United, come fourth!

Banter is the juice of football. Matches have become must-watch, not because our favourite clubs are playing. We are cheering on West Ham United, Everton and even Crystal Palace, because a rival team is up against them. And we are eager for them to drop points, so we can tease, trumpet and tweet about it.

Before last weekend, Manchester United‘s itinery read: Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Manchester City and Chelsea. Arsenal and Chelsea fans flooded social media with infographics and mocked the imminent demise of Louis van Gaal’s team.

On Sunday night, it was United fans who were laughing, after Wayne Rooney delivered a timely knock-out blow. Spurs were soundly beaten 3-0, after a classy and commanding first half. That’s one team down. Next is a trip to rivals Liverpool.


It might not be a straight forward affair.

Brendan Rodgers’ men have been on fire. His side won a fifth successive league match, with a battling 1-0 win over Swansea at the Liberty Stadium on Monday.

Liverpool now sit in fifth position, just two points behind United, heading into this weekend’s clash at Anfield. After they were humiliated 3-0 at Old Trafford on December 14, the Reds found themselves 10th on the log. The change in fortune since that loss, has been quite remarkable.


They have not lost in 13 Premier League
games, taking 32 points from the last 36 available.

What these stats will fail to tell you however, is that Swansea almost broke the run. Liverpool were lucky to win the game and in fact, the winning goal came off a wicked deflection.

A lot of fans and pundits are already suggesting that they might win on Sunday, especially since they are playing at home, in front of a vocal throng of supporters. Rodgers cannot wait for the Super Sundayencounter.

“We’ve put ourselves in a great position,” he said. “There is still a lot of work to go so we’ll recover now and get ready for the weekend.

“The target is to finish as high as we can. Everyone talks about fourth but it’s the same every year for me. We do the best we can do.”

I believe United can go there and shock their hosts. Last Sunday against Spurs, they played their best football. Van Gaal appeared to have found his best starting 11, with the suspension of record buy Angel Di Maria. Juan Mata came into the middle, probing and passing neatly along with Ander Herrera. Up front, Rooney and Marouane Fellaini formed an partnership that was strangely lethal.

A lot will depend on if Van Gaal decides to tweak that team to accomodate the returning Di Maria. So it is crucially important he gets it right this time. A win for United, will see them establish a five-point gap between themselves and Liverpool. And that might essentially decide the top four.