The festive season fixtures are done with and this season’s Premier League is shaping up to be really tight affair-both at the top and the bottom. The festive season brings along with it a crammed fixture calendar testing the squad depth of every team. Players succumbing to injuries due to fatigue and niggles are commonplace during this time of the season. Yet, this also represents a crucial juncture of the league campaign. Results during this phase determine how teams fare in the final leg of the campaign.

Now, let us take a look at our Corresponding Fixtures Table after Game Week 20 of the Premier League. As has already been mentioned in this series of articles, for the sake of uniformity we are comparing Hull City’s fixtures to Reading; Crystal Palace’s fixtures to QPR; and Cardiff City’s fixtures to Wigan.

 

Team	Games Played	Corresponding Points difference	Premier League Points	Premier League Positon	Goal Difference
Manchester City	20	10	44	2	34
Southampton	20	8	27	9	3
Hull City	20	8	23	10	-3
Liverpool	20	7	39	4	23
Newcastle United	20	6	33	8	4
Stoke City	20	6	22	12	-11
Cardiff City	20	4	18	17	-17
Chelsea	20	2	43	3	19
Everton	20	1	38	5	13
Tottenham Hotspur	20	1	37	6	-1
Aston Villa	20	1	23	11	-6
Fulham	20	1	19	16	-21
Norwich City	20	-1	20	15	-16
Crystal Palace	20	-1	17	18	-16
Sunderland	20	-2	14	20	-18
Arsenal	20	-3	45	1	21
Swansea City	20	-4	21	13	-2
West Bromwich Albion	20	-7	21	14	-4
West Ham United	20	-12	15	19	-11
Manchester United	20	-13	34	7	9

As we can see from the table, Manchester City have moved to the top of our table, accruing 10 more points this season,from the same set of fixtures, compared to the last season. This is primarily on the back of their terrific run of form at home where they have not dropped as single point this season(10 out of 10 wins). More interestingly, their away form too is showing signs of improvement; 10 points from the last 4 away games is a testament to that. On New Year’s day they saw off Swansea in what was a tricky fixture. Last season, they were able to take just a point off the Swans at The Liberty Stadium. Notwithstanding the Welsh side’s poor run of results, the result is a significant confidence booster for Manchester City.

While Mourinho’s assertion that City are runaway favourites to win the title is definitely a ploy to put them under pressure in the run up to his side’s game against them on 4^th, Feb., the truth is that the no side in the league can boast of such a high-quality squad and City remain firm favourites to win the title.

Arsenal are top of the table after taking 9 points out of a possible 9 from the 3 games in the festive period. As has been the trend in the last 12 months, the Gunners have fallen back on their defensive stability to grind out results. After conceding 6 goals at the Etihad, they have conceded only 1 goal in the last 4 games. They also have the best defensive record in the league-18 goals conceded from 20 games.

Chelsea meanwhile picked up a crucial win at Southampton with Mourinho using his substitutions brilliantly as they smacked 3 goals past the home side. Despite their poor away form this season (as we will see from the Corresponding Away fixtures table, they have taken 7 points less this season, from the same set of fixtures, when compared to the previous season), they remain serious title contenders and this win may just act as a catalyst to turn around their away form. Their home form continues to be excellent as we can see from the Corresponding Home and Away fixture tables.

 Corresponding Away Fixtures Table

 

Position	Team	Corresponding Away Points	Premier League Away Points	Number of away games played
1	Southampton	8	12	10
2	Newcastle United	6	15	11
3	Tottenham Hotspur	5	22	10
4	Fulham	4	9	10
5	Everton	3	17	10
6	Aston Villa	2	15	10
7	West Bromwich Albion	1	9	10
8	Norwich City	1	8	10
9	Stoke City	1	5	10
10	Hull City	1	5	10
11	Liverpool	0	12	10
12	Swansea City	0	11	10
13	Manchester City	-2	14	10
14	Sunderland	-2	7	10
15	Cardiff City	-2	7	9
16	Crystal Palace	-2	6	10
17	Arsenal	-3	22	10
18	Manchester United	-3	20	10
19	West Ham United	-3	6	10
20	Chelsea	-7	15	10

 

Corresponding Home Fixtures Table

 

Position	Team	Corresponding Home Points	Premier League Home Points	Number of games played
1	Manchester City	12	30	10
2	Chelsea	9	28	10
3	Liverpool	7	27	10
4	Hull City	7	18	10
5	Cardiff City	6	11	11
6	Stoke City	5	17	10
7	Crystal Palace	1	11	10
8	Arsenal	0	23	10
9	Newcastle United	0	18	9
10	Southampton	0	15	10
11	Sunderland	0	7	10
12	Aston Villa	-1	8	10
13	Everton	-2	21	10
14	Norwich City	-2	12	10
15	Fulham	-3	10	10
16	Tottenham Hotspur	-4	15	10
17	Swansea City	-4	10	10
18	West Bromwich Albion	-8	12	10
19	West Ham United	-9	9	10
20	Manchester United	-10	14	10

 Relegation Battle: West Ham in deep trouble

The relegation battle, as ever, is proving to be a humdinger with 18^th placed Crystal Palace and 12^th placed Stoke City separated by a mere 5 points. One team, which looks in trouble is West Ham United. Having picked up a single point from the 3 games in the festive period, they remain firmly rooted in the Bottom 3. More worryingly for The Hammers, their home form remains dire as they struggle to pick up points at Upton Park.

As we can see from the Corresponding Home Fixtures table, they are 9 points off the pace at home when compared to last season. While injuries have surely played a part in this slide, what must worry them more is the fact that other teams involved in the relegation battle have not dropped as many points at home: Fulham -3; Sunderland 0; Crystal Palace +1; Cardiff +6 look to be in a much better shape.

They are also the second worst away side in terms of points difference with a difference of -3 compared to last season. Unless they can improve their home form and pick up some victories, they seem destined for the dreaded drop.

Manchester United: The title is a leap too far now

While you can never count Manchester United out (this statement in itself does not carry as much heft under David Moyes), their latest loss at home to Tottenham means that they are surely out of the title race. Eleven points adrift, they may have to settle for a top 4 spot this season and that too is going to be an uphill battle with the likes of Liverpool and Everton showing much more spark than the Red Devils.

United continue to prop up the Corresponding Fixtures table, having taken 13 points less this season, from the same set of fixtures, compared to last season. They continue to struggle at Old Trafford as can be seen from the Corresponding Home Fixtures table: a difference of -10 compared to 2012-13.

stats are compiled by Chaitanya Gööner with the help from footballwebpages.co.uk