Who will get 4th place?
Posted by DavidM in Football blogs | 31 March 2006
The end of the season is nigh and while the Premiership crown may be all but placed on Mourinho’s head and the wooden spoon is in the post to Sunderland, there are two big fights still on – for 4th spot and to avoid the last relegation places.
The teams in the reckoning for 4th position and the final Champions league place – assuming Arsenal don’t win it this year – are:
- Spurs - 31 games, 55 points
- Blackburn - 31 games, 52 points
- Arsenal - 30 games, 50 points
- Bolton - 29 games, 48 points
Looking at the remaining fixture list I reckon the following:
Spurs
3 wins (Newcastle, Man City, West Ham)
3 draws (Everton, Arsenal, Bolton)
1 loss (Man Utd)
Total from remaining games: 12 points
Blackburn
3 wins (Portsmouth, Birmingham, Man City)
2 draws (Wigan, Charlton)
2 losses (Liverpool, Chelsea)
Total from remaining games: 11 points
Arsenal
6 wins (Aston Villa, West Brom, Man City, Sunderland, Wigan, Portsmouth)
1 draw (Spurs)
1 loss (Man Utd)
Total from remaining games: 19 points
Bolton
4 wins (Birmingham, West Brom, Birmingham again, Middlesborough)
3 draws (Man Utd, Charlton, Spurs)
2 losses (Liverpool, Chelsea)
Total from remaining games: 15 points
So the table from 4th spot down will look like:
- Arsenal 69 points
- Spurs 67 points
- Bolton 63 points (better goal difference)
- Blackburn 63 points
Of course, there are many opportunities to slip up, and the two real crunch games - especially for Spurs - are:
- Arsenal vs Spurs
- Spurs vs Bolton
Cheers
DavidM