Mid-Week Premier League Preview
Arsenal will consider their fixture with Everton at the Emirates to be absolutely critical to their ambitions of qualifying for next season’s Champions League. The visitors retain an interest in the race for the top four themselves, which the Gunners could snuff out decisively should they defeat Everton in this Tuesday evening fixture. However, should the away side manage to win then it would throw the issue wide open, putting Everton right in the mix, and seriously hindering Arsenal’s ambitions.
Arsenal looked particularly strong, though, in the latter stages of their win over Norwich, and are in excellent form of late, having strung together several victories since they lost the North London derby to Tottenham. Everton almost always provide resolute opposition, but the Gunners will undoubtedly begin the game as strong favourites, and will be keen to pick up three points that would their rivals for the top four Chelsea and Tottenham very much in the position of playing catch-up.
The former of those two teams, Chelsea, having suffered the disappointment of losing the FA Cup semi-final, will attempt to keep up the pressure on Arsenal when they travel to Craven Cottage for one of the lower-key London derbies. Fulham are already completely safe of the threat of relegation, so their motivation for this fixture could be questioned. However, the Cottagers home form has largely carried them to this position, and in Dimitar Berbatov they have a mercurial forward who can win any game for them almost single-handedly, should he be having one of his good days.
Whether or not Rafael Benitez enhances his reputation from his ‘interim’ management of Chelsea will be decided by the next few weeks. The Spaniard still has the opportunity to capture a European trophy and secure a top four finish, which would be considered a more than acceptable return from his stormy tenure as manager. The bookmakers consider them to be odds on favourites to qualify for next season’s Champions League, but this can literally change on a match by match basis, as the four teams battling for the last two places pick up and drop points in their remaining games.
Usually a Manchester United team going for the title would be the headline fixture, but the absolute inevitability of them ultimately claiming English football’s top prize has made this a rather anaemic title race. There is no question that United have deserved to win the league this season, but it has been, if not gifted to them, made far more easier than usual by some rather sub-standard challenges from Manchester City and the remainder of the pursuing peloton.
Many consider this to be a mediocre United team compared to some of its previous iterations, yet it has the opportunity to win the most Premier League fixtures in history, as well as the most points. One could easily argue that this reflects more on the lack of quality in a league in which every English team has failed in European competition this season – including Chelsea who only remain in the Europa League due to their early Champions League exit – rather than overwhelming brilliance from United.
Nonetheless, United play West Ham at Upton Park on Wednesday. They will probably win, they usually do.
Finally, Manchester City and Wigan Athletic will play a fixture that is a preview of their forthcoming FA Cup final. However, the away side will have rather more immediate concerns, having slipped into the bottom three once again. The first of Wigan’s two games in hand, as they attempt to overhaul Aston Villa, Stoke City and Sunderland, doesn’t look particularly winnable, but a point would be incredibly valuable for the Latics. City really don’t have a great deal to play for, but will be keen to ensure that they remain ahead of Arsenal, and also don’t drop needless points, just in case Manchester United suffer a phenomenally unlikely implosion.
Thus, a home win looks to be by far the most likely result, but the quality of some of Wigan’s recent away performances means that the Latics may cause City a few problems.
Tuesday 16th April 2025
Arsenal v Everton 19:45
Wednesday 17th April 2025
Manchester City v Wigan 19:45
West Ham v Man Utd 19:45
Fulham v Chelsea 20:00
Premier League Table
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