England

Although Chelsea has all but secured a second Premier League title in three seasons, the relegation battle is just heating up. Sunderland and Middlesbrough are going down to the Championship next season, and Hull City and Swansea City are trying to avoid the same fate. 

Relegation certainly adds drama and raises the stakes for the final games of the season, but exactly how much do these teams stand to gain by staying up?

Brad Guzan's favorite spice is nutmeg. Or maybe it's his least favorite spice, but Chelsea's favorite spice. I'm not sure which variation of the joke I'm supposed to make here. Diego Costa, Marcos Alonso and Nemaja Matic nutmegged the Middlesbrough keeper three times for three goals to move one step away from a second EPL title in three years.

Middlesbrough, meanwhile, started Monday one step away from being relegated to the Championship, and that step has been taken. Goodbye Middlesbrough.

After securing three points yesterday behind Emre Can’s wonder goal, Liverpool are primed to finish in the top four and qualify for the Champions League for the first time in three years. The Reds have a very manageable schedule down the stretch.

Christian Atsu is one of the horde of 30-something Chelsea players out on loan for all eternity. After impressing at Portugal’s Rio Ave, Chelsea shelled out £3.5 million for the 21-year-old Ghanaian winger and immediately loaned him to the extremely Chelsea-friendly confines of Vitesse Arnhem.

He played well there, but not well enough to make Pedro or Willian fear for their Chelsea careers. So off Atsu went, making loan stops at Everton, Bournemouth and Malaga while making headlines at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations by scoring this banger.

With four games to play in the EPL season, streaking Tottenham trails Chelsea by four points in the title race. Spurs still have a chance to finish atop the table, but they can’t afford to give away any points down the stretch. Although Chelsea dropped two games in April, a favorable schedule bodes well for their title chances.

Tottenham will play three of their final four games on the road, and they certainly have the tougher schedule. Here’s a look at their remaining games:

West Ham (A)

Manchester United (H)

Leicester City (A)

Hull (A)

It’s tragic to think about the gross output of the cast of characters in the Manchester derby when bridled with the vast sums of money spent on assembling them. The latest edition of Manchester United vs. Manchester City was a sobering affair that could serve as a harrowing documentary of the wastes of our time.