Take it from us folks. We here at WSA are in the know. We didn’t get where we are today, (which is absolutely nowhere), by not knowing a thing or two about football.
We have it on very good authority that Liverpool and Arsenal will miss out on a top four place. Which authority would that be then? You may well ask.
Well, in the case of Arsenal, the authority is Arséne Wenger himself. In an obvious attempt to undermine his teams already rock-bottom confidence, he is about to announce that he is staying on for another year. He feels that, without Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Özil, the backing of the fans and Champion’s League football, he will be able to attract sufficient quality players to the Emirates to enable a quick return to the top four, after which he can vacate his position with his head held high.
He is, in fact, only delaying the announcement until Manchester City knock his Arsenal team out of the FA Cup in the upcoming semi-final.
This attitude is what will keep Arsenal outside of this season’s top four for the rest of the season. It will also keep them outside of it next season if he does make the expected announcemount.
Liverpool’s problem isn’t their manager. Unlike a certain North London rival he admits to his mistakes, tells it like it is and doesn’t come across as arrogant to the point of omnipotence.
No, Liverpool’s problem is the fact that they don’t know how to play against teams from outside of the top six. They have taken more points than anybody else against the other top teams but have struggled against the supposed cannon fodder.
In a standard Premier League season they will play the other five top six teams twice each. If it were possible to achieve perfection, this would give them 30 points. They would then have to take more than fifty points from their games against the rest. That means that from the other 28 games they would have to average around two points per game. They are currently just about achieving that figure but have played nearly all their allotted games against the other top six sides. That is why they will not finish in the top four this season.
The other four teams seem to be doing OK.
Tottenham managed to win without Harry Kane, which is always a good sign as many people thought they were overly reliant on his goals. They proved against Southampton that they have others who can score. They are also in second position so it would take an alarming slump in form for them to drop out of the top four.
The same can be said about Manchester City, who are only two points behind Spurs and, despite defensive frailties, should have enough about them to stay in third place or even take second.
Both of the aforementioned clubs have played a game less than Liverpool, which is also in their favour, (providing they win their games in hand, of course).
Manchester United have played two games less than Liverpool and are only four points behind them. More to the point is that they have proved that they can win games, away from home, without their big signings. In their last game they took on Middlesbrough without the suspended Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the injured Paul Pogba and the “rested unless needed” Henrikh Mkhitaryan. It turned out to be a relatively comfortable victory in the end and having the largest squad is what will elevate United into fourth place and keep them there.
As far as Chelsea are concerned they are already champions. They have succeeded in the one aspect which has been a failing of Liverpool. They have taken full advantage of not being involved in European competition and, because of this, are also still in with a chance of winning the FA Cup.
So, take it from us, this is how the final top four will look:
1. Chelsea
2. Tottenham Hotspur
3. Manchester City
4. Manchester United
You can go and place your bets now!
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 