As if Manchester City struggling to stay at the top of the league this season wasn’t bad enough, they lost the only hopes of winning something this season despite the much struggles this season. I sure hope they have learnt their weaknesses and shortcomings this season and will work to improve in the summer ahead of the coming season.
Manchester City have same 65 points like Nottingham Forest and currently they are under Newcastle United, Chelsea and Aston Villa which all have same 66 points. Fortunately those competitors already played 37 matches while Manchester City only played 36 matches so far. It means they have one match to get 3 more points and have 68 points totally. If they can do this, they will jump to a third position and have very good advantage of finishing in top five of Premier League.
This season is very exciting with race for third, fourth and fifth positions that will be only known after the league final match day. Even Nottingham Forest can get in top five at the season ending too.
Entering the second half of the season, Manchester United even suffered defeats from mediocre teams quite often, so it is understandable why they also lost to Chelsea. Meanwhile, regarding Chelsea chances of securing a ticket to the Champions League, I think they will succeed even though their next opponent is not easy, namely Nottingham Forest. In addition, Newcastle, Aston Villa, Manchester City will also fight for the same thing, and the last match will determine who has the right to qualify for the Champions League next season.
Manchester United surprisingly have a good season in Europa League which potentially helps them having a slot in Champions League next season, that's good for them but they still need to beat Tottenham Hotspur. For a next season in Premier League, without big changes and improvements, Manchester United will struggle like this season and with many quality competitors, they will likely have another season in middle of the league ranking table only.