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.
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