Fight for the top four
Heading into the final two gameweeks of this unforgettable season. Chelsea, Leicester and United are in a very intense threeway battle for the remaining two Champions league spots.
Chelsea
Chelsea are currently one point ahead of the other two have very difficult fixtures against Liverpool and Wolves. The Chelsea squad although has been impressive since the restart have shown a tendency to slip up, an example of these are the losses they suffered against West Ham and Sheffield United. If they are to qualify for the Champions League, Lampard’s men have to tighten up their defence and will be relying on their inform wingers Pulisic and Willian to create the goals.
Leicester City
Leicester city had a brilliant start to the season, the foxes showed glimpses of their remarkable 2016 title winning run and had pundits believing they could do it again. This run also included their record breaking 0-9 victory away from home at the St Mary’s stadium. Leicester have difficult fixtures ahead as they face Tottenham on the weekend before having to face an inform United team that are aiming for their fourth place.
Manchester United
After a weak start to the season, the addition of Bruno Fernandes to the squad sprung life into a depleted United team.
The break could not have come at a better time for the Red Devils as it allowed their star players Marcus Rashord and Paul Pogba to recover from their respective injuries . Since the restart United has looked like a squad with the soul purpose of finishing in a champions league place. Their draw against Southampton was their only underwhelming performance as they became the first team to ever win four consecutive games with a difference of 3+ goals. United Play an inform West Ham this game week before heading to the King Power stadium to face-off with Leicester City for the Champions league spot
Relegation battle
Norwich were officially relegated from the Premier League when they conceded four goals against West Ham United, a game in which the in-form Michael Antonio scored all the goals. This leaves the spots for two teams to be relegated,currently Bournemouth and Aston villa are in the 18th and 19th spot respectively, both are tied at 31 points. Aston Villa is yet to face Arsenal who are aspiring to qualify for the Europa league, before travelling to West Ham for their final game of the season whereas Bournemouth are hosting an in-form Danny Ings and Southampton on the weekend and will be going to Merseyside for what could be their last pl match for atleast a year.
Watford are currently three points ahead of these two teams but face a mammoth of a challenge as they are yet to face both Manchester City and Arsenal in their final two games.
Europa League qualifications
The teams that place 5th and 6th are guaranteed automatic Europa league qualification whereas the 7th placed are forced to play a knockout qualification to earn their place in the tournament.
The fight for these spots will definitely go to the last game week too as the difference between sixth placed Wolves and tenth placed Arsenal is only of three points.
Wolves, currently the frontrunner in the race for European qualification are expected to drop points as they play Chelsea in their final game of the season.
Newly promoted side Sheffield United have defied all expectations as they’re currently placed seventh on the table with comparatively easy fixtures.
Tottenham have had a bad run of form but managed to surpass Arsenal with a 2-1 victory over their local rivals. Tottenham still have a huge fixture as they face Leicester on the weekend before travelling to Crystal Palace.
Although Burnley are placed ninth they have played one game more than all their other competitors and will be hoping for their competitors to drop points in both gameweeks as they face Brighton in their final game of the season.
Arsenal are currently in good form after pulling upsets over both Liverpool and Manchester City in their last two games. Arsenal face both relegation threatened sides Aston Villa and Watford in their remaining fixtures.
Personal Laurels
The Golden Boot
Jamie Vardy took an early lead in the race for the trophy but fell desperately out of form later on. Although out of form Vardy still sits ahead of the rest with 23 goals. Last year winner’s Aubameyang and Mohammad Salah are still in the contention with 20 and 19 goals respectively. The suprise contender this season has been Danny Ings who’s sitting tied with Auba with 20 goals. The final two games of the season will be interesting as we’ll see who’s taking the prestigious title home.
The Golden Glove
Nick Pope has had a phenomenal season and has made his case as to why he deserves to be the English number one. He’s leading the race for the Golden Glove with 15 clean-sheets. Ederson will be looking to take the title out of Pope’s hands as the City keeper has 14 clean sheets with two easy fixtures ahead of him.
Kevin De Bruyne
Debruyne currently has 18 assists and is only 2 assists away from tying Thierry Henry’s record of most assists in a single season. With Watford and Norwich up next Kevin would definitely be looking forward to breaking this historic record.
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