It’s a two-team race
As Liverpool and Manchester City settle down to fight for the league title, the focus is switching to new clubs forcing their way into the battle for Championship League places. And for punters this weekend offers the chance of some tempting upset bets.
It looks increasingly likely we will have a repeat of last season’s twoteam tussle for the title in England as Liverpool and Manchester City go head-to-head for honours again in this new campaign. The six-point gap between the two sides is unlikely to remain as Jurgen Klopp’s team will surely drop points and Pep Guardiola’s outfit will show more traction and consistency.
Both teams are set to dominate the headlines from now through to May, providing an absorbing sporting rivalry of the highest order. But there will be other aspects of the league worth following too, none more so than the tussle for Champions League places. The cast for the four slots that England gets has been consistent year after year with the occasional interloper but could be thrown upside down this season.
Leicester City did so when they won the league in 2016 and look as if they might earn a Champions League return at the end of this campaign.
Manager Brendan Rodgers has them up in third place in the standings, only two points behind Manchester City but above the perennial contenders Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United, who begin this weekend’s round of fixtures down in a lowly 14th place.
The decline of Spurs and Manchester United has been particularly graphic with Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino admitting this week he could be unemployed soon and the speculation around Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s future gaining increasing volume.
There is more opportunity this season than in the past for third and fourth place to be filled by an ‘outsider’ club.
All of these potential candidates face difficult examinations this weekend, starting tonight (FRI) when Leicester travel to Southampton.
Chelsea at Burnley tomorrow is another game set to be tightly contested while Sunday’s clash between fifth-placed Arsenal and Crystal Palace, who sit sixth, is a must win for the Gunners.
Pochettino’s potential exit could be hastened by defeat at Anfield on Sunday while Solskjaer should be out of a job if the Red Devils lose at Carrow Road to Norwich City, who stung Manchester City at the same venue just over a month ago.
Canny punters could be onto some decent dividends if the weekend produces the shock results expected.
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