Chris Maduewesi
Member
None of the top four teams is giving any inkling whatsoever that they want to relinquish their positions on the English Premier League table, rather they are looking for a chink in the armour of each other to capitalise.
Last week's results gave testament of how keenly contested the league this year has been. Just a moment of complacency,and another team would just take your place .
And the manner the top four are just scrapping out results speak volumes of everybody's intent.
Only four points separates the top four and there are just eleven matches to the end of the season,yet you can't confidently stamp your chest and give a call of a clear favourite.
The tide could change and the wave stable for anybody who successfully navigates the remaining fixtures,but it could be stormy when you drop points.
As was evidently witnessed last week,barring Arsenal all the other top four teams laboured to victories in their games. Interestingly they were all home fixtures for them.
Liverpool,Chelsea and Manchester City all won by a hard fought victory which they scrapped by a one-goal margin.
Liverpool 4-3 Swansea, Chelsea 1-0 Everton, Manchester City 1-0 Stoke City; sums it up that it was never an easy ride for these teams.
The will now travel away and you have a sneaky feeling that batons could change hands this weekend.
Weekend Preview:
Of course this weekend's top game will be the Capital One Cup final between Manchester City and Sunderland. More akin to a David and Goliath analogy.
Being a cup final,a surprise could be in the offing. But it would be an epic fail of huge proportions should the "money-bags" from Manchester fail to lift the trophy.
Albeit last year's FA Cup finals rings loudly in our ears,when a Ben Watson's goal earned Wigan a shock triumph at Wembley.
City will be boosted with the return to fitness of Sergio Aguero,they have missed him and I am sure he as well,the other way round.
The Argentine has been the arrow-head in their free scoring form whenever he is on the pitch. If he plays,should be a handful for Sunderland.
But noteworthy is the fact that City have not always rode over Sunderland, well mainly at the Stadium of Light,which makes it an interesting contest to watch.
Adam Johnson could have an extra motivation facing his former side and it could be key for Gus Poyet's team how well he troubles City's rear guard.
On who's stronger,City have immense strength in depth but this is a cup final and there could just be an upset.
Nigerian Bulletin's prediction: Manchester City 3 - 2 Sunderland
BBC's Mark Lawrenson prediction: 2 - 0
Premiership games:
Chelsea,Arsenal and Liverpool are all away at Fulham,Stoke City and Southampton respectively.
Quite tricky fixtures that would give them a vivid image how rock solid they are in their title challenge.
Jose Mourinho takes his troop to Craven Cottage after an exerting trip to Istanbul where they drew 1-1 against Galatasaray in the UEFA Champions League.
Fulham on their part are fighting for their lives to still be in the Premier League,and Felix Magath would be hoping to make a good impression in his first home game since taking over from Rene Meulesteen.
Will it be a straightforward game from Chelsea? No way it won't . And with Mourinho complaining about his misfiring strikers and a timing of the fixtures,it could be another day that they would rely on their midfielders to bail them out.
It would be tough,but they should do just enough to get the job done like they did against Everton.
Meanwhile Arsenal travel to Stoke City to play at the Britannia Stadium,while Arsene Wenger's team detests playing there,their hosts relishes it.
If Arsenal genuinely have hopes of winning the title they must be ready to soil their hands for a win,and even smear their faces with mud because Stoke won't go down without fighting.
Good news for Arsenal though,Mesuit Ozil has been certified ready for this game but how he turns up against Stoke would be seen on the pitch.
Interesting to know that Nigerian player,Osaze Odemwingie seems to be enjoying his football once again,could be a torn in Arsenal's flesh.
With both Arsenal and Chelsea playing the same time at 15.00 GMT,none of them would go into their games feeling the pressure to capitalize on any slip-up.
They just have to go into their games needing to win to stay up there,because a failure could be detrimental.
Another game to keep an eye on is that of Southampton vs Liverpool.By all indications it should be a cracker,made more so by the unpredictability of Brendan Rodgers' defence. Would Liverpool still hang in there in the title chase at Saint Mary's?
Liverpool's attack seems to always bail them out,but their undoing could be how many their defence 'contrives' to let in.
Predictions: Nigerian Bulletin BBC's Mark Lawrenson
Fulham vs Chelsea 2-2 0-2
Stoke vs Arsenal 2-1 1-1
Southampton vs Liverpool 2-3 0-2
Manchester United woes:
It is a known fact that Manchester United are struggling but there are no imminent signs that it would soon abate.
There has been calls for the head of David Moyes,with the latest coming after the 2-0 defeat away to Olympiakos in the UEFA Champions League,where they were nothing short of shallow.
Respite for United will be that they won't be in the front burner so soon because their opponents Manchester City,will be playing the Capital One Cup on Sunday(it would have been a Manchester derby in the finals,if not for the disgraceful penalty shoot-outs against Sunderland in the semifinals)
But United would so much have loved to hit the ground running,to get a result that would assuage already flared nerves of the fans.
By and large,the next 11 days would finally unveil how United's season have panned out. How they navigate the fixtures would paint a clear picture of their dismal season by all standards.