If there was even the slightest of doubts, Arsenal’s ruthless 4-1 destruction of Liverpool on Saturday should end the debate about who will finish in the Premier League’s top four.
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Now it is just a matter of which order they will end up – and who has the ability and mental aptitude to fulfil expectations – or fall below them.
With leaders Chelsea squeezing past Stoke to maintain their seven-point advantage, with a game in hand, the focus, and onus, is firmly on those teams below them.
Just two points separate the second-placed Gunners, Manchester United in third and reigning champions Manchester City, now fourth ahead of tomorrow’s game at Crystal Palace.
Arsenal form interesting. They still have Chelsea to play at home too. One slip from leaders leaves door ajar.
— Ian Darke (@IanDarke) April 4, 2015
With a display full of swagger, style and slickness against a defensively-hapless Liverpool outfit, it is understandable that Arsenal are deemed Chelsea’s biggest threat for the title.
Louis van Gaal also still fancies United’s chances after five straight wins and a confidence surge in his side. Though Chelsea have to host United – probably without first-choice striker Diego Costa – and still to visit the Emirates Stadium, perhaps that challenge has come too late with only seven games left.
But there is a fight definitely on, and especially for second and third spots. The importance, and significance, of those positions cannot be ignored.
No one wants the dreaded fourth place and the prospect of a qualifier for the Champions League group stage. It will come at the start of the season when teams are often still finding their form, and the chance of an upset against potentially awkward opponents is worryingly high.
This season’s qualifying competition saw Arsenal squeeze past Besiktas, while teams of the calibre of Napoli and Lille also crashed out. Remember too how Everton worked so hard to get there in 2005, and then fell to Villarreal in the final qualifier.
City boss Manuel Pellegrini was in charge of the Spaniards back then and will be well aware of the pitfalls that scenario presents – and how such a final position will only heighten the pressure on him.
Manchester City. Fourth. Behind United. Who would have thought that was possible last month? #MCFC
— Broderick Sutherland (@BrodSutherland) April 4, 2015
While he may be confident his job is not under threat, if City end up behind their rivals and in a European play-off, it will not be acceptable for a club that wants to be the best in Europe – not the fourth-best in England.
With the Manchester derby next Sunday at Old Trafford, it’s a crucial week for Pellegrini and his players. And having seen Arsenal and United claim three points without too much trouble yesterday, so must they at Selhurst Park. They have the quality, but they need to be equally convincing in the manner of their performance to gain a morale-boosting victory.
If they succeed, it will keep the pressure on Chelsea in the run-in with a four-way contest, something Pellegrini, Louis van Gaal and Arsene Wenger want, and have talked up, to give their sides a glimmer of hope like past title races.
Anything less and City will head to the derby as a team in trouble and maybe even tormented about how things have gone awry following last season’s championship and League Cup double.
With a momentum shift in favour of both Arsenal and United, it would be difficult to see them rise above their current position. And fourth will be failure.
