Oooh, short answer, “yes with an if,” long answer “no with a but.” We got the magical combination from this weekend’s fixtures to at least open the door towards a Prem title. Walking through it is another thing altogether. If we can at least match our rivals’ results, we should win the Prem. We now have the points to finish above Man City; we currently have the goal-difference to finish above Liverpool. With just ten matches to play, it’s time to start gnawing on fingernails and clenching bums. There’s still that “no with a but” to revisit…
As already mentioned, we got the just-right set of results that we needed. We squeaked past Brentford on Saturday to earn top-spot, something we expected (and should probably continue to expect) to be temporary. Just about the only thing missing from Sunday’s clash between Liverpool and Citeh was that raft of red cards I had hoped for, particularly against Citeh, what with our potentially season-defining clash at the Etihad looming in only three weeks’ time. It might have been nice to have seen key players such as Rodri, Haaland, or De Bruyne sent off for violent conduct, rendering them unavailable for selection against us.
Yes, yes, of course, I want to feel like we might fully earn any Prem title in the offing by beating all comers while they’re at full strength, but I’m not above hoping, ever so slightly, for a nudge here and there. If we were to pull off the improbable, I’m sure that Klopp and Guardiola and Ferdinand and Neville and numerous others would point to injuries to De Bruyne and Salah and Haaland while ignoring those to Timber, Tomiyasu, and Jesus—while also overlooking the huge differences in squad-depth and experience in those two squads compared to ours.
There’s clearly still quite a lot of work to be done. One fixture looms larger on the horizon than any other, and that would be our arrival on 31 March at the Etihad. Our hosts will have had 15 days’ rest to our 19; we’ll each have four days before our next fixture (we host Luton; they host Villa). If we can at least find a draw, that door to winning the Prem stays open. Lose, and it slams shut. Win? Well…it’s hard to draw any definitive conclusions from such a result, but it just might propel us to glory, not just for the short-term points considerations, but for the confidence and momentum considerations as well.
There are ten matches to play. We’ve evaluated each sides’ run in here. Yes, ours is on paper the “easiest,” but that only matters for much as we make of it. The point that Liverpool and Citeh shared—the two points that each side dropped—has to feel fantastic, but it only matters if we strike while the iron is hot. If anything, it’s a shame that we have to wait so long to go toe-to-toe with Citeh. We’ve found a purple-patch while they’ve wobbled just a bit, what with the draw at home to Chelsea, narrow one-goal wins over Brentford and Burnley, and then this draw at Anfield.
Looked at another way, they’re conserving energy and gathering strength. We’ll have to know that we’ll have to be practically perfect in every aspect if we’re to escape with a season-defining draw. Should we find an epic-defining win? Well, we’ll have to wait on that. For now, let’s savor the current situation and ponder the possibilities.
I am not as positive. Of course if we win our (highly unlikely), or only stumble with a draw at MC (possible), the odds are good. But if you look at the matches we have still to play, the number of away vs home, and the caliber of some of those opponents, e.g., Spurs, MU, AV, Chelsea (I think I got those right from memory), they are not soft touches or chopped liver.
It strikes me that City and Liverpool have an easier route and could accrue at least 3 to 4 more points. That December swoon with a loss of a few points, the match earlier with the dubious or inconclusive (?) touchline non-offside, and those recent last gasp survivals by our two rivals, may well, spell the difference.
It may well come down to who stumbles less than the others or, whether we can avoid gaffes and lapses and whether the others get overconfident or careless when playing the minnows.
obviously the trip to the Etihad will be massive, we simply cannot afford to lose. I think CFC and MCFC have tougher run-ins (John wrote about it the other day). The gap between the three of us and the second tier is big enough that all of us should really be able to win out except when we face MCFC. I hope this long layoff works to our advantage. Maybe a return to Dubai, which seemed to rejuvenate us, is a good idea…
I’ll ring up Mikel and suggest that return-trip.
BTW, I’m not fussed about it even if I’m pointing it out, but there’s no h in my name.
I’m just crossing my fingers…
cross those toes as well. If there’s anything to ponder, it’s that a loss at the Etihad would spare us the trouble of holding onto any hope. That would pretty much put the title out of our reach.
Would it have been better had Liverpool won on Sunday? It may seem counter-intuitive, but…