The six-furlong sprint to the finishing line

The 2017-18 season launches into the finishing straight this weekend — or ‘squeaky bum time’ as Alex Ferguson used to call it — but for anyone hoping to change their season in the space of six games the omens do not look favourable, writes Chris Hatherall.

No team in the Premier League has more than six games remaining — some, including Liverpool, have as few as four — and not only is time running out to overhaul rivals with a late, winning burst, but recent history suggests the last six doesn’t make as much difference to the top of the table as you might imagine.

Even when Manchester United managed only nine points from 18 in the last six games in 2013, they were able to hold onto first place and the only time any leader was overtaken was in 2012, when Manchester City famously won six games in a row to pip their deadly rivals on goal difference on the final day of the campaign.