Premier League's race for Europe provides thrills that title fight promised but failed to deliver

The intruigue this Premier League season, as has been the case previously, lies in the fight for European spots rather than the title race.

The teams involved in the Premier League's race for European spots - (clockwise from top: Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Wolves). [Twitter: @premierleague}
By Shayne Dias | Feb 22, 2022 | 3 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

Manchester City’s dramatic loss to Tottenham Hotspur means the Premier League title race is blown wide open again. At least, that’s what people would like you to believe.

And look, it’s easy to understand why people feel this to be the case. The 2021/22 season was expected to, at one point, be a four-horse title race.

Besides City, the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United were all expected to put up a credible run at the title. Instead, what followed has been depressingly familiar dominance from City.

Even with the loss, they are still 6 points clear – even though Liverpool have a game in hand and the Reds will face City in April. So if Liverpool win that game in hand and beat City, they could well be level on points.

That’s great in theory, but April is still a long way off and City’s loss was a blip rather than a sustained loss of form. Liverpool have been imperious lately but it would take a brave man to bet against City retaining their title.

But that doesn’t mean England’s top-flight league has been boring; far from it. The intruigue this season, as has been the case previously, lies in the fight for European spots.

This is especially true not just for fourth place, but also who can finish in the top 7. And, as things stand, there are four teams vying for those coveted three spots.

Premier League race for Europe – a look at the contenders

Manchester United are currently fourth, four points off third-placed Chelsea who have a game in hand. West Ham sit four points behind them, as do Arsenal but with a notable caveat.

Mikel Arteta’s men have played three games less than both West Ham and Manchester United. Should they win those games, they will be snapping at Chelsea’s heels.

But they’re not the only sides in with a shout. This season’s outliers are Wolverhampton Wanderers, who have turned a page under new manager Bruno Lage.

No Premier League team has won more points in 2022 than Wolves. And, like Arsenal, they too have games in hand – they’ve played 24 games to United’s and the Hammers’ 26.

Given they have 40 points, which is exactly 6 less than what United currently have, they are very much in with a shout at grabbing a European qualification spot.

The undoubted dark horses here are Tottenham, currently sat in eighth but also, like their North London rivals, having 3 games in hand.

But they too are showing signs of improvement under head coach Antonio Conte, even if the Italian insists more can be done – both on and off the field.

Given there’s a whole third of the season still to go, this race can pretty much go either way.

Inconsistency of sides involved means nothing set in stone

There’s another factor that all but ensures the race for these spots will go down to the wire – the inconsistency of all these sides involved.

This is especially true of the so-called ‘Big Six’ sides. United, Chelsea and Spurs have all been woefully inconsistent in the Premier League this season.

They all have their strengths, and on their day can beat any side. The issue is those days haven’t come often enough for their liking.

Chelsea, dealing with a raft of injuries and fixture overload – as well as struggling to acclimatise record signing Romelu Lukaku – have looked patchy, even if their ability to grind out wins is undeniable.

United look a better side under Ralf Rangnick, but even the German has struggled to make the team’s bunch of expensive signings perform like a team consistently.

Spurs, meanwhile, are working to learn a whole new style under Conte. The Italian’s attention to detail is legendary and learning his methods in the middle of the season isn’t always easy.

Even West Ham have yo-yo’d in terms of form, and Wolves have only recently put together a run of form that has propelled them closer to the top of the table.

Either way, this race will certainly be far more intriguing than what Liverpool or City are currently expected to do.





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