Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Could this be the day, the day when the fairytale finally becomes complete. The day that no-one thought would ever happen at the start of the season. Unless you’ve been living under a rock then you would know that this could very well be the day that Leicester City, yes Leicester City win the Premier League title.
They know that a win Today would see them extend their lead to 10 points and that would be enough to secure the title for the first time ever but they go up against a Manchester United side that has booked a place in the F.A. Cup Final and is still hunting for a Champions League spot for next season.
Also Leicester will have to go to Old Trafford without the talismanic Jamie Vardy who on Monday found out that he would have to serve an extra game suspension for his tirade at John Moss a fortnight ago. The column inches in the build up to last Sunday’s game at home to Swansea was whether Leicester would miss the absent Vardy. Their 4-0 win proved that was far from the case.
That win put Claudio Ranieri’s side 8 points clear with Tottenham having a game in hand and playing the next evening. West Brom threw a massive spanner in the works as they held Tottenham to a 1-1 draw and that has put Leicester on the fringes of being title winners by Sunday Afternoon.
But are they tempting fate, the Premier League trophy has already arrived in Leicester on Friday with photo opportunities aplenty as it seems as if Champions Fever is sweeping the City. The job isn’t done yet and United would love to spoil the party this Afternoon.
Last weekend they secured another trip to Wembley at the end of the month for the F.A. Cup Final thanks to Anthony Martial’s late winner against Everton. That win and resurgence of league form has just dampened the speculation slightly regarding Louis Van Gaal’s employment status and he will look to further enhance his credentials with 3 points against the Champions elect.
They currently find themselves 5 points behind Manchester City but they also have a game in hand on both City and Arsenal who are still to play each other so you can’t rule them out of a Top 4 place just yet especially if they can spoil proceedings.
They’ve won 4 of their last 5, the only blot on their copybook being that 3-0 reverse against Tottenham at White Hart Lane 3 weeks ago. This run of form has given their end of season run in a bit of life and while they still have a chance of snatching a Top 4 then they are certainly going to give it everything.
The revelation over the past few weeks has undoubtedly been Marcus Rashford bursting on the scene in the Europa League with a debut brace and then following that up with a brace against Arsenal 3 days later, he has taken to the Premier League like a duck to water and shows a maturity far greater than his 18 years would suggest.
Without being a party pooper I think United are going to win today just because I think too much has been made of Leicester impending success this week and the Premier League script needs at least one more turn in it. I will add the caveat that I also think Tottenham will lose tomorrow so the champagne will have to be put on ice for 24 hours. Leicester won’t be Champions Today but they will be by the end of the Bank Holiday Weekend.
Papa Johns – If your team scores twice then it’s half price
