Sunday 26 April 2015 11:33, UK
In his weekly column, Sky Sports' football expert Jamie Carragher looks ahead to a big double header on Super Sunday.
Manchester United will be looking to bounce back from their defeat at Chelsea when they travel to Goodison Park to take on Everton, who have hit form of late, going five Premier League games unbeaten.
Then it's a big clash at the top of the table as Arsenal host Chelsea, with Jose Mourinho's side knowing victory at the Emirates Stadium would mean they could seal the title against Leicester on Wednesday.
Arsene Wenger hasn’t won in 12 attempts against Jose Mourinho. The Arsenal boss has played it down, but how important will that record be?
CARRA SAYS: Obviously Arsene Wenger is going to say it isn’t that big a thing, but I’m sure it’s in the back of his mind. You don’t want a record like that against anyone.
I’m sure it gives confidence to Chelsea and Mourinho that they can get one over on Arsenal, not just in this particular game but obviously in the future, because there are always teams you come up against where – no matter what you do or try – you always find it difficult to beat them.
Mourinho has that wherever he’s been. Very few teams do beat him, so it’s not just Arsenal and Arsene Wenger who have that record – there will be plenty of managers.
Arsene Wenger will know, if they want to compete and win trophies, Chelsea and Mourinho are going to be in the way so they have to start taking points off them.
You could argue that it’s not mathematically out of Arsenal’s hands if they win but his game could, from Arsenal’s point of view if they won, give them more belief for next season than actually do damage to Chelsea this season.
What have Arsenal got to do to beat Chelsea on Sunday?
CARRA SAYS: They mustn’t make mistakes. Chelsea are the most ruthless team in the league – they capitalise on other teams’ mistakes. That will be very important from Arsenal’s point of view.
Chelsea rarely make mistakes themselves. Defensively they’re always very strong, always very solid. You just can’t afford to switch off at any time against this Chelsea team because they punish you.
At times we’ve seen Arsenal do that, but I’m sure Wenger and the Arsenal squad are going to be really focused and concentrated on that game.
That will be the big thing, though – make any mistakes at the back and they’ll be punished.
Real Madrid have been making noises about Eden Hazard. Is it important that the Premier League doesn’t lose another top player to Spain?
CARRA SAYS: We’ve lost too many – you think of Bale, Ronaldo, Xabi Alonso. When Real Madrid and Barcelona come in for one of your players it is difficult to keep them because they’re big clubs in a country with a lifestyle where players, particularly attacking players and foreign players, dream of playing one day.
Hazard signed a long-term deal at the end of last season, and he’s pivotal to Chelsea because he’s the best player by a long way. I think he’s the best player in the league. I’ve seen Jose Mourinho say he’s maybe third behind Messi and Ronaldo.
I wouldn’t put him that high, to be honest, but I would say he’s the best in our league and he should get PFA Player of the Year. I certainly think he’s in the top six or seven players in world football.
There’s no doubt he’s a brilliant player. He’s a player you would only expect to get better the more he works under Mourinho because he keeps improving.
There’s been a lot of debate over playing styles and so-called “attractive football”. Will Roman Abramovich likely get bored of Mourinho’s tactics?
CARRA SAYS: I think a lot of owners want the team to play in a certain way, whether you agree with that or not. The thing about Mourinho is, when he does that job, 99 per cent of the time he wins and it’s very difficult to say anything.
It’s a good debate. I think maybe with Man City, who may be looking for a new manager next season, their hierarchy wouldn’t be going to someone like Diego Simeone even though he’s got one of the best records in European football.
I think that’s just the way owners are thinking now and that’s the way football’s becoming.
Everton also take on Manchester United at Goodison Park on Sunday. Why has it been such a season of disappointment for Roberto Martinez’s side?
CARRA SAYS: Some of the best players they’ve had last year – Baines, Jagielka – a lot of team was built around them being solid, Baines getting forward, getting assists.
They’ve still done that this season. I think Jagielka’s form has been excellent in the last two or three months. But at the start of the season off the back of a World Cup it’s not easy, and I don’t think they were quite themselves which is understandable.
Everton also don’t have some of the players that maybe the other teams have, so relied on their best players and they were finding it difficult after being involved in a World Cup.
They had the Europa League as well – that plays a big part with games on Thursday and Sunday. People say it’s an excuse but the results will show that teams do find it difficult.
Everton didn’t have Europe last season and that was a massive help. It was the same with Liverpool, who came close to winning the league. It does have a massive impact, not just physically but psychologically as well.
Everton won’t have that next season, and Liverpool could probably do without the Europa League as well.
What should Everton be aiming for on Sunday and the rest of the season?
CARRA SAYS: They want to finish strongly. For a large part of the season it’s been quite negative and the supporters have been disappointed with how it’s gone.
There’s nothing worse than going into the summer on the back of a bad run of results. It can sometimes affect the start of the next season. But Everton are on a good run at the moment.
Even though Manchester United are playing really well, Goodison Park is always a difficult place for anyone to go – remember last season when David Moyes came back to Goodison.
Louis van Gaal’s really got United going now so it’s going to be a difficult game for Everton.
How do you view the striker situation at Old Trafford? Is Radamel Falcao’s time up? Is Robin van Persie likely to stay given he’s not getting much game time?
CARRA SAYS: I don’t see Falcao there next season. With Van Persie, I think they’ll keep him. They’d find it difficult to move him on, although I don’t think they’d want to.
With the system they’re playing at the moment Wayne Rooney’s the number one striker, but you’ve still got Van Persie to come in behind him, and that’s fantastic back-up.
They can push each other, and at times I’m sure Rooney will play in midfield with Van Persie up front. They’ve still got young James Wilson as well.
So I still see Van Persie there next season, because if they did move him on they’d still have to go and buy someone, but I’d be very surprised if Falcao was still at Manchester United.
Chris Smalling has just penned a new four-year deal at Old Trafford. Has he warranted that contract?
CARRA SAYS: I think of late you can see the work Van Gaal’s done defensively on the training ground. Watching Smalling in clips we’ve done for Sky Sports recently, you can see he’s becoming more of a leader, more vocal.
He seems to be the one pushing out of defence and giving instructions to different people, and that can only help his own confidence with a bit of maturity as he gets older and starts taking on more responsibility.
I think he fully deserves that new contract.
Watch Everton v Manchester United and Arsenal v Chelsea on Super Sunday, live from 12.30pm on Sky Sports 1 HD. Or watch both matches with a Day Pass from NOW TV
