All to play for as Premier League enters final month

Moyes returns to Goodison as title, pride and relegation motivates teams.

KARACHI: Football fans are notorious for being fickle and few can attest to that better than David Moyes. Less than 10 months ago, he was ‘the chosen one’, selected by the great Sir Alex Furgeson himself to be his heir.

While few Manchester United fans remained sceptical of the decision, there was no doubting the work that Moyes had done over the 11 years, steering them to consistent performances year after year, despite working with a shoestring budget.

However, he has had a remarkable fall from grace as last year’s champions have failed to even pin down a Champions League spot. To add insult to injury, his successor at Goodison, Roberto Martinez, has performed miracles.

For Moyes, it is one final chance to redeem some dignity this season and prove a point to the Everton players and fans that have turned against him, especially after his chase of duo Marouane Fellaini and Leighton Baines.

For Martinez, victory will taste all the more sweeter if Arsenal lose their match against Hull City and hand fourth spot back to Everton and the importance of the fixture is not lost on the Spaniard. "This game is probably our biggest of the season,” he felt.

Arsenal will be journeying north from London to face Hull in what will be a rehearsal of the upcoming FA Cup final. A win for Arsenal will see them take one step closer to yet another top four finish; fast becoming almost a formality under Arsene Wenger.

With survival almost guaranteed, manager Steve Bruce may chose to rest some of his key players, which may play into the hands of Arsenal, who recorded a massive morale boosting win against West Ham in midweek; their first in a run of five games that reduced them from title contenders to scrapping for fourth. Despite the worryingly familiar slump towards the end of the season, Wenger remains defiant of his team’s performances. “I believe that we have shown some real potential and promise for the future,” he claimed.

However, perhaps the biggest match will be the early kick off when Liverpool travel to Norwich City. With Chelsea playing against Sunderland in the late kick off on Saturday, Liverpool will need to ensure that they need to equal, if not better, their result in order to ensure that the pressure is on Jose Mourinho’s side when they visit Anfield in a week’s time.

However, manager Brendon Rodgers insists that he is not worrying about the remaining fixtures just yet. “It doesn't matter about Chelsea, Crystal Palace or Newcastle now -- we have to do the job against Norwich,” he claimed.

With the threat of relegation looming, Norwich will need no extra motivation to win. If Fulham win the London derby against Tottenham, then Norwich will drop down into the relegation zone and recently appointed boss Neil Adams, a former Everton player, will be desperate to register his first win as a manager and halt Liverpool’s title charge.

However, Norwich will be especially wary of a certain Uruguayan striker in the Liverpool ranks. With 29 goals in the season, Suarez will fancy his chances of breaking Christiano Ronaldo’s 31-goal mark and becoming the highest scorer in a premier league season.

Having scored 11 goals in only five matches against the Canaries, including one of the best hat-tricks in the premier league era when Liverpool defeated Norwich 5-1 in December, Suarez may well be the man who keeps Liverpool top of the table when Chelsea come to town.

Despite only three fixtures on Sunday, the results may well end up having a huge impact on the title race, the race for fourth spot and the battle for relegation. Plenty still to play for.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 20^th, 2014.

Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.