Manchester United caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer suffered his first loss in Premier League competition tonight, 2-0 to Arsenal, meaning United now sit in fifth in the table, two points behind Arsenal in fourth.
This is the third time in 2019 that Arsenal and United have flipped over one another between fourth and fourth in the table in 2019. Third place Tottenham Hotspur are just one point ahead of Arsenal in the table and two ahead of the Red Devils. Don’t forget sixth place Chelsea, who are point behind United, and have a game in hand.
In other words, it’s going to be a massive battle for UEFA Champions League qualification with four teams in the mix, for just two spots. Chelsea and Arsenal have another route in to Europe of course, via winning the Europa League. Ditto for United, who will be back next year should they win this year’s tournament (they have currently advanced to the quarter-finals).
It’s going to be a really fierce top four battle, and Solskjaer gave his take on how he thinks it will all play out.
“I don’t think nerves go into it yet,” the Norwegian said of the eight match run-in.
“Spurs lose, we lose, Chelsea draw. It is going to be down to the wire. Down to the last few games. Definitely. We’ve given ourselves a great chance to be in that fight. Two points behind fourth, three points behind third. A good position to be in.”
Betway handicaps the top four like so: Tottenham have 4/6 odds, Arsenal 5/6, Chelsea 10/11 and United 11/8. Meanwhile FiveThirtyEight.com currently shows projections thusly: Tottenham 67%, Arsenal 53%, Chelsea 50% and United 30%.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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