United still favourites despite a City win

Manchester City closed the gap on United at the top of the Premier League table to one point on Wednesday with a 2-1 home victory over Chelsea. Despite the fact that Roberto Mancini’s men came back to win from a goal down, and that Carlos Tevez returned to action, the latest free bets indicate that the current champions are still the favourites to retain their title.

Looking at the fixture list, the remaining games seem to favour United, as the majority of the Red Devils’ games are against lower-half opposition, with five of the nine games at Old Trafford. City meanwhile still need to play Arsenal, Stoke, Norwich and Newcastle away from home, which are all difficult games to pick up maximum points.

With the sides relatively evenly matched, both now out of the Europa League and only a solitary point between them, the race to be England’s top club team may well go right down to the last day of the season. It is unescapable to also assume that the outcome of the remaining Manchester derby, to be played at the Etihad Stadium on April 30th, will potentially decide the destination of the Premier League trophy.

United are starting to get into gear, and although most Reds fans would admit that Sir Alex Ferguson’s men have not been at their blistering best, five wins in a row in the league have seen the holders picking up the pace. With the next games against Fulham, Blackburn, QPR, Wigan and Aston Villa there is no reason why United can’t go on to win the next five matches also.

City meanwhile have not been as clinical or impressive of late as in the first half of the season, with some stating that the pressure is starting to get to the blue side of the divide. Despite the fact that they have an immaculate home record, City look more vulnerable on the road, and the fixture against an in-form Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on April 8th is definitely one that United fans will look at as potential dropped points for their rivals.

The manner of City’s comeback against Chelsea may well give them a shot in the arm, with the inclusion of Tevez giving them an extra soulless but talented option in attack. Despite this, United are still very much in the driving seat, and with winnable games on paper coming up over the next month, Sir Alex will want to keep and extend his team’s current advantage.