Title race wide open as finale approaches

With the Premiership season entering the final straight, the now ‘big three’ are embroiled in the most fascinating title race for years.  A couple of months ago, Arsenal were out of the reckoning, but a combination of their own good form, and Manchester United and Chelsea’s insistence on making the competition interesting have propelled them to within two points of the summit.

Chelsea’s Champions League exit, as disappointing as it was, should have had a silver lining, in that they can now focus more on their domestic situation, whereas the other two still have massive European ties to compete in.  However, far from fighting back with defiance in their encounter with Blackburn at Ewood Park, the Blues looked decidedly lacklustre, and once they had taken the lead, appeared to treat the match like some sort of kick about.  The inevitable outcome, an equaliser for the home team, was the very least Chelsea’s performance deserved, and in fact they were a touch lucky to emerge with any points, since from that moment onwards Blackburn seemed to believe their luck was in, and came close several times towards the end. 

As of the final whistle in that match, Chelsea’s destiny looks a little less rosy-hued.  All they had to do was beat Blackburn; a far from impossible task, and they would have been in the driving seat, having only to match United’s form for the remainder of the season to ensure the title.  Now however, they face the unenviable prospect of having to win at Old Trafford to reclaim the crown. 
 
United under Alex Ferguson possess an admirable capacity to wage war on many fronts.  For this reason, their continued Champions League campaign is unlikely to have any bearing on their ability to retain the title.  With Wayne Rooney in red-hot form, they will always posses a goal threat, and possibly their only weakness is their injury-ravaged defence.  They are however, sufficiently experienced, composed and durable to cope with almost anything that comes their way, and with this in mind, Chelsea cannot be relishing the run-in. 

The Blues will however, take great confidence from the two crushing victories against Portsmouth and Aston Villa.  Chelsea are not renowned for being so free-scoring, but perhaps those two results will inject the belief that they can take all three points at the ‘Theatre of Dreams.’

Meanwhile, since they were written off following a series of poor results, Arsenal have, almost unnoticed, strung together a decent run which has seen them back into the race.  The Gunners are nothing if not resilient, a fact myself, amongst others, overlooked when we professed the title a two horse race. They will be watching with more than a little interest as their rivals do battle this weekend.

Mike Dicker