Avoiding the Drop

Giggs and Scholes - still getting it done.

There are two matches in the Barclay’s Premier League today, and both will be fascinating but for very different reasons.  The early match, on Setanta US at 8:30 AM EST, will see Arsenal host Aston Villa.  The second match, on Fox Soccer Channel at 11:00 AM, sees Manchester United visiting Hull City.

Despite United’s best efforts to prove that they are not worthy of a fourth successive championship, they still find themselves  with a chance to pull to within two points of league leaders Chelsea, who dropped points again yesterday in an indifferent 0-0 with Birmingham City.  United are coming off a 3-0 loss to Fulham, a match where the Red Devils barely made an impact and were thoroughly outplayed.  That was United’s fifth loss of the Premier League campaign, one that sees them playing their 19th of 38 matches today in Hull’s KC Stadium.  Four of those five losses have come away from Old Trafford, and one would expect that that fact would buoy Phil Brown’s side to some more spirited play than they’ve offered lately.

Hull City wake up during the Festive Period in the middle of what will be a season-long relegation fight.  They currently stand 19th, even on 17 points with Bolton Wanderers but with a much worse goal differential.   Unlike last year, Hull have been much better at the KC Stadium this year than when they venture out on the road, where they have not taken a victory.  Fifteen of their earned points have come at home.  It will be extremely important for Phil Brown’s future for them to come out and play hard today.  The dapper one, known for his earpiece and er, being a bit of an idiot, is truly under fire at the moment, as Hull City will not want to go back down to the Championship and will do what they have to do to stay up.

For United, it comes down to veteran leadership now that Cristiano Ronaldo and his amazing game-changing ability is off to Madrid.  United is certainly loaded up with longtimers, including Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, and one who I think should be important to their efforts to try to claim a fourth straight title, and that is Michael Owen.  Reports have emerged over the last few days that misfit striker Dimitar Berbatov may require knee surgery and miss up to three months, so Owen will have to step into his shoes and really bring some fire and graft to the United goal-scoring efforts.  It remains to be seen whether or not United will get into the looming January transfer window with Berbatov’s injury in play, but for now, Owen must step up to help Wayne Rooney and the rest.  For Hull City, today is a key match.  To take a point or dare to dream about three points against a wobbly United would be previously just a dream, but now, it’s a possibility.  They must feel the need to not only save their manager, but also save their season, and play as hard as possible.  United will want to put last week’s disaster at Craven Cottage out of their minds and dismiss an inferior opponent.  I will be very interested to see what type of effort both sides deliver.

The other match today, Arsenal hosting Aston Villa, is a battle of the third place side versus the fourth place side.  If there is an outright winner, that side will move to within four points of Chelsea.  Arsene Wenger suggested that the top sides could drop points after his squad was demolished by Chelsea recently, and he proved to be prescient in that suggestion.  His side annually struggles with injury, and is doing so again this year, especially with the loss of top striker Robin van Persie.  The lineup is constantly being changed and shuffled, and one would expect that he will need to put out the best eleven he can muster for today’s contest with suddenly-rampaging Villa.

Villa really do play attractive football and seemingly annually are challenging for a European spot.  Their issues always surround squad depth and the ability to stay healthy and focused during this difficult, fixture-heavy time of the season.  In terms of how they match up with Arsenal, it will be a requirement that they use their tremendous pace and pressure to keep the Gunners trapped in their half of the pitch.  Typically, in matches like this, Wenger likes his squad to possess the ball and keep Villa from doing what they like to do, which is to get out and move quickly forward.  It will be important for Villa to stay disciplined and not lose focus when they get the ball.  Two players have made huge differences this season for Villa in that regard, midfielder James Milner and backliner Richard Dunne.  Those two must play a big role today in keeping the ball away from the Gunners while maintaining their fine defensive efforts as well.  That contest should be extremely fun to watch.

It’s an extremely light day on television overall as most other leagues are off now for the holiday period.  Other than the two matches mentioned above, only the replay of the Catalunia/Argentina friendly from this past week is available for recommended viewing (and that’s on Telemundo at 1:00 PM).  So, enjoy the two BPL matches today and let us know your thoughts on these two in comments, and of course, on Twitter.  Have a great Sunday.