Premier League Clubs Race For The Champions League Spot

The English Premier League title race has much nothing to be talked about as Manchester City is leading with a greater margin against the second placed on the PL table, thus the race for the top four finish, a qualification for the champions league has many talking points and has a large field of contenders once again.

Photo Courtesy: Premier league

With Clubs like West Ham coming in for the hunt after winning their game yesterday against Wolves moving to fourth place with 52 points and Chelsea dropping to fifth place with 51 points, Tottenham Hotspurs too still having a chance and Liverpool on the road to the finish Manchester United and Leicester are currently in a position behind runaway league leaders Manchester City.

With those involved in securing the top four finish having around eight games left Sports Leo has analyzed the remaining games for each club breaking down the run-ins, checking the average home and away points-per-game and average expected goal difference of their remaining opponents.

Who do you think has the easiest Run-In and who might not make it to the qualification?

MANCHESTER UNITED

Position: 2nd

Points: 60

REMAINING OPPONENTS

11/04 Tottenham (A)

18/04 Burnley (H)

25/04 Leeds (A)

01/05 Liverpool (H)

08/05 Aston Villa (A)

11/05 Leicester (H)

15/05 Fulham (H)

23/05 Wolves (A)

Manchester United return to the Champions League is not casted on stones, still easy and difficult depending on their playing mentality though they have higher chances of qualification.

Even though nothing is guaranteed and they often look far from convincing, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side now have been steadily, consistently picking up results and now have an 11-point lead over fifth-place.

Manchester United Sunday’s narrow win over Brighton extended their unbeaten Premier League run to 10 games, while recent victories over Manchester City and West Ham practically cemented their top four status. After a tough run, their remaining fixtures are a mixed bag.

Trips to Tottenham, Leeds, Villa and Wolves await, while Liverpool and Leicester visit Old Trafford, and Fulham. Solskjaer can be confident of the top four though and can set his sights on second.

LEICESTER CITY

Position: 3rd

Points: 56

REMAINING OPPONENTS

11/04 West Ham (A)

22/04 West Bromwich (H)

26/04 Crystal Palace (H)

01/05 Southampton (A)

08/05 Newcastle (H)

11/05 Manchester Utd (A)

15/05 Chelsea (A)

23/05 Tottenham (H)

Leicester have 56 points four points off the second placed and Five points clear of fifth.

Losing to the champions-elect at the King Power on Saturday was a setback but not an entirely surprising one and by no means fatal. This weekend’s tricky trip to West Ham is far more important.

After that, Brendan Rodgers’ side will feel confident of picking up the points they need in their next four games: West Bromwich Albion, Crystal Palace and Newcastle at home, with Southampton away in the middle.

Win those, and Leicester should be able to negotiate a difficult end to the season without much trouble. Rodgers will want to avoid a repeat of last season’s Champions League near miss as meetings with United, Chelsea and Tottenham close out the campaign.

WEST HAM

Position: 4th

Points: 52

REMAINING OPPONENTS

11/04 Leicester (H)

17/04 Newcastle (A)

24/04 Chelsea (H)

01/05 Burnley (A)

08/05 Everton (H)

11/05 Brighton (A)

15/05 West Bromwich (A)

23/05 Southampton (H)

Consistency and winning Mentality from David Moyes side West Ham has put them in the fore front to the Champions League qualification leaving nothing to chance and playing extremely good football since the arrival of Manchester United on loan Jesse Lingard has proved to be their vital forward striker netting six and assisting four.

Photo Courtesy: Getty Pictures

As other surprise contenders have fallen away, they have stayed standing. A thrilling 3-2 win away at Wolves lifted David Moyes’ side into the top four on Monday night, which is a huge credit to him and his staff.

Can they do it? Their next two home games will be crucial, with both Leicester and Chelsea visiting the London Stadium in the space of a fortnight. Beat both and suddenly a Champions League place will not merely look possible but likely.

Everton also travel to east London but the rest of West Ham’s schedule is made up by bottom-half and mid-table opponents who have little to play for, and Moyes’ men have been fairly reliable against those sorts of sides this season.

The loss of Declan Rice is a blow and Michail Antonio’s fitness is always a concern but they are genuine contenders and have nothing to fear from their run-in.

CHELSEA

Position: 5th

Points: 51

REMAINING OPPONENTS

10/04 Crystal Palace (A)

20/04 Brighton (H)

24/04 West Ham (A)

01/05 Fulham (H)

08/05 Manchester City (A)

11/05 Arsenal (H)

15/05 Leicester (H)

23/05 Aston Villa (A)

Last weekend first game after the international break Chelsea suffered an humiliating defeat from West Bromwich, by five goals to two a tight game it was ,thus opening the qualification contest wide

Thiago Silva’s red card cannot be ignored when dissecting their heavy home defeat to near relegation certainties West Brom, but the result will still worry Thomas Tuchel after an otherwise steady, solid start to life under his management.

Chelsea pick their defeat from west brom and hopefully see to bounce straight back away to a Crystal Palace side with little to play for but otherwise, their schedule is arguably the most difficult of all the contenders. Trips to West Ham, City and Villa look potentially problematic.

Then there’s Leicester’s visit to Stamford Bridge on the penultimate weekend. Tuchel will hope to have a top-four spot wrapped up by then but Chelsea can ill afford a repeat of Saturday’s freak result.

TOTTENHAM

Position: 6th

Points: 49

REMAINING OPPONENTS

11/04 Manchester United (H)

16/04 Everton (A)

21/04 Southampton (H)

01/05 Sheffield United (H)

08/05 Leeds (A)

11/05 Wolves (H)

15/05 Aston Villa (H)

23/05 Leicester (A)

Despite all the negativity and uncertainty surrounding the club, and even after throwing two points away late on at St James’ Park on Sunday, Tottenham still cannot be counted out of the race just yet.

In order to avoid a second straight season without Champions League football, Jose Mourinho’s side need to make the most of their run-in. It is not exactly straightforward but not the most challenging either.

United are up next but Southampton, Wolves and Sheffield United also visit north London. A trip to Leeds looks daunting on paper but could provide the space for Harry Kane, Son Heung-Min and Gareth Bale to thrive.

Even going to Goodison Park is not too intimidating, given Everton’s wretched home record, but Spurs’ inconsistency is the major obstacle. Will they still have a chance when Leicester visit on the final day?

LIVERPOOL

Position: 7th

Points: 49

REMAINING OPPONENTS

10/04 Aston Villa (H)

19/04 Leeds (A)

24/04 Newcastle (H)

01/05 Manchester United (A)

08/05 Southampton (H)

11/05 West Bromwich (A)

15/05 Burnley (A)

23/05 Crystal Palace (H)

Along with West Ham, the big winners of the weekend. While Leicester, Chelsea and Tottenham all dropped points, Liverpool eviscerated Arsenal at the Emirates and have started to look more like their usual selves.

If any side has the potential to mount a late surge, it is last season’s champions and even though so much has gone wrong at Anfield this season, their end-of-season schedule is the softest of all the contenders by far.

Photo Courtesy: Getty Pictures

Their final six games see Newcastle, Southampton and Crystal Palace visit Anfield, while Jurgen Klopp and his players travel to West Brom and Burnley as well as Old Trafford.

Last season, they would have expected to take at least 16 points from those games.

Liverpool’s biggest issue was the amount of ground they had to make up but Chelsea’s shock defeat means fourth spot is back within touching distance again. A sustained run of wins is required and, crucially, looks possible.

EVERTON

Position: 8th

Points: 47

REMAINING OPPONENTS

12/04 Brighton (A)

17/04 Tottenham (H)

24/04 Arsenal (A)

01/05 Aston Villa (H)

08/05 West Ham (A)

11/05 Sheffield United (H)

15/05 Wolves (H)

23/05 Manchester City (A)

TBC Aston Villa (A)

Everton are only five points off fourth-place West Ham with a game in hand, but they look likely to be the next casualty in this race.

Dropping two points late on to Crystal Palace was costly for any faint Champions League ambitions that Carlo Ancelotti still harbour and extended their underwhelming form at Goodison Park this season.

Tottenham, Villa and Wolves are all set to visit Merseyside over the coming weeks too. Even Sheffield United may fancy their chances at this rate.

It has been a different story on the road – Everton are already top four if you’re looking solely at the away table – but Villa, West Ham, Arsenal and even Brighton are not particularly easy places to go. Then, on the final day, it’s the Etihad.