Some football happened

This weekend saw another twist in the title race as Tottenham beat Stoke 1-0 (lol jk). I'm obviously talking about Chelsea's win at Anfield against the current leaders, and with Manchester City beating Crystal Palace in the late kick off, it's still all to play for.

Personally, I think Liverpool are still favourites, but the bookmakers make City favourites because it's in their hands. Win their three remaining games and they win the title. Simple as that. But I think they'll drop points in one of those games, which are away at Everton, at home to Aston Villa and finally at home to West Ham. I'm completely discounting Chelsea because it's obvious that the Champions League is their priority, with Jose Mourinho repeatedly stating that his side are out of the title race, and his concentration is firmly on Europe judging by the team he selected today, even if it did manage to win. Tomas Kalas made his Premier League debut in arguably the biggest game of the season. Their front three was nowhere near their first choice, with Mohamed Salah, Demba "Forgotten Man" Ba and Andre Schurrle all playing. They even found a place on the bench for some kid called Baker. Who is that? It's Lewis Baker. You know, the midfielder. No? He played for three minutes in the FA Cup earlier in the season? Against Derby? Still don't know? Come on, everyone knows Lewis Baker, don't they?

The reason Chelsea have fallen short this season is not because of a lack of a goalscorer, which everyone seems to think it is (are you saying Fernando Torres is rubbish? He's world class), but it's actually because Mourinho only cares about the big games. He has a great track record of reaching Champions League semi finals because of the media intensity that surrounds the competition; he thrives in it. Liverpool vs Chelsea, a fight for the Premier League is a game that will attract copious amounts of interest from around the world. Chelsea vs Sunderland, not so much. He spends a lot longer hatching a game plan against the bigger teams because of the media attention it receives. Just look at his record against the other teams in the top four this season. Played 6, won 5, drawn 1 (which was away at Arsenal). Yet they lose to teams like Sunderland, Crystal Palace, Stoke and Newcastle. Priorities Jose, priorities. 

In the battle to stay up, Fulham threw away a two goal lead to draw 2-2 with Hull, one of the games that they really should have won, especially as the game grew. But an unfortunate intervention from Sascha (isn't that a girl's name?) Riether that hit the bar before falling for Nikica (I'm question the masculinity of his name too) Jelavic to nod home, and some slack defending from Fulham goalscorer Fernando Amorebieta allowed Shane Long to steal in at the back post to equalize late on. Felix Magath and his silent h were left fuming by this, as were the Fulham faithful. Meanwhile, in the Midlands, West Brom enjoyed their first home victory under Pepe Mel by beating West Ham thanks to a solitary goal from Northampton legend Saido Berahino. Sunderland thrashed Norway/Cardiff 4-0, with in form striker Connor Wickham netting two more, with goals from Italian pair Fabio Borini and Emanuele Giaccherini sandwiched in between, as well as a sending off for Cardiff's Juan Cala. Norwich were also beaten 4-0 by Manchester United with two goals apiece for Wayne Rooney and Juan Mata, which probably made David Moyes cry. But what does this mean in terms of the relegation battle? Well it means Manchester United are safe for another season, but it also means that Sunderland are out of the relegation zone at the expense of Norwich. Cardiff slip to the bottom, two points from safety on 30, while Fulham sit 19th on 31, and Norwich in 18th on 32. Then come Sunderland also on 32, but with a better goal difference and a game in hand, which is against West Brom, who sit in 15th after their win on Saturday. One place below them is Aston Villa, who sit just three points above the drop zone after Swansea crushed them 4-1, with Wilfried Bony grabbing a double, and Jonjo Shelvey scoring a world class goal. But that was nothing on Gabriel Agbonlahor's finish, an absolute stunner from 2 yards. Top quality stuff. 

Everton's chances of finishing fourth took a huge blow as Southampton didn't score yet won 2-0 thanks to Everton defenders Antolin Alcaraz and Seamus Coleman thinking it was Christmas, gifting the Saints the win. They now have two games remaining, one of which is against Manchester City, while Arsenal, who sit a point above them, have three to go. Stoke lost 1-0 to Tottenham but no one cares about that. I have Harry Kane in my fantasy football team and he did nothing so I will talk no more about that game. I also have Geoff Cameron and he too did absolutely nothing. Not even a clean sheet. Seriously though, who concedes a header to Danny Rose? I thought Stoke were renowned for having tall players with the long throw ins and what not. Yet Danny Rose scores a header against them? He's like 4ft 5'. It's Mark Hughes' fault; he's got them playing football on the floor. Stick to rugby, that way you might not concede to Danny Rose. Well done Mark Hughes, you made me angry.

We're in for a grandstand finish. But the final word goes to the lower league ups and downs, with Barnsley, Yeovil, Shrewsbury and Torquay all being relegated from their leagues, and Rochdale, Scunthorpe and Chesterfield all being promoted from League Two this weekend. I'm off to Scunthorpe next weekend for their final game against York for no apparent reason, and I look forward to seeing if they can win the League Two title. Thank you for reading. And thank you to Reading for beating Doncaster at the weekend and setting up a fascinating race for the final two play-off spots in the Championship (one of which Reading currently occupy), as well as a scramble to avoid the final relegation spot (which Doncaster sit one point and one place outside of). As I previously said, it'll be a grandstand finish. And I'm in for a long drive to Scunthorpe on Saturday.

It's a good time to be a Liverpool fan

It's looking like we could have something that we haven't seen in a while. Liverpool may actually win the league. We might have to come to terms with the Premier League spectrum changing once again, with actual coaching prevailing over throwing money at things.

Having said that, we have this season learnt the value of Sir Alex Ferguson's coaching talent, as if we didn't already know it. United are currently languishing in 7th, with Liverpool leading the way at the top. Have the tides shifted? Well, evidently they have. Brendan Rodgers deserves an enormous amount of credit for this season, and at the moment, his side look like the most likely title winners, with Chelsea being so inconsistent with results such as losing 1-0 at Crystal Palace being coupled with a 6-0 win over Arsenal, and Arsenal themselves having faded away and now face a battle just to finish in the top four. Liverpool's closest rivals look like being Manchester City, with their games in hand, as well as getting considerably more consistent results than Chelsea. It's obvious that the title decider will be at Anfield, when City face Liverpool. If someone had said to me at the start of the season "Liverpool are going to win the league this season" I would have spat my drink out, permitting I was drinking something at the time. But now, I'd have to revise that opinion, and for me, Liverpool are the favourites to win the Premier League title for the first time and become the fifth name on the trophy.

I initially backed Chelsea at the start of the season, but it seems to me that Mourinho, being the genius that he is, was right that Chelsea are just a 'little horse that needs milk' (milk = striker). He knows his team, and if I were a betting man, I'd bet on them to win the title next season. Unless Stoke suddenly become really good. As I've previously mentioned, Chelsea have been too inconsistent this season, which for me has cost them the title. On a positive note, Eden Hazard has been exceptional, and if it weren't for him, Chelsea would be in a much worse position, simply because their strikers haven't been firing at the same rate as strikers in the other top teams.

Liverpool's charge to the top of the league has been spearheaded by the best player in the Premier League, Luis Suarez, not to mention his strike partner, Iago Aspa...Daniel Sturridge. 'SAS' as they have become known in the media have become one of the most formidable strike partnerships in recent times and has seen a return to the two up front, something lacking in the modern game. If you think about previous title winners, the majority of them have had two up front. Shearer and Sutton for Blackburn, Cole/Yorke/Sheringham/Solskjaer at United and Henry and Bergkamp at Arsenal. I think a lot of credit has to go to Brendan Rodgers for that. Firstly, sticking with Luis Suarez after his misdemeanors and then getting him to sign a new contract, and for bringing in Daniel Sturridge last January to partner the Uruguayan. They now seem to be reaping the rewards from this, and giving a new lease of life to players like Jordan Henderson and Glen Johnson who seem to be enjoying their football again. Liverpool - Premier League champions?