Old Trafford. Photo credit: Edwin.11
Manchester United hold their nerve. Manchester City’s 6-1 demolition of Norwich City on Saturday cut Manchester United’s lead at the top of the Premiership to just two points ahead of United’s Sunday clash with Aston Villa. That had some bums squeaking in the red half of Manchester. But Sir Alex Ferguson’s teams rarely creak under pressure during the title run-in and it was no different yesterday. Assisted by being awarded a very soft early penalty (as they had been a week before against Queens Park Rangers) United romped to a 4-0 over Villa to restore their five-point lead. That lead looks pretty unassailable given that besides their trip to City’s Etihad Stadium they have relatively easy games left to play. The bookmakers certainly feel the trophy is staying at Old Trafford – United are 1/6 to win the league, City 5-1.
Tottenham’s season is in danger of imploding. Tottenham’s 5-1 FA Cup semi-final loss to Chelsea means they have nothing left to play for this season other than Champion’s League qualification. That’s a big disappointment for Spurs fans after their team started the season so strongly and even briefly flirted with a title challenge. Spurs’ form has dipped markedly since manager Harry Redknapp was heavily linked with the England job and their dip has seen them slip into fourth place. The fact that they have now been passed by bitter north London rivals Arsenal has been particularly hard to take for Spurs fans. Tottenham travel to QPR on Saturday hoping to reverse their recent poor league form and boost their chances of finishing fourth and qualifying for the lucrative Champion’s League. It won’t be easy as they are currently equal on points with a surging Newcastle United side, which have plenty of goals in them.
Who will snatch fourth spot? Can Newcastle pip Spurs to the Champion’s League? Are Chelsea still in with a shout? Leave a comment and let us know your thoughts.
Blackburn Rovers look doomed for the drop. Steve Kean’s Blackburn lost 3-0 at Swansea and now look very very likely to be relegated to the Championship. After a post-Christmas revival, Rovers have now lost five on the bounce and there are rumours of widespread discontent in the Ewood Park dressing room. The BBC reported that experienced defender Gael Givet refused to play against Swansea. Kean has suggested that 35 points could be enough to survive this season but Rovers fans are unconvinced the team will be able to collect the seven points needed to get to that mark over the next four games. Rovers poor goal difference further disadvantages them.
“The fallout from Blackburn’s latest defeat, a 3-0 thumping by Swansea City, suggests the game is up,” opined Jacob Steinberg at The Guardian’s Sport Blog, who said that “most worrying for Kean was the sight of his two best players, Junior Hoilett and Yakubu, coming off injured. Without them Blackburn have little threat.”
Queens Park Rangers still in trouble. QPR traveled to West Bromwich Albion buoyed by an impressive 3-0 mid-week win over Swansea, but, once again, they were unable to translate their impressive home form into points on the road. A combination of tiredness and Bobby Zamora’s poor finishing in front of goal saw QPR limp to a 1-0 loss, which means they are still very much stuck in the relegation dogfight. QPR fan messageboards aren’t too despondent just yet but it is widely felt that the superhoops will need to win two of their last four to stay in the Premiership. That would be no small achievement for Mark Hughes’ men given they have to play three top six sides – Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham – in their last four games. The return of striker Djibril Cisse from suspension should boost QPR’s prospects.
Who will be relegated? Wolves, Blackburn and QPR are the bookie’s favorites. Do you agree? Leave a comment and let us know your thoughts.
Aston Villa aren’t safe yet. Villa’s 4-0 capitulation to Manchester United meant they remain just 6 points above the relegation zone with five games left to play. While they should probably be able to eek out enough points to reach the magic 40-point mark – widely considered to guarantee safety – it remains a possibility that they’ll be overtaken by the likes of QPR, Bolton and Wigan. Villa has the second worst form in the league in 2012 (only Wolves have faired worse) and are missing a number of key men to injury including Darren Bent. Their run-in is reasonably tricky with tough away trips to local rivals WBA and Norwich to come.
