This weekend's fixtures, and how they could impact the APLT.
Manchester United are at home to Hull in a straightforward Par 3 match that they would ordinarily expect to easily win. The win would keep them on -13, while a loss could see them drop to -16. At the start of the season, many predicted that the absence of European football would be of benefit to Van Gaal's squad, although so far the benefits have not been clear. With most of the top four place rivals playing in midweek, this is the sort of game where the extra freshness might be of benefit, but with the injury list at Old Trafford lengthening, the Red Devils might still struggle to put out a full team.
Visitors Hull are perilously close to the bottom three and without a win since a 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace on October 4th, although in that time they have recorded very credible away results at Anfield and the Emirates. Manager Steve Bruce returns to his old stomping ground in need of points, and will almost certainly attempt to frustrate his old club rather than get at them from the off.
United have 10 Par 1 games still to play and cannot afford to drop any more points in their Par 3 games if they want to retain 4th place in the traditional table.
Table-topping Chelsea travel to Sunderland in another Par 3 game. The Black Cats have won only two games this season, although they have only lost one game at home, to Arsenal. Chelsea will expect to be the second visiting side to take all three points and maintain their lead of +6 at the top of the APLT.
The surprise package of the Premier League this season, Southampton, entertain last season's Champions, Manchester City in the weekend's only all-APLT clash. The Saints have arrived with a bang and are unbeaten at home, although none of the big clubs have yet visited. City will be looking to follow up on a famous night in the Champions League by reasserting themselves as a force in the Premier League, and this is likely to be a tough game for both sides.
It's Par 3 for Southampton, Par 1 for City, at least one side will drop points.
Arsenal travel to West Brom in a Par 3 game that could keep them on -13 if they win. The Baggies have just one home win to date, and Arsenal should brush them aside easily. With 9 par 1 games yet to come for Arsenal, their record of top four finishes is very much under threat now.
Liverpool, still just about in four competitions, will look to turn things around in a Par 3 home game against Stoke City whose record of 2 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses on the road so far suggests that they are remarkably consistent in their lack of consistency. (Famously, all of Stoke's home games are played midweek in the depths of winter.) A win for the reds would ensure that they remain above Arsenal, Spurs and Man United in the APLT. Anything less and cowardly waves of shrieking panic will cover the whole of RAWK in nuclear fallout, rendering it the sort of post-apocalyptic landscape of the Mad Max movies, inhabited by strange ragged old men, demented mutants and idiotic children.
Tottenham play Everton, who used to be in the APLT, but aren't any more. Roberto Martinez team will no doubt have a point to prove to the stat-botherers of RAWK, while Spurs might find that they have a tough Par 3 on their hands and could struggle to protect their -13.
