Although there are still a massive 15 points to play for, Manchester United, with only a six point lead in the standings, could only need two wins to land the Barclays Premier League title. Simply put, the Reds have five matches left, but two of them are against their closest title rivals, Arsenal and Chelsea, so if they are victorious in those two games, United could only lose out on the trophy if either of them can reverse their inferior goal difference.
As of right now, the Blues and Gunners, which are behind the Reds could only accumulate a maximum of 79 points, but if United beats both of them, which is a tall order, then the title would almost be destined for Old Trafford. If that proposition was to work out in the Reds favor, then they would be on 76 points, which would be the most that both Chelsea and Arsenal could amass.
United could potentially max out at 85 points if they were to win their remaining five matches, but not since 1998/99, the same season Reds did the unthinkable, has a team won the Premier League trophy with less than 80 points.
There has been reoccurring theme in the Premier League this season is that nobody has taken the bull by the horns and tried running away with the title, with United included in that statement. The Reds, along with Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea, have had a plethora of opportunities to assert themselves as real champions, but time and time again they failed to do so, because of some reason or another.
Right now, Arsenal and United are playing a nasty game of who wants the title less, and it is allowing Chelsea the idea of creeping in the back door and snatch trophy from both of their grasps.
The Gunners have drawn four of their last five games, which has prompted everyone to question the mettle of the North London club after they threw four points away after relinquishing leads their last two matches against Liverpool and Tottenham.
Arsene Wenger responded to a post-match reporter's question about his team lacking a winning mentality by ridiculously claiming, "We are on a 15-game unbeaten run, and nobody else has done that." Apparently the Gunners' manager has a short-term memory, because he forgot that United had a 29-game streak of their own, but that was abruptly ended in February by Wolverhampton.
Sir Alex Ferguson has claimed on numerous occasions that the competition, top to bottom, in the Premier League has gotten much, much better, which is why the title race has been so wide open. However, the Gaffer's statements are not holding true, because the league standings are astonishingly close to those of last season - top and bottom.
What needs to be taken into consideration when comparing the foot of the table is that Portsmouth's financial woes totally skewed the final standings, because of their nine point deduction that was a result of their total disregard for maintaining a proper budget.
2010/11 Barclays Premier League Standings
2009/10 Barclays Premier League Standings
Comparison
If you were to look at the top of Premier League table from last season after 33 games, there are not too many differences to this season after the same amount of matches. Every team in the top five from last year has remained, with just United and Chelsea have flip-flopped places, but there is one major difference from last season.
The amount of goals scored by each team has dramatically decreased, and combined together 64 goals, which was tremendously falsified by Chelsea scoring 23 less goals this season - despite spending £50 million on Fernando Torres. United has been the most consistent team over the last two season, and they are only two points off their point total, and have only scored seven fewer goals, which is probably the reason they are in their lofty position.
The reason why the Premier League trophy is valued more than the UEFA Champions League, FA Cup or the Carling Cup is because the most consistent team over nine months usually wins the title. In knockout competitions, a lot of luck is always involved, and the best team doesn't always win, which makes a league triumph so much sweeter.
Even though it is stating the obvious, the 2010/11 Barclays Premier League title race will not be over until all of the contending teams are eliminated, but Manchester United could do just that with two wins.
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