The biggest winners were Louis van Gaal’s United, who beat their closest challenger, Liverpool 2-1 away to widen the gap between them and the fifth-placed Super Reds to five points with just eight more games to play.
The gap was two points before the two sides met and had Brendon Rogers’s side won, they would have leapfrogged the former champions to the fourth position, but Juan Mata’s winner left them with a wider margin to try and overcome.
The league takes a rest this weekend, but when it resumes next weekend, a lot will be at stake as the clubs take the last lap to glory. Liverpool, still in pursuit of qualification for European action, will be away to in-form Arsenal – 2-1 winners over Newcastle last weekend.
That game will undoubtedly be the game of the week. Manchester United will be home to Aston Villa, as runaway leaders Chelsea host Stoke City, hoping to at least keep the six-point stranglehold they have over defending champions City.
Manuel Pellegrini’s Manchester City, still hoping for what now looks like a miracle to stop Chelsea, will be away to Crystal Palace. Very little can be said in prediction for that game, as Palace remain unpredictable and City unreliable.
Chelsea’s added advantage is that they are still to catch-up with the rest of the clubs in terms of games played – with the one game in hand they have being a seemingly easy tie against lowly Leicester, who anchor the log and have become candidates for the automatic chop nine games from now.
Should they win it, the Blues would have all but wrapped it up and claimed the league from the hands of City.
Other fixtures: April 4: West Bromwich Albion vs Queens Park Rangers; Swansea City vs Hull City; Leicester vs West Ham United; Everton vs Southampton April 5: Burnley vs Tottenham Hotspur; Sunderland vs Newcastle United
Post published in: Football