Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Southampton’s season is in danger of fizzling out as they are without a win in their last four matches, that is a run of form that has seen them cling onto their top half status by virtue of goal difference. Tonight they play host to Arsenal while looking to end the campaign with some kind of flourish.
It seems almost symptomatic of all the teams between 8th and 15th in the Premier League table at present, they have made 40 points the target and once reaching it they have been somewhat on the beach what with their top flight status secured for another campaign.
This has meant that teams have arguably not been giving their all and in fairness can you really blame them. If you are team that is not battling for Europe or neither threatened by relegation then why would you need to bust a gut between now and the end of the season.
That has meant we have seen some pretty turgid mid table games in the past few weeks as teams have nothing to play for. You only have to look at the chasm between 7th and 8th in the Premier League table as Everton are 13 points clear of West Brom, it’s as if the arbitrary line of quality has been drawn there.
It also means that the teams in that middle bracket all a much of a muchness with teams changing positions with rapid regularity. Southampton may not have won in four matches but incredibly they can still move up to 8th place with a win this evening.
That is because Tony Pulis’ West Brom have been on a barren run of their own right now as they have not won any of their last six matches. During that run they have gone through a spell of four straight defeats, for all their early endeavour they really have fizzled out after the past month or so.
Southampton have never really threatened to do anything of note in the Premier League this season, it’s been a constant midtable placing which is reflective of the quality in their squad. Since the EFL Cup defeat in February it has been a case of going through the motions.
Tonight they play host to Arsenal side who will allow themselves to once again believe that they can make a late charge into the top four. A win at St Mary’s would see them leapfrog Manchester United and after defeating them on Sunday you would have to feel that Jose Mourinho will be focusing on the Europa League.
That means that it looks like it is going to be a straight fight between themselves and Liverpool in the race for the final Champions League place. As it stands Liverpool have a 7 point advantage but Arsenal have two matches in hand.
It’s the old adage of would you rather have the points on the board or the games in hand. As the situation stands it is still in Liverpool’s hands but they seem to be doing their level best to pass up on the opportunity to solidify their current third place in the table.
With the eerie silence regading Arsene Wenger’s employment status coupled with a Cup Final appearance it would point to the fact that he is staying in the Summer and into the next season. His position would be even stronger should they manage a once unlikely top four finish.
As per usual it seems we are in the midst of another late season surge from The Gunners. The main prizes may be now all but sorted but they have a habit of turning it on when it doesn’t really matter or certainly when things have slipped away from them.
Credit must go to them for beating Manchester United on Sunday but they were fortunate to go up against a team with more than one eye on the Europa League final. Will they be able to take full advantage of Southampton’s malaise also.
As stated Southampton have got nothing to play for bar a higher position in the table. Is that going to be enough to see them turn it on against The Gunners, to be honest I’m not sure. I can only see this one being all three points for Arsene Wenger’s men.
