Can Manchester United make it 4 in a row?

Having attempted to dissect and predict the outcome of the keenly fought relegation battle and the recent phenomenon that is the battle for fourth place, I shall begin this week’s piece by updating on each of these. The big winners in the relegation scrap being Bolton and Wigan whilst Burnley and Wolves remain entrenched. The big losers though appear to be West Ham who must have had a home game against Bolton marked as a clear opportunity for three points. Having lost this game though, the Hammers now face away games against Arsenal and Chelsea. It appears that the likable Gianfranco Zola is set for a few more weeks of sleepless nights yet. Of the teams involved in the fight to scrape into the final Champions League place, only Liverpool were in league action in this round of games due to the FA Cup. Their away game to Wigan looked like the perfect opportunity for Benitez’s men to leapfrog their rivals into fourth. However, as has often been the case this season Liverpool surrendered meekly to a 1-0 defeat which makes their chances look bleak to put it mildly. They have now played more games than their rivals and there appears no sign of their form turning for the better and it seems that they will continue to scrap for any points that they can get between now until the end of the season without looking remotely convincing.

Keen readers will note that having looked at the aforementioned battles in the Premier League, it is only left for this column to try and shed some light on the final prize on offer this season – the small matter of the title. As predicted at the start of the season this involves Chelsea and Manchester United who would appear in an article of similar ilk since the Premier League was created in 1992. More surprisingly, Arsenal are also in the thick of this battle and as it stands two points separate these three clubs meaning that as Brian Moore once said “it’s all up for grabs now”.

Having lost twice to both of their rivals, it is with some surprise that Arsenal are now back in with such a good chance of going on to win the league and as a consequence end their relatively long wait for silverware. This seems to be due to a combination of the Gunners’ ability to beat all of the teams below them and the inconsistency of their rivals. One look at their run-in suggests that Arsenal can with some justification expect to win all of their remaining nine games which would more than likely give them the title. If this does prove to be the case, it should be applauded by the rest of football as Arsene Wenger has consistently stuck to his principles of playing the best football on offer in the Premier League without splashing out on excessive transfer fees on an array of talent. This is despite the fact that the Arsenal team have lacked a top quality goalkeeper for a number of years and this season in the absence of Robin van Persie they are operating with the truly hopeless Nicklas Bendtner up front (if you have not seen his misses against Burnley this weekend I suggest a viewing on You Tube to confirm the Dane’s uselessness). The one worry with Arsenal is that they are always liable to lose away games at intimidating small venues where their opponent is scrapping for their Premiership lives. However, if they can keep Fabregas, Arshavin and Vermaelen fit they could very easily end up winning the title and they could also be boosted by the return in April of van Persie meaning their fans no longer have to suffer the endless ballooning of shots over the bar that appear to be the specialty of Mr. Bendtner.

Chelsea have been leading the table for the majority of the season and when on form they are probably the best team in the Premier League this season. They have though, failed to consistently suggest that they can go on and win the title by failing to take advantage of any slip-ups by their rivals. The back-bone of the Chelsea team has been the same since the Mourinho era meaning that they are now very much an aging team. Messrs Lampard, Drogba and Ballack are now all over 30 suggesting that their powers may be on the wane over the next few years. Chelsea are also hampered in the run-in by the absence of Michael Essien. This has two negatives for Chelsea as it means they are without arguably their best player and the seemingly untalented John Obi Mikel is likely to play in all of their remaining games as his replacement. Although the Chelsea spine is more than good enough to win the title, there have been cracks to suggest that the team as a whole is not the machine it was under Mourinho. Their captain John Terry has looked very ropey in recent weeks in the light of the revelations confirming what all people suspected, John Terry is a bit of an arse, and the team always seems to have one weak link whether it be Kalou, Mikel, Belleti or Hilario. Chelsea still have big games left this season, but are more than likely to get no better than a draw form games such as Manchester United away that could allow Arsenal to overtake them to the league crown.

Manchester United have triumphed in the last three title battles meaning they certainly know what is required to close out the season. Since last season though United have lost their best player and have replaced him with vastly different players. The result of this is that a new source of goals is required and Wayne Rooney has certainly stepped into this void. As a result, United seem more reliant on one player than either of their rivals and if any injury was to befall Rooney they would be completely scuppered (as of course would England in the World Cup this summer). The rest of the United team is not actually that good, a midfield of Carrick and Fletcher is solid at best, but cannot be described as inspirational. Berbatov has never convinced consistently for United and to rely on him as an attacking spearhead would be extremely worrying. Their back four has been decimated by injury and Ferdinand seems incapable of playing a long sequence of games due to a chronic back problem but if they can get him fit to partner Vidic, they will certainly be there until the end. Their win at Wolves at the weekend is evidence of this as they scraped a 1-0 win without Rooney against a poor Wolves side without looking convincing at all.

All in all this year’s title race has been an example of all of the contenders being far from perfect meaning that they are all liable to drop points in the run in. However, by virtue of their very kind run-in I will stick my neck out and say Arsenal will emerge as victorious by the time the season draws to a close in May. If this does prove to be the case, I imagine Arsene will just spend the summer sitting smugly telling anyone willing to listen “I told you so”.

To next week dear reader when I will be discussing the talking points that are bound to emerge from this weekend’s action in both the Premier League, Football League and who knows maybe even the Scottish leagues.