The battles for champions league places and the fight for premiership survival rage on, but in the wake of Sir Alex Ferguson’s resignation from Manchester United, everything else pales in comparison.

The most successful manager in Premier League history

The Londoners Spurs, Chelsea and Arsenal fight for the remaining two Champions league places. Arsenal and Chelsea sit in pole position, while Spurs currently in 5th, are desperate to get a break. The mid-week Spurs – Chelsea 2-2 draw was an opportunity missed to pick up all 3 points and gain an edge. With that result, Spurs destiny no longer rests in their hands.

This week both Spurs and Arsenal have difficult matches. Spurs travel to Stoke while Arsenal face a Wigan side who are in a desperate fight for their premiership lives. On paper the Spurs game looks more winnable as Stoke are free from the drop and have nothing to play for.

Wigan on the other hand, will present a tougher opponent for Arsenal as they are in a desperate fight to ensure their premiership life. Their mid-week 3-2 loss to Swansea put a huge dent in their survival hopes. They remain in the relegation zone and need wins, as they are running out of time and games.

Other hopefuls Chelsea are in a rich vein of form having picked up an excellent win at Manchester United and then a solid draw with Spurs. They face a confident and inform Aston Villa, who themselves come in off a huge win 2-1 win over Norwich. The win and the 3 points lifted Villa up to the magical 40 point plateau and out of relegation danger and booked their ticket to a place in the league next season.

In the relegation zone Wigan, Newcastle Norwich and Sunderland are all in the mix for that final spot. With two games remaining it may go down to the final game of the year to decide who joins QPR and Reading. Newcastle have a difficult trip to London to face Harry Redknapp’s QPR. While Sunderland play Southampton, who themselves aren’t completely safe as they sit one place above. The price for the winner of this game, is a place in the league next year.

At the start of 2013 Norwich City looked good for staying up. They hit a bad patch a month ago and have been stuck on 37 points for near a month. They need 3 more points to ensure their premiership status bt face a difficult opponent in West Brom.

There’s still a lot to play for even though the king has abdicated from his throne. It will all go down to the wire.