Title Race Wide Open

Results in the space of a few hours has once again made the Premier League title a possibility for both Chelsea and Manchester City.

    Anfield staged the first of two games which have reduced Liverpool’s chance of making history this season. Liverpool looked favourites ahead of their clash with their rivals from the capital. Jose Mourinho, Chelsea manager forced into notable changes due to his sides upcoming Champions League semi-final 2^nd leg with Atletico Madrid.

Collective errors cost Liverpool causing both of Chelsea’s goals at the end of both halves. Liverpool are now not totally in control of their own destiny with Manchester City holding a game in hand, away to none other than the Red’s Merseyside rivals, Everton.

Red’s boss Brendan Rodgers stuck with the same side that secured a 3-2 victory at Norwich a week ago, his counterpart and former colleague Mourinho handed Demba Ba a start, Salah and Matic returned following their ineligibility in the recent European fixture. More surprisingly, Tomas Kalas was handed his Premier League debut, seen by many as a risk with the match holding such importance on the race for first place.

Spurred on by a full house, Liverpool started brightly but from the off Chelsea were hard to break down. The wall of Blue players kept tight throughout picking intelligent moments to attack rarely throwing too many into Liverpool’s half.

Chelsea frustrated the home fans and players alike, continuously running the clock down deliberately, delaying throw-ins and goal kicks etc. Referee Martin Atkinson raising his watch numerous times to Blue’s players demonstrating he was only going to add more time on, 7 minutes in total.

Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard made an uncharacteristic mistake resulting in Ba’s opening goal. The mistake probably unforgivable in the eyes of the fans if it was made by a less popular player. A slip deep in his own half upon receiving the ball allowed the Senegal international, Ba to run on uncontested a roll the ball under Simon Mingolet, just his 6^th league goal this season.

Over the course of the 2^nd, the home side spent long periods in the opponents half of the field in search for an equaliser. Constantly made to utilise wide players in the first half, Liverpool tried to instigate moves through the centre of the park yet, the minimal gap between Chelsea’s defence and midfield managed to cut out any hope of a goal.

Liverpool’s attacking players, known for flair and cohesion this season but today, figures including Allen, Sterling, Gerrard & Suarez seemed out of sync, lacking quality to break down Mourinho’s well-constructed, compact defence. Even Daniel Sturridge’s return from injury had no apparent effect and with little clear-cut chances, Chelsea secured a clean sheet. The inexperienced Kalas, a proverbial rock alongside Ivanovic.

Chelsea and Liverpool became a big rivalry since Jose Mourinho’s first stint in charge, this time he is the one with the bragging rights, stopping Liverpool in their tracks via mastermind tactics. The Portuguese running to away supporters, when Liverpool had pushed to high up in stoppage time and a quick counter contributed mainly by former Red, Fernando Torres saw Chelsea score a second as Torres found himself 1-on-1 with the keeper, unselfishly playing across to Willian to walk the ball in the net.

On the final whistle, the onus was on Manchester City. If they secured a win at Selhurst Park City would move 3 points from the summit. Opponents Crystal Palace have been tough to play against with manager Tony Pulis pulling them far away from the relegation zone since his arrival, but City secured a 2-0 victory courtesy of Edin Dzeko and Yaya Toure goals.

Results today have reopened the door for Chelsea and Manchester City to win the Premier League title despite Liverpool retaining top spot. Chelsea have what is arguably the easier run in, facing Norwich and Cardiff City in their final two games, the Barclays Premier League title is once again a 3 horse race and realistically any side can win it.

My personal prediction is Manchester City, already previously familiar with current situation. Despite a tough game at Goodison Park, they’ll use their title-winning experience to secure the trophy once more. Chelsea will tire over the next week being in the Champions League and today’s loss will hit Liverpool very hard.