With Manchester City and their neighbour, United enjoying 10 and 8 points advantage respectively on the top of the Premier League ahead third place Tottenham, the title race is certainly between the first two. But the intense battle to follow in the English Premier League is the qualification for the next Champions League.
The race for the fourth place finish in the EPL looks closer than ever with Arsenal and Chelsea tied on the same 46 points and 16 goals difference advantage in the 4th spot in the league standing, while newcomer in the race, Newcastle is keeping chasing path with just three points behind the two clubs.
Fourth place Arsenal, after grabbing a very important win against Tottenham for a Champions League spot last weekend at the Emirates Stadium, the Gunners face another difficult trip to Liverpool today to take on the newly crowned League Cup champions, a team that proved it can play very well at home with their supporters behind them at Anfield.
This game will certainly define Arsenal’s season which has been dealt a big blow by AC Milan in the Champions League and Sunderland in the FA Cup campaign. The game will also have a big stake for the hosts as well since they still have a chance of qualifying for the Champions League.
Arsenal’s astonishing comeback against Tottenham last week means there is a lot to look out for in today’s cracker between the two sides that most people agree play the most intertaining football in the EPL. The Gunners recorded an incredible comeback recovering from two-goals down to win 5-2 at the Emirates Stadium.
Tottenham had looked certain for victory after goals from Louis Saha and former Arsenal striker, Emmanuel Adebayor had put them ahead 25 minutes into the match, but they were pegged back before half-time by Bacary Sagna’s header and a Robin van Persie’s sensational-strike.
Arsene Wenger’s squad continued in the same spirit after the break and took the lead through Tomas Rosicky six minutes into the second half, before Theo Walcott’s brace wrapped up the resounding victory for the Gunners.
The three points’ propels Arsenal into a Champions League place ahead of Chelsea and has set them on a 4th place campaign which will certainly go down to the final day of the season if both teams continue on this pedestal.?
Meanwhile, Chelsea will take a trip to Hawthorn to confront resurgent Osaze Odemwingie’s West Brom, who had scored 9 goals in their last two matches.? Roy Hodgson’s team achieved a 5-1 demolition of Wolves. The game is a must win for Chelsea manager, Andre Villas-Boas who has urged his employer, Roman Abramovich to exercise patience as speculation over his future continues.
The Blues beat Bolton 3-0 last weekend to get back to winning ways following a 3-1 humiliation to Italian side, Napoli in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie. The defeat has led to fresh speculations that Abramovich could sack Villas-Boas in the coming days, despite the Portuguese insisting that he has the backing of the Russian owner, who has gone through seven managers in just nine years.