After a couple of positive signings, Arsenal finally look like they might scrape their way back into the top four race, so which big-six sides have the toughest matches remaining?
Realistically, Manchester City and Manchester United are far enough ahead that they’re guaranteed top four. At the time of writing, United are 11 points ahead of Arsenal, and City 24.
Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham are much closer now, though.
What does their fixture list look like for the rest of the season?
1. Chelsea
The Blues have a few horrible periods of matches coming up between now and the end of the season. Here are all their big six matches:
- Manchester United vs Chelsea – 25th February
- Manchester City vs Chelsea – 4th March
- Chelsea vs Tottenham Hotspur – 1st April
- Chelsea vs Liverpool – 5th May
To make things worse, Chelsea have to play Barcelona on the 20th February, just before the United match. They have an away trip to Burnley right before the Spurs game, and host West Ham for a derby immediately afterwards.
They probably have the toughest fixtures of the bunch.
2. Liverpool
After Liverpool’s match against Spurs at the weekend, they actually don’t have many big matches left:
- Manchester United vs Liverpool – 10th March
- Chelsea vs Liverpool – 5th May
The only other game of note is their away trip to Everton. Whilst they may only have three big games, they are all away, so there’s still potential for some slip ups.
Like Chelsea, their Champions League knockout match against Porto is directly before the Manchester United match.
3. Tottenham Hotspur
Spurs also don’t have a huge number of big games remaining this season:
- Tottenham Hotspur vs Arsenal – 10th February
- Chelsea vs Tottenham Hotspur – 1st April
- Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester City – 14th April
It looks all the more important that the Gunners take points off their rivals next week. Otherwise they’ve got a fairly straight-forward run for the next couple of months.
4. Arsenal
The Gunners’ fixture list looks pretty similar to Tottenham’s:
- Tottenham Hotspur vs Arsenal – 10th February
- Arsenal vs Manchester City – 1st March
- Manchester United vs Arsenal – 28th April
Three matches from the end of the season, I’m vaguely optimistic United will giving up on the title and secured top four by the time Arsenal play them. If they’re in the latter stages of a cup competition too, even better. Manchester City and Spurs will give their all though, so the next month could make or break the Gunners’ season.
