Article
High noon for Premiership football heavyweights
LONDON (AFP) - Like heavyweights hauling themselves off their stools for the 12th round, Manchester United and Chelsea must find the energy to resume slugging on Saturday as their gruelling title bout edges nearer a conclusion.
Nothing can be decided this weekend. But with only four matches left to play -- including the meeting of the two sides at Stamford Bridge on May 9 -- any slip-ups are certain to have a huge bearing on whether the Premiership trophy remains in the Chelsea boardroom for a third successive season, or heads back to Old Trafford for the first time since 2003.
The latest chapter in this boiling pot of a title race will be infused with additional tension given that, for once, the two clubs kick off at the same time with United making the short trip to Everton while Chelsea's lunchtime appointment on the Kings Road is with Bolton.
On paper, the Londoners have the marginally easier task against a Bolton side that has taken just a point from their last three league outings and will be without injured duo Tal Ben Haim and El Hajdi Diouf, and, possibly, skipper Kevin Nolan.
But the champions have had a day less than United to recover from their respective Champions League semi-final exertions in midweek and Bolton's expertise at set pieces will surely test the concentration of a fatigued squad.
Jose Mourinho can freshen up the squad that beat Liverpool 1-0 on Wednesday night with an injection of Michael Essien's high energy levels, the Ghanaian midfielder having served a European suspension in midweek.
But he faces a difficult dilemma over whether to field the likes of Joe Cole and Didier Drogba and risk leaving them exhausted for the second leg against Liverpool on Tuesday evening.
United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is confronted with a similar balancing act ahead of his side's trip to Milan next Wednesday. Wayne Rooney ran himself into the ground as a solo striker in the 3-2 first leg win over the Italians and might be excused the trip to his former club with Alan Smith ready to come back into the starting line-up.
Ferguson is resigned however to fielding a makeshift defence once more with only Patrice Evra of his first-choice back four set to be available, although both Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic could be in contention for the Milan game.
United's resurgence this season resulted in eight of Ferguson's players being named in the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA)'s team of the year, while Cristiano Ronaldo was named both young player and player of the year.
But Ferguson has warned his players that such recognition from their peers will be meaningless if their challenge for trophies disintegrates over the final month of the season.
"These awards only tell you what's been happening up until February," said the Scot. "What we have to do now is be great in April and May. That's the time to be great. If the players don't smell the scent of something big in their lives now then they never will. It's a great opportunity for them."
It is the smell of fear that can be expected to hang over this weekend's fixtures involving clubs at the other end of the table.
Bottom side Watford's drop back to the Championship was confirmed last weekend but there are five teams -- Fulham, Wigan, Sheffield United, Charlton and West Ham -- embroiled in a cut-throat battle to avoid filling the other two relegation spots.
With only four points spanning 15th-placed Fulham and second-from-bottom West Ham, this particular dogfight is likely to still be going when the season reaches its finale on May 13th, but this Saturday could be hugely influential in determining which clubs join Watford in the Championship next season.
West Ham, who have the additional spectre of a possible points deduction related to the signings of Javier Mascherano and Carlos Tevez hanging over them, realistically cannot afford to lose at Wigan while Sheffield United will take a huge step to survival if they can claim maximum points at home to a Watford side with only pride left to play for.
Charlton have a tough trip to Blackburn but they would probably prefer that to a clash with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, which is where free-falling Fulham will be on Sunday.
Fixtures (1400 GMT unless stated):
Saturday
Blackburn v Charlton, Chelsea v Bolton, Everton v Man Utd (both 1145 GMT), Manchester City v Aston Villa, Middlesbrough v Tottenham, Portsmouth v Liverpool, Sheffield Utd v Watford, Wigan v West Ham
Sunday
Arsenal v Fulham (1500 GMT)
Monday
Reading v Newcastle (1900 GMT)
Comments (0)