By Jonathan Gault
As this weekend’s games – and really, this entire season –
showed us, no matter how much we analyze the Premier League, no one can predict
what’s going to happen. From December 8 to March 14, Chelsea didn’t lose a
league match. Since then, it’s put six past Arsenal while losing to the likes
of Aston Villa and Crystal Palace. Jose Mourinho has long deflected Chelsea’s
title chances, even when the Blues looked invincible. Maybe he knew something
we didn’t (doesn’t that always seem to be the case with Mourinho?). Chelsea now
trails leaders Liverpool by two points and has just a two-point cushion to
third-place Man City, which has two games in hand. With just six games
remaining, the margin for error is very thin at Stamford Bridge.
So instead of making predictions, let’s take a look around
the league to see where some of the other clubs stand with six weeks remaining
in the season. Predicting the future may be impossible, but I’m fully capable
of summarizing the present.
Liverpool, 1st, 71
pts
Matches remaining: 6
What it’s chasing: its first league title since 1990
No team is playing better at the moment than the Reds, who
have reeled off eight straight wins and haven’t lost in the league in 2014.
Since the calendar turned, Liverpool is averaging 3.38 goals/game, led by the
otherworldly Luis Suarez, whose 29 Premier League goals – in just 27 games – is
a club record. The Reds are playing the most exciting football in the league,
and continued their free-scoring ways with a comfortable 4-0 win over Spurs on
Sunday. Liverpool’s remaining schedule is not easy – City and Chelsea still
have to visit Anfield. But six wins from six matches will ensure the title goes
to Merseyside.
Man City, 3rd, 67 pts
Matches remaining: 8
What it’s chasing: its second league title in three years
City, like Liverpool, controls its destiny. Five of its
remaining eight are at the Etihad Stadium, where City has failed to win just
once this season. The big away game is obviously the trip to Anfield on April
13, but the other road trips aren’t easy: visits to Crystal Palace (April 27)
and Everton (May 3). City did well to gain a point at Arsenal at the weekend
against a game Gunners squad eager to make up for recent embarrassments. The
Blues will have to keep grinding out those points if they’re to overtake
Liverpool and Chelsea at the top.
Arsenal, 4th, 64 pts
Matches remaining: 6
What it’s chasing: the final Champions League spot
Until recently, the Gunners were in the thick of the title
race, but a rough patch in the schedule has left Arsenal with just two wins
from eight. A large part of that is due to the opponents (in order: Liverpool,
Man U, Sunderland, Stoke, Spurs, Chelsea, Swansea, Man City), but Arsenal was
always going to have to do well in that stretch to claim the title. With City three
points – and two games – up in third, Arsenal must now focus on holding off
Everton for the final Champions League spot. As fate may have it, the two teams
will play each other at Goodison Park Sunday afternoon. It’s a huge match for
both, but Everton is the team that cannot afford to lose. Arsenal faces just
one top-half team the rest of the way (9th-place Newcastle, at home), while
Everton still has to play Man U, Southampton and Man City, all in a three-week
span.
Everton, 5th, 60 pts
Matches remaining: 7
What it’s chasing: its first Champions League berth since
2005
While the red half of Merseyside has gotten all the
attention, things are pretty good in the blue half right now too. Sunday’s 3-1
win over Fulham was Everton’s fifth straight in the league. The Toffees trail
Arsenal by four points and have a game in hand. As mentioned above, the
schedule isn’t easy, but every player seems capable of scoring right now –
Everton scored six goals from six different sources in its two wins last week.
Apologies for not getting to the bottom of the table this
week – though I can’t end this column without at least mentioning the epic 3-3
draw between West Brom and Cardiff at The Hawthorns. Cardiff was 2-0 down
within 9 minutes, went down 3-2 in stoppage time and somehow rescued a point
thanks to Mats Moller Daehli’s 95th-minute equalizer. It might be a case of too
little, too late for Cardiff – who has played a game more than West Brom yet
still trails them by three points in the race for 17th. But should Ole Gunnar
Solskjaer engineer some season-saving magic in the Welsh capital, Daehli’s goal
will be looked upon as the turning point. There will be plenty more action at
the bottom this weekend, with Cardiff hosting Crystal Palace and West Brom
traveling to Norwich. I’ll try to make sense of it all in this space a week
from now.
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