What’s the story?
The race for a top-four finish this season is now heating up. Only four points separate second-placed Manchester City from their local rivals Manchester United, who are sixth on the table. With just 13 games left this season, the battle for a top-four spot will be fierce in the coming months.
Paul Scholes, the former Manchester United great, who has made a reputation for himself as a pundit in recent years, has made a bold claim about the fate of the top-four.
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According to Scholes; Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United will certainly finish this season as the top-three while Liverpool and Arsenal will fight between themselves for the final Champions League spot. This, indeed, is a big call from the Manchester United legend because he is not even taking Spurs into consideration.
“Chelsea, City, United and then it’s between Arsenal and Liverpool,” he told the Daily Mail upon being asked about the top-four race.
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Spurs fans will not take Scholes’ recent statement very kindly. Before their 2-0 loss against Liverpool last weekend, the North London club were unbeaten in 11 games. Their unbeaten streak included a 2-0 win against runaway league leaders Chelsea.
Manchester United, on the other hand, have been sitting in sixth for quite some time now, and even though they are sixteen games without a loss in the league, finishing third will be tough for them considering that the Red Devils have the toughest fixtures left among the five teams who are contending for the three spots.
The heart of the matter
Unless Chelsea experience a disaster of sorts in the closing stages of their campaign, there is very little chance that Conte will let the title slip. This implies that one spot is already booked. With just 13 games left to play in the Premier League, and four points separating five teams, the race for the top-four is sure to be an exciting one.
Scholes’ reason in discounting Spurs is probably their Europa League commitments, which might hamper their domestic campaign but again, Manchester United are also in the Europa League.
On the other hand, Liverpool have been knocked out of both domestic cups and are not in Europe. In terms of fatigue to players and rest periods between games, the Reds do have an advantage over the other four sides.
What’s next?
All the five teams have a decent chance of being there at the end of the season. Manchester United host Bournemouth in the next set of league fixtures while Manchester City travel to Sunderland. Chelsea welcome Swansea to the Bridge but the clash of the game week will take place at Anfield as Liverpool play host to Arsene Wenger's Arsenal.
Sportskeeda’s Take
Liverpool should not finish outside the top four this season. They are back to their best and do not have any distractions in the form of cup competitions. Other than Chelsea and Liverpool, the other two places should be contended by all the four sides. No one is a favourite here, and neither is anyone an underdog!
Spurs have been quite impressive of late, barring their recent loss against Klopp's side while Manchester City also look stronger than both Arsenal and Manchester United. The top four will probably be Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Spurs, but it will be a close one that might go all the way until the final day of the season. Scholes has his own ideas but there is no reason to write off Spurs as of now.
