Premier League: The race to top four re-ignited after Arsenal win over Chelsea
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A bizarre backpass from Jorginho that put Arsenal in the lead
Chelsea were on a great run in the English Premier League as well as other competitions until they faced their London rivals, Arsenal. Despite missing out on UEFA Champions League through both English Premier League as well as Europa League, the Gunners are still putting up a great fight to secure European football for the next season. Though it seems improbable, Arsenal are not ready to let their guards down.
Against Arsenal, Chelsea needed a victory to position themselves firmly in the top four as Leicester City recorded a win over heavily rotated Manchester United at Old Trafford. Leicester City leapfrogged Chelsea to the third position. To regain their third position, Chelsea needed a win but Jorginho’s horrendous pass has changed the whole dynamism of the top four race in the English Premier League.
How Chelsea’s defeat to Arsenal has re-ignited the race to top four in the English Premier League?
The Blues started the game on a great tempo against Mikel Arteta’s side and bottled the one-on-one against Bernd Leno in the opening minutes of the game. The miss haunted Thomas Tuchel’s men as Arsenal did not allow the lead to slip despite the opposition applying pressure by sending waves of attack. The defeat has spiced up the race to the top four.
The defeat meant that only 69 points are required for any team to secure the Champions League spot considering the fact that they win every game. Leicester City go up against Chelsea after the FA Cup final and a team with definite victory will reduce the points required to finish in Champions League spots. A draw would further reduce the required points to finish in the top spots in the Premier League.
On the other hand, Leicester City’s win has affected the chances of West Ham United as well as Liverpool’s chances to obtain the Champions League spots. The Foxes already have one leg in the top four unless they decided to bottle it out like that of the last season. All teams have similar opposition in the upcoming games and the race is expected to boil down to the last day like that of the 2019/20 season. Here is how the points table is expected look up at the end of season:
| Team Name | 35th GW | 36th GW | 37th GW | 38th GW | Points Available | Current points | Maximum Points |
| Leicester City | NA | NA | Chelsea | Tottenham | 6 | 66 | 72 (Assuming a win for Leicester City against Chelsea) |
| Chelsea | NA | NA | Leicester City | Aston Villa | 6 | 64 | 70 (Assuming a win for Chelsea against Leicester City) |
| West Ham United | NA | Brighton | West Bromwich Albion | Southampton | 9 | 58 | 67 |
| Liverpool | Manchester United | West Bromwich Albion | Burnley | Crystal Palace | 12 | 57 | 69 |
| Everton | Aston Villa | Sheffield United | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Manchester City | 12 | 55 | 67 |
The defeat of Chelsea also has spoiled the plans of those clubs that were targeting the Europa League spots as well. The target points to finish in the top six have reduced for this season owing to the defeat which has the potential to increase the competitions to finish within qualifying spots. It remains interesting to see who will end up in the top four as well as top six positions in the English Premier League.
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Varun Aithal
(480 Articles Published)