All of the sudden we find ourselves 5 points clear with just seven games left to play, after a well fought victory away at Blackburn Rovers last night I had a look at our own and our noisy neighbours remaining fixtures. With still 21 points left up for grabs, that means we need to take 17 to reclaim our Premier League crown.
Here’s a list of the fixtures and my predictions:
Manchester United
8th April vs. QPR (H) Win
11th April vs. Wigan (A) Win
15th April vs. Aston Villa (H) Win
22nd April vs. Everton (H) Draw
30th April vs. Man City (A) Draw
6th May vs. Swansea (H) Win
13th May vs. Sunderland (A) Draw
Total Points: 91
The one game that sticks out here is obviously City away, however if we play well enough and our rivals drop points, the title could all be over by then. We will have to be at our best for the games against Everton and Villa, and if it comes down to the last game of the season, a tough game away at Sunderland could be our downfall.
Manchester City:
8th April vs. Arsenal (A) Draw
11th April vs. West Brom (H) Win
14th April vs. Norwich (A) Win
22nd April vs. Wolves (A) Win
30th April vs. Man Utd (H) Draw
6th May vs. Newcastle (A) Draw
13th May vs. QPR (H) Win
Total Points: 86
City’s toughest game is arguably their next, away at Arsenal isn’t going to be an easy game especially if you take into account City’s away form. In truth though I think the result all depends on which Arsenal decide to turn up, they have been a bit of a mixed bag this season, and if they bring their A-Game then they could win it comfortably. Going to St James’ Park in the penultimate game of the season is another potential hiccup for our cross-city rivals, with the Senegalese strike-force of Ba and Cisse proving to be a real handful.
Basically, it’s in our hands now, if we keep our heads and grind out the results like we did last night then we are more than capable of lifting the trophy at the end of the season. We just need to ensure that we don’t allow complacency to set in, I don’t see either club losing one of their remaining 7 fixtures but stranger things have happened before. You can’t help but think what a great achievement it would be to win the league this year, personally i can’t recall a season like this for injuries, and to beat City to the title would make it even sweeter. It’s now down to the players to hold their nerve, I believe we can do it but time will tell.
It would be sweet if we won the league the game before the derby – usually we are given a guard of honour by opposing teams in this situation. I don’t want to put a jinx on winning the league, however it would be interesting to see if City would stand and applaud us onto the pitch on their own turf.
Totally agree, would love to see Mankini having to clap us onto the pitch, just hope we can close it out now!