Rat Race for Top 4: Predicting the teams that will get in

On Sunday, Tottenham Hotspur took part in the League Cup final against Premier League favourites Chelsea in a bid to win their first piece of silverware since 2008. But they were unable to repeat their big win against their London neighbours and thus, a terrible week ended with their Europa League elimination and a Cup final loss.Last season, the race for the title was an exciting one, with Arsenal leading the way for much of the first half of the season, with Liverpool's second half resurgence and Jose Mourinho's Chelsea in the mix. But in the end, it was the rather 'unfancied' Manchester City, despite their talented squad, who came out of nowhere as the other three fell (or slipped in Liverpool's case) as the 2012 champions did it again in 2014.But this season, it looks more and more likely that Chelsea, with an improved squad, have what it takes to conquer the Premier League. If anything at all, Manchester City look more likely to fall into the 'rat race', as suggested by Manchester United manager Louis Van Gaal for the so called Top Four, which gives clubs a chance to qualify, directly or indirectly for Europe's elite club competition, the UEFA Champions League, which brings with it the club's increased prestige, bank balance and a top attraction for top players eager to take part in the biggest football competition bar the FIFA World Cup.The significance of a berth in the UEFA Champions League can never be underestimated. In the age of social media and increased telecast of football around the world, your club's prestige and fan-followers can multiply by taking part with fellow big clubs and fighting for a prestigious trophy which with TV revenue can make the finances of a club significantly stronger. Arsene Wenger continues to emphasize each season the benefit Arsenal have had by taking part in the Champions League each season (albeit without much success in league or cup) on the club.As it stands, Arsenal are third with 51 points off 27 games, four off Manchester City in second and one ahead of Manchester United. Resurgent Liverpool are fifth with 48 points off 27, as surprise package Southampton with the slip at the weekend at Tony Pulis's West Brom keeping them at 46 points. Tottenham's absence from league action may give them an extra game, but with just 44 points off 26 games, they face a daunting task to even finish fifth, which gives them a chance to feature in Europe's second division, the less glamorous Europa League.So what do we expect from the clubs as they head into the final stretch of what is a very long season, which ends on 24th of May, where we can expect the following clubs to be?

#1 Arsenal

No stranger to scrapping for fourth place, Arsene Wenger's side have had good momentum winning 11 of the last 14 Premier League fixtures. Alexis Sanchez provided the goals to keep Arsenal competitive in the first half of the season while the likes of Santi Cazorla and Olivier Giroud have stepped up in the league in recent times. Arsene Wenger's decisions to put the likes of David Ospina in goal, Hector Bellerin at right-back and Francis Coquelin as the anchor of the midfield, and recently, the acquisition of Gabriel, the Brazilian centre-half have paid dividends for Arsenal, as they rack up points in the chase for the Champions League spots.

The Monaco setback could be detrimental to the club in terms of the very psychological effect on the players, which can be eliminated only by keeping themselves on a winning run in the league and FA Cup. If they do not do the needful at Monaco, even then they can fully focus their energies on defending the FA Cup and getting a high league position as possible.

In terms of what is coming up, Arsenal entertain Liverpool at the beginning of April and the champions-elect Chelsea late on the same month, and the visit to Old Trafford (both league and cup) will be the ones to watch for, as Arsenal know to brush past the small teams, but fail to do the same against the big teams. But if the last win at the Etihad is anything to go by, the opposition definitely won't have it so easy next time around.

#2 Liverpool

Not so long ago, Brendan Rodgers's position at Liverpool was considered to be on the line, with the failure of his signings, especially Mario Balotelli and Rickie Lambert, poor performances to start the season, and another average season looming over at the Anfield.

But after Christmas, the merriness of the occasion seems to have passed on to the squad. Having to work around a over-burdened teenager Raheem Sterling in the absence of star forward Daniel Sturridge, Rodgers adopted a 3-4-3 formation with Martin Skrtel, Mamudho Sakho and German midfield wunderkid Emre Can forming the back three and using Sterling as the center-forward. The club has now turned it around, with wins against Manchester City and Tottenham proving that Liverpool will definitely push Man United and Arsenal till the last day.

Infact, Daniel Sturridge's game time has been well managed only because of the good form of the starting XI so much that his absence doesn't affect Liverpool as much as it did earlier. But with a visit to the Emirates and Stamford Bridge coming up, as well the important visit of Louis Van Gaal's Manchester United, Liverpool will hope to end the season strongly, especially with only the FA Cup proving to be a distraction as Steven Gerrard leaves a club which he loves and won everything(almost).

#3 Manchester United

The season was touted to be the one where Manchester United would come back to the top, under the stewardship of their first foreign manager, with a squad laden with the goals from Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao, with Angel Di Maria, a star midfielder who has proved his prowess with both Real Madrid and Argentina, providing accurate long passes on a consistent basis. The likes of Marcos Rojo and Daley Blind would give defensive stability as United attempted to remove memories of the previous season when they finished seventh.

But the season has proved to be a struggle for United fans and the management. Unexpected reverses at Leicester and Swansea haven't helped their cause as they are now in a scrap with Arsenal and Liverpool among others for the Champions League place, which should be a minimum, given their expensive outlay in the summer transfer window.

Van Gaal's admission that United lack a 20-goals-a-season striker might seem an insult to Wayne Rooney as he has been slotted in midfield, but that also reflects on Falcao's and van Persie's poor form. But the most baffling fact about United's season is the inability of Louis van Gaal to evaluate his best XI. Injuries haven't helped, but decisions like placing Rooney and Di Maria in midfield at Herrera and Mata's expense, Di Maria at center-forward, switching between a back-four and a back-three, has had an effect on the form of players. Infact, only David De Gea has performed and he has saved United from losing more points.

They went to the Emirates and won, and put Liverpool to the sword in their Old Trafford game. But they are yet to visit Stamford Bridge or Anfield. But one positive is the big games coming up for them like Arsenal and Manchester City are at Old Trafford, so they can assert their fear factor at home to help themselves to Champions League nights next season.

#4 Southampton

Even when they were second, they were expected to fall to mid-table obscurity. They fell, they stumbled, but yet, they never fell out of it. As of now, Southampton have 46 points, and traditionally, 40 points guarantees a team safety and a berth in next season's Barclays Premier League. This is not to belittle Southampton, but this shows how far they have come since selling their stars of the previous season.

Despite losing Adam Lallana, Rickie Lambert, Calum Chambers and Luke Shaw to bigger sides and Mauricio Pochettino's 'defection' to Tottenham, Southampton emerged stronger from their turbulent summer. Aided by Ronald Koeman, and his masterstrokes like keeping Morgan Schniederlin and Jay Rodrigues, while signing Graziano Pelle, Sadio Mane, Frazer Forster and Ryan Bertrand, they went on a good winning run in the league, even being second at one stage. Now sixth, it will be a massive stretch to say Southampton can upstage Arsenal, United and Liverpool, with them hitting good form at the right time, but it shows that good planning by a board can bring a club to new heights and disturb the existing order.

They face the big trip to Etihad, with Stamford Bridge coming up, but they have one of the easiest run-ins having faced the big guns early and getting wins against Arsenal and Manchester United. So rule out Southampton at your peril.

#5 Tottenham Hotspur

They face the biggest disadvantage of the aforementioned teams, having the distractions of the Europa League and Capital One Cup taking a toll on its squad. But now they need to refocus and look to win all possible games from now on as they are four behind Liverpool with a game in hand.

Tottenham looked an improved side, but in recent weeks, it is clear that beyond the hot Harry Kane and to a certain extent, Christian Eriksen and Hugo Lloris, Tottenham do not have a potent match-winner in their squad that has stepped up. Adebayor and Soldado have been big disappointments while Jan Vertonghen has been a shadow of himself this season.

At the beginning of his tenure, Pochettino faced the problem of presenting his philosophy of high pressing football that he effectively established at Southampton the previous term. Now he faces the thankless task of getting them near the Champions League spots which Daniel Levy, his boss from above in the board, has demanded from the innumerable managers to take charge of the Spurs. Games like Manchester City at home will become a must-win if they want to achieve their lofty ambitions.