Given that the weekend just gone marked the halfway point for this season’s Premier League, I thought it might be worth looking forward the rest of the way and assessing the relative strength of schedule for the leading contenders.
An obvious separation between top and bottom has now developed with Newcastle in 8th on 33 points and Hull in 10th on 23 points, leaving Southampton stuck in the middle. As I didn’t want to exclude anyone from this analysis I’ve included Southampton in the top group of 9 teams, seeing as they’ve spent most of the season at that end of the table.
It’s an 8-way fight for the top 4 places and the glamour (read ‘cash’) of the Champions League, though it may only be a 3-way for the title itself.
Liverpool have the most home games left against the top sides (6) and Man City the fewest (2).
Arsenal, Man City & Man Utd have the most home games left against teams in the bottom half (7), Liverpool & Chelsea the least (4)
Local rivalries - Liverpool & Everton still have to play each other, as do Utd & City, but the London teams have it harder - Arsenal, Chelsea & Spurs each have 5 London derbies to play.
Arsenal, City, Chelsea and Utd all have last-16 Champions League games to contend with and in City & Utd’s case they also have a 2-legged Capital One Cup semi-final to play as well.
And everyone joins in the FA Cup 3rd-round now as well, starting this coming weekend.
Here’s the breakdown for the remaining fixtures. Formatting could be better but you probably get the idea:
Arsenal: Home Away
Games Left vs Top 9 - Man U Liverpool Chelsea
Man C Everton Spurs
Newcastle Southampton
Games Left vs Bottom 10 - Cardiff Swansea Aston Villa
Fulham West Ham Stoke
C.Palace WBA Hull
Sunderland Norwich
Man City: Home Away
Vs Top 9 - Chelsea Newcastle Liverpool
Southampton Man U Everton
Spurs
Arsenal
Vs Bottom 10 - Cardiff Fulham Swansea
Sunderland WBA Norwich
Stoke West Ham Hull
Aston Villa C.Palace
Chelsea: Home Away
Vs Top 9 - Man U Arsenal Southampton
Everton Man C
Newcastle Liverpool
Spurs
Vs Bottom 10 - West Ham Hull C.Palace
Stoke West Brom Swansea
Sunderland Fulham Cardiff
Norwich Aston Villa
Everton: Home Away
Vs Top 9 - Arsenal Liverpool N’castle
Man U Spurs
Man C Southampton
Chelsea
Vs Bottom 10 - Norwich Cardiff Stoke Hull
Aston Villa Swansea WBA
C.Palace Fulham
West Ham Sunderland
Liverpool: Home Away
Vs Top 9 - Everton Chelsea Southampton
Arsenal Newcastle Man U
Spurs
Man City
Vs Bottom 10 - Hull Stoke W.Ham
Aston Villa WBA Norwich
Swansea Fulham C.Palace
Sunderland Cardiff
Man Utd: Home Away
Vs Top 9 - Spurs Chelsea Southampton
Man C Arsenal
Liverpool Newcastle
Everton
Vs Bottom 10 - Swansea Hull Stoke
Cardiff Sunderland WBA
Fulham Norwich C.Palace
Aston Villa West Ham
Tottenham: Home Away
Vs Top 9 - Man C Man U
Everton Newcastle
Arsenal Chelsea
Southampton Liverpool
Vs Bottom 10 - C.Palace Aston Villa Swansea Stoke
Cardiff Hull West Ham
Sunderland Norwich
Fulham WBA
Newcastle: Home Away
Vs Top 9 - Man C Chelsea
Spurs Southampton
Everton Arsenal
Man U Liverpool
Vs Bottom 10 - Sunderland Cardiff WBA Fulham
Aston Villa WHU Stoke
C.Palace Norwich
Swansea Hull
An obvious separation between top and bottom has now developed with Newcastle in 8th on 33 points and Hull in 10th on 23 points, leaving Southampton stuck in the middle. As I didn’t want to exclude anyone from this analysis I’ve included Southampton in the top group of 9 teams, seeing as they’ve spent most of the season at that end of the table.
It’s an 8-way fight for the top 4 places and the glamour (read ‘cash’) of the Champions League, though it may only be a 3-way for the title itself.
Liverpool have the most home games left against the top sides (6) and Man City the fewest (2).
Arsenal, Man City & Man Utd have the most home games left against teams in the bottom half (7), Liverpool & Chelsea the least (4)
Local rivalries - Liverpool & Everton still have to play each other, as do Utd & City, but the London teams have it harder - Arsenal, Chelsea & Spurs each have 5 London derbies to play.
Arsenal, City, Chelsea and Utd all have last-16 Champions League games to contend with and in City & Utd’s case they also have a 2-legged Capital One Cup semi-final to play as well.
And everyone joins in the FA Cup 3rd-round now as well, starting this coming weekend.
Here’s the breakdown for the remaining fixtures. Formatting could be better but you probably get the idea:
Arsenal: Home Away
Games Left vs Top 9 - Man U Liverpool Chelsea
Man C Everton Spurs
Newcastle Southampton
Games Left vs Bottom 10 - Cardiff Swansea Aston Villa
Fulham West Ham Stoke
C.Palace WBA Hull
Sunderland Norwich
Man City: Home Away
Vs Top 9 - Chelsea Newcastle Liverpool
Southampton Man U Everton
Spurs
Arsenal
Vs Bottom 10 - Cardiff Fulham Swansea
Sunderland WBA Norwich
Stoke West Ham Hull
Aston Villa C.Palace
Chelsea: Home Away
Vs Top 9 - Man U Arsenal Southampton
Everton Man C
Newcastle Liverpool
Spurs
Vs Bottom 10 - West Ham Hull C.Palace
Stoke West Brom Swansea
Sunderland Fulham Cardiff
Norwich Aston Villa
Everton: Home Away
Vs Top 9 - Arsenal Liverpool N’castle
Man U Spurs
Man C Southampton
Chelsea
Vs Bottom 10 - Norwich Cardiff Stoke Hull
Aston Villa Swansea WBA
C.Palace Fulham
West Ham Sunderland
Liverpool: Home Away
Vs Top 9 - Everton Chelsea Southampton
Arsenal Newcastle Man U
Spurs
Man City
Vs Bottom 10 - Hull Stoke W.Ham
Aston Villa WBA Norwich
Swansea Fulham C.Palace
Sunderland Cardiff
Man Utd: Home Away
Vs Top 9 - Spurs Chelsea Southampton
Man C Arsenal
Liverpool Newcastle
Everton
Vs Bottom 10 - Swansea Hull Stoke
Cardiff Sunderland WBA
Fulham Norwich C.Palace
Aston Villa West Ham
Tottenham: Home Away
Vs Top 9 - Man C Man U
Everton Newcastle
Arsenal Chelsea
Southampton Liverpool
Vs Bottom 10 - C.Palace Aston Villa Swansea Stoke
Cardiff Hull West Ham
Sunderland Norwich
Fulham WBA
Newcastle: Home Away
Vs Top 9 - Man C Chelsea
Spurs Southampton
Everton Arsenal
Man U Liverpool
Vs Bottom 10 - Sunderland Cardiff WBA Fulham
Aston Villa WHU Stoke
C.Palace Norwich
Swansea Hull