Can Manchester United make a statement, why is the FA Cup being undermined, and will the Championship be closer to a conclusion by Sunday evening?Chelsea have not quite faltered of late, but you can take or leave most of their recent performances and it is tempting to wonder just how much more interesting the rest of the season would be if the teams directly beneath them had put their houses in order sooner. Saturday’s match with Manchester United at Stamford Bridge should help us reach a conclusion and might provide a dress rehearsal for encounters of more consequence next season. If the talk around Old Trafford has been of pennies dropping in the last month, victory for Louis van Gaal’s team might point towards a clattering release of gold ingots. Nobody disputed their superiority during a tough run against Tottenham, Aston Villa, Liverpool and Manchester City; much more of the same would provide persuasive evidence of their revival and set an early marker for 2015-16. Is that all it would do? Probably – although if United do take the points then, with Chelsea visiting Arsenal next Sunday, there are bound to be excitable headlines about the revival of a meaningful title race. In reality it would be foolhardy to expect a change in the status quo, but it would do the league no harm to go into the summer with things having tightened at the top. Nick Ames Continue readingreadfullarticle
