Forget Liverpool and the dull title race, the Premier League's underdogs are delivering football at its unpredictable best

As Liverpool face the prospect of being able to ease off in the title race, like Usain Bolt at his devastatingly dominant best, jogging towards the finish line with a triumphant glance at their vanquished rivals, there are those who already want to dismiss this as a poor Premier League campaign.

That is true if you want a title race that lives up to the name. Liverpool have been so dominant it is starting to look easy, but I do not think you will hear anyone associated with them moaning about that. Far from it. To win the title after three decades of trying in such magnificent fashion, it almost makes the wait worthwhile.

Champions of Europe, World Club champions and finally, after so many near misses, soul searching and changes in direction, this season will go down as one of the greatest in Liverpool’s long, trophy-laden history.

There will be some on Merseyside who wince reading that and not just Everton fans. The race is not over until you cross the finish line, but Liverpool could hop on one leg from here and still get over it first.

If I’ve jinxed it, well, I’m not a Liverpool fan, so…  I’ve grown up surrounded by Liverpool fans – and no I’m not from Liverpool. I’ve listened to close friends moaning and excusing and complaining, then moaning and excusing and complaining some more for 30 years, while still winning two European Cups and countless other pieces of silverware.

I’ve quite enjoyed listening at times, mainly because in the years before that all I can remember them doing is celebrating and rejoicing and mocking.

So, if I’ve jinxed it, I’m afraid that is all the rest of English football has left, some flimsy faith in superstition that might deny you this fully deserved, most glorious of campaigns.

And, you know what, if you don’t enjoy watching this Liverpool team play, then you know nothing about football and are so biased, you would probably think your child’s year three art project is better than some of Pablo Picasso’s  finest work.

So, no, this has not been a bad season in terms of who wins the league, because Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool deserve to be regarded as one of the best we have seen.

What people really mean when they say this has been a bad Premier League season is that the other big clubs have underwhelmed. Manchester City, so amazing, so brilliant for the last two years, have slipped back a little under Pep Guardiola. Chelsea have a had a good season, but nothing spectacular under Frank Lampard. They have lost eight league games this season

Manchester United, well, they are the new Liverpool, a club caught constantly harking back to the golden years while struggling to understand what is happening in the present and fearful of what might happen in future.

Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer looks like a man who is drowning,but as he thrashes around wildly, arms in the air, shouting to make himself heard, rather than help coming from the shore, all he gets are waves.

A confused, befuddled football club, this is just another underwhelming season for them which should worry everyone at Old Trafford. At this moment in time, you cannot see United winning another league title for, well, maybe 30 years.

As for Arsenal, an average season for a club with the stench of mediocrity, while Tottenham, having over-achieved in the budget compared to success stakes under Mauricio Pochettino, it looks like reaching the Champions League final was where they peaked, despite the arrival of Jose Mourinho.

It is only when you isolate the supposed Big Six that you can see why people have dismissed this as a bad season. Five of them have either not lived up to expectations or have continued to decline. The clubs that attract the most coverage and have the largest armchair fan followings, have had bad seasons.

But that should not detract from those who are excelling, defying the odds and punching above their weight. Leicester City are doing fantastically well under Brendan Rodgers and have every chance of playing in the Champions League again next season. Football success, built on the training pitch, not with bank balance power.

At Wolverhampton Wanderers, it has been another wonderous season, the thrill of a European campaign in the Europa League skilfully combined with another fine domestic campaign which should ensure more European football next season too.

As for Sheffield United, this is up there with the very best in their history. Unquestionably the best story in English football, they have been a joy to behold and Chris Wilder should be named manager of the year ahead of Klopp for the sensational work he has done there.

At Southampton, it has been a campaign to remember. Thrashed 9-0 at home by Leicester in October, in the bottom three for much of the season, they have rallied superbly and have stormed up the table under manager Ralph Hasenhuttl. I don’t think anyone on that particular part of the south coast will be talking about this being a dull season.

Even at Newcastle United, where everybody expected there to be turmoil and crisis following the acrimonious departure of Rafa Benitez, there has been something very different under his replacement Steve Bruce.

A team that refuses to be defined by its limitations, that never gives up and is finding a way to collect points in the most dramatic of circumstances. More will be needed in the future, but for a set of supporters that demands a team that cares about the shirt as much as they do, this has been strangely satisfying.

Newcastle and Burnley are only four points off sixth. Consider too, that below them, the teams in the relegation quicksand are clawing and scratching at each other in a no-holds barred fight to the death.

If you include Burnley and Newcastle, who are on 30 points, there are eight teams who could still go down.

That is not predictable or boring, it’s exciting. The wrong sort of excitement, perhaps, but the league is tight.

More importantly, all the teams are capable of taking points off everyone other than Liverpool, which suggests the Premier League is back to its unpredictable, competitive best. Some of us rather like that.