A Week in the EPL

It's been an odd week in the world of English Football. Right after it looked like Man United had sown up the title, they lose 1-0 to Wigan and Man City wins two in a row, led by the resurgence of long-absent Carlos Tevez. Today was a really impressive 6-1 road win over Norwich City that puts them a mere two points behind their crosstown rival, though United has a home game against Aston Villa tomorrow. That will probably restore the five point lead and their next fixture against Everton should produce another three points -- though Everton has been playing great football of late. Unfortunately, it was not great enough to get to the finals of the FA Cup, with a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to Meyerside derby rival Liverpool on a late winner by Andy Carroll. Yes, that's right, for the second game in a row Andy Carroll produced a late winner. Not exactly proof that he was worth the money (far from it), but good to see the young striker start to produce. The same can be said of Torres, though I do wonder if he will ever get back to the dominance he once showed for Liverpool and country (lest us forget he scored the winner in Spain's Euro 2008 final against Germany). Tottenham lost again last week, to  Norwich at home, and looks on the brink of falling out of the top four completely. Their game against Chelsea tomorrow in the other FA Cup Semi could be a real boost to the reeling team, that just doesn't seem to be performing as well since Harry's slotting as the next English National Team Coach -- and our lovely 5-2 come-from-behind victory.

So while Man City has certainly put the pressure on United, the latter will have to drop two points, and lose to City, to give the title away this late. That seems unlikely given the opponents they will face: Aston Villa, Everton, Swansea (you never know) and an away game against Sunderland that may see a home team not nearly as interested as United in winning. But it should be a fun run in with the title still open for the moment, the battle for third and fourth place still wide open and the relegation battle very tight (except for Wolves who look set for demotion). One thing I find troubling about the title race, and not for the first time, is the reality that United should have drawn at Craven Cottage, given the penalty that wasn't called late, should have at least had a game against QPR (how the FA didn't overturn that red card is beyond me) and has had several positive calls this year that saved points. The state of refereeing continues to be pathetic -- Barca also got a rather pathetic penalty call to pull out a 2-1 win that keeps their title hopes alive with the next (and hopefully not last) El Classico of the year next Saturday -- and something really needs to be done. Wenger has called for the use of video replay and one hopes that is in the offing at some point. One also hopes the FA follows through on the hints and at least puts in goal line technology. Whatever the cost, it is worth it -- as England can certainly attest to from the World Cup. On the other hand, Ferguson has again shown that he is probably the greatest coach ever (at least in the EPL) this year and getting Scholes out of retirement was a brilliant stroke as they have won every game he has played. A slip up is not impossible, but unfortunately does seem unlikely.

A win by Arsenal on Monday will go a long way to securing that third spot and though Wigan has been playing really well of late, and Ferguson stoked the fire by claiming they will win, I think a strong effort should garner us the three points. Looking at the remaining games, I think Chelsea might just snatch the fourth spot if Tottenham continues to falter, though the latter has the much easier fixtures. Here are the remaining schedules of the clubs in the hunt:

Arsenal: Wigan (H), Chelsea (H), Stoke (A), Norwich (H) and West Brom (A) -- we could easily win out, but the games agains Chelsea, Stoke and Norwich are no easy task. Luckily we are home for two of them and really should take care of Stoke if we are efficient. Third is certainly not secured yet ...

Chelsea: Arsenal (A), QPR (H), Newcastle (H), Liverpool (A) and Blackburn (H) -- not an easy schedule, and fatigue with the FA Cup and Champions League semi could see them too tired to pull this out. The games against the Gooners and Newcastle obviously loom large and Liverpool does look primed to finish strongly.

Newcastle: Stoke (H), Wigan (A), Chelsea (A), Man City (H) and Everton (A) -- this is the toughest schedule of the bunch and though they have been playing well, I'm not convinced they can squeak out enough points for fourth.

Tottenham: QPR (A), Blackburn (H), Bolton (A), Aston Villa (A) and Fulham (H) -- Tottenham should be able to keep fourth if they can take care of a number of teams fighting off relegation. The problem is their drop in form, tendency to falter late in seasons and a number of key injuries (particularly on the defensive end).

Should be fun to watch! Go Gunners!