BLINK and you’d have missed it, but there are now only THREE games left in the 2019-20 season.
The matches have come thick and fast since the return of the Premier League.
Liverpool have been crowned champions for the first time in 30 years.
And Manchester City – whose Champions League ban was overturned on Monday – sealed their spot at Europe’s top table by thumping Brighton at the weekend.
Leicester were battered 4-1 by relegation-threatened Bournemouth, while Chelsea slipped to a 3-0 defeat at Sheffield United.
Those results left Man Utd’s top-four fate in their own hands.
But they conceded a 96th-minute equaliser in their game against Southampton to miss the chance to leapfrog the Foxes and Blues.
With just three games to play and one point between third and fifth, we take a look at who has the easiest run-in – and which stars could prove decisive…
MAN UTD
Position: 5th
Points: 59
Run-in: Crystal Palace (A), West Ham (H), LEICESTER (A)
Key man: Bruno Fernandes
THEY may be fifth and demoralised from their Saints howler, but Man Utd have every reason to be confident.
The Red Devils have the easiest run in on paper, despite two games away from Old Trafford.
For a team chasing Champions League football, Palace and West Ham should equal six points.
And then, they take on Leicester on the final day of the season at the King Power Stadium.
It’s already beginning to read like a movie script, but will United get their Hollywood ending?
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Any chances they have will hinge on the form of Bruno Fernandes, who has been on-fire since becoming to England.
But the entire front-four – Fernandes, Mason Greenwood, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial – have been excellent.
In fact, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been able to name an unchanged team in the last five Premier League matches in a row.
That may change due to Luke Shaw’s injury – sustained against Southampton – but consistency has been key.
And if his core of stars can remain fit, they will fancy their chances of finishing in the top four.
LEICESTER
Position: 4th
Points: 59
Run-in: Sheff Utd (H), Tottenham (A), MAN UTD (H)
Key man: Jamie Vardy
AT one stage, Leicester looked like Liverpool’s biggest challengers for the Premier League title.
But after their 4-0 drubbing at the King Power Stadium on Boxing Day at the hands of the Reds, things have started to fall apart.
Taking a 1-0 lead at Bournemouth looked like they were on course for three more points.
But Brendan Rodgers was realistic after the shock defeat saying his team are not playing at a Champions League level at the moment.
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A home game with Sheff Utd, themselves hoping to land a European spot, will prove tricky.
A trip to North London to take on Tottenham will be equally tough.
They then finish with a potentially huge winner-takes-all clash with Man Utd on the final day of the season.
That one will be at home, but the damage may well have already been done by then…
Vardy’s goals – as they so often are – will be crucial to their hopes…
CHELSEA
Position: 3rd
Points: 60
Run-in: Norwich (H), Liverpool (A), Wolves (H)
Key man: Frank Lampard
IT’S been a rollercoaster of a first season for Lampard at Chelsea.
After being annihilated on the opening day at the hands of Man Utd and still under a transfer embargo, things looked bleak for the Blues.
But they turned things around incredibly quickly thanks to their team of youngsters.
However, patchy form since November has been a problem and they’ve been fighting to retain their top-four status ever since.
A home game against already-relegated Norwich is as good as three points.
And they may never get a better time to head to Anfield, with Liverpool having already won the league and now without their talisman Jordan Henderson through injury.
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With Jurgen Klopp set to rotate and field the kids, like Neco Williams and Curtis Jones, they could easily snatch something from that game.
They finish the season by welcoming Wolves to Stamford Bridge – a tricky, yet winnable game.
Through the final three games, the players, will of course, be important.
But even more will depend on Lampard and whether he can get his tactics and team selection right.
Although he is in his first season, it seems he’s not always sure what his best XI is.
Can he get it right on the biggest stage of his young managerial career?
