Table of Contents
Liverpool may run away with the Premier League title, but that does not mean that there is no fascinating race brew. The Race for Champions League spots has potential for high drama and could see both Manchester City and Chelsea miss with the third to 10th in the competition separated by only six points with 11 games in the season. There is a good chance that England will send the top five to the Champions League next season because of the UEFA coefficients, but even with that case Chelsea and City are on a thread with teams like Bournemouth waiting to crash the party.
So, who could end up in the top five if it was all said and done?
Current Premier League Top 10
| Posit | Team | GP | W | D | L | GF | Go | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 28 | 20 | 7 | 1 | 66 | 26 | +40 | 67 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 27 | 15 | 9 | 3 | 51 | 23 | +28 | 54 |
| 3 | Nottingham Forest | 27 | 14 | 6 | 7 | 44 | 33 | +11 | 48 |
| 4 | Manchester City | 27 | 14 | 5 | 8 | 53 | 37 | +16 | 47 |
| 5 | Chelsea | 27 | 13 | 7 | 7 | 52 | 36 | +16 | 46 |
| 6 | Newcastle United | 27 | 13 | 5 | 9 | 46 | 38 | +8 | 44 |
| 7 | Bournemouth | 27 | 12 | 7 | 8 | 45 | 32 | +13 | 43 |
| 8 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 27 | 11 | 10 | 6 | 44 | 39 | +5 | 43 |
| 9 | Fulham | 27 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 40 | 36 | +4 | 42 |
| 10 | Aston Villa | 28 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 40 | 45 | -5 | 42 |
Looking at the current gambling opportunities for the top five, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea and Nottingham Forest are the favorites to become Liverpool, but the gap between Chelsea and Bournemouth suggests that quite a few shake -ups can happen before the season ends.
Unlikely, but it is possible
Aston Villa, Fulham, Brighton
Rotation to keep track of in Champions League has seen Aston Villa glide off the table in the Premier League, but with one foot in the last eight of that tournament Unai Emery will not be too peed. There is a chance that Villa could completely miss European football next season, but with the majority of their core intact, it can also offer a chance to quickly bounce back to Europe with a deeper team and more experience.
Fulham and Brighton are the teams that are happy to be in the race, but it doesn’t feel like they can get it done, unless they get hot at the right time.
Conducted at a striking distance when other teams have multiple competitions, offer an opportunity, which can ask all those teams that insist on the top half in this phase of the season.
The case of the cherries
Bournemouth is fascinating and if there is a team that could crash the European party, it is the cherries of Andorni Iraola. Bournemouth loses their top two strikers in Evanilson and Enes Unal, chose Dango Ouattara to lead the line and it has worked a major effect. With the best goal difference of each team that is not in the top five and a schedule that is only confronted in the top five before the end of the season, Bournemouth almost has control over their own European fate, despite the fact that they are seventh in the current table.
Their defense is stabilized and under Iraola they know what they want to do, what a long way in times when it goes. It is still becoming a tough fight, but Bournemouth can do it.
Is this the time of Eddie Howe?
Newcastle United is in a fairly strange place. On the one hand they are in the EFL Carabo Cup final where they can end a long trophy -dried, although they have to do it by looking at Liverpool without Anthony Gordon and Lewis Hall, so it will be a tough fight at Wembley. Even if Newcastle wins that match, they could finish the eighth, a very similar situation such as Manchester United last season. The Red Devils left Erik Ten Hag and we all know how that went …
Not to say that Newcastle is in an identical position, but there may not be a team that needs a top five finish to validate their path than the magpies. Cash-stuck and needed to make movements because of the profit and sustainability rules and with teams that circled around Alexander Isak, this seems like a turning point for Newcastle. They have built something, but without European football to show it, there is a limit for what the club can do and the level of players they can attract. Without that there is a chance that a change could be in order despite the efforts of Howe.
Chelsea, city or forest, who misses?
History is not on the side of Nottingham Forest when it comes to unexpected teams crashing the party, but they have found a way to hold on despite the fact that they are confronted with Arsenal and Newcastle United. Faced with Manchester City is huge this weekend because a victory would almost ensure that Forest can hold their place in the Champions League spots. Even if they don’t win, the upcoming schedule Aston Villa and a last day of hosting Chelsea that can be crucial in determining the last rankings.
Even with the bad season of the city so far, it is difficult to say that they will not end in the top four because they have too much firepower when they are healthy. That is not the case for Chelsea that has a brutal schedule that confronts Arsenal, Liverpool, Newcastle and Forest before the end of the season. Only one fallen point can be enough to miss in the upper places and the team of Enzo Maresca has not been playing like a top four or five side for a while. He experienced a similar drop -off in the rear half of the Leicester City promotion campaign in the championship last season and when that happens again, Chelsea could be the strange team.
Who makes it?
Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth
If I were to write this at the start of the season, it would be the most bizarre prediction ever and although it still feels strange, I like it what I have seen from Bournemouth and the setup under Black Knight Football Club moves the cherries in the right direction. Some of the regular teams will be there, but the Champions League could get a number of unknown English parties.