Chelsea @ 1/25
Spurs @ 6/4
Man Utd @ 15/8
Arsenal @ 2/1
West Ham @ 6/1
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With our recent approach towards an exciting Premier League title race unambiguously shot down in flames, we must now take a deep breath and quickly focus our attention on the next most attractive source of excitement in the nightclub.
It is always difficult to be objective as one inches towards the end of play, and a profound thirst for adventure clouds and dangerously distorts one’s better judgement, but I do think we could have a very attractive top four race on our hands this season – if we play our cards right.
And don’t contrive to fall though the bar.
Due to the unusually high number of postponed fixtures in recent weeks, it is not easy to tell at present exactly who will be involved in the top quartet quest this season. Manchester City won’t, obviously – they’ll have to make do with the stultifying boredom of another joyless canter towards trophydom.
And if they win their games in hand, and successfully side-step a repeat of last season’s Dreaded February, Liverpool too should be assured a berth within the top four king-size.
Whither Chelsea though? Their season began with serious champion’s intent. But if they continue in their current trajectory they will struggle to stay in the top six. Winless in four, the Blues take part in the weekend’s biggest fixture – the final game of the weekend, at home to fellow top four contenders, Tottenham Hotspur.
Spurs currently have four games in hand over Chelsea and if – admittedly a rather sizeable if – they won all four, they would successfully leapfrog the wobbling West London side. An outcome which would have elicited cartoonish howls of derisory laughter if suggested just a couple of months ago.
Chelsea’s present inertia seems to have arisen as a result of two key simultaneous full-back injuries – to Ben Chilwell and Reece James. Squad disharmony has also crescendoed following Romelu Lukaku’s return from injury and ill-advised revelatory TV interview. And the uncertainty surrounding the future of defensive fulcrum Antonio Rüdiger has provided another unwelcome fault-line in what looked like an impenetrable, super-solid landmass back in August.
In times gone by a meeting with Spurs might just have been what a sensible doctor would have prescribed for a squad short of belief and cohesion. But Spurs were not their usual Spursy-self on Wednesday night; where a thrilling, cold-blooded, injury-time brace stunned Leicester City. Heck, even Harry Kane looked in decent nick!
Can Antonio Conte’s improbable Premier League unbeaten run continue? And can he initiate further tremors for the club that sacked him just a few short years ago?
Whatever the outcome, it looks like Thomas Tuchel’s side have arrived at something of a crossroads.
A pivotal moment in the history of 20th Century music occurred when Robert Johnson apocryphally sold his soul to the devil at a crossroads in exchange for an ability to play the blues. With fissures appearing, and the stakes rising alarmingly, one wonders what the Blues might sell to the devil in order to regain their ability to play?
Two other contenders for a top four slot will meet at Old Trafford on Saturday when Manchester United host their former manager’s high-flying West Ham. Like Spurs, the Red Devils’ season received a pleasurable fillip midweek when their elite attack-force suddenly decided to click during the second half against Brentford. Also with a game in hand, Manchester United could overtake the West Ham variant if that match is won.
And Arsenal will hope to keep their chances of a Champions League return alive as they welcome spluttering Burnley to the Emirates this weekend. Though the bigger challenge for the Gunners may lie in simply getting a starting XI out onto the pitch…and then making sure it doesn’t promptly get sent off…
