The Fantastic Finale:English Premier League Going Down To The Wire

The most closely fought title race in the English Premier League race in my living memory is drawing to a close and,unlike in previous seasons when Arsenal,Manchester United and Chelsea have,at different times,cantered to the title with weeks to spare,this season's champions are still to be decided-with Chelsea and Manchester United still going head to toe,on equal points,going into the final weekend's matches,with United making the short trip down to Wigan and Chelsea at home to Bolton.

Wigan's JJB stadium which they share with league rugby side Wigan Warriors,is a shocker of a pitch and will doubtless reign in Man United's free flowing game to some extent.Wigan,like Chelsea's opponents Bolton have nothing to play for this season,with survival ensured and European football out of the picture.That is not to say that they will give their opponents an easy ride though.The good thing for Man United supporters is that it is still is their hands.Win by any margin at the JJB and the trophy is staying at Old Trafford.But draw or lose and you practically hand the title to Chelsea,who I think are going to win easily at home to Bolton.But win they must.And even that might not be enough since any kind of victory for United wil see them crowned champions on Sunday.Sir Alex Ferguson has long said that a good goal difference is worth and extra point and this year's title race is a vindication of his theory.

Most neutrals would stil favour United to get the title I would presume.They have been there,done that so many times that the neutral in me cannot see them tripping up this late into the season.having said that,I know for a fact Chelsea have the much easier task at hand.Bolton at home should be a walk in the park for Roman's man(reffering,of course to Russian oil tycoon and Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich).Bolton has been highly toothless in midfield and attack for large parts of the season and with a midfield of Danny Guthrie and Gavin Mccann,Chelsea will easily outrun them in midfield and strech them with their wingers.Given Bolton's lack of pace in defence,I would personally be tempted to bring back former Man City star Shaun Wright-Phillips,son of legendary Arsenal striker Ian Wright,back from his wilderness to inject some pace into the Chelsea midfield.However the key man would be Michael Ballack.Undoubtedly having the best time of his Chelsea career so far and scoring goals aplenty as well as setting them up,he will be a handful for the Bolton backline.

United,on the other hand will make the short trip to Wigan knowing that a win,of any margin,will make them champions.The neutral in me wants to see them as champions.as effective as Chelsea's tactics has been this season(kudos to Avram grant for that),United's game is much more pleasing to the eye,as Nicky Butt recently said.United have the best player in the league and in my view,the world at their disposal.Do I need to name him?One Cristiano Ronaldo, in case you did not know.

I am quite certain that he will prove to be the difference this weekend,as he has been throughout the season.Take Rooney and Ronaldo out of the side and many a  drawn game would have been lost by United and many a narrowly won game would have been drawn.The pitch at the JJB is a concern for many and rightly so.It is essentially rugby playing ground owned by the Wigan Warriors rugby side and leased to the Wigan football club.However,I still fancy United to dig deep and eek out the victory they require to retain the title and win the championship they have come to dominate during the last decade and a bit.

On an entirely different note,I am alarmed by some of the stats of the domination of the so called Big Four in terms of points taken during a season.

Study the BPL league tables for the past decade and it’s easy to identify a trend towards the top four finishers accruing even more points than ever. In the season ending in 1998, they picked up 283 points between them. In 2001 they amassed 287. Now consider the totals for the past four seasons: 2005 yielded 316 points, in 2006 they grabbed 323 points, 2007 saw them slip slightly to 308, but this season has seen the Big Four earn 321 points with this weekend’s four games still to go.

At a time when Sepp Blatter wants to bring more equality into the game it will not sit well with the FIFA delegates to see four teams in a league dominating in terms of points.

Anyways,I personally cannot wait to watch this weekend's games.The Man United supporter in me will be desperately wanting to see the title staying at Old Trafford. I am an appreciator of football played the right way and unfortunately some of Chelsea's tactics just do not sit well with me.

Waiting for Sunday with an eager heart and crossed fingers........ 

By Shadlee Rahman

Dhaka,Bangladesh

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