City in box seat with stage set for climax
Casting a caustic eye on the slip-ups which have already littered the run-in, Roy Keane remarked during the week that it seemed no one wanted to lift the trophy but, whether by accident or design, the winners will definitely be revealed, at the very latest, next Sunday, when all three contenders share a final-day 3pm kick off.
Neutrals, and Sky television, will be hoping it goes down to the wire but there’s also a chance the matter could be settled as early as Wednesday night in favour of either Manchester City or Liverpool, though not Chelsea.
The closeness and unpredictability of the race is evident in the table, with Liverpool, on 80, the team with the points advantage on the board, two ahead of Chelsea on 78, yet it’s Manchester City — in third place on 77 — who are considered favourites by the bookies on account of their game in hand, which will be at home to Aston Villa on Wednesday.
With a goal difference of plus eight currently under their belts, three wins on the spin against Everton, Aston Villa and West Ham would, barring an improbable goal swing in favour of Liverpool, secure the title for City even if their closest rivals still manage to secure two wins.
Indeed, should Chelsea fail to beat Norwich on Sunday and Liverpool lose to Crystal Palace on Monday, City – if they can beat Everton away tomorrow — could effectively end the race with a victory at home to Villa. Manuel Pellegrini’s team couldn’t, however, be crowned champions that night since, if they were to lose their final game at home to West Ham then, theoretically, Liverpool could yet overhaul them by running riot against Newcastle on the same day.
Alternatively, the celebrations could be in Liverpool by close of play on Wednesday. If City don’t do better than two points against Everton and Aston Villa, and Chelsea lose or draw with Norwich, then a Liverpool win against Crystal Palace on Monday would be enough to make Brendan Rodgers’ team the champions.
In fact, the only one of the three title contenders who can’t win it on Wednesday are Chelsea.
Plenty of ifs and buts there so, for once, we can forgive the rival managers for stressing the importance of taking it one game at a time.
That means the immediate focus will be on the three matches played tomorrow, Sunday and Monday, each one of which is, for varying reasons, fiendishly hard to call.
First up tomorrow, Manchester City have to visit Goodison Park where, even if the Toffees have hit a sticky patch at just the wrong time, the home side know they need to win to keep alive their chance of overhauling Arsenal for a Champions League place. But even if that potentially huge reward was not on offer, the preposterous idea being touted by some that Everton might rather lose the game than risk doing their Merseyside rivals a favour should be rightly deemed offensive by Roberto Martinez and his players.
On paper, then, this — the only away game of City’s run-in — should be by some distance their toughest assignment, with what look like much more manageable home games against Villa and West Ham still to come.
On Sunday, Chelsea host Norwich at Stamford Bridge but, again, what earlier in the season would have seemed a home banker is newly complicated by deflation at the Bridge following their European exit coupled with Norwich’s urgent need for points in their fight against relegation. A win for Jose Mourinho’s men would, however, see them top of the table before Liverpool play Crystal Palace on Monday.
That third game in the trilogy is another fascinating match-up and, in particular, a real test of character for Liverpool who, having surrendered control of the title’s destiny by losing to Chelsea last week, must bounce back at Selhurst Park, a ground where Tony Pulis has worked wonders to drag former relegation candidates Palace to safety.
Call all those correctly and I’ll call you Nostradamus.
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