Sunday’s four-way tussle reignited the title race, but with Pep Guardiola on his way and Manchester United sure to strengthen, will such drama soon be a thing of the past?
For once, an intensely hyped ‘Super Sunday’ delivered on its promise on a potentially pivotal day in a title race that is almost impossible to predict.
The Premier League has witnessed some thrilling denouements, not least Sergio Aguero’s last-gasp title-winning strike on the final day of the season in 2012.
But we could be set for the most captivating run-in in recent memory as four teams fight for the title with less than a third of the season remaining.
In a unique and remarkable campaign that has thrown up so many shocks, it is fitting that Leicester and Tottenham should currently occupy the top two places in the table.
Leicester have never won the title before while Spurs, a big club remembered more for cup feats, were last English champions in the days of black and white television in 1961.
The probability is that this is a one-off. Manchester United and Chelsea will surely return with force next season, Manchester City will improve once Pep Guardiola sprinkles his coaching genius over an already star-studded squad.
So the opportunity is there for Leicester, Spurs and Arsenal, who are favourites with the bookmakers to become champions for the first time since their indomitable Invincibles side in 2004.
On Sunday, it was Arsenal and Tottenham who seized the initiative. The Gunners came from behind to beat Leicester thanks to Danny Welbeck’s winner in the dying seconds of added time before Spurs responded with a momentous win at City.
It is dangerous to draw firm conclusions when we are in the midst of such a helter-skelter campaign – but right now it looks like the title is heading to north London.
The north London derby on March 5 will be the most critical ever and much of it will come down to the mentality of the two sides.
Arsenal will feel that this should be their year. Given the failure of title rivals and the strength of their squad, there are few excuses for Arsene Wenger should his side miss this opportunity.
In Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez, they have bona fide match-winners while the fact that two substitutes scored on Sunday highlights a squad brimming with quality now that the annual injury crisis has subsided.
But can they be trusted? Their five defeats this season have come against West Ham at home, West Brom and Southampton away, while an unprecedentedly bad Chelsea team have taken six points off their London rivals.
Nor is the Gunners’ return of nine points from their last six league matches title-winning form, and in that sense they must surely fear the momentum of the team at the other end of the Seven Sisters Road.
Tottenham are the best team in the division. They may not boast the same level of individual talent as Arsenal or City, but they showed again on Sunday that they are more than the sum of their parts.
Mauricio Pochettino has worked wonders to produce a side with the best defence in the league (just 20 goals conceded), the best goal difference (+27) while they have scored 47 times, just one fewer than joint highest scorers Leicester and City.
Spurs are organised, resilient, aggressive, confident and super-fit – the superlatives could keep flowing and it is hard to pinpoint an obvious weakness. It is why Watford manager Quique Sanchez Flores described them as “animals” after his team’s recent defeat at White Hart Lane.
The problem for Pochettino will be how his young squad now deal with the run-in. How will they cope with the pressure? Will that damned Europa League schedule and that Thursday-Sunday routine derail them?
Leicester are the only club in the top four that do not have to worry about fixture pile-up, with the Premier League their only focus for the rest of the season and a favourable run of games ahead of them.
They are not at the top of the table by fluke and they showed that on Sunday. Had they not been reduced to 10 men, Claudio Ranieri’s men would have left the Emirates with at least a point, but they cannot afford to let the defeat act as a catalyst for a dip in form.
The expectation all season has been that the Foxes will eventually drop off, but it’s not going to happen and overall Ranieri will be very pleased to have taken six points from the club’s last three matches, against Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal.
City, for their part, still have the strongest group of players. The likes of Vincent Kompany, David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero would walk in to any of their rivals’ starting XIs.
They are six points from top but if they can keep Kompany and Aguero fit, City are capable of hitting a run of form that could win them the title in Pellegrini’s final season.
Yet performances have shown why the club’s hierarchy have opted to replace the Chilean with Guardiola. Pellegrini should be getting more out this squad, whatever the circumstances, and some of their defending has been inexcusable.
The spectre of Guardiola might have invigorated the club, but instead it seems more like Pellegrini is a lame duck manager, miserably seeing out his final days on Death Row having accepted his fate.
Defeats in the last two weeks to title rivals – Leicester and Tottenham – have smashed a massive dent into their title chances but at least they aren’t Manchester United.
The 20-time champions are longingly looking up from fifth, 12 points off the top and six from the Champions League places, wondering what might have been, cursing a manager who has barely improved the side despite an investment of £250 million on new signings since his appointment.
Goal.com
