the official remaining fixture list thread

[Craig_H]

More often than not though we have struggled against those that play solid two banks of four defensive games. Most of the teams we have to play attempt to play and attack. I think Fulham are tactically flexible enough to cause us problems but if we maintain our form they along with Arsenal represent the only real worries for me.

Very true dww.

Our home games:

Blackburn - they might park the bus, but they're usually not great at it
Arsenal - wont park the bus
Spurs - wont park the bus
Newcastle - havent got a bus to park

Hopefully we should come through them unscathed.

[Robbie-9-Fowler]

Very true dww.

Our home games:

Blackburn - they might park the bus, but they're usually not great at it
Arsenal - wont park the bus
Spurs - wont park the bus
Newcastle - havent got a bus to park

Hopefully we should come through them unscathed.

Possible 12 points.. But never easy.

Lets hope we get a better result than united do against arsenal and then it really gets interesting.

[EwarWoo]

Newcastle - havent got a bus to park

[Craig_H]

Possible 12 points.. But never easy.

Lets hope we get a better result than united do against arsenal and then it really gets interesting.

United dont play Arsenal for a while yet though, so the pressure is on for us to keep winning until then.

[Robbie-9-Fowler]

Does anyone else think that they have a bit of an easier run in?
Or is it just that I am thinking the worst?

Fulham vs Liverpool
United vs Villa

considering form I think we have the more difficult game

Liverpool vs Blackburn
Sunderland vs United

we have the easier game, should both pick up 3 points

Liverpool vs Arsenal
United vs Pompey

they will be looking at this as a chance to open a gap, we must not drop points

Hull vs Liverpool
United vs Tottenham

On paper our game is far easier, if the worst happens at arsenal we may have the chance to make up for it.

Liverpool vs Newcastle
Boro vs United

should both be looking to increase GD

United vs City
Hammers vs Liverpool

I know it's a derby but city's away form is a shambles.. West Ham could be tricky

Wigan vs United (game in hand)

surely Wigan will be safe by this point, may not have anything to play for and Bruce may do them a favor and play a weakened team.

United vs Arsenal
Albion vs Liverpool

Very big weekend.. Lets hope arsenal nasri is good for another brace. If all goes well we will be on track to win the league!!!

Hull vs United
Liverpool vs Tottenham

Lets hope Hull are neither relegated or safe and tottenham are up for a beating like last season

[Craig_H]

Does anyone else think that they have a bit of an easier run in?

Not at all, quite the opposite.

Villa, Arsenal, Spurs and City are all capable of realistically getting something at Old Trafford. And Boro away is always tricky, whilst Wigan have been good this season and will be a tough game.

Whereas, our hardest games are Arsenal at home, Fulham away (which we're easily capable of winning) and West Ham away (likewise).

The way i see it, they have 6 out of their last 9 games where i couldnt point at them and say for sure that they'll win.

For us, i'd say there's maybe 3 or 4 such games.

[Robbie-9-Fowler]

Not at all, quite the opposite.

Villa, Arsenal, Spurs and City are all capable of realistically getting something at Old Trafford. And Boro away is always tricky, whilst Wigan have been good this season and will be a tough game.

Whereas, our hardest games are Arsenal at home, Fulham away (which we're easily capable of winning) and West Ham away (likewise).

The way i see it, they have 6 out of their last 9 games where i couldnt point at them and say for sure that they'll win.

For us, i'd say there's maybe 3 or 4 such games.

We also have tottenham, but given the difference in performance I believe they have it easier playing Villa at home than we do playing Fulham away

[Robbie-9-Fowler]

Maybe I'm wrong but we will wait and see.

I have just gone through the games and have them taking 20 points from 9 games and us taking 22 from 8.. That would be enough to take the title

So clearly i was wrong

[cannotmakeit]

Sir Alex Ferguson is so concerned about Manchester United's sudden slump in form that he has been forced to gamble with a fixture rescheduling, on a day that Jamie Carragher warned the faltering English, European and world champions that *Liverpool had replaced them as the *country's in-form team.

United's lead at the top of the Premier League has been cut from seven points to one and Ferguson has seen his side lose their last two games, with three players sent off in the process. The manager is now so alarmed that he has decided to prioritise their first Premier League fixture after the international break, at home to Aston Villa, by allowing it to be played at 4pm on Sunday 5 April, even though that means his players will have only two days to prepare for the home leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Porto.
Sky had offered to bring forward the Villa game to 12.45pm the previous day so United would not have to play two crucial games in the space of barely 50 hours, exactly the kind of gruelling schedule that Ferguson would usually be desperate to avoid. *However, the Scot has drastically altered his thinking in the wake of United's 2-0 defeat at Fulham on Saturday and the 4-1 humiliation against Liverpool a week earlier.

When the match was originally chosen for live television United announced it would automatically revert to a Saturday kick-off if they were drawn to play in the Champions League on 7 April. Instead, the club confirmed today that "contrary to previous advertising" they had changed their mind. Ferguson publicly declared last month that the Champions League was his "priority" but he has now decided it is more important that those United players who will be away on international duty over the next week and a half have an extra day to prepare for the visit of Martin O'Neill's side.Just to add more pressure on Ferguson, the Liverpool vice-captain, Carragher, used Sunday's comprehensive victory over Villa to send out a warning that his side are now the form team in the Premier League. "United will know that we are in there," Carragher said. "United will *realise they are in a fight for the league. At the moment we're probably the form team in the league, and this is the best time of the season to be in form."

Carragher believes Liverpool's 5-0 thrashing of Villa, following on from scoring four goals in each of their games against United and Real Madrid, demonstrates that Rafael Benítez's side can catch and overhaul their fiercest rivals.

"To score five goals against Villa was a magnificent achievement," he said. "That will have sent a message out to United and Chelsea. Let's not kid ourselves; they'd have been watching the game."

Carragher added: "We are maturing and getting used to the demands of fighting for a title. We were there earlier in the season but, having not been in that position before, maybe we didn't know how to deal with it. We've probably found it difficult a few times this season to cope with that, so to run out 5-0 winners was a great result. It was important we capitalised [on United losing at Fulham]. We're well aware that the title is in Manchester United's hands, but we're trying to put them under as much pressure as possible."

Villa are in the midst of a slump and have a miserable record against United, with 13 successive defeats at Old Trafford and no win there since 1983. However, Ferguson has had to take into account that Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes, both of whom were sent off against Fulham, and Nemanja Vidic, dismissed against Liverpool, will be suspended, while Dimitar Berbatov could also be ruled out by an ankle injury. Carlos Tevez is part of the Argentina squad preparing for World Cup qualifiers against Venezuela and Bolivia, while Anderson is getting ready for Brazil's games against Ecuador and Peru, and Ferguson believes neither player would be in a fit condition to play the next morning.

Nonetheless, it represents a significant gamble given that Porto are currently seeking permission to move forward their league match against Vitoria Guimaraes on 5 April by one or two days.

Ferguson's decision has been taken with a certain amount of reluctance, aware that he is risking giving Porto a considerable advantage, but he is said to think of it as the lesser of two evils. Liverpool will move to the top of the table, albeit having played two more games, if they win or draw at Fulham on Saturday week, and Ferguson knows there will be a tense atmosphere at Old Trafford the following afternoon.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2...amie-carragher

Imagine if they drop points against Villa and then due to lack of preperation they lose to Porto

[Craig_H]

How does playing their Villa match on the sunday 4pm instead of saturday at 1245 equate to 'prioritising' it?

[Reece]

Fergie's cracking up!

[cannotmakeit]

How does playing their Villa match on the sunday 4pm instead of saturday at 1245 equate to 'prioritising' it?

More preperation time for the Villa game after the internationals.

[rudedog]

How does playing their Villa match on the sunday 4pm instead of saturday at 1245 equate to 'prioritising' it?

I think its psychological - the form they are in, they won't want to play first as there would be more pressure on them. The way they have been playing they need to give themselves every advantage they can get.

[Craig_H]

I think playing second holds more pressure, personally.

[Fubar]

How does playing their Villa match on the sunday 4pm instead of saturday at 1245 equate to 'prioritising' it?

cos it gives them more time to prepare for the villa game and less for the porto game.

it will just be quality when they lose both