Premier League weekend review: title race back on

Was this the weekend that the momentum in the Premier League title race shifted? A combination of Liverpool’s hard-fought 3-1 win at home over Norwich, and Manchester City’s shock 3-2 defeat against Tottenham has reduced the gap at the top of the standings to just six points – and the Reds have a game in hand.

Shifting odds

The odds have, unsurprisingly, shifted following the events of Saturday. City remain the hot favourites for the title, having rarely shown much hint of weakness, but have drifted to 1.29. On the other hand, Liverpool have been cut to 4.3.

Chelsea struggled past Crystal Palace, but already look destined to finish third and are considered 150 shots for the title. Given their ongoing disappointing performances and their complete inability to profit from Romelu Lukaku, who infamously only had seven touches at the weekend, there remains little argument against this. 

Fab fourth

It is the race for the top four that promises the most excitement in the weeks ahead. Tottenham have suddenly gathered a tremendous amount of momentum thanks to their weekend win at the Etihad, in which they were inspired by Harry Kane’s double. With no midweek European competition to distract them, the odds of 3.65 on Antonio Conte’s side look promising. 

Arsenal, meanwhile, are the favourites to secure fourth on 2.4, though at 2.66 Manchester United arguably represent better value. They were a great deal more exciting against Leeds in a 4-2 Sunday victory than they have often been so far under Ralf Rangnick, though it would be hasty to read too much into that performance given the feebleness of their opponents against the Premier League’s leading clubs.

West Ham, meanwhile, are 18.5, despite currently lying fifth. Their ongoing downward trend continued on Saturday as they were held by Newcastle.

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has seen his side ease away from relegation danger with 12 points from seven games

Relegation dogfight intense

The other issue to catch light in recent weeks is that of the relegation battle.

Newcastle have shown excellent form in recent weeks and it appears that the impetus given to them by the January transfer window will provide Eddie Howe’s side with enough to avoid the bottom three. Although they saw their three-game winning streak ended at the weekend, they were the better team in a 1-1 draw with West Ham. They are now on offer at 5.4 to go down. On current form, this looks unlikely. 

Meanwhile, fans of Leeds and Everton hold very real fears their teams could be dragged into trouble and neither set of supporters will have seen much at the weekend to allay those worries. At 4.7 there is increasing interest in Marcelo Bielsa’s side, while a 2-0 loss to Southampton has seen Everton’s price cut to 5.8.

Certainly, with Burnley finding some form in beating Brighton 3-0 and Watford clinging on thanks to a shock win over Aston Villa, these teams have every reason to be jittery. Both have seen their odds of going down drop, although at 1.77 and 1.37, they remain heavy favourites to go down.