With the outcome of this season’s Premier League title race still very much not known, we look at five critical fixtures over the course of the next month that are likely to decide whether it is Liverpool, Chelsea or Manchester City who are crowned as champions come May 11 …
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1) Liverpool v Chelsea (May 27, 2.05pm)
Seen by many as being the actual title decider, especially if both the leading duo do not drop points in their respective fixtures this weekend that is, when Chelsea play host to struggling Sunderland on Saturday evening, before Liverpool then travel to relegation-threatened Norwich City 24 hours later.
And if the Reds are therefore able to maintain their two-point advantage over the west London club going into next weekend’s showdown on Merseyside, then even a draw against the Blues would not be the worst result in the world, as Brendan Rodgers’s side would still have their destiny in their own hands going into the last two top-flight fixtures.
2) Crystal Palace v Manchester City (May 27, 4.10pm)
Every fixture for all the three leading contenders are now must-win encounters, and none more so than City’s trip to Selhurst Park next weekend when more dropped points would almost certainly spell the end of the mega-rich north-west outfit’s title challenge for this season after their costly 2-2 draw with struggling Sunderland at Eastlands on Wednesday.
In fact, the maths is now quite simple for Manuel Pellegrini and Co – win all of their remaining five fixtures to finish the campaign with 86 points and then hope that both leaders Liverpool and second-placed Chelsea then drop points in their next four top-flight encounters.
However, City could not have picked a worse time to be facing the in-form Eagles, whose shock 3-2 win at Uefa Champions League-chasing Everton on Wednesday night has now guaranteed Tony Pulis’s men their Premier League survival.
3) Crystal Palace v Liverpool (May 5, 8pm)
In an interesting quirk of the fixture list after entertaining City, Palace’s next Premier League encounter is against Liverpool at Selhurst Park as Tony Pulis and Co have a chance to damage two giants’ title hopes in the space of a week, with this particular match-up having recently been switched to a Monday night so as to accommodate the Sky Sports TV cameras.
And you can be damn sure that the Merseysiders will not be relishing their trip to south-east London next month one little bit, with very few visiting teams having left the capital unscathed so far since the Welshman replaced Ian Holloway in the Eagles hot seat in November.
4) Cardiff City v Chelsea (May 11, 3pm)
The Blues could very well be travelling to South Wales needing to gain all three points to be crowned Premier League champions for the fourth time against opponents who are more than likely going to be equally desperate for the win as they look to complete what would be a great escape from relegation under new manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
And if that is the case, then the west Londoners are sure to be in for a tough examination of their title credentials in the Principality, which is a region in which Chelsea have tended to struggle in during recent years, with last weekend’s 1-0 win at Swansea City their first-ever in South Wales in the Premier League era.
5) Liverpool v Newcastle United (May 11, 3pm)
A win over the midtable Magpies and a first top-flight title since 1990 could be Liverpool’s, if the Reds continue to maintain their impressive recent form in the Premier League that is which has seen Brendan Rodgers’s men win their past 11 league games in a row to move them two points ahead of second-placed Chelsea with now just four more matches left to play this season.
However, Alan Pardew’s side could be dangerous visitors, with the Geordies having no chance of either being relegated or finishing in a European position either, although that could also easily work in the Reds’ favour too.
Either way, if you offered Rodgers the chance right now to be crowned Premier League champions by overcoming Newcastle on the final day of the campaign, then the Northern Irishman would no doubt bite your hand off.