Saturday Soccer Spotlight: Winner Take All

It's come down to this.  There are 3 games left in the EPL this season, and it's once again a 2 horse race between Chelsea and Manchester United.  Arsenal were in the race until their poor end of season form took them 9 points back last week (doesn't this happen to them every year?).  However, they did open up an opportunity for Chelsea by beating Manchester last week.  Here's the situation:  Manchester is in first place, 3 points ahead of Chelsea, and they are even on goal difference, and Chelsea travels to Old Trafford tomorrow with a chance to take the lead.  Here are the scenarios:

1. The first possibility is that Manchester United wins and goes 6 points clear of Chelsea and has the edge in goal difference.  This would essentially lock up the title for Manchester because they would only need a point from their remaining 2 games, which are teams at the bottom of the table.

2.  The second scenario is a draw between the two teams.  This result would still favor Manchester because they have the easier schedule to finish out the season.  Chelsea would need to win both of their last games (Newcastle and Everton), and Manchester would need to lose a game for Chelsea to win the title.  But considering the way the season has gone up until now, Chelsea would still h ave a pretty good chance.

3.  The third choice, which I really don't even want to consider as a possibility, is Chelsea beating Manchester United.  This would blow the race completely open.  The two teams would be even on points, but Chelsea would take the top position on goal difference.  At that point, I really couldn't see Chelsea dropping any points in their last two games, and Manchester's only chance would be to overcome goal difference.  And considering the teams they play (Blackburn and Blackpool), that is still a possibility.

And as much as I hate to say it, this game seems like a total toss up to me.  Manchester have an advantage being at home where they haven't lost all season.  They've won every game except one, which was a draw.  Pretty formidable.  But then again, they haven't played Chelsea yet at home (except in the Champions League).  They also have an edge because they beat Chelsea in both legs of the Champions League.

Chelsea, however, have desperation and form on their side.  Both are powerful assets.  They are on a long streak of victories in the Premier League, bringing them back to within striking distance from 15 points behind the leaders.  So they will be fully confident they can steal a win.






I'm having some major difficulty coming up with a prediction for this game.  I really don't think it will be a draw.  Chelsea will come out attacking because they need a win.  And Manchester knows that it is a dangerous game to pack it in and just play defense against a very dangerous Chelsea team.  So a draw is out of the question (although I wouldn't mind a draw at all).  I'm banking on home field being the decider for Manchester again.  Something about 70,000 fans going crazy for 90 minutes seems to play a big roll at Old Trafford.  Manchester to win 1-0.