This past Monday, what has been the closest Premier League season in recent memory took another intriguing twist. Just as Man City looked like they might pull away from the pack, their loss at home to Chelsea has shown that they are vulnerable. But, even more importantly than that, it has ensured that the battle to be champions this year will at the very least be a three horse race.
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers was quick today to dismiss his own side’s title chances. The Anfield club sit in 4th place and are 8 points adrift of leaders Arsenal. That is a fairly sizeable deficit for Liverpool but in seasons gone by it wouldn’t be unheard of for the team in 2nd place to have that much ground to make up. Man City and Chelsea themselves have only 2 points to make up. It truly is all to play for.
Each of the top three have 14 league games left as well as Champions League commitments. How each squad handles the work load could well be a deciding factor in where the Premier League title ends up. Squad depth would certainly favour Chelsea and Man City. With the millions of pounds that they have had to spend over the years that shouldn’t really come as a surprise. As fixtures come thick and fast Chelsea and City will have an experienced international waiting in reserve in practically every position.
While Arsenal’s squad is also impressive it is a little threadbare compared to that of their title rivals. Injuries to key players have just about been compensated for so far this season, but Arsène Wenger’s side won’t welcome anymore fitness concerns. There was talk of them strengthening their forward line in the January transfer window but potential loan moves for Miroslav Klose and Mirko Vučinić failed to materialise.
One thing the Gunners do have on their side however is consistency. Not since the first day of the season have they had a ‘disaster’ like Chelsea had away at Newcastle and at home to West Ham, or like Man City had away at Cardiff City or away at Sunderland.
Arsenal have dropped points of course but generally against the best in the league. In a league where more than ever anyone can beat anyone else, the fact that Arsenal are consistently getting results in the games that they are expected to cannot be overlooked.
Arsenal will want to improve their results against their title rivals, these are after all the games that Champions tend to win. They can start with a win against Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday. Wenger will know the importance of these games and will be desperate to find a way of winning them. But one man who already has winning down to a tee is Josè Mourinho.
I don’t want that last statement to sound dismissive of Manuel Pellegrini or Arsène Wenger. They are both managers of the very highest calibre and both could quite easily add this seasons Premier League to their already impressive CV’s. But Josè isn’t simply called 'the Special One' because it sounds good or because he suggested it himself. The nickname has stuck because it is true. Man City are the favourites with the bookies right now but that won’t bother Josè one bit.
His Porto team weren’t the favourites to win the Champions League but that didn’t stop them. His Inter Milan team were not fancied to win the Champions League final against Bayern Munich, or even the semi-final against Barcelona but somehow Mourinho found a way. His tactics were spot-on on every occasion.
Similarly, Chelsea weren’t fancied to be the first away team to win at the Etihad on Monday night. But Josè Mourinho once again sent his team out with THE perfect game-plan. And a Man City team who had this season swept many good sides under the rug with a flurry of goals, were beaten 1-0 at home.
Publicly Josè has been reluctant to include his own side in the title race but behind closed doors he will know that his team are in with a great chance. Especially with the way Chelsea cut through Man City’s defence this week. City tried to bring in defensive reinforcements in January and it’s clear to see why.
And that is where this season’s title race blew wide open. Because if even this seemingly indestructible Man City team can look vulnerable, then anyone can. There are a number of factors that will go into deciding this season’s Premier League. More than just the few that are mentioned above.
If you’re a betting man then maybe you should have a look at a different league, this one’s too close to call.