“It’s too late baby now, it’s too late, though we really did try and make it,” the legendary Carole King once famously sang. The lyrics to the chorus of this timeless hit perfectly describe Manchester United’s 20/21 Premier League title chances.
United’s dropping points against Everton with the final kick put their title prospects in a precarious position. Failing to take all three against bottom-feeding West Brom, plus the invincible form we’re seeing from Manchester City right now, and well, now it’s time to regroup, and focus on finishing in the top four.
Honestly, I’m not sure I really ever fully bought in to United being a true title contender this year anyway, even when they were top of the table.
Now they must focus on beating Newcastle United on Sunday, after having looked like world beaters last night against Real Sociedad in the Europa League.
Manchester United vs Newcastle United FYIs
Kickoff: Sun Feb 21, 7pm GMT, Old Trafford
United team news: go here
PL Form Guide: United DDWDL Newcastle LWLWL
PL Position: United 2nd, 46 pts Newcastle 17th, 25 pts
“We can’t hide the fact we’ve dropped off our form a bit,” manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admits.
“We dropped points against Everton, Sheffield United, West Brom; points that we feel we deserved more and we should have got more.”
“[Real Sociedad] was about finding ourselves and getting the X factor back in, the brightness and the focus so Newcastle will be a very important game for us definitely.”
Manchester United Starting XI Prediction vs Newcastle United
De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw; Fred, Matic; Greenwood, Fernandes, Rashford; Cavani
Prediction: United 2, Newcastle 0
Last night showed us what United still have the potential to do this season. We’ll see if they bring that again.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.