With over half the season now behind us, just what has last weekend’s match-ups told us about how the final half of the season may shape up?

1. The only way to beat Manchester City at the Etihad is to score at least 3 times

Is there a better strike force than City’s in world football at the moment? After becoming the first Premier League side to reach 100 goals before the end of January (the majority of which coming at home) by beating Cardiff 4-2 on Saturday, the 2012 champions seem immune to the defence tactics deployed by almost any of their Premier League counterparts. As stupid as it sounds, the only way to beat Manuel Pellegrini’s side is to outscore them. However when you consider that City’s last 5 home matches have yielded a total of 18 goals and only Crystal Palace have stopped them scoring more than once at home, the idea of a club playing every striker one their books at once seems slightly more feasible. Its simple; City will score eventually. And the only thing that is going to stop them winning the league this season is either their questionable away performances, or teams that go to the Etihad and attack from the off (hopefully notching at least four goals on the way).

2. Arsenal will be right up there come May

Despite many continuing to write-off the Gunners as potential winners of this season’s league title, the facts are there for all to see – after 22 games, the North London club are top of the pile. There’s no question that they may not have the strength in depth that Manchester City or Chelsea have, but what they do have is a starting eleven that could match any team in Europe. The question now is: Can they stay injury-free for the rest of the season, or will Arsene Wenger be forced to add to his squad before the Janaury window closes in 11 days time? If they do both there’s no reason why Arsenal can’t go all the way this season, although failing to do either could see them slip away from their title rivals in weeks to come.

3. Manchester United must act quick if they are to make the top 4 this season

After another somewhat embarrassing result against Chelsea on Sunday, Untied are in serious danger of failing to make the top 4 this season and missing out on Champions League football for the first time since the 1995-96 season. Moyes’ side are enduring one of their worst Premier League campaigns ever, and despite the imminent return of both Robin Van Persie and Wayne Rooney to bolster their attack, an uncharacteristically leaky defence has them languishing in 7th place – 14 points behind leaders Arsenal. Moyes has made no secret of his desperation to bring in new recruits, and should he harbour any ambition of a top 4 finish will need to act quickly to bring 2/3 world-class players into a depleted United squad. Whilst talk of Leighton Baines and Ross Barkley has failed to materialise, the United boss will no doubt be relying on the advice of his scouts to add the much needed spark to the midfield and enforcer to the defence. This is a big window for the Manchester club and failure to recruit the right players could have huge knock-on effects. Losing out on Champions League football could cause a mass exodus at Old Trafford this summer as well as an inability to attract the big names that were once so easily drawn to the club. Whilst Moyes may feel he has time on his side, the shadow of Sir Alex Ferguson still looms large at Old Trafford and failure to improve on the current state of affairs will certainly have Fergie ‘checking his watch’.

4. Mourinho has Chelsea playing like champions, but not well.

Keeping pace with City and Arsenal, Jose Mourinho has unquestionably re-installed the winning mentality that the blues have lacked since his first spell in charge. However despite amassing a total of 49 points (just 2 off the lead) Chelsea have found themselves failing to exert the ‘sexy’ football that Premier League rivals Arsenal and Manchester City have shown so far this term, and as evident in Sunday’s game against Manchester United, have won games due to a resolute defence rather than a potent attack. Chelsea’s ability to counter-attack is second to none, and the centre defensive partnership of Gary Cahill and John Terry is the second best in the division. Despite this, only 11 out of 43 goals have come from Chelsea’s three strikers, which begs the question – where would Chelsea be with a Suarez or Falcao in the team? Mourinho has remained firm on his stance to stick with his current attacking options, though with the window coming to a close and Fernando Torres ruled out for ‘weeks’ after picking up an injury against Untied, he may be forced to add firepower to his title chasing side. The key to Chelsea’s success this season will boil down to the masterful thinking of Mourinho, he’s been there, done it, and lifted the trophy, and the inability of his team to get out of second gear will only strike fear in to fellow title contenders.

5. This year’s relegation battle is shaping up to be one of the most exciting for a long time

The entertainment doesn’t stop at the top of the Premier League table you know, oh no. With the bottom three teams level on points and only a further 4 points separating 17th and 11th, this year’s relegation dogfight is shaping up rather nicely (unless you support one of the teams involved of course). With Crystal Palace and Sunderland seemingly on the up after a change in managerial personnel and some impressive performances, some of last seasons high-fliers such as West Ham and Swansea have now been dragged into a relegation battle which has seen its fair share of twists and turns already this season. Despite recording impressive wins over some of the league’s ‘big boys’ Cardiff have not only found themselves in the headlines because of their bonkers owner Vincent Tan, but now also sit rooted to the bottom of the table without a win since December 2013. Fulham also find themselves in danger after another defeat at the hands of Arsenal, and will be looking to talisman Dimitar Berbatov to steer them away from the drop zone (they’ll need to keep him first though). The neutral is definitely in for a treat with these teams scrapping it out over the next few months, and each team’s safety will be no doubt down to their ability to take points off of their fellow relegation candidates. I think this one will go right to the wire, with a final day eclipsing the excitement that many of us witnessed in the 2004/05 season when West Brom completed the ‘great escape’ after a dramatic final day home victory over Portsmouth.

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