It goes without saying that these ten games mean different things for different clubs, but looking at the table it appears to me there are few if any teams with absolutely nothing to play for.
Starting at the top, City's slip-up in Wales allowed Manchester United to overthrow them at the summit for the first time in a long while. With City not playing until Wednesday against Chelsea, Sir Alex Ferguson's men have a chance to open up a four point lead at the top. In any circumstance it would be hard to envisage them throwing away the title from such a position, but I fear that with the two Manc's respective fixture lists over the final ten, United may now have snatched an advantage that they will not relinquish. The trip to Wolves may not be easy, Fulham, their next opponents, are resurgent...but you have to look at United's run-in and concede that they would be favourites to take three points in practically every one of those games.
City meanwhile face trips to the Emirates and 'Sports Direct Arena' (shudder) plus the aforementioned welcoming of Chelsea in their post Napoli euphoria. Of course the biggest fixture is the Manchester derby, hosted by City, with only two games to follow thereafter. If City are within a point or two of United by then, victory will allow them to return to the summit from where they just have to hold out for 180 minutes. That fixture will clearly be key, but there is no reason why United could not achieve a position of unattainability before then.
Behind these two we have an intriguing race for Champions League qualification. Spurs looked to have this one sewn up back in January, but a rotten run of form coinciding with the England job speculation has seem them fall away from the top two. Coupled with the incredible run that Arsene Wenger's Arsenal have been on, the battle for third and fourth is very tight. Factor in the new manager honeymoon period of an odious Chelsea (where was this effort and spirit for AVB, for shame) and neither of the North London clubs can afford to ease off. The clash between Chelsea and Tottenham next weekend will have Arsenal fans hoping for a draw, whilst both Blue and Lillywhite will be hoping to send out a message and deal a potentially fatal blow to their opponent with victory in that one.
Further back, 5 and 7 points off 5th respectively, sit Newcastle and Liverpool. The Toon Army are enjoying an excellent season and deserve many plaudits for what they have achieved so far. Some tricky fixtures lead me to expect that they will fall away slightly and most likely finish up in 7th - but this in itself is still a tremendous display. Liverpool meanwhile will probably be hoping that success in the FA Cup, to go with the already in the cabinet Carling Cup, can salvage what has been a disappointing and below par League campaign.
We then come to a group for whom you may think there is nothing to play for. Only 2 points separate Sunderland on 37 in 8th, and West Brom on 35, down in 14th. Those two points however equate to around 4 million GBP in end of season prize money. That is a new player for any of those clubs - a payment to the tax man, the salary roll for your entire catering staff...whatever; it represents a significant amount of money for football clubs, many of whom are operating at a loss. Although fans may be apathetic towards mid-table mediocrity, Chairmen and Chief Executives will not, and for that reason the ten games remaining for the water treaders have a lot riding on them.
I'll concede however, that they don't have nearly as much to play for as those fighting for their lives down at the arse end of the table. Aston Villa have endured a miserable season, but should have enough points on the board already to be plenty safe come the final 2 or 3 games. Last weekend's results saw Bolton and Blackburn benefit from their 'six-pointer' victories to escape the dreaded drop zone, leaving Wolves, QPR and long-time bottom dwellers Wigan Athletic to make up the unfortunates. As Goldmember would say, it is toight like a toiger down there though, yesch. Even Wigan...with only 4 wins all season, 1 win in their last ten games, just 24 goals scored and only 1 home victory for their fans to cheer...even they are not out of it, by any stretch. Indeed, they face a home game against West Brom this weekend knowing that with Bolton preoccupied in the FA Cup, Blackburn and QPR not playing, and Wolves hosting the leaders - they have an excellent chance to exit the relegation zone and breathe the sweet, fresh air of 17th. Their run in is not pretty mind you, and their final two games against Blackburn and Wolves may just come after it is already too late, although they have pulled it off before. The other candidates for the drop all have tricky looking fixtures to contend with (that's what happens when you're shite all season I suppose) and it is likely to be a scrap that, as so often happens, goes right to the wire.
Whether fighting for their lives, looking to finish as high as possible, chasing European qualification or indeed going for the crown, the next ten games for all 20 Premier League clubs represent the cliched '10 Cup Finals'. There will be twists, turns, shocks...and Villa will continue to be mind-numbingly dull and boring. Bring it on!
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