Pennant Fever

With only a few games left in the English season, here are the current standings:

1.  Man City:  26-5-5 (83 points) (goal differential of 61)
2.  Man Utd:  26-5-5 (83 points) (goal differential of 53)
3.  Arsenal:  20-10-6 (66 points)
4.  Spurs:  18-9-8 (62 points) (goal differential of 20)
5.  Newcastle:  18-9-8 (62 points) (goal differential of 7)
6.  Chelsea:  17-8-10 (61 points)

As you can see, there is still a lot to play for.  The key game is Manchester City's trip to Newcastle on May 6.  Newcastle is 11-2-5 at home this year, and they are battling for a spot in the Champions' League.  If City does not win that game, they will probably lose the title, because United only has to play a home game against Swansea (11-14-11) and a road game against Sunderland (11-13-12), and they will be heavily favored in both.

On the other hand, United has really staggered down the stretch.  On April 11, they went to Wigan on an 8-game winning streak, and with an 8-point lead over City.  Here's what they've done since:

4/11:  Wigan 1 - 0 Man Utd
4/15:  Man Utd 4 - 0 Aston Villa
4/22:  Man Utd 4 - 4 Everton
4/30:  Man City 1 - 0 Man Utd

So United got only 4 points from those four games.  Here's what City did over the same period:

4/11:  Man City 4 - 0 West Bromwich Albion
4/14:  Norwich City 1 - 6 Man City
4/22:  Wolverhampton 0 - 2 Man City
4/30:  Man City 1 - 0 Man Utd

That's 12 points from four games.  And that's how you make up an 8- point deficit in only three weeks.

Meanwhile, in Scotland, Celtic is going to break Rangers' four-year stranglehold on the title -- helped in part by the fact that Rangers had 10 points deducted for going into bankruptcy.  Remarkably, despite the 10-point bankruptcy penalty, Rangers are still going to come in second:

1.  Celtic:  28-4-3 (87 points)
2.  Rangers:  24-7-4 (66 points) (10 points deducted for bankruptcy)
3.  Motherwell:  17-11-7 (58 points)