Ed Chamberlin: The race is on

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Presenter Ed Chamberlin looks ahead to an important Premier League weekend as well as Sprinter Sacre's return.


Manchester City v Arsenal.

Alexis Sanchez: Set to be analysed by Thierry Henry

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Alexis Sanchez: Set to be analysed by Thierry Henry

Barclays Premier League

The battle lines have now been drawn for the remainder of the season. The head to head between Chelsea and Manchester City for the title is on, as is the race to get in the top four and the desperate fight to avoid relegation.
Sky Bet title odds: Chelsea 4/9 Manchester City 9/4

City closed the eight point gap but now it's advantage Chelsea again. The champions have to hang in there with the game against Arsenal this weekend and then the big one at Stamford Bridge on Saturday Night Football on January 31. After that they have the fixtures to launch a charge.

The race for the Champions League is also hotting up.

A few weeks ago Manchester United and Arsenal looked nailed on. However, right now Liverpool are in much better form, Spurs looked good prior to their defeat at Palace, while Southampton's win at Old Trafford has really shaken things up.

In a season littered with poor defending it was healthy to see the Saints put in an outstanding defensive display against United in what Gary Neville described as a 'perfect away performance'.
Top four: Arsenal 4/9, Man Utd 4/9, Southampton 11/8

Ronald Koeman's side are back down to 11/8 to finish in the top four and the way they are defending will give them a chance in any game this season. They now have injuries to key players to deal with and it's crucial for them to hang in to Morgan Schneiderlin and Nathaniel Clyne this month.

Sunday's reverse had been coming for Manchester United.

As Glenn Hoddle said on the show, the Red Devils had been getting over the line in their 10-game unbeaten run without playing particularly well. That was borne out in the stats we discussed before the game:- in the four games over Christmas, United had struggled to unlock opposition defences with only Burnley, Everton, West Ham and Crystal Palace creating fewer than United’s total of 35 chances. That was despite averaging 61% possession

Again on Sunday they had more possession but a team whose starting eleven cost £274 million failed to register a single shot on target. That was the first time this had happened in a game at Old Trafford since May 2009. This time Southampton made them pay and in the process they blew the race for the top four wide open.

What a minefield the battle to avoid relegation is with only five points separating 12th and bottom. No team is trading shorter than 4/5 - which is extraordinary for mid-January - and eight teams are at 7/2 or less. Anything could happen.
Relegation: Burnley 4/5, QPR 4/5, Leicester 10/11, Hull 13/8

What a game we have to look forward to on Super Sunday: Manchester City v Arsenal.

The champions are firm favourites at 3/4 with Sky Bet, who have Arsenal at 3/1 and the draw a 13/5 chance. I'd love to think Arsenal could do what Southampton did at Old Trafford and put in a really strong defensive performance. Over the last few years they haven't been able to do so in the big games.

Their recent record against the top teams is poor. They have lost on four of the last six visits to the Etihad and their only win since February 2008 was 3-0 in October but City had Dedryck Boyata sent off that day after only five minutes.

Barclays Prem

1 Chelsea 49
2 Man City 47
3 So'ton 39
4 Man Utd 37
5 Arsenal 36
6 Tottenham 34

last updated 12/01 16:09

It's a very different Manchester City side now and the current one is in excellent form having taken 14 points from their last six games. They are unbeaten in their last 12 (W9, D3) – the longest current unbeaten sequence in Premier League.

Arsenal are in decent form too but they have consistently followed up impressive displays against the likes of Stoke by coming unstuck and overpowered by one of the big boys. Will it be any different against the champions on Sunday?

Midfield will be the key area yet again. Will Arsenal's defensive shield be able to cope with City's power and the brilliance of David Silva? Can Arsenal cut him off in those pockets of space he finds in front of the opposition back four?

Going forward Arsene Wenger is spoilt for choice. One guarantee is that Alexis Sanchez will start. Sanchez has been involved in more Premier League goals than any other player this season (19) – scoring 12 and assisting seven of Arsenal’s 37.

Last weekend Jamie Carragher described Sanchez as the 'complete player' and I'm really looking forward to asking Thierry Henry about him on Sunday. Sanchez is 2/1 to score Premier League goal number 13. If he finds the net twice Sanchez would become the first Arsenal player to score 20 goals in all competitions in his debut season at the club since a Henry himself scored 26 in 1999-00.