It’s Make or Break for Seven English Football Teams This Weekend
The 2023/2024 English football league season is about to draw to a close. There are some loose ends that need tying up first, though. For instance, there is the not-so-small matter of determining the Premier League Champions, alongside which of the final four Championship teams in the playoffs will go up to the Premier League. At the bottom of the table, there is a relegation battle looming, too, and as always, Gamesbelt has all the sports news you’ll require to bet on these superb sporting options today.
Arsenal Must Defeat Man Utd
If Arsenal wants to pick up the Premier League crown, they are going to need to do it in style. They are currently one point clear of Manchester City. However, the Citizens have a game in hand, and Arsenal’s next opponent is Manchester United. Despite United having failed to win in seven of their last eight matches, they may put up a fierce resistance against Arsenal.
United simply must win to have any hope of catching Newcastle and Chelsea. Failure to beat Arsenal, coupled with defeat in the FA Cup Final against Man City could see the Red Devils out of Europe in what would be their worst season in the Premier League. Ten Haag knows his future hangs by a thread, but even so, we expect Arsenal to romp to victory here.
City To Take the Initiative
City may be a point behind the Gunners in the Premier League table, but they’ve got a game in hand, and while Arsenal are battling it out against Man Utd, Manchester City only have lowly Fulham to contend with.
While Fulham can’t be underestimated, they aren’t in European contention, and the best they can hope to achieve is to break into the top ten. Given that, we expect City to walk all over them and maintain the gap (albeit with a game on hand) on Arsenal, taking the title race to the final day.
The Playoffs Begin
A division down, and the English Championship has concluded – at least, the divisional stage has. Now, we’re into the playoffs. This weekend sees the first legs take place as Norwich City plays host to Leeds United, and West Brom welcome Southampton to the Hawthorns. These sides are so evenly matched we wouldn’t want to call any of these games.
Expect sides to be cautious in the opening encounters, potentially paving the way for a few draws. The return legs (on May 16 and 17) promise to be much more hotly contested affairs, and it will be a case of win or crash out. The final takes place on May 26 to determine which of those four sides will join Championship winners Leicester City and runners-up Ipswich Town in the Premier League for the 2024/2025 season.
Fighting the Drop
The playoff victor’s place in the Premier League comes at the expense of relegated teams. While Sheffield United are already going down, and Burnley is almost a mathematical certainty for the drop, there is one fight left – between Luton Town and Nottingham Forest. There are no easy fixtures here.
Forest sits three points ahead of Luton, and must face a tricky home game against Chelsea. Luton are away at West Ham. Both represent likely losses. Given that Forest’s remaining fixture after this weekend is an away tie against what will likely be an already relegated Burnley, and Luton are at home to Fulham, our money is firmly on Forest to survive – if for nothing else, they have a better goal difference.
