Fotbollskläder till Barn While Chelsea’s 2-1 victory over Manchester City saw them edge closer to the Premier League title, there is an almighty race going on behind them.Tottenham, Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United and Everton are battling for the ’second trophy’ of finishing in the top four and it looks set to go down to the wire.The prospect of qualifying for next season’s Champions League certainly can’t be underestimated.
The ability to attract top class players in the transfer window – not to mention the money the club receives as a result – is massive.After Spurs’ dramatic 3-1 victory over Swansea on Wednesday, they’ve got to fancy their chances of qualifying,with them 11 points clear of north London rivals Arsenal in fifth.Elsewhere, though, and the midweek matches weren’t too kind for their top four rivals.As mentioned, City lost to Chelsea, United and Everton took points off each other with a 1-1 draw, Liverpool draw at home to Bournemouth – although Arsenal finally got a win with a 3-0 victory over West Ham.But just look at how the top seven looks and it’s almost impossible to predict the remaining two sides to qualify for the Champions League.
However, that didn’t stop Sky Sports pundits from giving it a go.The likes of Jamie Carragher, Gary Neville and Thierry Henry all gave their opinion on the top four following last night’s results.
Here’s what they said:Jamie Carragher – Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool, Man City”I think Arsenal will miss out. I also think Man United will still be in the Champions League next season if they win the Europa League,” Carragher said.”Liverpool have an advantage of no European football but I feel if Liverpool and Tottenham get into the top four they have had a great season because they don’t have the budget that other sides maybe more going for the title have.”I think, with the position they’re in, Liverpool would be really disappointed if they didn’t make it and I think it would be a big blow if they don’t finish in the top four.”
Gary Neville – Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool, Man City”I think it will be the current top four and Man United and Arsenal will miss out. It will be difficult for Tottenham to catch Chelsea and I don’t see it happening,” Neville said.”It was inconceivable to think that Chelsea were going to go the whole season without dropping points. They will drop more points before the end of the season, there’s no doubt about that because they have some tough fixtures coming up but can the others capitalise and are they capable of going on the run required to be able to catch them?”The fixtures and the way they’re laid out is important. So many of the United games, they should have won and could have won. They just haven’t got that killer instinct to kill teams off. I suppose in some ways when you can identify where you’re going wrong, your weaknesses and where you need to improve, then I suppose that’s a good thing in some way.”At this moment in time, they make it so difficult for themselves to get in the top four. If you like at the fixtures they’ve got, it is so tough. I think too many mistakes have been made.”
Thierry Henry – Chelsea, Tottenham, Man City, Liverpool”Arsenal usually finish in a strong way and the top four still have to play each other, but it’s difficult to see Arsenal making it,” Henry said.”It is a massive gap now to finish in the top four. I will say in comparison to how they played against West Brom, barcelona barnkläder it was a massive improvement against Man City.”