As the last quarter of the season approaches, April presents the most exciting time in as far as the English Premier League is concerned.
Much as all the clubs start the season with a common goal -to win as many games as possible, at this particular stage, the ambitions of each club gets to be defined by their respective positions in the table standings.
The race for the title has two teams in it; Arsenal, the table leaders and Manchester City seated second. The Gunners hold an eight-point lead over the Citizens who have a game in hand with ten games left of place.
The fact that the top two are a distant ahead implies that of the four available Champions League slots, the first two are occupied leaving only two more places to fight for.
So which two teams hold the advantage of grabbing the remaining two spots?
The competition for the Champions League qualification is ideally between six teams;, Manchester United, Tottenham, Newcastle, Liverpool, Brighton and Brentford.
Manchester United
Manchester United are placed third in the league with 50 points, one head of fourth placed Tottenham, but with two games in hand which presents the Old Trafford outfit a chance to extend their lead to seven points if they manage to win their games in hand.
Considering the opponents they are left with, Man United seem to have much easier games as compared to their Champions League rivals Tottenham and Newcastle which means they have a slight advantage over those two currently placed 4th and 5th respectively.
Tottenham have played two games more as compared to the Red Devils, However, Man United’s obstacle will be their participation in the three competitions which may drain the players, but they have the quality to outsmart their rivals.
Tottenham
Tottenham will have to contend with Everton (home), Brighton (home), Bournemouth (home),Newcastle (away), Man.Utd (home), and Liverpool (away) some of their remaining opponents.
Spurs have lacked the consistency to achieve their goal and their latest result in which they threw away a two-goal lead to draw 3-3 with bottom placed Southampton accelerated the sacking of head coach Antonio Conte. This may consequently affect the dressing room, but their influential attacking duo of Harry Kane and Son Heung-min should steer the side to the fourth place finish.
Newcastle
Newcastle have Man United (home), West Ham (away), Brentford (away), Aston Villa (away), Tottenham (home) ,Everton (away) and Southampton (home) as some of their remaining ten games. The Magpies’ dip in form saw them surrender their place in the top four to Manchester United and Tottenham.
As the 3rd, 4th and 5th teams all have a date with each other, there is a possibility of them cancelling themselves out which gives United the advantage to take the third slot while Spurs and Newcastle fight for the remaining slot.
Newcastle however, have two games in hand over Tottenham. If they win those games they may as well finish ahead of the London based side.
The next three teams which follow in 6th ,7th and 8th position are Liverpool, Brighton and Brentford respectively, but they lie a distant eight points adrift of Man United, and They are all tied on 42 points.
They also hope for Champions League qualification, but Spurs and Newcastle are ahead of them by six and five points respectively.
Liverpool
Liverpool who have some tough games against Manchester City (away), Chelsea (away), Arsenal (home), Leeds (away), Nottingham Forest (home), West Ham (away) and Tottenham (home) could find it hard to dislodge teams ahead of them so they are rather behind in the pecking order for the two slots.
Jurgen Klopp’s team has lacked the kind of consistency that saw them compete on the four fronts last season. They won two domestic trophies last term, but they find themselves in their own shadow.
Brighton and Hove
Some of Brighton’s next games include Brentford (home), Bournemouth (away), Tottenham (away), Chelsea (away), Man United (home), Nottingham (away) and Wolves (home). Having a game in hand over the Kops gives the Seagulls a slight advantage for a sixth place finish.
They have enjoyed such blistering form this season, beating up some of the top guns including Manchester United at the start of the season. They also hammered Liverpool 3-0 in the league and ejected them from the FA Cup which convincingly gives them the right to claim the sixth spot.
Brentford
Brentford also do have a tricky pile of fixtures which include among others Brighton (away), Man United (away), Newcastle (home), Wolves (away), Aston Villa (home), Chelsea (away) and Nottingham Forest (home).
Like Brighton, the Bees have been in stellar form this season which is why they are in contention for European competitions. They managed to get points off the top three clubs, holding Arsenal to a 1-all draw after humbling Manchester United 4-0 earlier in the season. They also beat up on Manchester City 2-1 before going into the World Cup break.
Thomas Frank’s side has been a very difficult opponent to break down, but the fact that they have played two games more than Brighton, means they fall behind in the pecking order. Brentford and Brighton will cancel out each other and most of their next opponents are either fighting for survival in the relegation zone or in the top half making their situation complex.
My verdict is Manchester United and Tottenham will take the remaining two Champions League slots while one of Liverpool or Newcastle will settle for Europa. Brighton and Brentford will settle for the Conference League .
Chelsea’s only route to the Champions League next season is by winning it this season.
