England's Favourite Premier League 5/5/10 – Cinco de Mayo Se Reúne el Cuarto Lugar de la Carrera

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Okay, so there was certainly time for a little Spanish jibe into today’s proceedings, what with limes at a premium and cerveza on tap (not that it wouldn’t be anyways). But come 8:00 PM BST (3:00 EST on ESPN2) City and Spurs will be battling in the last great important contest before the season closes and may be the last great match of the campaign. It’s pretty simple, to put it bluntly: City must win if they want fourth place. A draw will do Spurs fine, as a single point separates the two sides and would prove conclusive if both teams are to win at the weekend.

Thus, the already hyped clash will reach the critical mass the climax of the year deserves, with plenty of passion, tempers and (hopefully) flowing football from both sides. This isn’t the City and Liverpool match from earlier this term, one I thought that would be a doozie that ended up turning into a turnip. City know that it is all on the line Wednesday and so do Spurs. Keep your drinks capped; there might well be a veritable offensive onslaught on tap.

In other news, the relegated are now absolutely official as Hull dropped points late against Wigan on Monday. It was already understood to be that way, but the finality of it might bring some peace to all parties involved, if not some anguish from the Tigers’ faithfull. They will need to regroup and be ready for the new campaign in the Championship as they certainly have players that can rebound them back to the top flight. It’s all about the mental preparation and getting used to the fact that it isn’t the brightest lights once again. If they can do that, they have a very good shot to make it back in with the big boys.

May 1

City did put away another challenger for the fourth place in overturning Villa’s opening goal for a 3-1 win at Eastlands. With Spurs nipping Bolton 1-0 on a Tom Huddlestone bomb, the fate of the two clubs would become intertwined in the May 5th encounter. Birmingham proved too much for Burnley at 2-1, while Pompey sent off the home fans happy by pounding Wolves 3-1. Stoke and Everton went 0-0, with Tim Howard keeping the Potters at bay with several fine saves, but with no breakthrough ended the European drive of the Toffees.

May 2

Liverpool’s inability to find consistent form finally put them to the sword as Chelsea picked off the ailing Reds 0-2 at Anfield, closing them out of the Champions League, though they are secured in the Europa League next term. The Blues kept their eyes on the title and a win on the final day will deny United a fourth straight title, even though the Red Devils nicked Sunderland 0-1. Fulham proved their European nights would not effect them as much as they saw off West Ham 3-2.

May 3

The aforementioned Wigan-Hull 2-2 draw sealed the Tigers down and relieved pressure on the Hammers as they are safe again for another year. That was overshadowed by the ever-whining Arsene Wenger who couldn’t handle the Blackburn aerial assault in a 2-1 loss to Rovers. While trying to remove blame from his goalkeeper (Fabianski) and place it on Rovers and the official, it is simply sad that Wenger cannot accept defeat to “inferior” opposition. This was also the man that told Fabianski to endear himself to the Emirates faithful; the same goalkeeper who consistently was caught up in the Blackburn attack and was no where near the cross that Samba headed in for the win.

The New Week

…Will wait until the midweek clashes (Fulham/Stoke, City/Spus) are completed, with a special preview of the finale on tap.