Is there a tighter title chase anywhere in Europe at the moment? Linfield’s win over Cliftonville on Monday night saw them move back to the top of the Danske Bank Premiership but only goal difference separates them from Glentoran and the Reds, who sit 2nd and 3rd respectively. Also still in the hunt are Coleraine and Crusaders and even a good run of form from Larne could push them into contention, especially with the top six set to take points off each other after the split.
The full league table currently looks like this:-
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Linfield | 23 | 16 | 2 | 5 | 48 | 17 | 31 | 50 |
| 2 | Glentoran | 24 | 15 | 5 | 4 | 51 | 26 | 25 | 50 |
| 3 | Cliftonville | 24 | 16 | 2 | 6 | 41 | 17 | 24 | 50 |
| 4 | Crusaders | 25 | 14 | 7 | 4 | 58 | 23 | 35 | 49 |
| 5 | Coleraine | 25 | 13 | 8 | 4 | 50 | 23 | 27 | 47 |
| 6 | Larne | 24 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 46 | 24 | 22 | 38 |
| 7 | Glenavon | 24 | 8 | 4 | 12 | 37 | 53 | -16 | 28 |
| 8 | Ballymena United | 24 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 32 | 39 | -7 | 26 |
| 9 | Carrick Rangers | 24 | 8 | 1 | 15 | 28 | 38 | -10 | 25 |
| 10 | Dungannon Swifts | 23 | 5 | 3 | 15 | 25 | 66 | -41 | 18 |
| 11 | Institute | 25 | 2 | 8 | 15 | 20 | 56 | -36 | 14 |
| 12 | Warrenpoint Town | 25 | 4 | 1 | 20 | 17 | 71 | -54 | 13 |
Tomorrow there are six top flight games being played, the top three will be expected to pick up maximum points but as you can see above, a mere goal conceded could change the entire look of the league table.
Here are the six fixtures all kicking off at 15:00 tomorrow:-
Ballymena United v Glenavon
Carrick Rangers v Cliftonville
Crusaders v Larne
Institute v Glentoran
Linfield v Dungannon Swifts
Warrenpoint Town v Cliftonville
In our own writers’ prediction league Rodney and Cameron currently lead the way joint on 90 points with Bryan in 3rd place on 89. Adrian and Darren are hoping to take advantage of any slip-ups. Here is the full leaderboard:-
| 1: Cameron/Rodney | 93 |
| 3: Bryan | 89 |
| 4: Adrian | 84 |
| 5: Darren | 82 |
| 6: Keith | 67 |
First up with his predictions this week is Cameron – as usual, it’s three points for a correct result and a point for a correct outcome:-
Cameron
Ballymena United 1-1 Glenavon
Carrick Rangers 0-3 Cliftonville
Crusaders 2-2 Larne
Institute 1-4 Glentoran
Linfield 5-0 Dungannon Swifts
Warrenpoint Town 0-2 Coleraine
Bryan
Ballymena United 1-0 Glenavon
Carrick Rangers 0-2 Cliftonville
Crusaders 2-0 Larne
Institute 1-2 Glentoran
Linfield 3-1 Dungannon Swifts
Warrenpoint Town 1-1 Coleraine
Darren
Ballymena United 1-0 Glenavon
Carrick Rangers 0-2 Cliftonville
Crusaders 2-0 Larne
Institute 1-2 Glentoran
Linfield 2-0 Dungannon Swifts
Warrenpoint Town 1-2 Coleraine
Rodney
Ballymena United 1-2 Glenavon
Carrick Rangers 1-3 Cliftonville
Crusaders 3-1 Larne
Institute 0-3 Glentoran
Linfield 3-0 Dungannon Swifts
Warrenpoint Town 1-2 Coleraine
Keith
Ballymena United 0-0 Glenavon
Carrick Rangers 1-0 Cliftonville
Crusaders 0-1 Larne
Institute 1-1 Glentoran
Linfield 2-0 Dungannon Swifts
Warrenpoint Town 1-2 Coleraine
Adrian
Ballymena United 2-0 Glenavonm
Carrick Rangers 1-3 Cliftonville
Crusaders 2-0 Larne
Institute 1-1 Glentoran
Linfield 4-0 Dungannon Swifts
Warrenpoint Town 1-1 Coleraine
