The English Premier League has been a fun experience for the fans and players this season, including an intense race for the champions league spots. Manchester City started off hot and seemed like they would be striding to a Premier League win. However, Liverpool would get red hot, including a carabao cup win over Chelsea. Now, Manchester City holds just a six-point advantage over Chelsea. With those two teams ready to go to war for the top prize, there will still be two spots left in the top four. They’re six teams battling for those two spots. So we’re bound to see some great action the rest of the season. Here is a breakdown of the race into the top four.

Chelsea

Thomas Tuchel and his men are currently third in the table. I don’t believe this team moves down from this spot. They’re currently just three points ahead of 4th place Manchester United, so they aren’t exactly safe yet. However, Chelsea has the best squad among all of these teams and they already stand in third place. So seeing them drop down the table would be a real surprise. They’re one of the better defensive teams in the league, as they’re currently tied for third in the league for clean sheets (11).

This is thanks to fantastic play from goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and center-backs Thiago Silva and Antonie Rudiger. Their midfield is just as good as they have one of the best defensive midfielders in the world in Ngolo Kante. Youngster Mason Mount and a team of the year-worthy Joringhio complete a midfield that have owned EPL teams this year and teams in Europe. The issue for this team comes from the attacking side. In the summer, Chelsea made a big-time move to land striker Romelu Lukaku. They paid £75 million (about $100 million) to land Lukaku. In return, they got just five goals in 17 EPL appearances.

Chelsea has scored 49 times this season which leaves them third in the league. That doesn’t seem like the biggest issue. However, this is a team that is supposed to be of the same standard as Manchester City and Liverpool. So when you hear that Liverpool is at 70 league goals and Manchester City is at 64 league goals, you realize Chelsea’s attack needs to get to work. Potential top-four contenders Manchester United and West Ham are right on Chelsea’s tail. Chelsea may have a much better defense, but you have to score to win games. Chelsea should score at a higher clip if they want to maintain a champions league spot.

Manchester United

This year has been so chaotic for Manchester United fans. I’m honestly stunned that they still hold a spot in the top four. They’re currently in 4th place with 47 points. That gives them just a two-point advantage over West Ham and Arsenal. Manchester United decided to cash out this summer. They brought in Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho, and Raphael Varane. With Ole Solskjaer at the helm, this seemed like a Manchester United team that was ready to win the league. After a terrible start to the year which saw a 4-1 defeat to Watford, Solskjaer was sacked.

Now they have Ralf Rangnick leading the way and he was able to help them DRAW against Watford. This Manchester United team has been struggling, and it’s really due to a poor defense. Manchester United is 4th in the league in scoring, yet they’re 10th in clean sheets. If you want to be competing for a spot in the champions league, you have to keep the ball out of the net. Harry Maguire has looked terrible for United this season. With Fred also being just as useless in defense, United are in an awful spot heading into the end of the season.

Their bright spot has been star attacking midfielder, Bruno Fernandes. Fernandes currently has nine goals and six assists; all of his goals being nonpenalty goals. Youngster Anthony Elanga is also looking very promising. But besides that, United has been inconsistent and swarmed with upset players. Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard, and Dean Henderson are some of the big players Manchester United have rotting on the bench. Other players like Anthony Martial, Donny Van Beek, and Daniel James rotted on the bench until they were loaned out or sold. This team will be in for a tough battle to maintain a spot in the top four.

West Ham

Definitely the surprise of the season so far. West Ham are currently two points away from entering the top four. With the team ahead of them currently struggling, the team and West Ham fans are feeling excited. They’re currently 4th in the league in goals with 46. They’ve got a star in defensive midfielder Declan Rice. Rice next to Tomas Soucek is maybe the best defensive midfield in the league. West Ham are also very thankful for the great form of Jarrod Bowen. Bowen’s eight goals and eight assists lead the team. West Ham’s Michael Antonio has also scored eight goals and assisted seven times.

West Ham’s defense hasn’t been stellar as they have the same amount of clean sheets as Manchester United; who are mid-tier. West Ham is looking for their first-ever Champions league appearance. With plenty of teams looking to buy Rice and Bowen this summer, West Ham may have to qualify for the champions league to keep those players. So there is a very real point that this could be West Ham’s last chance to play in the champions league for a while.

Arsenal

By the end of last season, Arsenal was considered the laughing stock of the league. They didn’t start the year off hot either as they suffered embarrassing losses to Brentford, Chelsea, and Manchester. Everyone figured that Mikel Arteta would get sacked and that Arsenal would be in for a tough season. Now they’re tied with West Ham at 45 points. They’re also two points away from being tied for fourth place. Arsenal has done very well at scoring and keeping the ball out of the net.

They’re currently tied with Chelsea for third in saves and they’re seventh in goals as well. This team has quality all around it. Their midfield is the most star-studded Buyako Saka, Martin Odegaard, and Emile Smith Rowe. Their defense has gotten much better throughout the season as goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale and center-back Ben White have found their rhythm. Alexandre Lacazette has been solid upfront, but Arsenal will probably looking to upgrade in the summer. Arsenal is very strong all around. Getting into the top four would be a great story for Arsenal and Arteta.

Spurs

This team just can’t avoid chaos. It appeared this summer that star striker Harry Kane was going to leave for Manchester City. This team then appointed Nuno Espirito Santos to be the manager and would pray he would bring success after Kane left. Well, Kane never left and Santos had everything going for him. Unfortunately, the Spurs would go cold and he would be sacked on November 2nd. That’s when the Spurs would surprise us all and appoint Antonio Conte. They’ve had a very bipolar year, to say the least. Just a couple of weeks ago, Spurs were able to defeat Manchester City.

Now fast forward to Mar. 1st and Spurs are knocked out of the FA Cup by Middlesbrough. This squad has been mainly carried by Kane and Son Heung-min. The Spurs may have had rocky moments this season, but they still stand seventh in the league with 42 points. If this team can get more consistent and some help from other players, they can easily make the jump into the top four.

My prediction

Firstly, I understand that the Wolves are also close in points. They’re one of the best defenses in the league and have gotten fantastic play from goalkeeper Jose Sa. However, with the Wolves being 17th in goals, I can’t see them jumping into the top four. Now between the teams I listed, I see Chelsea staying where they are now and finishing in third place. They’re at the same level as Manchester City and Liverpool. A lack of goals has just held them back. Now the race for the fourth spot is a lot more intense. I think it will be a two-way race between West Ham and Arsenal. Manchester United and Spurs have too much chaos going on to be trusted for a top-four push.

United is lacking a proper defense as De Gea is second in the league in saves, a stat you don’t want to be high up in if you’re making a champions league push. Spurs lack consistency throughout the team. Kane and Son have been performing like the top-tier players they are. Outside of them, they don’t get much production out of the team. Kane and Son can’t play amazing every night. Lacking help from other players will he be costly for this team. That leaves West Ham and Arsenal, who are both tied at 5th with 45 points. West Ham has been better offensively as they’ve scored 46 goals to Arsenal’s 38 goals.

On the other end, Arsenal has been better defensively as they’ve allowed just 27 goals to West Ham’s 34. Each team is going to make a real push for the last champions league spot, but I’m going to give the edge to Arsenal. I think their defense is playing so well and can continue to perform at that level. They’ve also got more star power throughout the team that they can rely on to get a clutch goal or set up that clutch goal.

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