Interesting 72 hours

Twelve games remain and as you can see from my few previous posts I believe that my beloved Manchester City have a really great chance of getting that fourth Champions League spot. They really would have to be really unlucky big time not to get into Europe at all! Make no mistake this is our best chance of getting into Europe, for many seasons we have relied on a push towards the end of our season to save us from relegation and only then possibly get into Europe (remember the season when we played Middlesboro on the last day only for Fowler to miss a penalty!) Over the course of the next 72 hours it will become a little more clearer how realistic legitimate European football really is for us.
Saturday sees Liverpool at home to Middlesboro and Portsmouth home to Sunderland. Granted neither away side are really lighting up the league but stranger things have happened. Liverpool were less than convincing against Barnsley and really only due to the fact the opposition were down to ten men for a long period did they manage to wear them down and score two goals late on. Middlesboro can certainly come away from Anfield with some points, if not all. Portsmouth against Sunderland is again one that may seem really predictable on paper, maybe it is but certainly am hoping for Roy Keane to be happy come the end of the game.
Sunday pits Blackburn against Bolton and Reading against Aston Villa. Again maybe not to much to hope for with these as Bolton may be exhausted from the European game midweek and Reading couldn’t beat a drum this season! That is why Monday is key for us.
Monday of course City at home to Everton. This has to give us hope for a number of reasons. 1) We are at home, which really has been a fortress for us, considering last years home form anything from the tenth home game has been an improvement! 2) Everton just played in Europe and we can hope are tired and 3) They have none of our ex strikers playing for them!
So in conclusion worst case scenario sees City lose and the others win and puts City a full 6 pts out of Champions League position and 3pts behind UEFA positions (with Liverpool still with a game in hand). That certainly would be way too much for City to claw back, not because I do not think we will win enough points but because I do not think that the two Merseyside teams (and Villa) will drop enough! However a win for us coupled with defeats or draws for the other games suddenly sees us tied on points with Everton and two or three above the chasing pack. Certainly a much healthier position.