EPL Crystal Ball
With a titanic clash with old rivals Arsenal, due tomorrow, Manchester United embark upon an arduous run of fixtures that sees them take on four of the big boys one after the other. United’s next six fixtures read; Arsenal (A), Stoke (H), Chelsea (A), Liverpool (H), Norwich (A), Tottenham (A). They take on three of the top five sides away from home, and then there is the small matter of hosting archenemy Liverpool at Old Trafford, to round off a run of fixtures that surely is ‘make or break’ for Manchester United. Slotted in amongst this ensemble of daunting matchups is an F.A Cup tie at Anfield – next weekend to be precise – as well. If results go United’s way, they could find themselves within close proximity of the top of the league table, with a tough barrage of fixtures out of the way; and on their way to F.A Cup glory – a tournament they haven’t won since 2004 – with two big guns, City and Liverpool, knocked out. Au contraire, they could find themselves out of the title race and the F.A Cup, with only the Europa League to play for – and that would be excruciating for the English giants; no two ways about that.
United currently trail leaders Manchester City by three points, and with the latter traversing a continuum of hiccups of their own, the defending Champions should look to cling onto the coattails of their neighbours for as long as they can. If United emerge from this tough run with the aforementioned coattail within their sight, Sir Alex would undoubtedly fancy his side’s chances of defending their league title. A cluster of significant fixtures can work both ways; if United find their feet and instigate a decent run, their momentum can carry them over the next month or so. Similarly, a poor performance and result can have its ramifications on the forthcoming fixtures as well. Decisive matches being crammed in also denote that the menace of injuries becomes all the more spine-tingling for the gaffer – a 2-3 week injury layoff for one of your key players could mean that he misses out on 3-4 of the biggest games of the season. Sir Alex is the living anthology of the ‘been there done that, seen it all’, but he’d be the be the first one to acknowledge – albeit in solitude – that the pack of cards he has with him at the moment is short on a few aces; especially when juxtaposed with United teams of the previous couple of decades. All the same, the wily old Scott has conjured up league titles with not-so-brilliant sides and a season of middle of the road performances as well, and he’d be looking to pull out another rabbit this year. If after the Spurs game on 3rd March, United find themselves within five points of the summit – with eleven games to go – Sir Alex would be completely over the moon. And with City showcasing a wobble or two every now and then, Mancini’s side might aid their neighbours’ cause as well.
Man City vs Spurs
This Sunday sees four of the top five sides taking on each other, with three of them being bona fide title contenders. First up we have Spurs taking on Manchester City, trailing the league leaders by five points, and vying to make a statement for their title credentials – or so we think. City and Spurs have formulated an intriguing rivalry over the past couple of seasons owing to the two sides competing for Champions League qualification. However, this year round it’s the EPL title that’s up for grabs for both sides – even though Harry Redknapp continues to downplay his side’s chances of lifting the trophy come May. Granted that if at the start of the season, one had give Harry a third (or even fourth) place finish, he’d have bit your hand off and said thank you very much! But considering the fact that if the league had started in September, Spurs would be top of the table, Tottenham should be giving the league a serious go – they’re only five points off the pace, and playing arguably the best football in the league.
For Tottenham Sunday’s game at Etihad Stadium presents an ideal opportunity for a reprisal for their early season 5-1 drubbing at White Hart Lane. Spurs were still settling down back then, with the Modric soap opera going on, whereas now they have the Croatian along with Bale, Adebayor and Van Der Vaart at the top of their game. Even though the 1-1 against Wolves last time round was a blemish on their recent upsurge, Spurs still have enough armour to trouble a City side sans Kompany and Yahya Toure – along with David Silva the two most influential City players. For City, their recent troubles are well documented; however, while the side struggling for defensive stability without Kompany is understandable, their attacking impotence is not. City still have a 100% home record, even though they’ve suffered back to back home defeats in the F.A Cup and Carling Cup, against United and Liverpool respectively; however, if Spurs play to their potential expect that stat to change on Sunday.
Arsenal vs Man United
There is a lot of history involved in this fixture; and now with Scholes and Henry returning, the history involved is a notch or two more than usual. They were integral cogs in their respective machines when the Arsenal-United rivalry was at its apogee during 1999-2005, and watching them on Sunday would be a nostalgic throwback – and not only for the fans of the two clubs. As far as the meaningful numbers for Arsenal are concerned, they currently lie fifth – four points of fourth placed Chelsea – and on the back of successive away defeats. To label Arsenal’s away form as ‘abysmal’ would be very generous on this column’s part and hence they’d need to make sure that they capitalise on their home form that has seen them unbeaten at the Emirates since Liverpool toppled them in August. The match on Sunday would also be an opportunity to do one over their long time rivals in reciprocation of the 8-2 mauling early on in the season.
Like so often at the Emirates, Arsenal taking on United promises to be a duel between the home team’s possession play versus United’s counter attack. Whenever, Fergie’s team has got the better of Arsenal at their own turf recently it has owed a lot to their counter attacking prowess. If Arteta is passed fit, the Spaniard along with Song and Ramsey would look to control matters in the middle; but with Scholes returning to join Carrick in the center United have retraced stability in the middle of the park as well. Nevertheless, we could have the game’s decisive matchup on Arsenal’s right wing. Considering Evra’s form, Walcott can run him absolutely ragged; and with the Frenchman being out of position (and his comfort zone) – the former habitually, and the latter courtesy Walcott – expect Van Persie to trouble United’s central defense. However, the good news for United fans is that Rio Ferdinand might not be fit for Sunday.
