Manchester United seem to be announcing their title credentials a little too late. But wait – it may not be quite as simple as it appears. The truth is that Man United could yet mount a realistic title offensive despite the fact that they’re eight points adrift of champions–elect Chelsea at the time of writing.
But Chelsea have begun to look just the tiniest bit shaky having struggled to a draw at the Stadium of Light – then losing to Newcastle on their second trip to the north-east. Then at home to Hull, the referee largely gifted Chelsea the three points. Second favourites Man City, meanwhile, are bagging three points most times they play in the league – but they aren’t always looking very convincing when they do so and struggled to a win against foot of the table Leicester.
Man United, meanwhile, are keeping up the pressure with six wins in a row – and are steadily looking more impressive with each game. The 3-0 win at home to fierce northwest rivals Liverpool was accomplished with relative ease.
Currently, though, Man United can still be backed at a generous 11-1 with bookmakers 32Red, Betway, Unibet and some others. That looks like interesting value for reasons we’ll come back to. But the best thing about it is that you may be able to land a free bet via 32 Red’s casino operation.
If you visit and play slots at 32Red.com, for example, or roulette, you can get £10 free straight away plus another £32 free for each £10 deposited. So the fact that 32Red also has a sports book means you may be able to benefit from the generally bigger free bet bonuses via the casinos, by playing through the required number of games then transferring the proceeds.
And Man United for the tile may be a shrewd move. Remember that both Man City and Chelsea have potentially long and tough Champions League campaigns ahead beginning in February with the competition’s knockout phase.
What’s more, both the sides are largely dependent on strikers; Sergio Aguero for Man City and Diego Costa at Chelsea. And both these men have had or are having injury problems.
But it’s the sheer pressure that goes along with the Champions League and level of expectation at both clubs that could be their undoing. At Manchester United, meanwhile, the lack of a Champions League campaign coupled with the fact that Louis van Gaal started so slowly – means there’s far less pressure. The truth is that six games back most Man United fans would have metaphorically snatched your hand off if you’d offered them third place. Now, that looks a racing certainty.
And finally – remember that Man United play Man City at home followed a week later by Chelsea away in mid April. And if the title is still up for grabs at that stage, Man United may have it all to play for and go all out in doing so. So it’s probably a little too much of an ask. But it’s not impossible, and Louis van Gaal has done it all before in his carer and in the same way, particularly at Bayer Munich – so watch this space…