Chelsea’s resilience, Liverpool’s triumph and Arsenal’s brilliance

AWAY from home and at the Etihad, one would expect Chelsea to fold like they did at Anfield,

but somehow, Mauricio Pochettino’s men came to play and threw a spanner in the title race.

Chelsea emerged from the Etihad with one point, much to the joy of both Liverpool and Arsenal fans. Manchester City had all the possession but wasted them in front of the goal, with Erling Haaland as the prime culprit. Defensively solid, Chelsea took the lead from a counter-attack, with former City superstar Raheem Sterling scoring the opening goal. Sterling somehow always gets the best of Kyle Walker in this fixture. Sterling tormented Walker at Stamford Bridge, and he repeated this at the Etihad.

This result is a minor setback for Pep Guardiola’s men. With City having a game in hand, the team will probably go back to the drawing board, bounce back with a midweek game, and go on an 11-game undefeated run to clinch the title.

Even though they are currently third in the standings, City are still favourites to win their fourth title in a row.

For the trivia lovers out there, did you know that Juergen Klopp has never recorded a victory in

the league at Brentford? But for the first time since 1938, Liverpool got a comprehensive result with a 4-1 win.

While the win might be sweet, the injuries to Curtis Jones, Diogo Jota, and Darwin Nunez marred it. Liverpool fans will probably sweat on the fitness of these players since the League Cup final is next Sunday.

Nunez never makes it easy in his performance. The fact is, Nunez does not score easy goals;

the harder it is, the easier it is for him to score. A tap-in is not for Nunez, and it showed in the opening goal.

Jota’s spatial awareness and high football IQ helped nudge the ball to Nunez to finish exquisitely over Mark Flekken. Watch the goal; it was a peach! Liverpool will hope to sustain this run and now need to match City’s result if they would like to give Klopp a memorable farewell.

Eleven goals in two away games. The most scintillating team right now, and you can throw the chants of “boring-boring Arsenal” or “one nil to the Arsenal” out the window because this

Arsenal team are on fire and are the great entertainers in the league!

The Gunners won 5-0 away from home and leapfrogged City in the standings. Bukayo Saka was the star of the show with two goals, but credit had to be given to Martin Odegaard; another masterclass performance in playmaking to keep the team going! Odegaard’s vision and awareness of his teammates were a thing of beauty! Watch the clip if you miss the good old days of the art of playmaking!

While Aston Villa’s home form is currently suffering a dip, their away form is picking up the shortfall of the home form. Ollie Watkins was the player of the match with two goals. Villa have climbed over Tottenham Hotspur in the standings to fourth, a very much relieving win for Unai Emery.

It also helped to build the gap against Manchester United; another form team in the year 2024, but United are keeping close on Villa’s tail after another away win at Kenilworth Road.

Rasmus Hojlund broke another record in the league. The Dane is the youngest player in the Premier League era to embark on a six-game scoring streak.

With United players coming back from injuries, Erik Ten Hag has a settled first XI that sees them recording four wins in a row. The Red Devils still have trouble controlling games, but at the moment, results matter and Ten Hag’s boys are back in the race for fourth.

Both Arsenal and Liverpool fans hope that United can sustain this form for the big game against City in two weeks’ time.

Spurs could not find a way against a disciplined Wolves defence as Ange Postecoglou’s men suffered a setback in their quest for fourth with a 2-1 defeat. Joao Gomes got the two goals in the win, but the star of the show was Pedro Neto.

The Portuguese winger is a player to watch for the rest of the league as he recorded another assist this week. Neto now has nine assists to his name and is only obe behind the assist leaders in the table!

Bring on the next few weeks because the league has more twists and turns before March rolls out! Overall, it would be fantastic entertainment for us fans!