safe in the top 4 yet... a couple more wins and that will be solved, but City have been up and down all season. Not winning a match in this season's UEFA Champions League, losing in the 3rd Round of the Capital One Cup to Aston Villa.
Lost a couple of matches that they should have won, against Sunderland, Southampton and Everton hence why the gap at the top is what it is.

Chelsea are in 3rd place on goal difference, but despite this they are not home and dry yet. They have many quality players, but their fixture pile-up (tough EPL matches, FA Cup, Europa League) may be a major factor.

Tottenham are in 4th place currently, the last Champions League place. However, they are constantly looking over their shoulder at their top 4 rivals.
Bale and Lennon's injuries have come at the wrong time for Spurs and looking at their fixture list, Bale (when he returns in 2 weeks) may not be enough to secure the last place.  

Arsenal have a game in hand over north London rivals Tottenham, and a win in that match will move The Gunners up to 4th place, while Spurs are still shocked after the injuries sustained by players Aaron Lennon and Gareth Bale.

Everton are only 4 points off The Gunners, and have only lost once at home this season thanks to a solid defence and dangerous counter attack with players like Mirallas and Fellaini.

Liverpool have had an up and down season throughout, and everytime they look as though they are on form, they drop points in matches they should be winning. This happened again on Sunday in a goal-less draw against West Ham (round-up coming up soon), and if they want to get back with Europe's elite in the Champions League, they need to be consistent over the next month.

Liverpool's remaining fixtures;

Reading (a)
Chelsea (h)
Newcastle United (a)
Everton (h)
Fulham (a)
QPR (h)

So.. in conclusion the finale to this season's EPL will be fascinating, dramatic and very interesting. Watch out over the next few weeks.

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