After shock defeats for Man Utd and Chelsea, Liverpool’s thumping win over Aston Villa has left the title race wide open.
Manchester United, who could have been 10 points clear of Liverpool if they had beaten them last weekend, could find themselves in second place in the table when the Premier League resumes in two weeks’ time.
An astonishing weekend of upset results that saw United lose 2-0 at Fulham, Chelsea go down 1-0 at Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool crush Aston Villa 5-0 blew the title race wide open again with Manchester United’s seemingly rock-solid grip on the championship trophy prised apart.
United lead the table with 65 points from their 29 matches — one point more than Liverpool who have 64 and have played one more match. Chelsea are third on 61 points from 30 matches, with Arsenal fourth, a further six points behind.
But despite their position at the top and their renowned steeliness when the chips are down, United will be wary of buckling under the pressure being exerted by Liverpool. Alex Ferguson, whose men are in the hunt for five trophies but who have now lost successive league games for the first time for nearly five years, seemed alarmed by their display at Fulham.
United were abject in the first half and had an afternoon to forget as Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney were both red carded. Rooney, Scholes and Nemanja Vidic, who was sent off in 4-1 defeat to Liverpool will all be suspended when United resume the title race against Aston Villa on April 5.
If Villa prevent United winning when they meet at Old Trafford after the international break and Liverpool beat Fulham at Craven Cottage on the same weekend, Liverpool will be top for the first time since mid-January.
While Ferguson looked concerned, Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez was pleased with his team’s performance — even though he said they could have done ever better.
Barca maul MalagaMeanwhile, Samuel Eto’o and Zlatan Ibrahimovic took their combined goals tally to 42 on Sunday to spectacularly boost their sale value if Barcelona and Inter Milan decide to cash in their prize assets in the
summer. Cameroon international Eto’o scored twice as Barcelona crushed Malaga 6-0 to restore their six-point lead in Spain and take his league goals to 25. Swedish striker Ibrahimovic also grabbed a brace, to take his personal goals collection to 17, as Inter Milan went seven points clear in Italy with a 3-0 over Reggina.
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