A fiery clash between Arsenal and United…and City fears surprises from Fulham
Sudan Events – Agencies
The 37th (penultimate) stage may constitute a new turning point in the race for the English Premier League title this season between Arsenal and Manchester City.
Arsenal will play a heavy-caliber confrontation with its host Manchester United tomorrow, Sunday, while City will visit Fulham on Saturday.
Arsenal, seeking to regain a title that has been missing from its coffers for 20 years, leads the competition standings with 83 points, a point ahead of its closest competitor, Manchester City, the title holder for the last three seasons, which still has a postponed match with its host Tottenham Hotspur, which will be held next Tuesday.
Everyone is awaiting the match at Old Trafford, during which Manchester United, which is in eighth place with 54 points and has a postponed match with its guest Newcastle United, seeks to return to the winning tone in the tournament, which it missed in the past two stages.
The paths of the two teams are heading in completely different directions. While Arsenal seeks to win the title for the 14th time in its history, Manchester United is trying to avoid its lowest position in the era of the English Premier League, which began for the first time in the 1992-1993 season, and Erik ten Hag, the coach of Manchester United, can still saving his season by winning the FA Cup this month, when he plays the final match against arch-neighbor Manchester City, but even if he wins the title, he will not hide his team’s miserable performance in the league, at a time when the new co-owner Jim Ratcliffe is working to put an end to the ancient club’s setbacks in the last years.
The Spanish Mikel Arteta, the current coach of Arsenal, has been facing the same fate since he took over the leadership of the London team in 2019, as he was the target of criticism due to the modest level of the Gunners at the beginning of his career, and voices calling for his departure from the club increased.
Despite the poor results, Arsenal’s management insisted on keeping Arteta, who got rid of high-paid players such as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mesut Ozil, and the money was spent on young players who developed with him and were convinced of his methods, such as Martin Odegaard, Ben White, and Declan Rice, who have now become the team’s stars.
Arsenal topped the standings for 248 days last season, but the team’s sudden collapse in the final meters of the season was a cause for renewed criticism. However, the way the Spanish coach transformed a club that had not qualified for the Champions League from 2016 until last year is a lesson in the benefits of patience and trust in the technical director.
History supports the Red Devils
Ten Hag hopes to follow the same path as Arteta, as he called on the Manchester United management to have confidence in his project despite the deteriorating results, as the team has suffered 13 losses this season so far, which is the largest number of defeats the club has received in one season in the competition during the Premier League era, and Manchester United achieved One victory over Sheffield United, the bottom of the standings whose relegation to the first division (Championship) was confirmed, in its last 7 matches in the tournament, compared to 4 draws and two losses during that series, the last of which was a resounding defeat (0-4) against its host Crystal Palace.
United, which holds the record for the number of wins in the English Premier League with 20 titles, aspires to win its last three matches in the competition this season, to avoid being absent from continental competitions next season.
For its part, Arsenal wants to continue its winning streak and achieve its fifth victory in a row, to boost its hopes of competing for the title, despite the difficult task ahead of it.
Arsenal is looking for its first victory over Manchester United in its stronghold since November 1, 2020, noting that it defeated the Red Devils (3-1) in their first match that took place in the tournament this season at the Emirates Stadium in the British capital, London.
This confrontation bears the number 210 in the history of the two teams’ meetings in the prestigious tournament, as Manchester United has the advantage in the previous confrontations that took place between them in the competition, which witnessed its victory in 85 matches, compared to 75 victories for Arsenal, while the same draw was imposed on 49. The two clubs met in 240 meetings in all competitions, during which United achieved 99 victories, compared to 88 victories for Arsenal, and 53 matches were tied, with overwhelming superiority for Manchester City.
Manchester City may jump to the top of the tournament, even for a few hours, when it faces its host Fulham, who is in thirteenth place with 44 points, in the opening matches of the stage. Manchester City wants to continue its uprising in the tournament, and achieve its seventh victory in a row, to double its chances of retaining the title for the fourth season in a row. City’s performance appears to be on the rise. Since its draw with Liverpool and Arsenal last March, it has only known the language of victories in its last 6 matches in the competition, and Norwegian international star Erling Haaland is at the top of the tournament’s top scorers this season with 25 goals, getting close to retaining the “Shoe” award. The Golden Ball, which is awarded at the end of the season to the top scorer in the tournament, for the second season in a row, in light of his being three goals behind his closest competitor, Cole Palmer, the Chelsea star. Manchester City is looking forward to continuing its sweeping superiority over Fulham and achieving its 16th successive victory over the London team in all tournaments, as the last match during which the Sky Club was unable to achieve a victory dates back to September 2011, when it tied (2-2) with its competitor in the league championship at Craven Cottage Stadium, which will host the next match between them. However, Spanish coach Pep Guardiola is afraid of surprises from Fulham, which beat Arsenal and Tottenham at its home stadium during the current season, which also witnessed a victory over Manchester United in its stronghold.
For its part, Fulham aspires to bring a smile back to the faces of its fans, who felt frustrated after the team’s failure to achieve victory during its last three matches.
Fulham was satisfied with achieving only one win in its last seven matches in the competition, but it seems safe, as it is 18 points away from the relegation places.
Aston Villa collides with Liverpool
Liverpool, which is in third place with 78 points, will face its host Aston Villa, which is in fourth place with 67 points, at Villa Park. While Liverpool is going into the match with calm nerves after losing its chances of competing for the title, Aston Villa is hoping to gain points. The three, to decide whether to remain among the top four clubs, and officially qualify for the Champions League next season, without waiting for the results of the other matches. Aston Villa is 7 points behind Tottenham, the fifth-placed team in the championship standings, who still has a postponed match, and Liverpool has regained some of its balance. Following its exciting victory (4-2) over its guest, Tottenham Hotspur, in the last stage
After Sheffield’s official relegation, there are two teams waiting to accompany it in the First Division, among them Nottingham Forest, which is in 17th place (fourth from the bottom) with 29 points, and Luton Town and Burnley, who are in 18th and 19th places with 26 and 24 points, respectively.
Burnley will meet its host Tottenham on Saturday, while Luton Town will play away to West Ham, which is in ninth place with 49 points.
Nottingham Forest also faces a very difficult match on Saturday with its guest, Chelsea, who is in seventh place with 54 points, and is trying to achieve its third consecutive victory in the tournament in order to play in the continental championships next season. The stage will also witness several other confrontations, as Everton will meet its guest Sheffield, Newcastle will meet Brighton, Wolverhampton will meet Crystal Palace, and Bournemouth will meet Brentford on Saturday.
