Battle for Premier League Top 4 Finish Set to Intensify

The Premier League season is now well past the halfway mark and in some ways it seems that the title race is fairly dull this season. Chelsea has been sitting at the top of the table for quite some time; they are 7 points ahead of Manchester City and are unlikely to start slipping anytime soon.

However, the race to finish in the top four and qualify for next season’s Champions League is anything but over. Manchester City look fairly certain to finish in the top four, but there are five other teams, Southampton, Arsenal, Manchester United, Tottenham and Liverpool, which are heading for a major battle to claim one of the other two places. At present Liverpool is seventh in the league with 42 points but third place Southampton is just three points ahead of them with 45 points.

The likelihood of Chelsea and Manchester City finishing in the top four is so high that a number of bookmakers are no longer accepting bets on it. However, at most bookies, such as William Hill and Bet365, Arsenal is next favourite to finish in the top four with odds of around 2/5. Manchester United follows Arsenal with odds of around 8/15 while Southampton is at 7/4.

Despite their strong positions in the league the bookies don’t have much confidence in Tottenham and Liverpool; their odds are slightly longer at 7/2. Nonetheless, both teams have pulled off spectacular wins in recent weeks and will certainly not be giving up without a fight.

There are fourteen matches remaining for each team this season and the competition is certainly going to intensify as the season draws to a close. So despite the fact that the title is a bit of a one horse race, there is still plenty of action remaining for fans to enjoy.