IS THE TITLE A TWO HORSE RACE?

Chelsea looked unbeatable just over a week ago but with losses to Blackburn Rovers and Manchester City and a poor display in the Champions League against APOEL Nicosia, the Blues are reeling. I doubt that anyone is calling for panic stations but it certainly will come as a wake up call.

Chelsea’s main title challengers are floundering. Liverpool are far from their best and slipping further and further off the pace while Manchester United have a defensive crisis with Vidic and Evra the only two fit and available recognised defenders. Carrick and Fletcher have been doing a decent job, but they have hardly had to deal with the toughest of attacking talent. Manchester City, despite victory over Chelsea are not really a force to be reckoned with. I think they could disrupt someone’s party as they have ‘big team’ beating potential, but their inability to put small teams away could prove their downfall. Liverpool should have won the league last year. The main reason Manchester United were able to catch, pass and pull away was because they drew too many games.

Chelsea are playing brilliant football and have left many teams licking their wounds after handing them a pounding. Manchester United on the other hand have failed to be convincing. In fact, most of their good performances recently have been single half performances. United have gone into the break level or even trailing opposition and have managed to come out firing in the second half. This ability however, is what separates champions, from pretenders. It’s what Manchester neighbours, City have not been able to do. Liverpool, with a fit Torres and Gerrard and the rest of the side firing on all cylinders, are an incredibly hard team to beat – maybe even champion material – but their inability to squeeze out points even when not playing their best is what has enabled United to claim three successive crowns.

Chelsea must surely still be hot favourites to win the league and possibly even the Champions League. Losing Drogba and Essien to the African Cup of Nations will be a huge blow to them. The question is how big a blow will it prove to be? Chelsea do not lean on Drogba and Essien as much as Liverpool do on Torres and Gerrard, but the reaction of Ancelloti to news that Essien may be out injured until January, shows just how valuable they are to the Blues’ chances of success.

There is still a long way to go though. Looking at the top two teams, what strikes me the most are the squads. Manchester United, for the first time in a while, lack stars. The loss of Ronaldo wasn’t the end of United but the lack of a replacement could prove detrimental to title aspirations. United have a solid squad, not a brilliant one, not the perfect one, but certainly not a weak one either. I don’t think it is a Champions League winning squad however.

Chelsea will lose their African stars, and although January’s fixture list has been kind to Chelsea, they will be hoping for limited damage before the New Year. It could also be their last opportunity to buy for a while, so we can expect some big names and some young guns to arrive at Stamford bridge. Chelsea’s squad on paper is better than United’s. They have more ‘big names’ than the Reds. ‘Big names’ however don’t win you anything as we know, but with a brilliant coach and overbearing owner Chelsea have the ingredients needed to go all the way. The only question is, can they take the heat?