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The Race for Fourth is Hotting Up: Ranking The Teams Chasing Champions League Football

It’s the international break right now, and as such, this is the ideal time to take a closer look at how things are panning out in the race for the fourth spot in the Premier League. It’s pretty much a given that Manchester City, Liverpool, and Chelsea will finish in the leading three places in the league, but there are a bunch of competitors fighting it out for the final Champions League berth.

A sports betting enthusiast could, in theory, back one of five possible winners in this race, and the merits of each are not unlike when one would look to compare casino bonuses to work out which is the bet most worthy of making (when factoring in the potential payout for each). 

Leading the way right now is Arsenal, and that’s thanks to a great run of form that has seen Mikel Arteta’s side win six of their last seven games, and they sit in fourth place as of now, with 54 points, some three points clear of Tottenham and four clear of Manchester United.

However, the Emirates Stadium side has played a game less, which puts them well and truly in the driving seat. Arsenal do have to travel to face North London rivals Tottenham and also face Man United, as well as Chelsea, and therefore rivals of the Gunners may hope for a succession of poor results that could bring them back in the picture.

Arteta has managed to fuse a strong, consistent side together that is made up of solid summer signings, including Aaron Ramsdale and Ben White, with exciting young attacking talents like Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe, and Gabriel Martinelli. 

Antonio Conte started his Spurs reign well and then saw Tottenham pull off the usual mixed bag of form, but the Italian has been buoyed by recent results that have seen the club pick up four wins from five.

Tottenham’s run-in is significantly easier than Arsenal’s, and therefore if they could defeat their arch-rivals, then they’d have a decent shot of making fourth place. Man United arguably have the toughest time of making it to fourth due to their up and down form.

It’s also abundantly clear that Conte is overly-reliant on Heung Min-Son and Harry Kane, and if either, or both, are not at their best, then goals are hard to come by. 

Ralf Rangnick may have only seen his side lose two league games during his interim spell; they have also drawn a number of games they should have won, such as home to Southampton and Watford and away at Burnley and Aston Villa.

Defensively they are a mess, and the uncertainty around the club is palpable, with Rangnick lacking the authority to really win the dressing room over.

Then we come to the outside shots. West Ham have done admirably to be up among those challenging for a top-four finish, but they may find that race too tough to negotiate. However, David Moyes could still make it to the Champions League via the Europa League, with the Hammers through to the quarter-finals, where they’ll face Lyon.

Then we come to Wolves, who are still technically in with a chance of finishing fourth. Bruno Lage’s side have done well to sit where they are right now, in eighth, ten points clear of ninth, but it would take a Herculean effort to make it into the Champions League places by the end of the season, especially as they still have to play Liverpool, Chelsea, and Manchester City.

There are still many twists and turns left in this race, and it’s one that may go all the way down to the wire.

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