English Football: The Race to The Finish!

The clocks have gone an hour forward in the United Kingdom meaning that the English football season is very much on the home stretch, the business end, whatever you want to call it.

At the sharp end of the Premier League, it's quite clear that a club from Manchester will be English champions.

At the other end of the Premier League, it's all up in the air as has always been the case. Wigan, Wolves, QPR, Blackburn, Bolton and quite possibly Aston Villa are involved in a tight race to stay up and avoid relegation to the Football League.

As for the Football League's highest tier, the Championship, the race for promotion to the mass riches of the Premier League is also very much on. Southampton look set to play in the Premier League for the first time since 2005 while Reading and West Ham are also fighting it out for a return to the big time. Birmingham, Middlesbrough, Hull City and Blackpool are also in the hunt.



We'll be looking at all the intriguing battles to look out for as the English football season reaches its exciting climax over the next 6 weeks.

Act 1 - The Race for the Title - Manchester United v Manchester City 
Sorry Tottenham fans but a horror run which saw the Spurs lose to Arsenal and Man United on successive weekends has knocked the stuffing out of their title aspirations - and could even relegate them to Europa League football next season but more on that later.

So the Premier League trophy will stay in Manchester for sure but which one remains to be seen.

Remaining fixtures - 
Man City -
22 April - Wolves (A)
30 April - Man United (H)
6 May - Newcastle (A)
13 May - QPR (H)







Man United -
15 April - Aston Villa (H)
22 April - Everton (H)
30 April - Man City (A)
6 May - Swansea (H)
13 May - Sunderland (A)

Judging from the last couple of fixtures, Manchester City appear to have the hardest run-in facing an in-form Arsenal at the Emirates and Newcastle at St James Park (f*** off, Mike Ashley, I'm not saying the other name), while Man United have a fairly straightforward run.

Then of course there is the rematch at Etihad Stadium on Monday 30 April which could go a long way to deciding the destiny of the title.

Yes, the blue side of Manchester appears to have a tough run-in but judging from the way they came back against Chelsea and got a draw against Stoke after going a goal behind, the team spirit is there. It will be a tough ask going against the experienced red half of Manchester though.

Sadly, at this stage, Ferguson's men appear primed to retain their title but it will be close.

Act 2 - The Race for Promotion - Southampton, Reading, West Ham, Brighton, Birmingham City, Middlesbrough, Blackpool

With 6 games left, Southampton look to have sealed a ticket back to the Premier League for the first time since their relegation in 2005, despite a 3-0 thumping by Blackpool.

Southampton host a broke Portsmouth at home, go to Crystal Palace, host Reading, go to Peterborough and Middlesbrough then host relegation-threatened Coventry in what will probably be their last game of the season. On paper, it looks like an easy run with probably only Middlesbrough the toughest place to win and a fighting Coventry at the end.

Southampton's home match against Reading on Friday the 13th [April] could decide who becomes champion of the Championship this year. However, the loser probably won't be too unlucky as they will be in the Premier League next season.

Reading's win over West Ham on the weekend probably sealed 2nd place for them. They face Leeds United at home, Brighton away, Southampton away, Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace in their final two matches at home. Brighton and Southampton could be tough away and Reading will probably lose those games but given their home form, they should win the other 3 games and that'll probably be enough for a return to the Premier League since 2008.

West Ham are the only other side who could still finish in the top 2 and gain automatic promotion to the Premier League but the loss at home to Reading could be a fatal blow to the Hammers' chances of doing so. The Hammers go to Barnsley, host Birmingham, Brighton, go to Bristol City, Leicester and finish at home against Hull.

It's hard to predict how the Hammers will go as their form has definitely tailed off since the start of the year when they were leading the Championship. Two things that are certain: West Ham must now win all their remaining games including a tough one against fellow promotion chasers, Birmingham and Brighton could easily determine who will finish 2nd.

The Hammers clearly want to finish 2nd as finishing 3rd means dropping into the playoffs and anything could happen there even if you did finish the season 8 points ahead of the 4th placed team - ask Nottingham Forest, Norwich and Wolves fans about that.

Anyway the race for places 4, 5 and 6 is tight although realistically it looks like it's down to Birmingham, Blackpool, Brighton and Middlesbrough - all of them are on 63 points. Their fixtures are as follows

17 April - Blackpool v Leeds United, Brighton v Watford, Ipswich v Birmingham, Middlesbrough v Doncaster

21 April - Blackpool v Burnley, Brighton v Birmingham, Middlesbrough v Southampton

28 April - Barnsley v Brighton, Birmingham v Reading, Watford v Middlesbrough, Millwall v Blackpool

Your guess is as good as mine as all 4 aforementioned teams have been very up and down this season. The last 6 games will very much be each team's form-book. My tip is for Birmingham, Brighton, Blackpool as they have the best form at the moment while Middlesbrough appear to be on a decline. Cardiff are the only team who could still sneak into the top 6 but their form is not very good at the moment.

Act 3 - The Race for Survival - Wigan Athletic, Bolton Wanderers, QPR, Blackburn Rovers, Wolverhampton Wanderers

Once again, the race to stay up in the Premier League is looking more exciting than the race to win the Premier League. It is quite clear that Wigan, Bolton, QPR, Blackburn and Wolves are now firmly stuck in that race with Wolves leading the way and looking likely to be the first side to be relegated on current form and now 6 points from safety.

However, at this stage, it is quite unclear who has the edge when it comes to survival with each team's form being rather patchy. There have been some big results though with Bolton's win over Blackburn quite possibly handing them the momentum over their great Lancashire rivals - that along with the fact Bolton can gain inspiration playing for their fallen comrade, Fabrice Muamba.

So the fixtures are as follows:


16 April
Arsenal v Wigan

21/22 April
Blackburn v Norwich, Bolton v Swansea, Fulham v Wigan, QPR v Tottenham, Wolves v Man City

24 April
Aston Villa v Bolton

28/29 April
Sunderland v Bolton, Swansea v Wolves, Wigan v Newcastle, Chelsea v QPR, Tottenham v Blackburn

2 May
Bolton v Tottenham

6/7 May
Bolton v West Brom, QPR v Stoke, Wolves v Everton, Blackburn v Wigan

13 May
Chelsea v Blackburn, Man City v QPR, Stoke v Bolton, Wigan v Wolves

My tips: while sadly Wolves look set to be relegated - and deservedly so - I think QPR's home record could very well be enough for them to stay up. They may not be getting the results against the top sides as expected but they haven't really been thrashed by any of them - and that first goal they conceded against Man United should never have been. Mark Hughes is a good manager and has actually transformed QPR a bit since his arrival and I can see them staying up. And I think Bolton will be the other team to stay up as they may have the easiest home stretch out of all the 5 teams in the relegation battle.

So to go down: Wolves, Wigan and Blackburn.

Act 4 - The Race for Europe - Tottenham, Chelsea, Newcastle United

4 clubs will definitely taste European football next season - Manchester United and Manchester City will be in the UEFA Champions League with Arsenal now likely to join them, while Liverpool will play in the Europa League after winning the Carling Cup.

1 more Champions League spot is up for grabs along with at least 1 Europa League spot. Tottenham currently hold onto 4th place and the last Champions League spot but their form hasn't been great in recent times and are fighting off the challenge from a resurgent Newcastle United and bumbling Chelsea.

It could also come down to who faces Liverpool in the FA Cup Final - with Liverpool guaranteed European football, the finalist will take the spot left by them. If Tottenham or Chelsea finish 4th/5th, the 6th placed team in the league will play in the Europa League.





So here are the fixtures:
21 April, Arsenal v Chelsea, Newcastle v Stoke, QPR v Tottenham

28/29 April, Wigan v Newcastle, Chelsea v QPR, Tottenham v Blackburn

2 May, Chelsea v Newcastle, Bolton v Tottenham

5/6 May, Liverpool v Chelsea*, Newcastle v Man City, Aston Villa v Tottenham*


13 May, Chelsea v Blackburn, Everton v Newcastle, Tottenham v Fulham

*Liverpool v Chelsea will be postponed to a later date due to their participation in the FA Cup Final on 5 May and Tottenham's game will be postponed should they make it.

My tips:
Tottenham to take last Champions League spot, Chelsea to finish 5th, Newcastle 6th but will play in Europe since Tottenham/Chelsea are guaranteed European football regardless of their participation in the FA Cup Final.