Make a concerted effort to watch for the following during today’s Premiership slate:
Gone So Soon
Derby inevitably will be the first team relegated this season, but when? Losing to Fulham at Pride Park will seal the Rams’ fate officially. Staying alive mathematically gives them a chance to at least stick around longer than last season’s first to fall, Aidy Boothroyd-led Watford, who were dealt the pink slip on April 21.
Just Beat It
Manchester United’s dominance over fading Aston Villa going into the two teams’ matchup at Old Trafford is well documented — not a single loss in all competitions over the past 12 years — and a reason to contemplate where another victory puts the Red Devils’ current title run in the grand scheme. With eight matches left, United have 73 points, 16 behind last year’s final championship tally. And they really have to keep rolling to top the 90-point mark that league winners Arsenal in 2004 (90), Chelsea in 2005 (95) and the Blues again in 2006 (91) all were able to breach.
30-and-Over Only
Among the 14 teams playing, just four players will claim the distinction of having started in all 31 of their team’s league matches this season — Arsenal’s Gael Clichy, Birmingham’s Stephen Kelly, and Stephen Hunt and James Harper of Reading. With the top flight as physical as it has ever been and two or three games off per season for each player pretty much the norm, that’s no feat to flail at. Clichy in particular deserves a strong measure of credit because the Big Four managers often rest the bulk of their starters at some point because of Champions League obligations.
Meaning Everywhere
With the exception of the affore-mentioned Derby-Fulham tilt and the Sunderland-West Ham matchup, since the Hammers are one of the teams dead-stead in the middle of the table, every fixture features teams within an 8-point range of either protecting or chasing a spot pertaining to survival, a UEFA Cup spot, or, in the case of United, the championship itself.
Defending Youth
The Hammers’ James Tomkins, the up and coming back-line talent who last week picked up his first ever league start in his first appearance, will be celebrating his 19th birthday. Across the field at Sunderland, on-loan United defender Jonny Evans may make his sixth straight start not quite three full months since turning 20 in January. With more and more of these fresh faces popping up in the rears of starting lineups, the myth that teenagers in the league are only good to run themselves ragged as attacking forwards is slowly being debunked.
Character Conflict
Steve Bruce and Harry Redknapp, two of the league’s most vibrant bench personalities, square off with Wigan going to Fratton Park to take on Portsmouth. The last time the two managers met in a post-New Year’s league match, Bruce was trying to keep Birmingham from succumbing to a major relegation threat (which did pan out later in the year, lest we forget) while Redknapp was scurrying to do the same with Pompey. By virtue of a 5-0 rout, Bruce’s Brummies pulled themselves out of the bottom three that day and pushed Redknapp’s squad directly in.
Channel Your Interest
Today’s Prem TV rundown (Pacific time):
FOX SOCCER CHANNEL
*Derby-Fulham, 8 a.m.
*Manchester United-Aston Villa, 10 a.m.
SETANTA SPORTS
*Bolton-Arsenal, 8 a.m.
*Sunderland-West Ham, 3 p.m.
*Reading-Blackburn, 5 p.m.
