As the Premier League title race hots up, so too does the race for fourth spot and a place in the Champions League.

The football betting suggests the title race is between the two sides from Manchester, with Tottenham Hotspur intriguingly poised in third place.

The gap between Spurs and the rest widens with each passing week, leaving the clubs behind to scrap it out for the final Champions League spot. The battle for fourth makes the champions league betting markets an intriguing one.

Chelsea are the best placed side, but are a team is transition under Andres Villas-Boas and have been less than convincing this season. They will be looking to tighten their grip on fourth with games against Sunderland, Norwich City and Swansea City coming up.

Arsenal, buoyed by the return of club legend Thierry Henry, sit just one point behind Chelsea in the Europa League spot. They will be hoping Henry can take some of the pressure off Robin van Persie. The Gunners face trips to Swansea and Bolton Wanderers before the end of the month, either side of a mouth-watering clash with Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium.

Liverpool themselves are boosted by the return of inspirational skipper Steven Gerrard. However, the club is surrounded by controversy at the moment and that could hurt their top-four aspirations. They face a tough run as they juggle three competitions and six games in just under three weeks.

Newcastle United are an outside bet after an impressive first half of the season under boss Alan Pardew. They have winnable fixtures against Queens Park Ranger and Fulham coming up, but perhaps their best chance of glory lies in the FA Cup.

Another year out of Europe is unthinkable for Liverpool, while Chelsea and Arsenal are mainstays of Europe’s premier competition. One thing is for sure, it will be a fierce battle for that fourth spot.