EPL Update: Title race, best of the rest and relegation battle

Premier League update: Arsenal's Champions League triumph, top-four race intensifies, and relegation battle tightens.

The title race in the Premier League is going down to the wire and, so is the battle to avoid relegation, who blinks first? (Photo credit: The Athletic)

The Premier League returns this weekend albeit, in abridged version as most teams will be away on FA Cup duties, leaving us with only four fixtures in game week 29.

The big news in midweek is the qualification of Arsenal to the next round of the Champions League, it is the first time in fourteen years that the Gunners would make it past the round of 16 having been absent from the tournament altogether for seven straight seasons.

Leandro Trossard cancled out a Gelano first leg strike level the tie on the night and, as they couldn’t be separated after 120 minutes of football, it went into spot kicks where David Raya became the new hero for the Gunners, saving from Wendell and the first leg goal scorer.

Reigning champions Manchester City had qualified for the last eight last week after beating FC Copenhagen home and away, the quarter final draw will be held on Friday by 12noon with juggernauts like Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and PSG all in the mix.

Elsewhere in Europe, the trio of Liverpool, West Ham and Aston Villa all advanced to the next round of their respective competitions in emphatic manners; Brighton won on the night against Roma but their heavy defeat at the Italian capital meant their 1-0 success wouldn’t amount to much.

The battle on the home front is getting to a point where you can’t blink. Across all categories, there’s a battle to be won and lost. Managers under pressure would hope for a run of good results while the seemingly comfortable managers have their eyes on silverware.

From the relegation battle to the push for a top half finish, potential stronger coefficient could get England a fifth spot for the Champions League next season, it means 8^th could end up qualifying for the Conference League depending on who wins the FA Cup.

Luton’s capitulation at Bournemouth on Wednesday means the relegation battle will go down to the wire, this could linger until the final day of the season and, teams like Brentford and Everton have been drawn into it, crazy situation we have down there.

Up the ladder, the race for the top four is heating up. Tottenham made a huge statement last weekend, beating their direct rivals 4-0 to close the gap and, Manchester United would feel they’re well and truly in it, it’s interesting there too.

And for the battle at the top, only one point separate the top three of Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City, you snooze, you lose. None of them will play in the league this weekend and, Arsenal doesn’t play again until after the international break, and when they return, they face Manchester City.