Final day mircales again?
The 2008-09 Barclays Premier League season is coming to an end. Yet another entertaining and hard fought season has seen Manchester United trump for a 3rd straight year and hold off age old rivals Liverpool and the more recent challenger in Chelsea. The Mersysiders put up a season long championship winning effort for the first time in almost 20 years.
These two North-West English giants have had a historic rivalry that has with this triumph of Man United seen both clubs rack up 18 top flight championships. The Mancunians and Scousers alike would love nothing better than to see their clubs go ahead of the other in Championships' count next year! But while things are done and dusted at the top of the table, the relegation battle is anything but. Heading into the last week, only West Bromwich Albion (31 pts) are mathematically relegated. One of the closest and most competitive seasons ever in the BPL has resulted in Middlesborough (32 pts), Newcastle United (34 pts), Hull City (35 pts) and Sunderland (36 pts) all fighting to stay in the top flight of English football for another season on the last matchday.
Sunderland could have secured their Premiership status yesterday night at a relegation dogfight at Portsmouth but squandered a 1-0 lead thanks to some horrific defending and crashed to a 3-1 defeat. Now they have to win at home against a Chelsea side who have shown phenomenal away form all season, as they emphatically reminded everyone with a 4-1 thumping of Arsenal at the Emirates in their last BPL away game. A draw for Ricky Sbragia's men would mean that wins by both Hull and Newcastle would see Sunderland relegated alongwith Gareth Southgate's Middlesborough.
Similar emotions - Ricky Sbragia (left) and Alan Shearer (right)
Newcastle United have displayed a lot of grit and determination ever since Toonside legend Alan Shearer took over as manager a few weeks back. This new found 'backbone' in performance has not exactly seen the ideal results in terms of wins for the Magpies. Yet on a last day trip to a recently faltering and patchy Aston Villa, I would expect a team boasting the skill and experience of Michael Owen, Mark Viduka, Obafemi Martins, Damien Duff, Alan Smith, Joey Barton, Kevin Nolan and Nicky Butt among others, to pick up a vital victory. Even though they find themselves in the last relegation spot at the moment, the one thing they have going for themselves is a better goal difference to their opponents. If Hull and Sunderland both win then this counts for nothing. But if Sunderland draw and Newcastle win then this plays a huge role because as things would then stand, both these teams would be locked on 37 points with Newcastle above Sunderland because of GD. As already mentioned, that, combined with a Hull City win over Manchester United would mean that Sunderland would be relegated.
Manchester United have nothing to gain from their first ever trip to the Kingston Communications Stadium. They have wrapped up the championship. Plus there is a little matter of a Champions
League Final to look to in 3 days time. You could forgive Sir Alex Ferguson to rest all his stars for this match as I am sure he will do. Theoretically this should give Phil Brown's Hull (the picture shows Brown's infamous on the pitch half-time dressdown of his wards in the match against Man City) a chance for what would be in other circumstances an upset. However, I do not believe this will happen. For one thing, Sir Alex has always been one to ensure he plays a strong enough team in such circumstances and not be blamed for taking the relegation battle lightly. The last day game against West Ham in the 2007 season with an FA Cup final against Chelsea coming up is a very similar situation. Ferguson did play a strong team that day which included the likes of Rooney, Smith, Fletcher, Solskjaer and Van Der Sar. Yet at the same time I do not expect Ferguson to play Rooney, Ronaldo and his other stars on Sunday either. The difference between 2007 and now is the amazing squad depth that United have.
The Man Utd squad on Sunday should be pretty much like the squad Sir Alex put out against Everton in the FA Cup semi. A young, attacking squad that only lost on penalties to an Everton squad that is sure of European football next year! This side that should consist of Darren Fletcher, Kiko Macheda, Danny Welbeck, Darron Gibson, Rafael and Fabio Da Silva, Ben Foster and others should be enough to beat Hull.
Vociferous managers - Shearer (Left) and Southgate (right) - but how much can manager's actually do if the players don't perform?
Middlesborough are the side least likely to escape relegation as they would need a convincing win at West Ham and other results to go their way in order to beat the drop. Taking their current form into account this seems hardly likely. Southgate's men need Hull and Newcastle to loose their games first. Their GD stands at -28. Hull's is -24. Newcastle is on -18. A loss for both these teams would mean Hull stays at 35 pts and Newcastle at 34. 'Borough would go up to 35 points with a win. Then they have to overcome a 4 goal difference over Hull. Basically if Hull loose by a single goal to United then the Riverside club would have to win by at least 4 goals to save themselves. If United runs rampant at the KC stadium things might look a bit more probable. If Newcastle draw then Middlesborough would have to win by a nigh impossible 11 goal margin! It is safe to say that if Shearer's men manage any sort of result at Villa then 'Borough are doomed.
But last day miracles can happen... They always have! If anything is certain it is that May 24 is gonna be an action packed day fitting for a remarkable season!
Predictions:
Sunderland vs Chelsea: 1 - 2
Hull vs Manchester United: 0 - 2
Aston Villa vs Newcastle: 1 - 1
West Ham vs Middlesborough: 1 - 0
: Sunderland and Newcastle to beat the drop.
: Hull, Middlesborough and West Brom to be relegated.
: Man U, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Everton, Aston Villa - top 6.
: Fulham to get the last Europa League spot over Tottenham.
