Premier League – Round 26 – A two-horse race

Aton Villa – Manchester United

There has been a dip in form for O’Neill’s Villa lately, winning just one of their last six matches in the Premier League. Half of them were home games which had them draw against London sides West Ham and Arsenal and lose out against visiting Liverpool.

All three teams were considerably a notch or two below what Manchester United are showing in terms of play at the moment. This, coupled with the traditionally weak reception of the Red Devils at Villa Park certainly hands the ball to Ferguson’s men here.

The Scotsman and his troops are marching resolute towards toppling Chelsea from the lead. The Blues do not look like giving up but neither do the Red Devils. As long as Rooney keeps doing what he does best there should be less and less problems with finding the net.

The United midfield is performing better than in the first half of the season as well. Park looks ready to be filling up the gaps every once in a while whilst Nani is lifting his game to higher levels. Valencia has been performing consistently and has been getting more of the spotlights lately as well.

Villa’s December win at Old Trafford was the only three-pointer for the Villains in the last 15 games against Manchester United both home and away. In that long run they had just managed two other draws.

Verdict: 2

The train that is United at the moment should brush aside Villa as history goes back to smiling at Ferguson.

Everton – Chelsea

It looks like the Merseyside derby can never really bring joy to the blue side of Liverpool. Even with an extra man, although not deservedly so, the Toffees lost their chance to get a victory and instead allowed eternal rivals Liverpool to snatch an improbable one.

It was a pity because as things stood right before the match one would have given the hosts the edge. Liverpool were seemingly still shell shocked from a disastrous season whilst Everton were on a roll with four wins in five games and important draws at Arsenal and Sunderland.

Is there someone capable of stopping the Blues? After their solid performance against Arsenal that is what many amnesia-prone individuals will be asking themselves. Have people forgotten about Chelsea’s trip to Hull City four days earlier?

Hull City, still in relegation troubles, were able to hold Chelsea to a 1-1 draw and if there was to be a winner decided on points, boxing-style, it would have been the hosts and not Ancelotti’s men.

Are we to interpret the win over Arsenal as a sign that things have suddenly changed for Chelsea? I think that it was the Drogba factor and Arsenal’s fear factor that made the whole difference. The Gunners were too fearful and weak whilst the striker played on his natural affinity to score against Chelsea’s cross-town rivals.

The trips to Liverpool to play Everton have always been a close call for the Blues. In the past six trips they won four by one goal and drew the other two. This high difficulty coefficient usually works at Stamford Bridge as well with the past four meetings there having the two sides share the points.

It will be a tough match for Chelsea especially since Everton have been recovering important players. Chelsea’s on-the-road results might prove once again fatal. In the last five Premier League away games they won just once and relegation-threatened Burnley did not make that easy either.

Verdict: Everton +1

The Toffees like playing the Blues and it might be a sweet melody for the Red Devils.

Arsenal – Liverpool

Why would Arsenal give up playing their usual passing style in such an important match for them as was the game against Chelsea last Sunday? Well they did not really give that up but were forced to find other less fruitful solutions after Chelsea took the lead and set up a fortress at the back.

Crossing into the box when no true striker was present on the pitch made it clear how Wenger really had no idea of contrasting Chelsea’s brute force. Only some fifteen minutes from time did he realize that and he sent in Bendtner – only to prove as sterile as usual. There was rarely any midfield battle which Arsenal won either as the strong midfielders of the Blues proved too strong to fight against.

It must be said that without the right men to contrast the Chelsea strength Arsenal were never really going to overcome the goal deficit. That happened in the first match of the season between these two teams as well with the Gunners playing well until the Blues found the net – once again courtesy of Drogba – and switched on to a defensive mode that resulted impossible for Wenger to fight against.

Might Arsenal’s manager have finally realized that the money needs to be splashed for the decisive players instead of relying solely on the young ones? Rumours have it that he wants to invest up to €30 million to keep Fabregas at the club for another five years. An addition similar to what was Adebayor last year should seriously be considered as well. Otherwise this Arsenal will be trigger-happy against the minnows but underdogs against the big boys.

Up next are Liverpool, another side which has been garnering plaudits for its improved backline lately. The last seven games saw them concede just one goal – a late one that cost them two points at Stoke City.

The Reds’ form has been ascending to heights they had not yet touched this season and as players keep recovering from their woes it looks like it can only get better for them.

Liverpool have drawn the last two away to Arsenal and whenever it is not a draw between these two sides the home team prevails. However, last December it was Arsenal which managed the big heist as they won 1-2 at Anfield. That was another Liverpool and now is the right time to get revenge for that.

Verdict: Liverpool +0.5

Devastated Arsenal might be in for another reality check that confirms they need to bolster the side in order to compete for the title.