Extra Time: Sticky Toffee and Scotty Too Hottie

JOE feels Manchester United have the title at their mercy this weekend and that it's high time Scott Parker was rewarded for his one-man show at West Ham.

By Tom Moss

After Arsenal's latest surrender of a winning position and Chelsea's continued late resurgence, it is Carlo Ancelotti's Torres-free side that are the main threat to Man Utd's almost-guaranteed 19th top flight crown. Sir Alex welcomes Everton to Old Trafford tomorrow afternoon and if he can oversee a victory against the in-form Toffees, the title is in the bag.

David Moyes' side are top of the form table having put together an impressive run of five wins and two draws in their last seven league games and you have to go back to mid-February for their last defeat on the road, which makes this game a slightly more daunting fixture for United than it would have been a few months ago.

Solace

Nevertheless, even if Everton surprise the Reds, United can take solace in the fact that their nearest rivals will undoubtedly mess up. Arsenal will have a full 28 hours to contrive some system of bottling their tie against Bolton, giving Arsene Wenger ample time to concoct a whole range of excuses about their latest impending loss of points.

So far this season, he hasn't blamed the weather, the IMF, the current turmoil in Libya or the increasing popularity of Bruno Mars for any of Arsenal's cock-ups, leaving plenty of scope for a real gem in Sunday's post-match interview.

Chelsea, now in second place after their recent rediscovery of league form, have what looks like the easiest fixture of the three title hopefuls. A home game against Avram Grant's relegation-battling West Ham shouldn't be easy but you'd expect a Chelsea win, particularly if Ancelotti keeps faith in his Torres-free 4-3-3 system.

With Fernando now mainly employed by the club in a backroom role, including tasks such as handing out match programmes, checking that each steak and kidney pie has enough meat in it and picking up sweet wrappers in the players children's room after the game, the likes of Drogba and Anelka have got on with the task of keeping Chelsea even remotely involved in the title challenge, and even the presence of the new Football Writer's Player of the Year won't be enough for the struggling Hammers.

Accolade at last

Yes, after the slap in the face that was Gareth Bale's illogical Players Player of the Year award, Scott Parker finally earned the plaudits for his one-man West Ham show by claiming the Writers accolade last night.

Despite coming second in the poll for the Players poll, Parker didn't even make the PFA team of the season, mind-boggingly eclipsed in the centre of midfield by the pairing of Arsenal's Jack Wilshere and Samir Nasri, but the recognition of his phenomenal efforts in the increasingly precarious West Ham survival fight shows that there are some people who have the ability to look past the top sides when judging players' performances.

It shouldn't matter a whole lot anyway. Man Utd won't have it all their own way against Everton tomorrow afternoon but they'll have enough to shade it. Chelsea might just have paid a lot more than £50m for Fernando Torres.

Quote of the Day: Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has criticised the Spanish reporter who interviewed Cesc Fabregas in London earlier this week and ran a story on how the Arsenal skipper reckons that they are going nowhere. "The whole article is exactly the opposite of what was really said," fumed Wenger. The recorded tapes and careful translation would suggest otherwise Arsene. But maybe it was the fourth official's fault?

Hero of the Day: Football Writers Player of the Year Scott Parker.

Villain of the Day: Berwick Rangers Under-17 skipper Kieran Bowell. The youngster shared his sectarian feelings with the world by tweeting "wish that parcel bomb killed Neil Lennon the little c*@t". Mmmm, good move young man. Sacked by his less than high-profile club, the little scumbag's future in football looks even less bright than it did before he typed his way into strife.