The Premier League – What Battles Are To Be Fought Over The Remainder Of The Season?

We are now well over the midway point of the Premier League season and some teams are already thinking about what the final ten or eleven games of the season will reveal.

As is often the case, there are now a number of different races within the Premier League at present, with different teams fighting for different things based on their league position and form.

While the glamour will see the title race brought into focus, there can be just as much excitement for fans of teams involved in some of the other big battles in the division and in this article, we are going to pinpoint what those battles are, who is involved and what the key games are that will likely go a long way towards deciding who ends up with the reward they wanted, and who misses out.

Bet365 Sport offers an outstanding range of bets on the Premier League throughout the course of the season right the way through to the culmination of the season in May.

So let’s first examine the different battles being fought in the Premier League right now, starting for the biggest honour of all, the Premier League title.

Premier League Battles 1 – Premier League Title Race

Teams Involved –

• Arsenal – 1^st, P24, 57pts (+29)
• Manchester City – 2^nd, P25, 55pts (+39)
• Manchester United – 3^rd, P24, 49pts (+13)

Remaining EPL Games For Each Team

Arsenal

• V Everton (H) – 1^st March
• V Bournemouth (H) – 4^th March
• V Fulham (A) – 12^th March
• V Crystal Palace (H) – 19^th March
• V Leeds Utd (H) – 1^st April
• V Liverpool (A) – 9^th April
• V West Ham (A) – 16^th April
• V Southampton (H) – 21^st April
• V Manchester City (A) – 26^th April
• V Chelsea (H) – 29^th April
• V Newcastle (A) – 6^th May
• V Brighton (H) – 13^th May
• V Nottingham Forest (A) – 20^th May
• V Wolves (H) – 28^th May

Points Available – 42

Predicted Points – 34

Predicted Finishing Points – 91pts

Manchester City

• V Newcastle United (H) – 4^th March
• V Crystal Palace (A) – 11^th March
• V West Ham (H) – TBD
• V Liverpool (H) – 1^st April
• V Southampton (A) – 9^th April
• V Leicester City (H) – 16^th April
• V Brighton (A) – 23^rd April
• V Arsenal (H) – 26^th April
• V Fulham (A) – 30^th April
• V Leeds United (H) – 6^th May
• V Everton (A) – 13^th May
• V Chelsea (H) – 20^th May
• V Brentford (A) – 28^th May

Points Available – 39

Predicted Points – 33

Predicted Finishing Points – 88pts

Manchester United

• V Liverpool (A) – 5^th March
• V Southampton (H) – 12^th March
• V Brighton (A) – TBC
• V Newcastle United (A) – 2^nd April
• V Brentford (H) – 5^th April
• V Everton (H) – 8^th April
• V Nottingham Forest (A) – 15^th April
• V Chelsea (H) – 22^nd April
• V Tottenham (A) – 27^th April
• V Aston Villa (H) – 30^th April
• V West Ham (A) – 6^th May
• V Wolves (H) – 13^th May
• V Bournemouth (A) – 20^th May
• V Fulham (H) – 28^th May

Points Available – 42

Predicted Points – 30

Predicted Finishing Points – 79pts

As you can see, we’ve gone through the remaining games for the top three sides in the EPL chasing the title realistically and while we can see Manchester City cutting Arsenal’s lead, we feel the Gunners will just about hang on to clinch the title by a couple of points.

I am confident these three teams will occupy the top three slots in the Premier League this season which means that there will be a real race on for the final Champions League spot, plus the two Europa League qualification spots for 5^th and 6^th place.

Premier League Battles 2 – Remaining Champions League & Europa League Qualification Spots

Teams Involved –

• Tottenham Hotspurs – 4^th, P25, 45pts (+11)
• Newcastle United – 5^th, P23, 41pts, (+20)
• Fulham – 6^th, P25, 39pts (+5)
• Liverpool – 7^th, P23, 36pts (+10)
• Brighton – 8^th, P22, 35pts (+10)
• Brentford – 9^th, P23, 35pts (+7)

There are six teams going for just a possible three qualification spots in Europe next season and at the moment, Spurs, Newcastle and Fulham occupy those spots.

All of the key games between the teams involved over the remainder of the season are shown below:

Key Games

• 6^th March – Brentford v Fulham
• TBC – Liverpool v Fulham
• 1^st April – Brighton v Brentford
• 8^th April – Brentford v Newcastle
• 8^th April – Tottenham v Brighton
• 23^rd April – Newcastle v Tottenham
• 30^th April – Liverpool v Tottenham
• 6^th May – Liverpool v Brentford
• 20^th May – Tottenham v Brentford

Prediction

• 4^th – Liverpool
• 5^th – Tottenham
• 6^th – Newcastle
• 7^th – Fulham
• 8^th – Brighton
• 9^th – Brentford

I think over the last few games of the season, Liverpool’s experience will tell and see the Reds snatch an unexpected Champions League spot for next season with Spurs and Newcastle earning Europa League spots for their campaigns.

Premier League Battles 3 – Relegation Battle

For me, the teams ranked 11^th or higher in the EPL at the moment should be safe from the threat of relegation, however those in positions 12 down to 20^th are the teams that are still very much embroiled in the battle with just nine points between Palace in 12^th and Southampton at the foot of the table.

That covers a broad range of teams involved in the relegation battle, namely:

• Crystal Palace – 12^th, P24, 27pts (-10)
• Nottm Forest – 13^th, P24, 25pts (-24)
• Leicester City – 14^th, P24, 24pts (-6)
• Wolves – 15^th, P24, 24pts (-15)
• West Ham – 16^th, P24, 23pts (-6)
• Leeds Utd – 17^th, P24, 22pts (-10)
• Everton – 18^th, P24, 21pts (-15)
• Bournemouth – 19^th, P24, 21pts (-26)
• Southampton – 20^th, P24, 18pts (-22)

With the bottom three relegated from the Premier League, it is going to be a huge battle for all these teams to ensure that they preserve their Premier League status and with so many teams involved, there are going to be a number of key clashes between these teams over the coming weeks.

Here’s the crucial games in the relegation battle coming up:

Key Games

• 4^th March – Southampton v Leicester City
• 5^th March – Nottingham Forest v Everton
• 18^th March – Wolves v Leeds United
• 1^st April – Nottingham Forest v Wolves
• 1^st April – Crystal Palace v Leicester City
• 2^nd April – West Ham v Southampton
• 4^th April – Leeds United v Nottingham Forest
• 8^th April – Leicester City v Bournemouth
• 8^th April – Leeds United v Crystal Palace
• 15^th April – Southampton v Crystal Palace
• 22^nd April – Crystal Palace v Everton
• 22^nd April – Bournemouth v West Ham United
• 22^nd April – Leicester City v Wolves
• 25^th April – Wolves v Crystal Palace
• 25^th April – Southampton v Bournemouth
• 25^th April – Leeds United v Leicester City
• 29^th April – Crystal Palace v West Ham
• 29^th April – Bournemouth v Leeds United
• 1^st May – Leicester City v Everton
• 6^th May – Nottingham Forest v Southampton
• 13^th May – Crystal Palace v Bournemouth
• 20^th May – West Ham v Leeds United
• 20^th May – Wolves v Everton
• 28^th May – Everton v Bournemouth
• 28^th May – Leicester City v West Ham United
• 28^th May – Crystal Palace v Nottingham Forest

With so many games left to play between a significant number of teams, it is tough to predict exactly how the table will finish out, but here’s my prediction for the positions from 12^th to bottom of the EPL come May.

Relegation Prediction

• 12^th – West Ham United
• 13^th – Leicester City
• 14^th – Crystal Palace
• 15^th – Nottingham Forest
• 16^th – Wolves
• 17^th – Everton
• 18^th – Leeds United
• 19^th – Southampton
• 20^th – Bournemouth

How do you think the key battles will unfold in the Premier League over the rest of the season?