The battle for European spots in the Premier League

With the international break done and dusted, fans can now dive into the run-in to the Premier League season where the games will come thick and fast and the drama gets ramped up.

With all matches live on Showmax Pro, courtesy of SuperSport, here’s where we stand in the battle for European qualification.

Arsenal

After six years without UEFA Champions League football, most fans back in August would have accepted a top four finish as a successful season. Now they approach the run-in pinching themselves with a lead at the top.

Odds are they will still have a sizeable lead before they travel to Manchester City at the end of the month. Mikel Arteta will be mindful of keeping the buffer as big as possible before that one.

Predicted finish: Champions. The combination of Arsenal’s lead, winning momentum and City’s capacity to drop points at surprising times this season means it could all add up to the Gunners ending a 19-year title drought.

Manchester City

In their attempt to become only the second club to win a hat-trick of Premier League titles (after their neighbours Manchester United, who did it twice), Pep Guardiola’s team have found a surprising and considerable challenge on their hands to get above Arsenal this season.

City have some serious experience in successful title run-ins, which counts for plenty. They could be at the stage where they can’t drop any more points.

Predicted finish: Runners-up, which would disappoint them but would all be forgotten if they triumph in the UEFA Champions League. 

Manchester United

There was a flicker of time where it looked like the Red Devils could be in the title race but they’ve slipped a bit and look to be odds-on to finish third, which should be seen as a good achievement for Erik Ten Hag in his first Premier League season when you consider what he inherited.

Predicted finish: Third. While they looked all at sea before the break with a 7-0 humiliation by Liverpool and a goalless draw to bottom club Southampton, you would expect them to have regrouped in the international break and be in a position to finish well.

Tottenham

After a disastrous period before the international break, which led to the extraordinary parting of ways with Antonio Conte, it’s remarkable to think that Spurs are still holding onto a Champions League spot.

They started the post-Conte era with a trip to galvanised Everton, a fixture that ended in a draw and tested the team spirit that their former manager blamed them of lacking.

Predicted finish: Fifth. There are issues beyond a fiery ex-manager that the club won’t be quick to solve and there’s at least one better quality team currently close to them.

Newcastle

Newcastle’s results have dropped since their stellar run earlier in the season that took them to the nosebleed heights of third, but they are still in contention for the European spots late in the season, which has been unheard of for many years at the club.

Those credentials got tested immediately after the break with a tasty game against Manchester United, which they won 2-0.

Predicted finish: Sixth. As the season’s gone on, Newcastle have shown that the squad might be quite ready to have a successful, sustained challenge of a top four spot. However, a spot in the Europa League for the first time in a decade would be something to celebrate and savour.

Liverpool

Well, it’s not quite the same as this time last year where they still had dreams of a quadruple, but there’s plenty of reason to believe that Liverpool could end the season strong.

There was a fear that Jurgen Klopp would need to rebuild the team completely if they are to maintain the success they’ve had under him, but the 7-0 demolition of rivals Manchester United before the international break showed that they are still devastating on their day and the situation might not be quite as dire as feared.

Predicted finish: Fourth. Looked a far cry earlier in the season, but with an improvement in results and the league their sole focus now, they should have enough to sneak back into the coveted top four.

Brighton

Brighton’s eye-catching challenge for European places has been a long time in the making with shrewd transfer operations as well as a successful succession of managers.

People were worried that results might drop after Graham Potter left the club. As it turned out, they seem to be scaling even higher heights under Robert de Zerbi.

They resumed their season at home to Brentford, who have won plenty of admirers themselves in their rise to the top half, to end the game in a 3-3 draw.

Predicted finish: Seventh. Their current position would probably earn them a Europa Conference League spot, which would be an admired feat for the club.

Chelsea

While it’s been an eventful time at Stamford Bridge with managerial changes and jaw-dropping transfer expenditure, Chelsea sit no higher than mid-table (and that’s after a slight improvement in results).

After losing to Aston Villa last weekend, the top four is surely too much for Graham Potter’s men now.

Predicted finish: Eighth. Would look disastrous not to finish in the European places at all. Unless they win the Champions League, of course…

Why Showmax Pro?

Showmax Pro is a streaming service available for Showmax subscribers in Africa that bundles the Showmax entertainment offering with music channels, news and live sports streaming from SuperSport.

Subscribers can live stream the latest seasons of the English Premier League, LaLiga, Serie A, UEFA Europa and UEFA Conference leagues, as well as FIFA World Cup qualifiers and more.

The platform also offers a wide range of other live sports events including athletics, professional boxing, and the world’s biggest marathons. 

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