We are now at the halfway point in this years Premier League season and it is all to play for in the 4 horse race for 4th spot . Tottenham Hotspur , Arsenal , West Ham United and Manchester United will be fighting to the last day for that last place in Champions League with Liverpool , Manchester City and Chelsea solidifying the top 3 . Money , attraction for new players and exposure all across Europe awaits . Who will get there though ?
Tottenham Hotspur
Spurs have improved under world class manager Antonio Conte and with some better players that the Italian could easily attract to North London then Spurs could really be in a good position to finish in the top 4 and then push on next season . Harry Kane is slowly picking up some form . Heung Min Son is always reliable and a hard worker . Lucas Moura has been good . The defence has massive got better too . Lack of depth , Son`s recent injury and Spurs tendency to bottle important fixtures , they could be in trouble .
Arsenal
Mikel Arteta`s project is coming along nicely now with the back 5 fixing up Arsenals biggest problem of the past decade . A good balance of experience and youth has worked well so far however this could work against them as the inexperience in games often means Arsenal throw games they could’ve won . Lack of strikers also is an issue with Balogun on loan , Nketiah leaving , Lacazette out of contract and Aubameyang playing badly . A top striker in January could help them cross the line .
West Ham United
West Ham look like a real threat now under David Moyes . Michael Antonio , Declan Rice , Vladimir Coufal and Jarrod Bowen have been the stand outs . Fun to watch , West Ham have really benefited from the Soucek and Rice partnership running the show in most games . Their biggest problem is 100% upfront with no striker . Antonio has been good but has declined and is injury prone . Bowen has stepped up in recent weeks but if he goes too then this could be a real problem .
Manchester United
A season to forget for the Red Devils . It started with a Solkajaer team that was poor now under Rangnick the same issues remain and the team looks even more deflated . The additions of Varane and Ronaldo looked positive and set United up for a title challenge , however they look worse . A billion pound team that looks disjointed and all over the place . Their golden ticket though is of course Cristiano Ronaldo . One of the best to ever do it time and time again has dragged United and other teams out a hole and he obviously can do it again
WINNER ?
The team that is most likely to get top 4 , is Spurs . They looked more solid and consistent of recent despite their exit for all but 1 competition . A few additions and they should be disappointed if they don`t get top 4 .