Liverpool still above Spurs; and Southampton firmly in the relegation zone
Just 8 matchdays left now in this season’s Premier League. Most clubs will play 4 at home and 4 away in the remaining weeks, so the schedule-strength imbalances are steadily diminishing now. But the alt-3 league table still reveals a couple of interesting stories at present.
Liverpool still have the edge over Spurs, in terms of league standing
After the weekend’s results, when Liverpool lost at Man Utd but Spurs won at Bournemouth, the official Premier League table now has Spurs one point ahead of Liverpool.
The alt-3 table still shows Liverpool ahead, though (again by around 1 point).
The reason is that while Spurs have played a fairly ‘typical’ set of match fixtures up to now, Liverpool have had a harder time. The two clubs’ current alt-3 schedule-strength ratings are respectively −0.3 (Spurs) and +1.6 (Liverpool).
The simplest way to see what this means is to look at Liverpool’s schedule-strength chart. In their remaining 8 matches, Liverpool face just one fixture that should be regarded as appreciably harder than average (their away match at Chelsea).
Spurs on the other hand, as well as themselves having to play Chelsea away soon, will also face Manchester City at home. Tottenham’s schedule-strength chart
So it’s a tight race for the 3rd spot in the final league table, but as things currently stand Liverpool are just edging it.
Southampton now in the relegation zone
Although the official Premier League table currently has Southampton in 17th place, the more informative alt-3 table places them lower than that, in fact in 19th place at present (just below fellow strugglers Stoke City).
The reason is as explained in last week’s post about the relegation battle: Southampton face an uncommonly tough set of fixtures in the run-in to the end of this season.
It’s getting near the time when goal difference could matter, though — and Stoke’s goal difference is markedly worse than Southampton’s. So it’s fair to say they that both Southampton and Stoke look to be prime candidates for relegation unless their form changes.
To see any other club’s schedule-strength chart, just click on the club name in the alt-3 league table.