What's Happening to the Big 3

The title race gets blown open every single week. This season has been throwing up some seriously questionable results that have managers, pundits and fans alike scratching their heads and staring open mouthed at the television.

This weekend the spotlight was on Chelsea and Arsenal. The Gunners threw away a 2-0 home lead against their hated rivals Tottenham, going on to lose 3-2. And Chelsea saw their team barrage Ben Foster’s goal with an incredible 25 shots, only for Lee Bowyer to tuck away Birmingham’s only attempt of the game.

And last week was no different, Chelsea again making the headlines after taking a 3-0 pounding at home to Sunderland, in a run which has seen them lose 3 of their last 4 games. Man United also had to answer some serious questions about their performance after they salvaged a 2-2 draw away at Aston Villa, who had taken a 2-0 lead. Man United have now dropped 12 points away from home.

So what is happening with the Big 3? Last season’s title race was close at the latter stages with Arsenal making a late push and Man U and Chelsea constantly missing opportunities to take a significant point lead. And this theme seems to be continuing this year.

All three teams have made positive additions to their squads in the transfer window with Hernandez, Chamakh and Ramires, the biggest name signings, all performing well in the league.

But it seems that injuries to key players are taking their toll on the teams. Arsenal have, until recently, been without captain Cesc Fabregas and Holland international striker Van Persie, while Thomas Vermaelen, Abou Diaby and keeper Almunia still sidelined.

Man United and Chelsea too have a busy physio room with Star players like Rooney, Valencia, Lampard and Terry all missing from recent starting 11’s. And when you take into consideration the importance of these players it becomes clear why the teams are missing them.

Wayne Rooney has been the centre of some very unwanted attention after problems with his private life, a poor world cup performance and some, ahem, interesting contract negotiations, but he scored a formidable 26 league goals last season and United have clearly missed him.

Similarly Frank Lampard had a poor World Cup but was pivotal for Chelsea last season contributing 22 goals and 17 assists from the midfield. Couple this with the loss of their influential captain John Terry and any team would struggle.

The worry for these teams is that while they’re dropping points and failing to win what should be easy games, teams like Tottenham, Manchester City and, dare I say it, Bolton are sitting just 6 points off the top and licking their lips.

Spurs are taking plaudits for some fantastic wins in both the Premiership and the Champions League with players like Gareth Bale and Van Der Vaart are looking absolute class. Meanwhile the mega-spending Man City have a team flooded with top level talent and experience.

Maybe this year is the year that the Chelsea/United stranglehold on the title is loosened, or maybe it’s the year we see a brand new team of Premiership winner’s altogether.

One thing’s for certain though; it’s coming up to Christmas and everything’s still to play for.

By Joe Sharpe