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| Kompany powers in the only goal at the Etihad |
The battle for the title
Quite simply, it could not be much closer. Both Manchester sides have 2 games to go (as if you didn't already know) and a win is not guaranteed for either side in any game. People have been pinpointing Citys trip to St. James' Park (Can't ever call it by it's 'official name') as the critical fixture but Swansea will present United with a different kind of problem than they have been used to this season. I have no doubt that Brendan Rogers boys will really give it a go at Old Trafford. Their open expansive passing game has won many plaudits in their debut Premiership campaign, and rightly so. If they were to get the first goal then who knows?
Newcastle imploded at Wigan and got a right spanking, but critically, recovered superbly well to record a fabulous 2-0 victory at Chelsea on Wednesday evening. Remember their game with City is just as important to them with a Champions League place up for grabs and they are likely to be just as tense as City.
Champions League Places
Obviously City and United are guaranteed Champions League football next season but the next two places are still unclaimed and what a situation is developing there. The crucial game on Wednesday evening with Chelsea hosting Newcastle went the Geordies way meaning realistically Chelsea are unlikely to get into the Champions League places.
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| As it stood before Sundays games |
Arsenal have had a fantastic second half to the season but their incredible 3-3 draw with Norwich on Saturday has opened the door again for both Spurs and Newcastle.
This could be absolutely crucial because the other factor involved in this intriguing battle is Chelsea's fantastic achievement in reaching the Champions League Final. Should Chelsea defeat Bayern at the Allianz Arena they will automatically qualify for next seasons competition as holders and relegate the team that finishes 4th into the Europa League. So the fight is on to grab that elusive 3rd spot and prevent an evening of additional tension by hoping that Chelsea lose should either Arsenal, Spurs or Newcastle finish in 4th.
The battle to beat the drop
And to add even more spice we have the relegation scrap where no fewer than 5 teams are still clinging to their Premiership existence with varying degrees of anxiety.
Blackburn need a minor miracle to escape. I'm in the dubious position of wanting them to stay up for Steve Kean who I think has handled himself with great dignity, yet for the same reason wanting Blackburn to go down because of the majority of their fans! Their situation looks doubly perilous when you consider their lacklustre performance at Spurs plus the fact that they still have to visit Stamford Bridge in their final game. Roberto De Matteo's team will no doubt have one eye on the Champions League final but they really cannot afford to rest any players as they still need to pursue that 4th spot and give themselves cover should they lose on May 19th.
Bolton are giving themselves every chance having collected 4 points from the last 2 away games at Villa and Sunderland. They will probably need at least that many points again to stand a chance of playing a 12th successive season in the top flight.
It's all about home comforts for QPR who have been disastrous on the road this season picking up points in just 5 of their 18 away games and with Man City their last stop it seems their home game against Stoke on Sunday is win or bust. I can really see them being relegated.
Wigan on the other hand have been in extraordinary form of late. Home wins against Manchester United and Newcastle plus a famous victory at Arsenal has given them a golden chance of staying up, and I think they will be safe now. One more point may be all they need.
Bizarrely, even though they are on the same number of points as Aston Villa, the same cannot be said of the Villains who have been sucked into the relegation vortex with seemingly no backwards thrust available. That point away at West Brom on Saturday could just be the one that saves them, because I think that if there were still 5 games left to play, Villa would be visiting Millwall next season.
