Chelsea thrashed, United closing in, Liverpool faultering. It's all getting very interesting.

It was nothing short of a demonstration by the champions at Old Trafford on Sunday 12th January. I was expecting a tight encounter where both teams brought their "A game" but instead it was a lacklustre Chelsea who were turned over by the rampaging United.


The first 45 minutes saw United take the initiative but Chelsea looked like they were slowly getting into their stride. A Namanja Vidic goal just before the interval proved to be the decisive blow Alex Ferguson's men needed. Chelsea came out second half a deflated and disjointed team and Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov capitalised on a poor defensive display and sunk the London side.

It seems Chelsea were waiting for something to happen in and around the danger zone at Old Trafford but by the time one of the players tried to make a break through there were reds shirts everywhere to stamp out the threat. A usually impressive Joe Cole was almost invisible bar some good tracking back. Frank Lampard appeared to be fairly isolated and Didier Drogba had nothing in terms of service.

If Chelsea win the title this season it will be because Manchester United went on holiday and didn't play the rest of their fixtures. Liverpool will once again bottle it like they did on the weekend being held to a draw at the Britannia after a Rafael Benitez rant on the Friday before the game.

That leaves Arsenal who picked up a good win on the weekend but consistency is the key. Aston Villa are like an annoying smell, you don't know where it's coming from but it won't go away. However in my opinion they won't be there when the dust has settled. The Gunners didn't miss the man in the middle Cesc Fabregas on Saturday but I don't think for one minute life is going to be that easy for the rest of the season. Hopefully we will be able to keep Manchester City's dirty hands off Andrei Arshavin and add some new blood to the squad.


One thing is for sure though, it is far from over yet. Liverpool will be second before they know it and it will then be up to Arsenal to keep the pressure on the four above them. A top four finish this season is vital otherwise it will go down as a bad season. Maybe the odds for who will take the title will change if a certain Russian makes his way into the red side of North London.