Chelsea on pole going into final day

The 2009-10 Premier League title race, involving Chelsea and Manchester United, will be decided tomorrow, the final day of the championship. At present, Chelsea lead United by one point and have a better goal difference.

Man. United fans should stop pointing fingers at Steven Gerrard after the Liverpool captain's stray pass gifted Chelsea the opening goal in last Sunday's match. How many times have we seen similar mistakes occur in football before?

The critics, however, rightly pointed out that while Liverpool were involved in a Europa League semi-final against Atletico Madrid that dragged into extra-time the Thursday before, Chelsea (and United for that matter) had a week off to prepare for the matches of last weekend.

United will claim a record fourth successive crown if they beat Stoke at Old Trafford tomorrow and Chelsea fail to beat Wigan at Stamford Bridge.

While United stressed that they will continue to fight until the very last minute, Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard said he was relishing the prospect of sealing the Premier League title at Stamford Bridge but was not taking victory for granted.

This week, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson made it clear that he would not hesitate to re-sign Cristiano Ronaldo next season if the winger becomes available after a year at Real Madrid.

After their 1-0 win at Manchester City in midweek, Tottenham Hotspur qualified for the Champions League for the first time in their history. Big spenders City will have to settle for a place in the Europa League.

Tomorrow, Tottenham travel to Turf Moor to take on relegated Burnley in their final match and City play guests to West Ham at Upon Park.

Roberto Mancini's future at Eastlands should become clearer next week even though reports suggest that the Italian is to be offered a new contract.

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp will most probably be rewarded with an extension to his contract that has another year left to run. Given his success at Tottenham, Redknapp will probably stay at White Hart Lane for many years to come.

Redknapp has also revealed that he has no desire to add to his squad since he has a remarkable pool of players at his disposal.

The two other sides that were in the race for the fourth spot, Aston Villa (home against Blackburn) and Liverpool (away at Hull), will play in the Europa League next season.

Fairytale run

As most of the issues have already been decided in the Premier League, Fulham deserve all the praise coming their way after reaching the Europa League final where they will face Atletico Madrid in Hamburg on Wednesday.

Fulham are the only English side to advance to a European final this season after the Premier League giants fell by the wayside in both competitions.

The Cottagers caught the eye with their heroic efforts against some of the elite teams on the continent to go all the way in the revamped UEFA competition.

Fulham boss Roy Hodgson has become the toast of his fellow managers and the fans.

Many now believe that he is a strong candidate to become the next England manager when Fabio Capello's term comes to an end.

Hodgson and his players will start their 10th season in the Premier League come August and that is a no mean feat when other big clubs were relegated in the past.

If Fulham fail to beat Atletico, they will still be in the Europa League next season via their Fair Play award. If they win in Hamburg, relegated Burnley will play in the Europa League thanks to their high placing in England's fair play classification.

Next Wednesday's showdown against the Spaniards will be the biggest match in Fulham's 131-year history.

So far this season Fulham, who eliminated Bundesliga side Hamburg in the semi-final, have played 61 matches in domestic and European football.

Route To Hamburg

Fulham's marathon men took this strenuous path to the final:

Third qualifying round: FK Vetra (Lithuania) − Away 3-0 (Zamora, Murphy pen, Ki-Hyeon); Home 3-0 (Johnson 2, Etuhu).

Play-off round: Amkar Perm (Russia) − Home 3-1 (Johnson, Dempsey, Zamora); Away 0-1.

Group (1): Away vs CSKA Sofia 1-1 (Kamara).

Group (2): Home vs Basel 1-0 (Murphy).

Group (3): Home vs Roma 1-1 (Hangeland).

Group (4): Away vs Roma 1-2 (Kamara pen).

Group (5): Home vs CSKA Sofia 1-0 (Gera).

Group (6): Away vs Basel 3-2 (Zamora 2, Gera).

Third round: Shakhtar Donetsk − Home 2-1 (Gera, Zamora); Away 1-1 (Hangeland).

Fourth round: Juventus − Away 1-3 (Etuhu); Home 4-1 (Zamora, Gera 2, Dempsey).

Quarter-final: Wolfsburg − Home 2-1 (Zamora, Duff); Away 1-0 (Zamora).

Semi-final: Hamburg − Away 0-0; Home 2-1 (Davies, Gera).