Swansea City and Norwich City have both been the surprises of the season, and currently sit in 10th and 11th places in the Premier League. Will either of them finish in the top half?
Brendan Rodgers’ Swansea side have been a revelation since arriving in the Premier League, winning as many plaudits for their style of football as for their results.
For a newly promoted side to arrive in the top division and be clear of relegation with eight games to go is an achievement in itself.
They are of course not the only ones, Paul Lambert’s Norwich City have matched them toe for toe.
While Swansea have recorded high-profile wins over Arsenal and Manchester City, Norwich have beaten the Swans home and away, putting them both locked level on 39 points.
The Swans are ahead through a superior goal difference, -2, rather than -6, but a four goal swing could easily go in the Canaries favour over the season’s remaining games.
Such a goal difference is a remarkable feat for both sides, especially in comparison to the club who gained promotion along with them last year, QPR, who sit in 18th with a goal difference of -20.
On 39 points, both sides are just one behind Everton and Sunderland, who occupy eighth and ninth places on 40 points.
Swansea lost 2-0 to Everton last weekend at the Liberty Stadium, allowing the Toffees to climb above them in the table and Norwich to catch them up.
Right now the mid-table positions are so tight that a single win or loss or even a draw can influence a team’s standing.
With prize money allocated per team position at the end of the season, finishing as high as possible is about more than just pride.
Norwich in 11th will fancy their chances of breaking into the top 10 by time the season is over, as will Stoke City, a point behind on 38.
Stoke were occupying a top 10 spot before games against Tottenham and Manchester City, which they did very well to pick up two points from.
Fulham and West Brom are the other sides in with a shout, both on 36 points, just three behind Swansea.
If Swansea are to finish in the top 10, they will have to do it the hard way.
Their final eight fixtures are against top six sides Tottenham and Newcastle, relegation battlers QPR, Blackburn, Wolves, and Bolton. It is always more dangerous to face a relegation threatened side at this stage of the season, when they are battling for their lives, as Liverpool found out against Wigan last weekend.
Swansea’s final two games are away to Manchester United, and at home to Liverpool on the final day, so all of them will be tough encounters. Predicting how the club will do is difficult considering how their excellent away win at Fulham was followed up by a disappointing home loss to Everton last week.
Norwich meanwhile, travel to Fulham this weekend, before games against Everton, Tottenham and Manchester City. They close against Blackburn, Liverpool, Arsenal and Aston Villa, a run of games equally as challenging as Swansea’s.
Stoke meanwhile have a more favourable run, having played many of the top sides twice already. Their final eight games are against Wigan, Wolves, Aston Villa, Everton, Newcastle, Arsenal, QPR and Bolton.
Of course Everton and Sunderland could fall out of the top 10, but if they don’t, the fixtures suggest Stoke could be the ones to finish in the top half, and Swansea and Norwich will to battle harder than they have all season if they are serious about finishing as high as possible.
Will either of the newly promoted sides finish in the top half? Let us know your predictions
image: © Ronnie Macdonald
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