Liverpool's hopes of playing Champions League football next season received a major boost last night when two of their rivals for the coveted 4th spot dropped points. Aston Villa drew 1-1 at home to Sunderland, whilst the Reds local rivals Everton did Rafa and his team a massive favour by taking all 3 points away from Eastlands, beating Roberto Mancini's City side 2-0.
At the same time, Tottenham recovered from being 1-0 down at half time to beat London rivals Fulham, in the quarterfinal stages of the FA Cup, sending Spurs through to the semi finals at Wembley, where they'll meet debt-stricken Portsmouth.
Liverpool can take postivies from all three results last night. Aston Villa faltered yet again, drawing their second game in a row. The Villans only managed to collect a single point from games against Wolves and Sunderland at home, games which they were expected to win with a minimum amount of fuss.
These results suggest that Villa are experiencing their usual end of season slump, and will fall out of the race for 4th spot shortly. Unfortunately for Martin O'Neil's men their manager hasn't caught up with the times and realised that rotation is neccesary if he is to keep his team fit for the crucial clashes at the business end of the season.
Manchester City dropped 3 critical points last night, at home to Everton. Everton are always a difficult prospect, however any team with top 4 aspirations should be expecting to take at least a point of the Toffees. The fact that the game took place at Eastlands is even more significant as it ends City's unbeaten home run in all competitions. Before last night Manchester City hadn't lost a single game at home all season. Now that record is broken, it's possible that their confidence could be shattered, causing them to slip further behind Spurs, who currently sit in 4th position.
Tottenham Hotspur have played 30 games, and have 55 points. Two points behind them are Manchester City, and they have played the same amount of games.
Tottenham struggled in the first half last night, falling behind to yet another goal from the ever improving Bobby Zamora, however their second half fight-back was magnificent. Goals from David Bentley, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Eidur Gudjohnsen secured a 3-1 triumph for Redknapp's men. The goals were just reward for a fantastic second half display that left Fulham helpless.
This result can be either positive or negative for Liverpool. On the one hand, it continues Spurs' excellent form, which has seen them go on an 8 match unbeaten streak in all competitions, giving them confidence for the run in. On the other hand, it's another match that they must play, which could lead to some of their players suffering from fatiuge, worsening Tottenham's considerable injury problems.
Liverpool must look to win at least 6 out of their last 7 League games if we are to salvage anything from this dreadful season. Whilst this is not impossible, especially considering we face the likes of Sunderland, Fulham and West Ham at Anfield, it is very unlikely, and would require an unprecedented winning streak that hasn't been seen all season. However, with Tottenham and City facing difficult fixtures against teams at the top end of the season, Liverpool still have hope of scraping into the top 4, earning another season dining at European football's top table.
YNWA
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