This year’s race for the four Champions League spots is turning out to be one of the most intriguing ever, with Tottenham, Manchester City, Liverpool and Aston Villa all involved.
With six weeks left to go in this edition of the Barclays Premier League, we still haven’t got a clear picture about which team will grab the fourth spot and play Champions’ League football next season, with no less than four teams namely Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, Manchester City and Aston Villa involved.
Tottenham currently occupy the fourth spot, two points ahead of fifth-placed Manchester City. Liverpool are in sixth, two point adrift of City and Aston Villa, a further three points behind complete the top seven. The important factor though, is that Tottenham, City and Villa all have a game in hand over Liverpool, who have played 32, one more than their nearest rivals.
Eight-placed Everton are still chasing that coveted top seven finish, which will enable them to play in the Europa League next season. David Moyes’ men have won their last seven at home, including games against Chelsea vs Manchester United.
Manchester City needed a late hat-trick from Carlos Tevez to beat lowly Wigan at home on Monday night. This was City’s first home win in seven weeks, a period in which they had succumbed to their first defeat at Eastlands against Everton.
Tottenham, who swept past bottom-side Portsmouth at the weekend still have to face Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal in three consecutive weeks, a run-in which none of their other rivals have to face.
For Liverpool, Fernando Torres seems to be hitting form at just the right time, scoring 7 in his last 4 starts. The Reds travel to St.Andrews to face Birmingham on Sunday and host Chelsea on the second-last week of the season, their only seemingly tough fixtures left.
Aston Villa, on the other hand have to first pick them up after their 7-1 humiliation at the hands of Chelsea at the weekend. Martin O’Neill’s side have looked a bit rusty off late and home draws against Wolves and Sunderland in the past couple of weeks have seen their chances of finishing fourth suffer a major blow.
Aston Villa play their game in hand on the 21st of April against relegation-threatened Hull City, and both sides will be equally eager to take all three points, if circumstances remain as they are now.
The deciding factor in this fascinating contest between the four sides, may be decided on the second-last week of the season, when Manchester City face Tottenham at the City of Manchester Stadium.
The owners of Manchester City who spent around 100 million pounds in the summer had stated that they wanted to make the club a contender for the Premier League crown in the next few years. They also stated that they wanted City to be playing Champions’ league from next season. Mark Hughes was sacked due to getting unsatisfactory results and now Roberto Mancini is under pressure to perform.
Tottenham, on the other hand, have been transformed from relegation strugglers to fourth-place contenders in just one season. When Juande Ramos was sacked early last season, Spurs had two points in their first eight games and were struggling at the bottom of the table. In came Harry Redknapp and now, Tottenham stand a chance of playing Champions’ League football.
The race for fourth is likely to go right down to the wire, with every club fancying their chances.
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Race for Fourth in Champions League
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
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