EBPL: Teams Battle For placements, Fight Against Relegation
By Tanko Bauka
As the English Barclays Premier League continue to wind down, the battle for a Champion League place and the battle to avoid relegation looks exciting.
Whatever happens, Liverpool FC will be in the first position and will be the Champion and Arsenal in second position have already been guaranteed a Champions League place next football season, leaving the remaining three spots for Nottingham Forest, Chelsea, Manchester City, Aston Villa and Newcastle United.
For clarity, English teams were given one more spot following the impressive performance of Premier League clubs in the competition and recently Arsenal’s heroic feat in the ongoing UEFA Champions League, and as a result, five teams will represent England in next year’s Champions League competition.
This weekend, Arsenal after falling to cut the gap between them and Liverpool FC will host Brentford at the Emirates Stadium in London in yet another London derby looking to build on five stars’ performance put up against Real Madrid in the quarter-final first leg of the UEFA Champions League while Brentford need to up their game after playing out a drabbed goalless draw against Chelsea last weekend.
Manchester City need to dig deep following their awful draw with Manchester United as they continue to rediscover the form that made them one of the dreaded teams in the English Barclays Premier League in the last three seasons as they welcome Crystal Palace to the Etihad Stadium but Manchester United will have a tricky trip to take on another top four contenders, Newcastle United while Chelsea host relegation bound Ipswich Town at the Stamford bridge.
Nottingham Forest was beaten 2-1 by Unai Emery’s Aston Villa last weekend and sought to make an amend as they welcome Everton while already relegated Southampton seeking to avoid being the worst team so far with only ten points battle Aston Villa.
Wolves host underperforming Tottenham Hotspur as the league leader Liverpool seek to put behind them the painful defeat inflicted by Fulham as they entertain West Ham at Anfield Stadium.
In the Spanish LA Liga, Laganes welcome the league leader FC Barcelona four points ahead of their closest rival, Real Madrid, after missing the chance to extend the gap even as Real Madrid also missed out to close the gap after going down 2-1 to Valencia.
Atletico Madrid entertain relegation-bound Real Valladolid while Deportivo Alaves welcome Real Madrid as Getafe host Las Palmas.
Real Sociedad and Mallorca jostle it out for the three points at stake; resurgent Real Betis welcome Villarreal while Athletic Bilbao entertain Rayo Vallacano.
In the Italian Serie A, the league leader Inter Milan cannot afford to lose ground as Napoli is closely on their tail despite their recent poor results in the run into the league title as they prepare to host Cagliari at the San Siro stadium in the capital.
Juventus welcome Lacce while inconsistent Ademola Lookman Atalanta hosts Bologna, seeking to avoid any further slip in their quest for Champion League football next season, Fiorentina engage Parma, Lazio takes on AS Roma while Napoli welcomes Empoli.
In the German Bundesliga, Bayern Munich continue to fight on as they try to wade off the pressure of Bayern Leverkusen closely behind them as they welcome Borussia Dortmund while Bayern Leverkusen, on the other hand, welcome Union Berlin.
Stuttgart host Werder Bremen, Eintrach Frankfurt play guest to Heidenheim as Borussia Monchenglabach entertain SC Freiburg.
Fixtures across Europe.
English Barclays Premier League
Saturday
Manchester City vs Crystal Palace
Brighton Albion vs Leicester
Nothingham Forest vs Everton
Southampton vs Aston Villa
Arsenal vs Brentford
Sunday
Chelsea vs Ipswich Town
Liverpool vs West Ham
Wolves vs Tottenham Hotspur Newcastle vs Manchester United
Monday
AFC Bournemouth vs Fulham
Spanish LA Liga
Valencia vs Sevilla
Saturday
Real Sociedad vs Mallorca
Gatafe vs Las Palmas
Celta Vigo vs Espanyol
Laganes vs FC Barcelona
Sunday
Osasuna vs Girona
Deportivo Alaves vs Real Madrid
Real Betis vs Villarreal
Athletic Bilbao vs Rayo Vallacano
Monday
Atletico Madrid vs Real Valladolid
Italian Serie A
Friday
Udinese vs AC Milan
Saturday
Venezia vs AC Monza
Inter Milan vs Cagliari
Juventus vs Lacce
Sunday
Atalanta vs Bologna
Fiorentina vs Parma
Hellas Verona vs Genoa
Como vs Torino
Lazio vs AS Roma
Monday
Napoli vs Empoli
German Bundesliga
Friday
Wolfsburg vs RB Leipzig
Saturday
Monchenglabach vs SC Freiburg
VFL Bochum vs FC Augsburg
Hoffenheim vs Mainz 05
Leverkusen vs Union Berlin
Holstein Kiel vs FC St Pauli
Bayern Munich vs Dortmund
Sunday
Stuttgart vs Werder Bremen
Frankfurt vs Heidenheim.
