As the race heats up for the champions league spots, we have a look at the contenders and their run to the finish line.

ARSENAL – (currently 3rd)
A – QPR
H – West Ham
A – Newcastle
H – Liverpool
A – Burnley
H – Sunderland
H – Chelsea
A – Hull
H – Swansea
A – Manchester United
H – WBA

Home Games – 6
Away Games – 5
Games against teams in the top half – 5

Arsenal look to have a favourable run home, having six of the remaining (11) games at The Emirates. They have an excellent 9-3-1 record at home which will have Arsenal fans dreaming of Europe. Although two of those home fixtures are against league leaders Chelsea and the form team of the competition in Liverpool.

The penultimate game of the season sees Arsenal travel to Manchester United. Arsenal will hope to be cemented in the top four by that stage considering Arsenal havent won at Old Trafford since 2006 and have just one draw and six losses from their last seven visits.

Barring Liverpool, they are the form team in the competition having gone 8-0-2 in their last 10 Premier League games. Already sitting in 3rd place and having six of their last 11 games at home, Arsenal look a sure bet to once again qualify for Europe’s biggest tournament. Winning it though, for poor old Arsenal is another matter entirely.


MANCHESTER UNITED – (currently 4th)
A – Newcastle
H – Tottenham
A – Liverpool
H – Aston Villa
H – Manchester City
A – Chelsea
A – Everton
H – WBA
A – Crystal Palace
H – Arsenal
A – Hull

Home Games – 5
Away Games – 6
Games against teams in the top half – 5

Manchester United currently occupy the last of the coveted Champions League spots and they do so, having had quite a strange season indeed. United have failed to convince all season yet they continue to win games. They say that that is the trait of a good side, yet United have played some terribly average football since the opening day.

Will United finally turn a corner and start playing attacking football with real vigor and purpose? Or will the long ball, erratic, sloppy United continue to rumble on until the end of the season? Ultimately, will it be enough? Perhaps the answer lies in the cold hard facts.

United have a miserable record away from Old Trafford this season, managing just three wins in 13 attempts. Their record at Old Trafford is impeccable, they own the second best home record in the league behind only Chelsea. The problem here is that they have more games on the road than they do at home in the final run in.

The fixture list is also unkind. They have a Manchester Derby to play, but they also face Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool in the final 11 games. It’s tough to see how United can hang on to that final Champions League spot.


LIVERPOOL – (currently 5th)
H – Burnley
A – Swansea
H – Manchester United
A – Arsenal
H – Newcastle
A – Hull
A – WBA
H – QPR
A – Chelsea
H – Crystal Palace
A – Stoke

Home Games – 5
Away Games – 6
Games against teams in the top half – 5

Liverpool looked shot midway through November. They languished in 12th having had one of the worst starts to a Premier League season in their history. The departure of Luis Suarez was obviously felt but the failure of the new signings to settle and the injury to Daniel Sturridge all contributed to one hell of a title challenge hangover.

What seemed so close last May, seemed as far away as ever merely six months on. Rodgers couldn’t find an answer up front in Sturridges absence and Liverpool couldn’t stop conceding sloppy goals. The Brodge as Noel Gallagher so nicely nicknamed him on Match of the Day needed to find an answer and there were even rumblings that his job may actually depend on it.

So in came the 3-4-3 formation. The impressive young Can was deployed in a three man backline with Skrtel and the rejuvenated Sakho. Sterling was tasked with manning the Sturridge shaped hole in attack, such were the failings of summer signing Balotelli and little used Borini and Lambert.

All of a sudden, the free flowing, attacking, exciting Liverpool of last season returned with a vengeance. If not quite so scary going forward, Liverpool were now keeping clean sheets and being quite miserly at the back. They are the in form team in the competition having gone 11 league games without defeat. A run which has seen them win eight games and draw three and has included three wins on the bounce against top four rivals Tottenham, Southampton and Manchester City.

A run which has seen them climb from 12th to 5th. Now just two points behind United and three points behind Arsenal, they have it all to play for. The fixture list is favourable with just Chelsea and Arsenal away being the only really tough games to come and Manchester United at home. The form and momentum they have though looks likely to drag them back into the Champions League for the second straight year. 


SOUTHAMPTON – (currently 6th)
H – Crystal Palace
A – Chelsea
H – Burnley
A – Everton
H – Hull
A – Stoke
H – Tottenham
A – Sunderland
A – Leicester
H – Aston Villa
A – Manchester City

Home Games – 5
Away Games – 6
Games against teams in the top half – 4

The Saints have had somewhat of a fairy tale season. Having apparently sold their best players, many fans were predicting Southampton to struggle and to eventually be in a much different kind of battle come the end of the season than the one they currently find themselves in now.

The appointment of Ronald Koeman was a mini masterstroke. Koeman brought in new faces in the form of the impressive Pelle, Forster and Bertrand. But others came in too. Mane, Tadic, Duricic, Elia and Alderweireld have all played a part in Southampton’s unlikely push for Champions League football.

The league season however is a marathon and it seems that Southampton are running out of puff. The goals have dried up, having scored just one goal in their last five Premier League outings. That one goal was enough to secure their only win in the past five. Their form has dropped sharply managing just one win, one draw and three losses in that time, ultimately seeing them drop from 3rd to 6th.

If the malaise continues, the push for Champions League football could be over before it really began. There is still hope though, the fixture list eases and they have a very favourable run home with just four games against top ten opposition. If Southampton can reclaim their early season form, they may well be celebrating come the end of the season.


TOTTENHAM – (currently 7th)
H – Swansea
A – QPR
A – Manchester United
H – Leicester
A – Burnley
H – Aston Villa
A – Newcastle
A – Southampton
H – Manchester City
A – Stoke
H – Hull
A – Everton

Home Games – 5
Away Games – 7
Games against teams in the top half – 5

Tottenham’s recent blip having picked up just one point from a possible six has left them with work to do. Spurs currently sit six points behind Manchester United who occupy the all important 4th place but they do however have a game in hand. Anyone will tell you though, it’s always better to have points in the bank than games in hand.

The seven games on the road will be key for Tottenham. They have been good on their travels having won six, drawn two and lost four. They will need that to continue to put any pressure on those ahead of them. They rely heavily on the goals of Harry Kane and the creativity of Christian Eriksen and if either should suffer an injury or a downturn in form, you could see Spurs fading, such is the reliance on too few.

A key period for Tottenham is the run of three games where they face a potential 6 pointer away from home against Southampton followed by a visit from the champions and then a tough away trip to Stoke. They are starting from the back of the pack but I wouldnt count out a “HarryKane” sweeping through the league and Spurs might just be able to blow and twist their way into 4th.