How to interpret the north London derby: Tottenham Hotspur lost 2-3 at home to Arsenal?
In recent rounds, Tottenham has faced Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester City, so to some extent, Tottenham determines the title of the Premier League this season. And everyone has high hopes for Tottenham, also because Tottenham faced these three opponents in the first leg and remained unbeaten. But this loss to Arsenal, it can be seen that the current Tottenham Hotspur has long lost the form and momentum of the first half. According to this trend, it is also possible to lose three in a row against these three opponents.
In fact, deciding the title is just a gimmick given to Tottenham by fans and the media, and Tottenham certainly has its own task, which is to try to get into the top four and get a place in the Champions League. But for now, it's quite pessimistic. Moreover, have you noticed that after the end of this north London derby, the places in the three major European Cups of the Premier League this season have basically been allocated. The next few rounds had little or no impact on the overall situation.
First of all, Arsenal, Manchester City, and Liverpool don't say who can win the championship, at least their Champions League places are secure. After the defeat to Arsenal, the gap between Tottenham and Aston Villa reached 7 points, although they have two games less, but even if they win all the supplementary games, it is still one point less. Besides, with Tottenham's current capacity, can they go on a winning streak?
Therefore, it is almost certain that the four teams that have won the Champions League in the Premier League this season are Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool and Aston Villa. Tottenham Hotspur suffered a loss, Arsenal and Manchester City both went out of the Champions League, resulting in the Premier League's European points not as good as the Bundesliga, so their hopes of finishing fifth to get the Champions League place were also disappointed.
Look at the Europa League again. Despite Tottenham's lack of hope of finishing in the top four, they are still certain that they will hold on to fifth. They are currently six points clear of Manchester United with a game in hand, and Manchester United's recent form has not been much better, so it is almost impossible to catch up with Tottenham. In addition, the FA Cup winner can play in the Europa League, but Manchester City and Manchester United will meet in the FA Cup final, and Manchester City has a high probability of winning, so this place will most likely be postponed to the team in the league that has not won a European place but is relatively high-ranked, which happens to be Manchester United. Taking a step back, if United beat Manchester City in the FA Cup final, then they would have gone straight out of the Europa League. Of course, in the penultimate round, Manchester United will have to face rivals Newcastle United directly, so be careful not to let the opponent surpass them.
Therefore, the Europa League seats are likely to belong to Tottenham and Manchester United.
Finally, there's the Europa League. The UEFA Europa League quota was supposed to belong to the League Cup winners, but the League Cup winners were Liverpool, who played in the Champions League, so they were postponed in the league according to the rules mentioned earlier. Now, it's Newcastle United's turn. Therefore, the UEFA Europa League quota is likely to belong to Newcastle United. The Magpies are currently four points ahead of West Ham with a game in hand, and should be able to retain seventh if nothing else.
There is basically no suspense in the Champions League for the above three major cups, and Tottenham Hotspur will play the Europa League, which is basically confirmed. If anything, it's the sixth-place battle between Manchester United and Newcastle United. Who plays in the Europa League, who plays in the Europa League, it depends on how the two of them compete.