BEVERLY HILLS, March 04, (THEWILL) – At the end of matches for round 29 of the English Premier League, a clearer picture is beginning to emerge of the teams that will be in the hat for selection in next season’s elite European football competition, the UEFA Champions League. The contention for places has been fiery and changing except for the rather permanent resident at the top, that has created some breathing space from the chasing pack of the rest.
After playing 27 matches, Manchester City lead the league table on 65 points and an unbeaten streak extending up to 21 matches, having lost only two so far and drawn five. Their form has led watchers of the EPL to crown them Champions-Elect given there are only 11 games remaining for them and the 14 points gap they have opened up at the top is just the buffer they need to stay up.
Their city rivals Manchester United failed to close more than one point of the gap in their latest barren draw against Crystal Palace. It was the second straight goalless draw for United, a cumulative loss of four precious points trying to catch up with an unstoppable City team brimming with the confidence of one victory after another.
Prior to the Palace draw, United failed to breach the defense-line of Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea as hard as they tried. With City next in line to contend against, their only consolation for not scoring is that they have also not been conceding. A free-scoring side like the Cityzens will present a unique challenge for Solskjaer’s charges and it will help them to have rediscovered their scoring formula by the scheduled clash against Guardiola’s side on Sunday.
Third on the table and fighting for the Top Four slot to avoid a repeat of last season’s disastrous decline at this exact stage of the competition is Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester City. In quick succession, a disappointing exit from the UEFA Europa League was followed by an uncharacteristic loss to north London outfit Arsenal at their sacred King Power Stadium that had proven a tough ground for the Gunners in recent years.
Attempts by Rodgers to arrest this slide have been hampered by a lengthening injury list to which influential squad mates Harvey Barnes and Jonny Evans were added. Without James Maddison, James Justin Wesley Fofana, Ayoze Perez and Dennis Prae, the Foxes third place is beginning to face threats after their 1-1 draw against 15th-placed side Burnley. A little more of such disappointments and Leicester can be staring a drop off the top four straight in the eye.
Completing that hierarchy of European spots after the latest rounds of matches is Tuchel’s Chelsea. The London club has witnessed a marked improvement since the German tactician replaced Chelsea legend Franck Lampard in the dugout. The most impressive detail has been how tight and compact the Blues have become at the back.
Indeed, when Senegalese goalkeeper Edouard Mendy joined over the summer transfer window, he immediately demonstrated why he replaced one of the most expensive keepers in the EPL, Kepa Arrizabalaga, who cost Stamford Bridge a pricey €80 million in transfer fees. Mendy began by matching Chelsea goalkeeping icon Petr Cech’s three clean sheets in his first three matches and had five in six to give the Blues fans cause to dream.
Tuchel improved on that by firming up the back force with a successful pairing of the solidity of the Dane Andreas Christensen and the formidable German Antonio Rudiger. Their no-nonsense performance since Tuchel’s coming has seen them concede only two goals after tough domestic and European ties, with one being an own-goal. It has become increasingly difficult to score against the Blues, as defending champions Liverpool found out on Thursday.
In that encounter, Chelsea secured a vital 1-0 win against the Reds, that not only bettered their top four prospects but literally lifted them into fourth place on the table. Jurgen Klopp’s side struggled throughout the contest to find an equaliser without success. They ended with an unwanted club record. The side that had set the unbeaten home record of 68 games has now lost their fifth league game in a row on home soil.
It was unprecedented for a Kop side but it was a game the Reds had no positives to show for themselves at Anfield. They were supposed to kick on from their victory over Sheffield United and begin a steady but sure climb up the table. Instead, they fluffed their lines spectacularly and unbelievably to the advantage of Tuchel’s side, leaving Liverpool’s hopes of playing in next season’s Champions League looking increasingly bleak from a domestic perspective.
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Klopp’s team has taken 12 points from their last 13 league games and that, as startling as it sounds, is relegation-form type of results. When that is juxtaposed with the fact that it took 84 minutes for the hosts to register their first shot on target and the Reds as individuals rarely looked like beating either of Antonio Rudiger or Andreas Christensen in one-on-one situations, it is obvious that this is a deeper team-wide problem than it initially appears.
As it stands, the only chance Anfield has of being included as a venue in Europe’s elite football competition next season will be for them to clinch the trophy for a seventh time.
On the table, Liverpool may slide further down from where they sit looking up at Chelsea because Everton and West Ham have top four aspirations and are not technically out of the race yet. There is also the case to be made for the likes of Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa, both of whom, though presently beneath Liverpool, have games in hand. It could get worse for Liverpool, still.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
