Man Utd crisis, CL race among five saviours of the 2024/25 run-in with title, relegation drama over
Manchester United and the FA Cup are among five saviours of the 2024/25 run-in with the Premier League title and relegation picture settled in February.
The 24/25 campaign has been the most unpredictable and entertaining for some time, with Arne Slot’s brilliant Liverpool usurping struggling pair Manchester City and Arsenal as the runaway Premier League leaders.
The dichotomy of Liverpool being good and City/Arsenal being bad has made for a one-sided title race, and a long-awaited 20th triumph is already near certain for the Anfield faithful.
The relegation picture has also been disappointing; the woes suffered by the dire promoted three made Man Utd and Tottenham Hostpur’s fears of the bottom three more fleeting than their disastrous season warrant.
Wolves – largely thanks to Matheus Cunha – are gradually widening the gap to the bottom three, and it’s hard to see the five-point margin being overturned in the remaining 11 matches.
This remarkable campaign is somewhat damaged by the Premier League title and relegation situation being settled before March, but there are five intriguing narratives to ensure this run-in could still be an all-timer…
A wild Champions League race
The ongoing dip suffered by *most* of the Big Six has opened the door for the rest of the division to smash open a previously closed shop as eight teams battle over three Champions League spots between third and fifth.
Arsenal’s negligence in the transfer market has ended their title hopes, but the second spot *should* be theirs as they sit five points clear of shock Champions League candidates Nottingham Forest in third.
Then there are only six points separating Forest and tenth-placed Aston Villa, which is groundbreaking really. This race for Europe will include a boatload of six-pointers and a potentially breathless final day as the contenders swap positions by the minute. Strap us in.
READ: Premier League winners and losers: Liverpool crowned champions, all eyes now on European scramble
Journey to Enzo Maresca and/or Ange Postecoglou sack
Champions-in-waiting Liverpool have also benefited from the severe decline suffered by Chelsea since the pre-David Moyes era draw at Everton on December 22.
From having a game in hand to move to the top of the league, Chelsea have dropped to fifth and are looking over their shoulders with previously lauded Maresca coming under increasing scrutiny.
Tuesday night’s visit of Southampton provided welcome respite for Maresca and Chelsea, but their over-reliance on Cole Palmer has been exposed with the England international’s dealing with an uncharacteristic poor run of form.
Maresca is among the favourites to be the next Premier League manager sacked, but Postecoglou is ahead of the Chelsea boss in the odds as Spurs sit alongside Man Utd in the bottom half.
Tottenham’s highly publicised injury woes were a justified caveat for their struggles. Still, Postecoglou did himself no favours with his early-season trophy declaration, and his baffling team selection for the loss against Man City has raised fresh doubts about his future.
It may prove too late in the season for the pre-summer sacking of Postecoglou/Maresca, but Chelsea and Tottenham’s respective performances during the run-in could be defining with the current trend leaning towards at least one head coach losing their job in the coming months.
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Manchester United’s crisis
There have also been whispers regarding the potential exit of Ruben Amorim, which is surely unthinkable given Man Utd’s strapped budget and the ‘eye-watering’ fee it would cost INEOS to sack him.
Amorim is only partly to blame for United’s worsened demise post-Erik ten Hag. He may already regret taking INEOS up on their mid-season ultimatum as he’s perhaps bitten off more than he can chew, given the magnitude of the job facing him at Old Trafford.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe inherited a basket case; this has been made more severe by his poor key decision-making in his first year post-takeover as he’s gone from hero to villain about as quickly as Patrick Dorgu has earned pre-flop status following his £25m January transfer.
Amorim joined Man Utd brimming with optimism and has the charisma Ten Hag lacked in spades, but he may soon look just as tired as his predecessor while desperately trying to steady the sinking Old Trafford ship with their recent work in the transfer market not giving us confidence that this summer’s necessary rebuild will bear fruit.
Before then, Amorim’s Man Utd are tasked with salvaging something from this season with a potential saving grace in a cup competition required with an embarrassing bottom-half Premier League finish looking increasingly likely…
READ: Liverpool somehow avoid ‘full-scale disaster’ but still play second fiddle to Man Utd
Wide open FA Cup
It could be deja vu at Man Utd with the floundering Premier League giants once again leaning on the FA Cup for some semblance of positivity.
Thankfully for United, this year’s FA Cup is wide open heading into this weekend’s fifth round with the Red Devils and Man City the only remaining Big Six sides in the competition.
Carabao Cup finalists Newcastle United have the distant hope of a double as they are with Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Brighton, Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest in surely getting giddy at a huge opportunity to end their trophy drought or win their first trophy.
Man Utd and Man City are certainly beatable and these outsiders will fancy their chances against any side remaining in this season’s FA Cup. So the competition could culminate with two competitors who really give a sh*t, which would make for a nice change.
The Goodison Park farewell
Everton’s Goodison Park farewell year is proving to be a season of two halves as another relegation near-miss was on the cards under former boss Sean Dyche.
Unsatisfied with depressing mediocrity in the final year at Goodison, The Friedkin Group took a risk and tapped into fan nostalgia by re-appointing Moyes in a decision that’s gone better than anyone imagined it could.
Concerns remain regarding the shelf life of Moyes as a similar model to pragmatic former boss Dyche, but the club legend is getting much more out of Everton’s limited squad than his predecessor; they are pretty much safe after four wins and three draws in their last nine matches.
This enables the Toffees faithful to enjoy their five remaining games at Goodison Park – against West Ham, Arsenal, Man City, Ipswich Town and Southampton – without the looming threat of relegation and given the state of each upcoming opponent, it would not be overly surprising if Everton extend their current four-match unbeaten home Premier League to nine to bid an emotional goodbye to their beloved ground with a flourish.
