By Enitan Abdultawab

It keeps getting more interesting at the peak of the English Premier League (EPL). Five teams are gunning for three European spots and it really spices up how these teams show up every matchday to play against their opponents.

Quite surprisingly, the first and second spots are sealed. Arsenal and Arteta might have ‘given up’ on the title after Trent Alexander-Arnold’s shot ricocheted into the top left corner, pushing them to the brink of the title and sending Leicester City back to relegation. Should Arsenal fail to win against Crystal Palace on Wednesday and Liverpool win at Anfield later in the weekend, Arne Slot and his men have every right to start popping champagne.

What is left for others?

Newcastle, Manchester City, Chelsea, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa sit 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th respectively. Aston Villa are not late to the party yet. But it is better to be late than to be the late.

All these teams’ next fixtures would shape the standings and determine their finish at the end of the season. First, Nottingham Forest are suffering from a run of bad outings and would be beating themselves up as they were sitting 3rd for a very long time. Now, they have to play a hot-and-cold Tottenham tonight. Then, they have to fight for their lives against Brentford, Crystal Palace, Leicester City, West Ham and Chelsea.

There will be a party by midweek. Aston Villa will host Manchester City in a match that Pep Guardiola tagged a ‘final’. Both teams know what it takes to be playing in a European competition. For Manchester City, it would be a happy ending to a disastrous season. Both teams would be hurt, but the stronger team with the stronger desire shall triumph. Moving forward, Aston Villa will have Fulham, Bournemouth, Tottenham and Manchester United to finish with. As for City, they probably have a fair run of matches that they can win – Wolves, Southampton, Bournemouth and Fulham.

Chelsea seem to have the most difficult run of fixtures. They seem to be very complacent in the way they play in recent weeks and that raises questions on the efficiency of Enzo Maresca. Were it not for some individual brilliance, they might not have snatched a win at the Craven Cottage on Sunday. Now, they face Everton and Liverpool at home, before an away game at Newcastle, a home game versus Manchester United and a final game away at Nottingham Forest.

Newcastle’s rise to 3rd position is very impressive. Until that unfortunate loss at Villa Park, they were on an outstanding four-match winning streak. Now, they would be hoping to shrug off the pressure at that position they are in. For the rest of the season, they have Ipswich, Brighton, Chelsea, Arsenal and Everton to play.

However, it is not very helpful to look at each club’s remaining games right now to predict what might happen because some of the opponents they play might have different priorities or nothing to play for.

There are very interesting weeks ahead.

Drum rolls!