The Premier League status quo was maintained on Saturday with wins for both Manchester clubs keeping them well clear at the top of the table, for now.
City won 3-1, brushing aside the previously unbeaten Newcastle United with relative ease, whilst Manchester rivals United made slightly harder work of things recording a 1-0 win on the road at Swansea.
Tottenham Hotspur are coming up fast in third place. Having lost their opening two fixtures against the Manchester clubs, Spurs have picked up 25 of the last 27 points, and if they win their game in hand they will be just a point behind United. It’s been a remarkable turnaround for the perennial wannabe side of the Premiership.
The top three are positioning themselves to break away from the pack, behind them Newcastle are fourth but look likely to fall further from the top with their next match at Old Trafford, and then a home game against Chelsea. The Chelsea game looks considerably less threatening than it did a month ago – with 3 defeats in their last 4 EPL games, Chelsea look a shadow of their recent selves. Young coach Andre Villas-Boas is having a difficult start in the West End of London, he’s already lost more games in his 19 games this season than he lost in his entire tenure at Porto last season! After the latest home defeat against Liverpool, Villas-Boas desperately needs a win against Wolves this weekend.
He can take heart from the way Arsenal have turned their season around and saved Arsene Wenger’s job with a series of good results. The Gunners continued their revival on Saturday, beating Norwich courtesy of a Robin van Persie double, taking him to an incredible 33 goals in 30 games during 2011. The Dutch forward continues to get better and better, and at the moment it’s hard to think of a better striker in the world.
Liverpool’s win at Stamford Bridge was another unpredictable step in a strange season. The Reds have settled for draws too often this season but Glen Johnson popped up with a couple of minutes to go, winding through the Chelsea back line and slotting home the winner to give everyone a big surprise and blow the race for fourth place wide open. Newcastle, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal are all within 3 points of each other.
Beneath Arsenal, the EPL takes a turn for the average. From 8th down everyone else looks either disappointingly average, or simply disappointing.
This weekend’s biggest match sees the unpredictable Liverpool hosting the unbeatable Manchester City at Anfield. A first defeat for City would blow the title race back open again, assuming United can beat Newcastle.
