With a week remaining, what’s left to play for in this Premier League season?
Well, the title race is not over yet, although all the smart money (and the Premier League betting odds) favours the reigning champions.
In Europe, the fourth and final Champions League spot could be sealed within the next 24 hours.
And it’s hard to get too excited about the remaining European places up for grabs.
Call me a cynic but clubs with the wealth and/or stature of those chasing positions, sixth and seventh, should consider that to be a minimum requirement in any given season.
With the three promoted clubs now relegated (spirited Luton are realistically) – the first time all three have gone straight back down since 1998 when Crystal Palace, Barnsley and Bolton lasted a solitary term – the table also shows that the financial gap between the Premier League and the rest has become a wider gulf.
It will certainly be interesting to see how Ipswich, for whom Kieran McKenna has done a first class job with back-to-back promotions, fare next term.
Granted Leicester, who have only had one season out after being regular Premier League participants, should not be as badly impacted.
Yet as it stands, those two, plus whoever gets promoted via the play-offs, will likely start as the three favourites to be relegated next term.
That statement is not to disregard or play down the achievements of Rob Edwards at Luton Town and Vincent Kompany at Burnley who deserve much praise for guiding their respective clubs to even reach the top flight.
Indeed both, with a nucleus of the current squads, could be amongst the frontrunners in the Championship next season.
Staying in the league for a few years is the real test of how easy it is to compete against that hard, non-negotiable financial hierarchy as the plucky but ultimately unsuccessful Hatters have found out.
Away from the obvious then, were there any stand outs from this weekend?
Well, young player of the year contender Cole Palmer has become just the third player to both score 20+ goals (21) and provide 10+ assists (10) in a Premier League season for Chelsea.
He follows in the footsteps of two club greats too as Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba both managed it in the 2009-10 campaign (Lampard – 22 goals & 14 assists, Drogba – 29 goals and 10 assists).
The assortment of Premier League highlights means Palmer has joined Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins with the most goal involvements in the top flight this term – 31.
If Palmer appears to have a big future ahead, what next for David Moyes?
He certainly deserved the reception he received following his final home match in charge of West Ham.
The warm and genuine acknowledgement at a job well done came back from the stands with the majority of a 60,000-plus crowd staying long after the final whistle.
They did not need to be told to pay Moyes due respect. Their growing irritation at negative results and performances was set aside in justifiable recognition at the fine job Moyes has done over the past four and a half years.
West Ham now are a different club to the one the Scot returned to in December 2019. They have had three European campaigns and, famously, won their first trophy in 43 years (albeit the Europa Conference which, in the eyes of this SBOTOP writer, can hardly be classed as a major trophy).
They are also assured of a top-10 finish for the third time in four years.
What happens next at the club will be intriguing and Moyes deserved thanks.
Elsewhere, while the end of this league season probably can’t come quickly enough for Man Utd, Newcastle and Brighton, whose campaigns have been beset by injuries (the Seagulls even more impacted due to their squad depth), Crystal Palace probably don’t want it to end.
On Saturday, they registered their fifth win in six Premier League games by beating Wolves at Molineux.
The latest fine result in Palace’s strong conclusion to the season under Oliver Glasner sees them leapfrog Wolves into 12th place in the table, with one game left to play. Michael Olise now has 10 league goals for the season and Jean-Philippe Mateta 13 – 10 of which have come in the 12 games Palace have had so far with Glasner in charge.
Their upsurge is reflected by their players pushing for places in England’s Euro 2024 squad, although it is hardly a coincidence they have improved since key players returned – something former boss Roy Hodson intimated all along.
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