The race for the title

Posted by

In terms of challenging for the league, I think there are three teams in the running.
Yes – three.

Chelsea are the obvious favourites.
In my opinion, they will definitely finish in the top two.
Now that they have established a gap, albeit having played an extra game over Liverpool and three more than Manchester City, they should go on and win the title. They have an experienced manager in Mourinho and seasoned players in their squad but their games against Arsenal and Liverpool will be decisive.

Liverpool can win the league.
But they must continue to take it one game at a time.
Rodgers is totally right about that.
After the Southampton game we knew Liverpool were challengers. Sunday is another big test. Come through that with a win and the excitement and expectation grows. The club need to stay in the race for as long as possible. If they’re still in with a shout when the team play City and particularly Chelsea at Anfield then there’s extra motivation to win those games. If Liverpool drop points they would then have to concentrate on consolidating their place in the top four, although I think that’s already assured. I believe Liverpool can finish anywhere in the top three and, as I said, if they still have a chance of winning the league when they play Chelsea in the penultimate game of the season I would fancy them to go on and do it.

Then there’s Man City.
They have three games in hand on Mourinho’s men.
Can they win them?
Can they do what Chelsea did in Mourinho’s first season in charge – win a League Cup and Premier League double?
Now that they are out of the FA Cup and Champions League they can focus solely on the title. They certainly have a tremendous squad and some world class players. Like Liverpool, they could finish anywhere in the top three and they have a genuine chance of going all the way.

I feel Arsenal will drop too many points between now and the end of the season. They have some massive games coming up, they are still in the cup and they also have a few injuries still. They will undoubtedly miss players like Ozil, Ramsey and Wilshire. Wenger will also want to win the FA Cup after 8 years without a trophy and, with all due respect to Hull, Sheffield Utd and Wigan, it would be considered a big failure if Arsenal didn’t go on to win that competition. That will affect how they line up for some of their remaining Premier League games. And, with upcoming fixtures against Tottenham, Chelsea, City and Everton, it’s not hard to imagine them falling away slightly. I think they will finish 4th and I have a feeling that Wenger will end Mourinho’s unbeaten run at Stamford Bridge in the league. However, I can see them drawing away to Spurs on Sunday and I feel Man City will beat them at the Emirates in a couple of weeks.

So there you have it, a three horse race.