United v Chelsea - The Run-In!

You will forgive me for not bothering with writing anything about England's performance, will you? Owen Hargreaves was quite good.

Instead of blabbering about tedious teams, let's focus on football. After a quite pleasing Grand Slam Sunday, United find themselves five point clear at the top and their main challengers, all of a sudden, are not Arsenal but Chelsea.

You may say the gooners are only one point behind the Blues but that's hardly the point. Being ahead by six and boasting a vastly superior goal difference, United can afford to draw three games out of seven and still finish ahead Arsenal whose form are nothing short of atrocious at the moment and still have to visit Old Trafford.

Logic told us that Arsenal should never be able to keep up the pace at the top with the thin squad they have but then logic told something along the same lines last season about United, too... But this time the early pacesetters did not defy all odds but finally collapsed as many expected them to do so.

That leaves us and Chelsea it seems. The Blues are unbeaten in 14 league games (the loss against Arsenal at Emirates was their last defeat) and we still have to visit their formidable home where they haven't lost in 78 league games if I recall correctly. So this title is by no means won - but it is ours to lose.

Why? Simple. United, with their fantastic goal difference, have to pick up 16 points out of 21 to land the prize. If they do that, Chelsea can win their last 7 games and it still won't matter. So let's take a look at the upcoming opponents of both teams.

Manchester United


Aston Villa (home): We have a wonderful record against them and they ran out of steam due to a very small squad. United win

Middlesbrough (away): One of the poorest attacking forces against the best defence. United win

Arsenal (home): They won at Old Trafford last season, unlikely to do it again. Draw

Blackburn (away): Set to be a physical encounter and they have a lot of firepower as well. Draw

Chelsea (away): The most important fixture. Likely to be a cagey encounter, with United surely looking to contain Chelsea and hit them on the break. Draw

West Ham (home): Three straight league defeats against them, time for revenge. United win

Wigan (away): We always defeat them and it should be no different this time. United win


Chelsea


Middlesbrough (home): They will surely overpower a Boro team who's got nothing to play for. Chelsea win

Manchester City (away): Citeh are tougher than usual this season but the visitors will nick it. Chelsea win

Wigan (home): Brucey's team stand no chance I'm afraid. Chelsea win

Everton (away): Their toughest test apart from our visit. Moyes' men fight for the fourth place and will be up for it. Draw

Manchester United (home): As above. Draw

Newcastle (away): They dropped vital points here last season but won't do it again. Chelsea win

Bolton (home): They dropped absolutely vital points in this fixture last season but it certainly won't happen again. Chelsea win

So, by my reckoning, United will finish as Champions again with 88 points, Chelsea will rack up 84 points to claim second place. Looks realistic I suppose.

Of course it's only a little game I did here, nothing to take seriously. What is certain is that the Stamford Bridge fixture will be hugely important. If we lose there, we could be in serious trouble, if we win, it's almost certainly curtains for Chelsea and for the Premier League title race. Can't wait for it.