By Guest Writer Rob Watts.
As we enter the Penultimate weekend of the domestic season. The race for 4th Champions League spot is hotting up. The coveted position has been widely contested all season and could be decided as late as the final weekend. Tottenham currently lie in fourth position, where themselves and Manchester City seem to have been fighting it out for most of the season. However with Liverpool having a disappointing campaign and Aston Villa seemingly punching above their weight, the race for fourth is more exciting than ever.
Spurs seem to be the favorites to land fourth after a terrific campaign that has seen them beat both Arsenal and Chelsea in the past month. Aside from their disappointing defeat at Old Trafford last week, they remain in control of the final Champions League place.
The race for fourth clash of the weekend will be Aston Villa’s trip to Eastlands where they face a Manchester City side who have come up against Arsenal and Man United in recent weeks, taking only one point from those matches. Aston Villa are going into the match having won their last three matches against, Portsmouth, Hull and Birmingham respectively.
After a summer of heavy spending, great things were expected at Manchester City. Boasting new players such as Emmanuel Adebeyor, Carlos Teves, Roque Santa Cruz and Gareth Barry, City were touted as the team to break into the top four. However after a mixed season which has seen them sacking manager Mark Hughes and replacing him with ex-Internationalize boss Roberto Mancini, as well as loosing record signing Robinio.
Only two points separate fourth placed Spurs and Liverpool who lie in 7th. Saying Liverpool have had a disappointing campaign would be a huge understatement. Having players like Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard in a side, would seem to warrant some sort of silverware, however they have been below par for large parts of the season and hampered by injuries.
Many will say its the departure of influential midfielder Xabi Alonso that has caused the imbalance in the Liverpool side, but the fact they have not been able to kill off games like they used to may have cost them their usual Champions League place this season. With them facing an in-form Chelsea side on Sunday, will they be able to hold onto hope of still getting 4th?
The mid-week clash between Tottenham and Manchester City looks set to be make or break for both sides and promises to be a high tensioned affair. With European football guaranteed for sides above 8th, will it be Europa League Matches hosted at The City of Manchester Stadium or can they hang in their and pinch the last spot to play in the elite league among the best European football has to offer?
Who do you think will finish fourth? Please leave your opinions below…
