ClapWhile the title race between Liverpool and Manchester City is heating up, with the relegation scrap at the bottom of the Premier League table also being pretty intriguing, there’s always a certain fascination behind the race for the top four.
There’s an incredible amount of work that goes into qualifying for the UEFA Champions League and all of the clubs listed know how challenging things are going to be between now and the end of the campaign.
At the same time, we imagine they’re salivating at the idea of actually ending their 38-game run in one of those four spots.
Chelsea – 50 pts (pld: 25)
Chelsea feel like the kind of side that should be looking ahead as opposed to behind them but in the top flight, you really do never know what could be waiting around the next corner.
Thomas Tuchel has to pick his side up following their League Cup final defeat and if he can do that, the Blues will have a top three spot confirmed by the time we reach April or early May.
Manchester United – 47 pts (pld: 27)
Manchester United have had a genuine consistency problem for years now but after finally edging into fourth place, some wondered whether or not the time had come for them to finally put that part of their journey behind them.
The Red Devils, though, slipped up in a big way by failing to beat Watford at Old Trafford over the weekend. That, in itself, proves just how much further they’ve got left to go.
West Ham – 45 pts (pld: 27)
An injection of life, aka a win by any means necessary, is all that’s required to really vault a team back into a feeling of real confidence – and West Ham’s 1-0 triumph over Wolves did exactly that.
The Hammers still have their backs firmly against the wall but David Moyes knows any kind of European football, no matter how big or small, is still a big achievement for them.
Arsenal – 45 pts (pld: 24)
Arsenal’s games in hand should give off a great warning sign to the rest of the teams around them, as should their comeback win over Wolves last Thursday – which is the kind of game they would’ve easily lost in years gone by.
The Gunners, under Mikel Arteta, are finally resembling a team that has a bit of heart and determination. If they can match that up with cutting out silly mistakes, they’ll be well on their way.
Tottenham – 42 pts (pld: 25)
Antonio Conte has said that he needs to learn to be more patient given how much work needs to be done to get Tottenham Hotspur back to a position of relevancy. After beating Leeds, hopefully he’ll be able to forget all about that big bad Burnley result.
Spurs have been mocked for years for not getting to where many feel like they should be both in Europe and domestically, but that shouldn’t deter their fans too much. The next few transfer windows are important, as is showing some actual desire on the pitch.
