A look at the winners and losers in the English Premier League after week 16 of action.
Winners
Manchester United
All wins are equal in terms of points but some are more important than others. Nemanja Vidic’s injury time winner against Sunderland was really important as Manchester United could not afford to slip further behind Liverpool and Chelsea before they head off to Japan for the World Club tournament.
Nicolas Anelka
Is Anelka Chelsea’s most valuable player so far this season? With Drogba’s ongoing issues, where would Chelsea be this season without Anelka’s goals?
Chelsea
It was another record braking weekend for Chelsea as their win at Bolton was their eleventh successive away record, beating the top-flight record held by Bill Nicholson’s double-winning side of 1960-61. With Stamford Bridge no longer the fortress that it was, Chelsea’s away form could determine whether they can win another title.
Chelsea seem better at counter-attacking than bossing the game, a tactic that is better suited for away teams. As Chelsea heads into the heart of its away schedule, their next five away trips in the league are to Goodison Park, Craven Cottage, Old Trafford, Anfield and Villa Park, if they are still unbeaten on the road after they go to Villa Park, then they will have put themselves in a great position to win another title.
Michael Owen
Owen is a free-agent this summer and a lot of teams will be looking to pick him up this January. With 11 goals in his last 17 league starts for Newcastle, Owen is making his next contract even more lucrative with every goal.
Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe
Their partnership has contributed 14 of the 19 league goals scored by Pompey. Or to put it another way. Between them they have accounted for 74% of Portsmouth’s goals in the Premier League this season.
Losers
Carlos Tevez
It has to be obvious to Carlos Tevez that he is no longer a first-choice player for Manchester United. after a good season last year, he has been relegated to the subs bench. Scoring 4 goals against Blackburn in the Carling Cup in midweek could not get him a start this weekend against Sunderland.
Instead Ferguson went with the struggling Dimi Berbatov who missed a sitter late on in the game. Tevez would start for almost any team in Europe, but Fergie does not seem to think he is worth the £25m it will cost to sign him. United have a lot of young forwards like Frazier Campbell, Manucho and Danny Welbeck and it looks like Tevez’s time at Old Trafford is running out.
Newcastle United
Late goals are killing Newcastle. Had their last two home matches ended after 89 minutes, Newcastle would have an additional four points and be in tenth place.
Everton
After winning just one game at Goodison Park so far this season, they are second-bottom in the Home Table.
