Liverpool can put its feet up as Chelsea faces fight to get back into Europe's elite

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On Sunday, Dec. 22, Liverpool sat at the top of the Premier League table following a disappointing home draw with Fulham and facing a tough trip to Tottenham Hotspur.

Chelsea was hot on its heels in second place, having won five games in a row and were unbeaten in eight matches.

Two first-year managers, Liverpool’s Arne Slot and Chelsea’s Enzo Maresca, besting established managers Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola and Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta was one of the stories of the first half of the season.

At the time, pundits and supporters were looking ahead to this Sunday’s match with Liverpool playing at Chelsea as a potential title-decider.

Then, the blue wheels fell off.

Chelsea would draw with Everton that weekend, kicking off a string of five games without a win — two losses and three draws — and a stretch of 10 games in which the Blues would win just twice and drop to seventh place.

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Liverpool, meanwhile, went on to thrash Tottenham 6-3 and wouldn’t lose a game until April 6, again against Fulham. And, in another full circle moment, they tonked Tottenham 5-1 last weekend to clinch the title with four games left to go. Chelsea is 22 points behind.

It’s unclear how motivated the Reds will be on Sunday in London as they’re already putting the red and white ribbons on the trophy, while Chelsea are fighting like hell to get into the Champions League. The Blues currently sit level with Nottingham Forest in the final qualification spot. While their goal difference is five better than Forest, Nottingham has a game in hand. Aston Villa lurks three points back as further competition for that last spot.

Villa has Fulham this weekend and Forest goes to Crystal Palace, both games that will need some graft to win. Manchester City, one point ahead of Chelsea, gets Brentford while  Newcastle, two up on Chelsea, has Bournemouth.

These all are games that will provide a test for those teams chasing the Champions League spots, but the Chelsea match still is the most fascinating. Will Liverpool feel relaxed and prideful about finishing as strongly as possible?

Mo Salah still desperately wants to win his fourth Golden Boot as top scorer, which would equal Thierry Henry’s record as most seasons as the league’s top goal scorer. He also has spoken of being extra motivated against Chelsea, who famously cast him aside before he joined Liverpool.

Salah currently has a six-goal lead over Newcastle’s Alexander Isak. It should be noted Salah also leads the Premier League assist race with 18, seven ahead of Newcastle’s Jacob Murphy.

So we know Liverpool’s talisman will want to punish Chelsea, which still is negotiating their European Conference League duties.

To see where both Liverpool and Chelsea have finished the season since they were neck-and-neck in December is fascinating and will tell a tale in the offseason.

Since Todd Boehly stepped in as principal owner of Chelsea three years ago, the club have spent an astonishing $2.07 billion on players. That’s billion, with a capital B. Liverpool, by comparison has spent $654 million in the same time frame.

There’s no suggestion Chelsea’s spending is over. But missing out on the income, which helps balance the books, and the prestige of playing in the Champions League is a damaging blow for Chelsea and one that’s going to mean they’re going to be chasing more top-end talent and perhaps even a new manager should they fall short.

Chelsea’s Cole Palmer, whom they bought from Manchester City, started the season going toe-to-toe with Salah, but has dramatically cooled off and sits ninth in league scoring with 14 goals, half of Salah’s haul.

So you can add Chelsea to the list of teams, along with Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and Newcastle, who are looking to splash out on at least one, if not more, top-end strikers.

The competition for goal scorers is going to be desperate this off-season and being able to offer Champions League competition on top of the biggest fee and wage packet will be a major factor.

This weekend’s game for Liverpool no longer holds a shred of the importance it once appeared to have way back in December, however for Chelsea, the stakes may be even higher.

Gunner be a wild one

This is the time of year when it’s really tough to guess how games will go because of those varying needs and motivations.

Arsenal now knows it can no longer catch Liverpool so the title dream is over. The Gunners still have visions of grandeur hoping to win the Champions League for the first time in their history. They lost 1-0 at home to PSG this week and face a second leg in Paris next week.

They are five points up on Newcastle who are third, but have a seven-point lead on Nottingham Forest in sixth, so they’re close to sealing a qualification spot for next season.

So you’d expect them to play reserves and kids this weekend in Bournemouth. The risk of injury to one of their key players ahead of a game of such importance next week is just too high.

Bettors may look at a game like this, considering the odds will be in Arsenal’s favour, and may take advantage of the circumstances.

Playing out the string

The other things to watch out for this weekend are the teams that have already packed it in.

Seeing the way Spurs rolled over at Liverpool last week, it’s almost impossible to comprehend them bringing manager Ange Postecoglu back next season.

Yes, they’ve had bad injuries this season, but one win in their past eight and losing four out of five has left them in 16th place. Just not good enough for a team with Champions League aspirations.

Spurs have given up 56 goals this season, only West Ham (58) and the three dreadful relegated clubs have given up more.

This week’s slate

Friday: Manchester City vs Wolves.

Saturday: Aston Villa vs Fulham; Everton vs Ipswich; Leicester vs Southampton; Arsenal vs Bournemouth.

Sunday: Brentford vs Manchester United; Brighton vs Newcastle; West Ham vs Tottenham; Chelsea vs Liverpool.

Monday: Crystal Palace vs Nottingham Forest.