Reflecting on the latest round of English Premier League fixtures, Thomas Woods offers his thoughts on the biggest talking points.
Chelsea should be worried about United
A few months ago, your average Manchester United fan would have looked at a trip to Stamford Bridge and thought “we’ll be lucky to leave with a point”.
Fast forward to April and it is Louis van Gaal’s side who are playing the better, more confident football and should fancy their chances of a victory when the teams meet on Saturday.
Chelsea seem to have the title wrapped up, but their best football of the season came in the opening months. However, they are doing what champions do — winning games regardless of performances.
Sunday’s 1-0 result at QPR is a case in point. Missing Diego Costa up front, Chelsea were pretty poor and had just one shot on target.
But when you have players of the quality of Eden Hazard and Cesc Fabregas in your team, one shot is all it needs sometimes.
Costa will be missing again against United and his back-up Loic Remy could be out too, leaving Didier Drogba to lead the line.
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United on the other hand come into the game at full pelt on the back of thrashing Manchester City in the derby.
Would Jose Mourinho, one of football’s pragmatists, settle for a point this time? Probably.
Chelsea have a seven-point lead in the title race and a game in hand over Arsenal, with United a further point back. But they are being chased down by teams who have won their last eight and six games respectively.
A United win would keep the dying embers of a title race burning and Mourinho does not need to take a risk by going all out for a win.
Benteke putting himself in the shop window — again
In Christian Benteke’s first Premier League season, 2012/13, he netted 19 league goals for Aston Villa and by the summer transfer window he was being strongly linked with the likes of Tottenham, Chelsea and Arsenal.
He then handed in a transfer request, withdrew it and his form slumped in 13/14 before a bad injury ended his season.
He struggled this season, initially, coming back from six months out but the big Belgian’s recent displays are a reminder of how good he can be. Benteke has seven goals in five games since Tim Sherwood took over at Villa.
Football is full of players who had one good season, got a big money move and were never the same again — just look at Andy Carroll.
But Benteke is still only 24 and anyone who was writing him off after his injury was wrong. Staying at Villa may prove to be a blessing for his career as he has had time to recover form his ruptured Achilles tendon and play himself back into form.
And, on form, he can be hard to stop. Given the fashion for tall, strong centre-forwards — Wilfried Bony, Romelu Lukaku, Bafetimbi Gomis — it’s a matter of time before a bigger club comes calling again.
Hull are going down
Steve Bruce’s Hull City side are 17th, two points above the relegation zone but on their current form they are going to drop into the bottom three and be relegated.
QPR and Burnley, both two points below them, are showing signs of life and each has winnable games in the run-in. Hull, unless performances improve, have one realistically winnable game — against Burnley at home — and they are winless in six.
Their other fixtures — Crystal Palace and Tottenham away, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United at home — are all likely to end in defeat.
Relegation beckons.
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