Who Will Finish Fourth in the EPL: Spurs, Villa, Man City, or Liverpool?

Well, after five and a half exciting months of Premier League football, it has become increasingly obvious what each sides goals will be this season.

From knowing the three main contenders for the Premier League title this year in Chelsea, Manchester United, and Arsenal, to Portsmouth, Hull City, Burnley, Wolves, West Ham, Bolton, and Wigan all being in contention for relegation to the Championship, there is much that we have been able to tell from the Premier League script so far this year.

However, there could be change in who will be in the fourth position in the Premier League (and will clinch a birth in Champions League qualifying) as Tottenham, Aston Villa, and Manchester City are all contending against Liverpool for the fourth spot.

So far this year, each of these sides have been able to play well against the "Big Three" and all of them have a great chance of making the Champions League this season.

With this in mind, here is a breakdown of these four sides, what their positives and negatives are, and where I think they will be able to finish this year.

Tottenham Hotspur

The team that currently is in fourth in the Premier League, Harry Redknapp has been able to help Tottenham play great this year.

They have been able to defeat each of their three opponents for the fourth spot this year despite being the only side out of the four to not beat Chelsea, Man United and Arsenal this season.

However, they have been able to beat Manchester City and Liverpool at least once, and drew 1-1 with Aston Villa back in November.

One of the positives for Spurs is that they have arguably the most talented squad out of each of these four sides with players such as Jermaine Defoe, Aaron Lennon, Peter Crouch, Robbie Keane, Luka Modric, and Niko Kranjcar all on Tottenham's roster.

Another positive is that they are the side that currently is in fourth place, and they know that they control their own destiny.

One of the negatives for Spurs is that they have had problems beating sides that should be beaten as they have registered losses against sides such as Stoke City and Wolves, and have also had draws with Bolton and Hull City throughout this season.

Also, they will have an extremely hard month of April with fixtures against Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United in what will be the make-or-break part of the Spurs season.

Aston Villa

Currently seventh in the Premier League, Aston Villa have had a very impressive year to date as they currently find themselves just four points away from fourth place in the Premier League.

So far this year, they have been able to beat Chelsea 2-1 at Villa Park, beat Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford, have a scoreless draw with Arsenal several days ago at Villa Park, and have been able to qualify for the Carling Cup final next month against Man United.

Along with that, Villa have also been able to draw 1-1 with Manchester City and Tottenham, and have beaten Liverpool 3-1 at Anfield back in August.

With a roster filled with players such as Brad Friedel, Gabriel Agbonlahor, John Carew, and Emile Heskey, Villa do have a roster that could finish fourth in the Premier League.

One of the positives for Villa is that they are a consistent side in the back with Friedel being their starting keeper.

Also, Villa have been extremely consistent as of late, as they are no longer having draws with inferior opponents.

The main negative for Aston Villa has to be that they got off to that start that included losses to Wigan and Blackburn along with those draws.

The other negative for Villa is that they were in a position last year at this time in which they could have clinched an automatic spot in the Champions League as they were third in the Premier League as late as February.

But that was as far as Villa's Champions League dream would go as they ended up in sixth in the Premier League. 

But as long as Villa continue to play strong, they will be able to be a strong contender for that fourth position.

Manchester City

Currently sixth in the Premier League, Manchester City were expected to be one of the top sides in the Premier League after buying the likes of Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor, Gareth Berry, and Kolo Toure last summer.

After getting off to a solid start this year, City drew seven straight matches in the Premier League before City decided to fix their problems and sack Mark Hughes and bring in Italian Roberto Mancini to be their manager.

Since then, City have been great again in the Premier League and with wins against sides such as Chelsea and Arsenal in the Premier League, they are a side to be reckoned with.

With their great additions during the last offseason and with players such as Shay Given, Steven Ireland and Shawn-Wright Phillips who are already on their roster, Manchester City are definitely capable of finishing fourth in the Premier League.

One of the positives for Man City is that they are a side that are extremely talented and if they ever need to get a player, they should be able to get that player due to the rich owners in charge of City.

After that, City are also a side that they have those two matches in hand, and are talented enough to win those two matches to go into fourth in the Premier League.

One of the negatives for Man City has to be their terrible run in October and November that culminated in all of those draws.

Another negative is that City still do have to face the top three in the Premier League again, and all of those sides will play with an added chip on their shoulder in order to win.

But as long as the stars continue to produce, Manchester City could break the top four.

Liverpool

After being among the top four every season since the 2004-2005 season, Liverpool have found themselves in the midst of a terrible season but they know that they still have hope of getting into the top four.

Overall, Liverpool have lost matches this year to the likes of Spurs, Villa, Chelsea, and Arsenal, along with inferior opponents such as Sunderland, Fulham, and Portsmouth.

But despite being eliminated from the FA Cup several weeks ago to weak Reading side, Liverpool hav rediscovered their prior success from the last several years, and currently find themselves in fifth place in the Premier League.

For Liverpool, one of the positives for them has to be their ability to stick together after this forgettable season, and they will surely work hard as a unit to try to get into the top four.

Also, Liverpool do have arguably two of the most talented players out of these four sides in Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres, both of which can change a match in the blink of an eye and could get Liverpool into the top four when healthy.

But a negative for Liverpool has to be their terrible start to the season, which could be the deciding factor for Liverpool if they are to get that fourth spot.

And another negative for Liverpool has to be the injuries to Gerrard and Torres, which could hurt Liverpool if they get injured again.

But as long as Liverpool continue to work hard and just focus on themselves and not the other three sides standing in the Premier League, then they should be able to make the fourth spot.

My Prognoses: Overall, this will be a race that will last until the end of the season and it will be a great race to the finish.

The first side to fall out will be Manchester City, who will not be able to keep up their great run under Roberto Mancini for the rest of the season.

After that, Aston Villa will be the next to fall, as they are still just one year away from breaking the top four as they will once again fall apart come March.

And Spurs and Liverpool will contend to the final two matches of the season.

But Liverpool will not be able to beat Chelsea at Anfield and Spurs will be able to get past Bolton and Burnley to get the fourth spot and finish with a strong chance of getting into the Champions League group stage.