NICK FEINBERG: TITLE RACE IS WELL AND TRULY ALIVE

HELLO my good football people, I trust you’re doing well! Man, I couldn’t be any better from a footballing perspective, what a mad weekend!

I know it’s cliche, but this is why the world loves the Premier League. The drama of it all. I mean last week Arsenal should have been nine points clear at the top of the standings and cruising with Manchester City and Aston Villa both losing.

Today there are just four points separating the top three and it feels like it’s all on again. I guess the hope for all of us who can’t stand Arsenal is that Pep Guardiola and City will feel they have another chance to get their f*****g s**t together and serve up a decent title challenge.

Their 2-0 win against Wolves on Saturday was expected at the very least and Antoine Semenyo scored another quality goal, but will they follow that up with another inconsistent performance?

You just can’t tell. It’s hard to put your finger on what is missing, but there shouldn’t be any reason (like they’ve done so many times) that in the last third of the season, they drop a gear, engage into auto-drive and spin seven or eight wins on the trot to really put the pressure on.

With Spurs, Newcastle and Liverpool in their next three league games, a winning streak doesn’t look a certainty, but I still have hope that they’ll do what they do best, creep up and take over. Well, that’s my hope.

Odds are that the Gunners will still go on and win the title. In the league, Mikel Arteta’s team have Leeds and Sunderland next, in-between that, a semi-final second leg against Chelsea in the League Cup, before Brentford, a fourth round FA Cup tie against Wigan, then Tottenham, Chelsea and Brighton.

On the face of it, it’s not a bad set of fixtures, but of course right now they’ll be feeling knocked. Could a home loss against Manchester United be the start of another choke?

I’ll be surprised if they don’t fire back on Saturday with a big win after a second-string team take on Kairat in the Champions League at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday.

I still don’t think Unai Emery’s Villa will last the distance, but they do have a really strong, deep squad of hard working, solid players.

Despite a really good performance against the Geordies, I’m just not feeling the quality is quite there to push for a proper title challenge. I hope I’m wrong and they provide even more pressure at the top.

Meanwhile, the drama that is the Premier League has been as evident just below the top three, as a miracle has started manifesting itself at Old Trafford.

Man, can you imagine what Ruben Amorim is feeling right now. Watching some ex-United player (okay, Michael Carrick) with minimal experience, guiding the Red Devils to two unexpected massive wins on the trot?

So there it is… After all the debates, the proof is there for all to see. Amorim didn’t have the squad behind him, they didn’t believe in him, they didn’t play for him… look at the same squad of players over the last two weeks. It’s absolute chalk and cheese.

A similar story is rolling out in west London. Look, we (Chelsea fans) all have issues with the new owners. But why should that mean not getting behind the coach and team?

These post-Roman Abramovich plastic fans, moaning all the time, slating the coach (he has been in the role for just three weeks and won four out of five games). Like what the f**k is wrong with them? I have to say it, along with Gooners, this bunch of so-and-so’s need to get out of the club.

Another pathetic protest on Fulham Road last week, with 45 000 fans in attendance for the game, saw about 70 nerds holding placards and letting off blue smoke.

I’ve been more intimidated at a Spur birthday party. Can you imagine the owners, who run a fund billions of dollars looking at the footage? It’s actually counterproductive. I hate this breed of new fan.

Anyyyyyway, the Champions League is back on Wednesday, before week 24 of the Premier League! Sorry, did anyone mention Arne Slot?

Take care ya’ll, chat next week…

Bye bye