After Manchester United and Chelsea advanced to the semifinal of the FA Cup, it became more likely that these clubs would meet in the finals at Wembley, with all due respect to Blackburn and Watford. Thus, the seventh place will be added to the "test" fifth and sixth places, which give the right to play in the UEFA Cup. According to "Sport Today", for eight rounds before the end of the championship, seven clubs have a chance to compete in the next season for the second most important European cup trophy.
BOLTON
Championship Place : 5th
Chances to get into the UEFA Cup : 80%
Hopes : To prevent “Bolton” for the second time in its history, breaking into the UEFA Cup can, no matter how trivial, only “Bolton” itself. The team was confidently in fifth place for almost the entire season, demonstrating, as usual, a not very spectacular, but quite stable game - especially in their native Reebok, where they managed to win against Liverpool and Arsenal. The calendar for Sam Allardyce’s wards is far from the most difficult - in addition to two trips to London to Chelsea and Arsenal, Bolton can take points in all the remaining matches. Yes, and Nicolas Anelka still fully justifies the record for him club record 8 million pounds - the French striker has already scored in the championship 9 goals.
Problems : The last matches of the northerners registered a clear recession - taking into account the cup game with Arsenal, Bolton lost four games in a row with a total score of 4:13. Nevertheless, it is probably not worth talking about a serious crisis. “Bolton” is not a top-class team to go the whole season without serious recessions, and there is enough stock of points to keep the coveted fifth place.
Remaining matches : Sheffield United (d), Wigan (d), Everton (d), Arsenal (d), Reading (d), Chelsea (d), West Ham (d), Aston Villa (d)
Everton
Championship position : 6th
UEFA Cup Odds : 70%
Hopes : David Moyes has been successfully working at Everton for several years now - he is fully trusted in the club, giving him the opportunity to work calmly and productively, and most importantly, to invite the right players. This season, “butterscotch” bought from the “Crystal Palace” striker England Andrew Johnson, who instantly fit into the team’s game and is the club’s top scorer with 11 goals. Lucky selection strengthened the rear: Tim Howard, bought from Manchester United, together with reliable playing defense, allowed his opponents to hit their gates only 26 times (only the Big Four clubs conceded less in the championship) and defended “zero” 13 times (more than dry matches only at Chelsea and Liverpool).
Challenges : Possible injuries to key players are likely to disturb team play. Everton’s calendar is quite acceptable. In addition, the “blue” this season steadily take points both at home and away, having suffered only one major defeat for the entire championship - 0: 3 at Old Trafford.
Remaining matches : Aston Villa (d), Fulham (d), Bolton (d), Charlton (d), West Ham (d), Manchester United (d), Portsmouth (d), Chelsea (d)
TOTTENHAM
Championship position : 7th
Chances to get into the UEFA Cup : 55%
Hope : Last season, Tottenham couldn’t make it to the Champions League due to fatal bad luck, missing forward in the final round of arsenal opponents from Arsenal. Now the “spurs” are less successful, and the seventh place is clearly not consistent with the ambitions and capabilities of the team. However, strikingly adapted in England forward Berbatov and super-capable midfielder Lennon in key games can solve Tottenham’s tasks alone, despite a lame team game. Also, Londoners continue to fight for the UEFA Cup, where in the quarterfinals they will be waiting for the owner of last year's trophy - the Spanish Sevilla. However, to take seventh place in the Premier League is much more real than going through Kerzhakov’s club.
Problems : Tottenham Hotspur is one of the most unpredictable teams of the season playing super-open football: 43 goals scored and 44 goals conceded in 30 matches. Londoners obviously lack not only stability, but sometimes even elementary concentration. Particularly characteristic are two defeats against Newcastle, an even more unstable and unpredictable Premier League team.
Remaining matches : Reading (d), Chelsea (d), Blackburn (d), Wigan (d), Arsenal (d), Middlesbrough (d), Charlton (d), Manchester City (d)
READING
Championship position : 8th
Chances to get into the UEFA Cup : 40%
Hope : A nice and militant team from a London suburb is the main opening of the season. As soon as he got into the Premier League, Reading immediately showed a confident game, shaming critics who predicted a team fight for survival. On the other hand, there is nothing extraordinary in such a take-off - almost every year in one of the European top championships an upstart club is announced. A fresh example is the Sicilian “Palermo”, which in the first season took sixth place in Serie A. In England, such clubs appear regularly - "Ipswich", "Sunderland", the same "Wigan", but not all are enough for a long time. Here is the head coach of Reading Steve Coppell more than carefully tuned: “We just got a foothold in the Premier League, and playing in European competitions is not our goal. In order to play in tournaments of this level, you need to have a stable and prepared team. We don’t have it yet. ”
Problems : In the remaining rounds, Reading will have some difficult trips to London, Newcastle, Bolton and Blackburn, and the away team is not very confident - only 4 wins and 3 draws in 15 matches. In addition, signs of impending fatigue are beginning to be seen - taking into account the Cups, Reading has already played 36 matches this season, and the team cannot boast of two equal rosters.
Remaining matches : Tottenham (d), Liverpool (d), Charlton (d), Fulham (d), Bolton (d), Newcastle (d), Watford (d), Blackburn (d)
PORTSMOUTH
Championship position : 9th
UEFA Cup Odds : 30%
Hopes : When in the summer of 2006 Milan Mandaric sold the club to Alexander Gaydamak, it seemed that finances would allow the team to solve the most serious problems. At the beginning of the season, Portsmouth was reinforced by several serious players, including David James, Nvanquo Canu and Saul Campbell, whose transition to the southern club was one of the main surprises of the summer transfer window in England. Hope for their class and experience - Portsmouth cannot boast of enthusiasm.
Problems : The team started the season for health, but then lost momentum - in the last six matches, the club gained only 5 points, scoring just 2 goals. Low performance is the main problem of the team, and, if something happened to Kanu, there will be practically no one to score. But Portsmouth has yet to play with three teams from the first four. True, the Grand Club will be hosted at Fratton Park.
Remaining matches : Fulham (d), Manchester United (d), Watford (d), Newcastle (d), Aston Villa (d), Liverpool (d), Everton (d), Arsenal (d)
BLACKBURN
Championship position : 10th
Chances to get into the UEFA Cup : 15%
Hopes : Blackburn has not yet lost the chance to get into the UEFA Cup through the FA Cup, where he will have a semi-final meeting with Chelsea. Win the Lancashireers this game, and a ticket to them is almost guaranteed - the odds of “Watford” in the confrontation with “Manchester United” look too low. In the championship, Mark Hughes wards are likely to count on a maximum place in the Intertoto Cup - the games with the main competitors Tottenham and Reading will most likely be decisive for them.
Problems : The team traditionally leads the championship in the number of yellow and red cards - discipline has never been a strong feature of Blackburn, especially under Hughes. It may well turn out that in the decisive matches Blackburn will miss the leading players precisely because of disqualifications.
Remaining matches : Manchester United (d), Aston Villa (d), Tottenham (d), Watford (d), Fulham (d), Charlton (d), Newcastle (d), Reading (d)
NEWCASTLE
Championship position : 11th
Chances to get into the UEFA Cup : 10%
Hopes : Having flown out of the UEFA Cup after losing to AZ, Newcastle almost lost the chance to find itself there next year. The gap from the coveted seventh place is not fatal - only 8 points, and hope should be on the main scorer of the “forty” Martins, who scored 16 goals this season (10 of them in the championship).
Problems : “Newcastle” is just such a team, which is quite capable of taking points from the leaders at St. James's Park, but at the same time lose one away to some Sheffield or Watford. Given the extremely unstable game of the Forty, they will have to jump above their heads in order to gain the right to play at least in the Intertoto Cup. Although last year they got into the UEFA Cup from there.
Remaining matches : Manchester City (d), Sheffield United (d), Arsenal (d), Portsmouth (d), Chelsea (d), Reading (d), Blackburn (d), Watford (d)