The title race is realistically over, with Liverpool now 13 points clear of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League. The Gunners should still finish second, and Manchester City, despite underperforming, might still come third. However, there is still a lot to be decided in the top half of the division, with many teams still in contention for the all-important European places.
Premier League table
TEAM | RECORD (last five games) | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
Liverpool | D-W-D-W-W | 67 |
Arsenal | W-W-W-L-D | 54 |
Nottingham Forest | L-W-L-L-D | 48 |
Man City | W-L-W-L-W | 47 |
Chelsea | L-W-L-L-W | 46 |
Newcastle | W-L-L-W-L | 44 |
Bournemouth | W-L-W-L-L | 43 |
Brighton | L-L-W-W-W | 43 |
Fulham | L-W-W-L-W | 42 |
Aston Villa | L-D-D-W-L | 42 |
Brentford | W-L-W-W-D | 38 |
Crystal Palace | L-W-L-W-W | 36 |
Tottenham | L-W-W-W-L | 33 |
Man United | W-L-L-D-W | 33 |
West Ham | D-L-L-W-W | 33 |
Everton | W-D-W-D-D | 32 |
Wolves | L-W-L-W-L | 22 |
Ipswich | L-L-D-L-L | 17 |
Leicester | W-L-L-L-L | 17 |
Southampton | L-W-L-L-L | 9 |
Brighton to finish fourth
Brighton & Hove Albion are a team on form, having won their last three Premier League games. This included important victories over Chelsea and AFC Bournemouth. The Seagulls have not had to worry about European soccer this season, but are still in the FA Cup after beating Newcastle United last weekend.
Under Roberto De Zerbi, Brighton played in the Europa League. However, after each new managerial appointment, the Seagulls appear to get even better. Fabian Hurzeler's side did suffer a strange 7-0 loss to Nottingham Forest at the start of February, but the Seagulls have responded well to this setback.
It would be some achievement if Brighton were to finish in the top four and qualify for the Champions League. Much has been made of Hurzeler being just 32, but he is proving that if you are good enough, then you are old enough.
Chelsea to finish fifth
Chelsea has done surprisingly well this season despite the upheaval that has been going on at the club since BlueCo took over from Roman Abramovich. Enzo Maresca was right to quash any talk of them being title contenders, but a top-five finish would be a good achievement for the club. This could also be enough for Champions League qualification, as England could be granted an extra place in the competition.
Their results have been mixed recently, with two wins and three defeats in their last five games. Chelsea has a large roster, but many key players are missing, such as Noni Madueke and Nicolas Jackson, who are currently injured. They are over-reliant on Cole Palmer, who has now not scored or made an assist in their last six Premier League games.
The Blues have a tough fixture run-in as they still need to play the Arsenal, Liverpool, Newcastle and Nottingham Forest, amongst other potential banana skins. Apart from the Premier League, Chelsea only needs to worry about the Europa Conference League, where they have been able to rest many of their top players so far. However, they will need to strengthen their lineups for the latter stages of the competition.
Nottingham Forest to finish sixth
Not even the most optimistic of Nottingham Forest supporters would have thought that they would be in this position at the start of the season. Fans would have hoped for a comfortable campaign where they could avoid a relegation battle.
Forest have had mixed results recently with just one win, one draw and three defeats in their last five games. The win was a 7-0 thumping of Brighton, and the draw was against Arsenal. However, Nuno Espirito Santo's side is in danger of their campaign fizzling out.
They managed to scrape past Ipswich Town after extra time and penalties last night in the FA Cup. This is not ideal preparation for their early kick-off against Manchester City in the Premier League this Saturday. Forest still has a lot of winnable fixtures this season, and with proven goal scorer Chris Wood, they always have a chance. Qualifying for any form of European soccer would still be fantastic for Forest.