Over the years, Tottenham and Southampton have shared Gareth Bale, Mauricio Pochettino, and songs about who exactly goes marching in. This season, they share an awesome power over the future of the Premier League. Both are chasing ambitions of their own, and both have the opportunity to scupper other ships.
Southampton aren’t even in the Prem, but they’ll play an outsize role in determining who’s in it come the fall. The South Coast club sit fourth in the Championship following their relegation from the top flight last May, and the situation above them has changed drastically over the last few weeks.
Leicester City were running away with it at the top of the second division, 12 points clear, but four losses and a draw in their last seven matches have sent them spinning down to third place. They’re still just two points off new leaders Ipswich Town and one point behind Leeds United in second, but as things stand, they’re headed to the playoffs—just like Southampton.
The Saints are some way off the top three, hardly threatening the automatic promotion places, but it just so happens that they’re playing all of them down the home stretch of this season.
They were beaten by Ipswich this week in a topsy-turvy match featuring three lead changes, a red card, and a 97th-minute winner that sent the Tractor Boys to the top of the league. But Southampton aren’t done there. In amongst the eight remaining games that constitute The Run-In, they’ve got matches against both Leicester and Leeds that could determine who’s going up automatically and who plays whom in the playoffs. They meet Leeds on the final day of the season:
In theory, Southampton could send Leeds to the big time or drag them into the chaos and uncertainty of the playoffs, all in the space of 90 minutes. Each of these matches could be a preview of a semifinal or final at Wembley this May.
All in all, it’s getting very interesting down in England’s second tier, and there are almost mystical similarities in the first division. There’s a trifecta at the top of the Premier League, too, and Liverpool, Arsenal, and Manchester City are all just a few points apart. Then there’s the next layer of teams, the ones out of the title race but angling for a ticket to the Champions League next season. Aston Villa are fourth, and just behind them are Tottenham Hotspur:
Manchester United are quite a poor side this season, but they do have a habit of picking up points they don’t deserve. So Spurs will have half an eye in the rear view, particularly as the Red Devils have a game in hand. But mostly, Ange Postecoglu and his players will be looking up. Through the Champions League’s incredibly complicated rule changes, a fifth-place finish may be good enough to secure a seat at Europe’s top table next season. But to be sure, Spurs will need to finish fourth.
Beyond all that, though, Tottenham’s fixture list is both daunting and potentially determinative as far as who will win this league:
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