EPL: Top four final push

The rat race for the all-important top-four places in the English Premier League is well and truly on after Manchester City and Arsenal were eliminated midweek from the Round of 16 stages in the UEFA Champions League. 

That leaves no English teams left in the competition after Chelsea lost their tie to French giants Paris-Saint Germain while Liverpool suffered defeat to Turkish side Besiktas in the Round of 32 Europa League. 

This means full attention will now be drawn to the domestic competitions which for all, except Arsenal and Liverpool in the FA Cup, is the Premier League. 

To their own fault Manchester City have now included themselves in the cluster at the top of the league consisting of six teams: Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, Southampton, and Tottenham Hotspurs.

Only weeks ago City were closing in on Chelsea at the summit after the west London side endured a few mishaps which were not capitalised by Manuel Pellegrini’s side from Manchester, who now find themselves in a top-six horse race in a short space of time. 

But in professional football there is no time to ponder on current agonies and heartbreak as teams bring all their focus to the final eight fixtures in the League this weekend. 

The 'Big Four' is no longer a thing.

RUN-IN

Manchester City – West Brom (h), Crystal Palace (a), Man Utd (a), West Ham (h), Aston Villa (h), Spurs (a), QPR (h), Swansea (a)

In all their latest calamities that include an away defeat to relegation battlers Burnley and a 1-0 loss to Barcelona yesterday morning, I still cannot see last year’s champions dropping out of the top-four. 

With no major injuries to their squad Man City will be in full throttle for the final stretch and I see them putting on at least one more charge towards leaders Chelsea for the title crown. 

Prediction – 2nd

Arsenal – Newcastle (a), Liverpool (h), Burnley (a), Chelsea (h), Hull (a), Swansea (h), Man Utd (a), West Brom (h)

Arsenal has won their last six games in all competitions and, like Man City, is near to having a full squad of players at their disposal. 

With their FA Cup semi-final match at Wembley on a separate weekend to the Premier League, I do not see the Gunners having any trouble staying in the top-four. 

Arsene Wenger knows all too well how to handle the pressures of top-four and Champions League qualification as he successfully has done for the last 17 seasons. 

Prediction – 3rd

Manchester United – Liverpool (a), Aston Villa (h), Man City (h), Chelsea (a), Everton (a), West Brom (h), Crystal Palace (a), Arsenal (h), Hull (a)

If Louis van Gaal’s side can hold onto fourth spot or better with arguably the toughest run of fixtures of the six teams then hats off to the Dutchman. 

For me, with still having to play Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea, and Arsenal decreases the Red Devils chances dramatically. 

But if last week’s 3-0 win against Spurs was anything to go by then I think United will create have huge effect on the title race. 

Prediction – 4th

Liverpool – Man Utd (h), Arsenal (a), Newcastle (h), Hull (a), West Brom (a), QPR (h), Chelsea (a), Crystal Palace (h), Stoke (a)

To their credit the Reds have not lost a Premier League game in 2015 making them the in-form team in the league. 

Unfortunately all good things do eventually come to an end and I think this will be applied to Brendan Roger’s side as early as this weekend. 

As with Arsenal, anything less than the FA Cup and top-four qualification will be deemed as failure for the season.  
Prediction – 5th

Southampton – Burnley (h), Everton (a), Hull (h), Stoke (a), Spurs (h), Sunderland (a), Leicester (a), Aston Villa (h), Man City (a)

Ronald Koeman’s side showed so much promise at the beginning of the season but have vividly faded since the New Year. 

With a more favourable set of fixtures I believe the Saints will still be able to mount plenty of pressure on the teams above, and perhaps snatch a top-four berth with a bit of luck. 

But they will also be relying on Italian international and leading goal scorer striker Graziano Pelle rediscovering his wonderful early season form.  
Prediction – 7^th

Tottenham – Leicester (h), Burnley (a), Aston Villa (h), Newcastle (a), Southampton (a), Man City (h), Stoke (a), Hull (h), Everton (a)

Of the six, Spurs look to have the most comfortable set of matches left to play. 

But two-time EPL Player of the Month Harry Kane has not bagged a goal for his side in nearly four weeks since a 90^th minute equaliser against West Ham. 

Kane and playmaker Christian Eriksen will have to be on song for the rest of the season particularly against the sides that will be fighting for their lives at the rear-end of the league.
Prediction – 6^th

 

Top-six prediction - Chelsea 1^st, Manchester City 2^nd, Arsenal 3^rd, Manchester United 4^th, Liverpool 5^th, Spurs 6^th, Southampton 7^th