So the time is nearly upon us. The massively over-hyped games between Everton and Manchester City, followed by Manchester United and Liverpool are just around the corner.
The respective fields will be taken by multi-millionaires running round doing something they love whilst being watched by, in the main, poorer working class people who have managed to scrape together the cost of either a season ticket or a matchday ticket.
Higher in the stands will be Roy Keane’s favourite people. The prawn sandwich brigade who sometimes don’t even know which game they are attending. The score, or even who is victorious, is a complete irrelevance to these types.
No matter because the majority of the rest of the country, whatever their status, will tune in on TV, either at home, or in the pub.
The outcome of the games, as mentioned in a previous article is not THAT important as we are still relatively early in the season for the points to make a vast difference. What is important is the confidence level of the teams.
Manchester United would extend their winning run, as would Manchester City. Wins for these two clubs would maintain a level of performance which will be needed from now until the end of the season if either of these clubs wish to finish in the top four, never mind win the title.
Liverpool would be back on track with either a win or a draw. Both results would be seen as positive as the game is at Old Trafford and it would go some way to restoring some pride after a disappointing defeat at Southampton and an even more disappointing draw with Plymouth.
Everton are realistic enough to accept that, this season anyway, seventh is probably the best they can hope for. Even so, they still need to win more games than they draw or lose in order to finish in that position. A win against City at Goodison Park would go a long way to building the belief that they can compete at a higher level next season.
The difference on the pitch could very well be the strikers as the defences have all had their suspect moments and none could be said to be impenetrable.
Zlatan Ibrahimovć, Sergio Agüero, Daniel Sturridge,(if selected) and Romelu Lukaku could be the deciding factors on the day. They are all in good form, if a little hit and miss, and it could be their presence and goal threat which decides these games. The question though is: Which way?
Well, Manchester United should continue their recent winning ways with a win over Liverpool who are not yet consistent enough to mount a title winning challenge. As said earlier, a draw would be seen as a moral victory for Liverpool although it wouldn’t be the end of the world for United.
The other game is really dependent upon which Manchester City turns up. If it is the same one which beat West Ham 5-0 then they will beat Everton, otherwise this one has draw written all over it.
These are not championship deciding games, irrespective of the way they are portrayed by Sky Sports. They will not decide who is the best team in the Premier League, or even in the North West. They will, however, until the next game when they are completely forgotten, decide which fans can have a carefree, happy week and which fans will be miserable, for a couple of days at least.
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 