Title time at Anfield

After a season of ups and downs and more than the occasional unexpected twist, the Premier League race could be done and dusted this afternoon.

Manchester United take on Sunderland at 5 p.m. in a match you would fully expect them to win. Scratch that, if they don't win that sort of match at this crucial point in the season, then they probably don't deserve to be champions.

But, the reality is it is the earlier, 2.30 p.m. kick-off that will probably decide who will be crowned this season's champions.

Front-runners Chelsea travel to Anfield for what is their only tricky match left - they finish at home to Wigan next Sunday.

The question is, of course, how much Liverpool will be up for it. They crashed out of the Europa Cup last Thursday, are all but assured of European football next season, and are unlikely to qualify for the Champions League.

More telling than all of that, though, is the fact that they know taking points off Chelsea could essentially hand the title to Manchester United. And rivalries don't come much bigger than that between the boys from Anfield and those from Old Trafford.

I heard a lot of talk about pride and passion from Liverpool fans last week. Lots of talk about how they will want to go out on a high and prove they are going to be a real force next season.

But when push comes to shove I just don't think that will happen. The players are demoralised from their midweek defeat, they have nothing to play for other than pride, and 50 per cent of their serious talent is out injured.

I hope Liverpool put up a fight as I feel it would be better for the integrity of this year's league. I just don't think they will.

A new approach to football

It seems there really is more than one way to skin a cat.

At the start of the season, Notts County were supposed to be the new big boys of English football. They (allegedly) had mega-rich owners, some superstar players, a certain Sven Goran Eriksson as director of football, and a plan to be in the Premier League in five years.

It all looked peachy for the League Two club.

But then, just a few weeks into the season, reality took hold. Sol Campbell, the club's biggest signing, realised he had made an awful career decision and walked away after just one game.

Then the owners turned out to be slightly less liquid than a lump of rock. This led to the club being sold for the princely sum of £1, and that was when the new owners announced the club had more debt than Greece and Portugal put together.

If that wasn't enough, the manager then got the sack after a poor run of form, and the club teetered on the brink of going into administration as the new chairman realised just how badly in debt the club was.

In short, it should all have been a recipe for disaster.

Yet, last week, despite the upheavals, unrest and uncertainty, County only went and did the very thing they had set out to do at the beginning of the season - getting promoted to League One.

And under new manager Steve Cotteril, they actually managed to do it as champions, pretty impressive considering they were 14 points adrift when he took over in February.

The reality is, of course, that the club had already bought themselves a team more than capable of winning the league back in the days when they mistakenly believed they had the money to pay for it.

But credit has to go to the current chairman Ray Trew, who could easily have pulled the plug on everything when he realised just how dire the situation was.

By going into administration he could have secured the future of the club and ultimately wiped out a large portion of its debt in the process. Instead he decided to gamble on promotion being achieved. And that gamble paid off.

Now, in the heady heights of League One, their additional revenue should help them manage their debt. They won't be spending big any more but they should, in theory at least, have enough about their squad to keep them there and maybe even challenge for the Championship.

It may not have panned out in exactly the way they intended eight months ago, but the end result has pretty much been the same.

You have to wonder if this new business model might not be adapted by other clubs. Because it would now appear you don't actually need money to buy success, you just need to think you have money.

Oh wait. Portsmouth already tried that didn't they?

Basking in it

I have to admit to being a little disappointed that neither of last week's Champions League semi-final second legs turned out to be a classic.

Bayern eased past Lyon in a game that never really got going. The French side were pretty much second best, and in the end it turned into a bit of a stroll in the park for the Germans.

Inter, meanwhile, went to Spain with a very obvious game plan - park the team bus in front of their goal, as Jose Mourinho himself would say. It was a dangerous tactic against a formidable attacking team like Barcelona, but it just about paid off.

That image of Mourinho standing in front of the Inter supporters with his hands in the air was quite a sight to behold. If you look closely, you could almost see his head expanding by the second.

That said, he does deserve credit for guiding Inter to their first ever Champions League final. Many have tried and failed before.

While last week's games were nothing to get too excited about, I get the sneaky feeling the final on May 22 will be a whole different kettle of fish.

A team that could barely have dreamed of making it a few months ago against a team that hasn't been in a European final since 1972. That has all the makings of a fascinating clash.

Who will I be putting my money on? That's a good question. I am sure, considering my track record, fans of both teams will be hoping I predict a win for their opponents.

But you are just going to have to wait a couple of weeks to find out.

Crunch time

A few loose ends will be tied up in the Championship today, not least the final play-off place, which is a straight fight between Blackpool and Swansea.

Nothing against the Welsh team, of course, but I would love to see Blackpool in the Premier League. You don't find clubs with much more tradition than that, and the rebirth of a once-mighty club would be a good thing for football's image.

But while that is all very exciting, my main focus is way down at the other end of the table where the battle to avoid relegation will come to a dramatic conclusion.

Fate has decided that the clubs third and fourth from bottom should end up playing each other on the last day of the season in a winner-takes-all encounter. It's not something that happens very often.

My personal interest in this clash has been intensified by the fact that it involves Sheffield Wednesday, who will be desperately trying to beat Crystal Palace.

Yes, I know I am a Sheffield United fan. But I am not one of those people who supports their own club while passionately hating their nearest rivals. Far from it.

As a child I would watch both clubs on a rotational basis as they took it in turns to play at home. With my dad being an Owl, it was the perfect way to keep the family happy while ensuring a weekly fix of football.

The truth is, in fact, I would support Wednesday against any other team in the league apart from the Blades. And that's why I am keeping fingers and toes crossed that they manage the win they need at Hillsborough this afternoon.

It won't be easy because, frankly, they have been pretty pants this season. But they have home advantage on their side, and that could make all the difference. Stick 30,000 passionate Yorkshiremen in a ground when the game means so much, and they will, without sounding clichéd, be the extra man.

It's going to be like a cup final, only without a cup.

Banner of the month

To be honest, there can only be one contender for this, and it was on display during the Manchester derby. In the City end I hasten to add.

It read: 'Love Glazers, Hate United'.

Good one.

sportscolumnist@timesofmalta.com