The Premier League title is Manchester City’s to lose

Each week, ‘In On Goal’ co-hosts Colin Murray and Dion Dublin give your their expert reaction and analysis from the weekend’s Premier League football. Don’t forget to tune into ‘In On Goal’ every Friday for your weekly football fix with previews and predictions of the weekend’s Premier League action.

After a series of consistently brilliant results and performances, we can’t anyone preventing Manchester City marching towards the Premier League title in their current form.

We all know it’s a long season and much can happen over the cold winter months with a congested fixture list, but are Manchester City really going to squander an 8 point advantage? Especially when that 8 point advantage could easily become 9,10, 11 points or more if Jose’s men drop points.

Even Arsene Wenger has described Pep Guardiola’s side as being on another planet this season, while Antonio Conte knows that the defence of Chelsea’s title is all but over.

The only chink in Manchester City’s sky blue armour was the injury to John Stones, who’s been playing so well recently. That, coupled with Vincent Kompany’s rustiness means that they’ve lost a key player, but they are so strong in all departments, that I doubt Noel Gallagher will be having any sleepless nights anytime soon.

Kompany should have seen red for bringing down Jamie Vardy at Leicester this weekend, and the decision could have brought a different complexion to the game. but the likes of De Bruyne and Sane are just unstoppable at the moment. The strength in depth that they have and the pace throughout the team is scary, so even an injury to John Stones won’t stop them marching on at the top.

Manchester United’s big budget striker, Romelu Lukaku, finally got back on the score sheet with his first goal since September and ended his recent goal draught.

However, United’s comfortable win over Newcastle owed more to the return of Lukaku’s best mate Paul Pogba, who was back from injury and also scored on his return. It’s a result that United needed to somehow keep pace with their City rivals, although in the case, keeping pace means keeping the gap to just 8 points!

Over in the Chelsea camp, Eden Hazard was sublime on Saturday with a man of the match performance at the Hawthorns. Granted, West Brom were very poor defensively, but Hazard reminded us all of what a great player he is and why he will always be of interest to Chelsea’s rivals in this country and beyond.

For Chelsea and Antonio Conte, who’s strongly linked with being the next manager of his national team, the result kept them right in the mix in the most interesting battle in the league this season, if things at the top continue in the same vein.

The race for second place looks like being a fascinating contest, with Tottenham being the only side in the top six not to take all 3 points this weekend. That result saw Tottenham and Chelsea swap places, and also reinstalled some belief for the Arsenal fans who saw some fight and pride from their side at last. They were deserving winners over Pochettino’s Harry Kane team.

We talk about the top six and the battle for this season’s silver medal, but we really need to be talking about the top seven, seeing as Burnley deservedly sit just outside the top six on 22 points, separated only by goal difference from Arsenal and Liverpool. Sean Dyche continues to impress, and his side continue to pick up points to keep pace with the big boys, so it’s no wonder that his name has been linked with the vacant manager’s job at Everton. Dyche insists that no approach has been made from Goodison Park and that the media need to move on.

The bookies have slashed the odds on Watford’s Marco Silva being the next boss at Everton and his press conference ahead of this weekend’s match against West Ham did nothing to instil confidence for the agitated hornets.

Silva was extremely non committal about his long term future at Vicarage Road, leading most observers to read that he’s more than a little interested in the Everton job and wants to speak to Moshiri and Kenwright at the earliest opportunity.

With no release clause in his contract, and having overseen just 12 games for Watford this season, any move will be a messy and acrimonious one, but the bookies seldom get it wrong, and will expect to see him installed as Ronald Koeman and David Unsworth’s long term successor within the next fortnight.

Don’t forget to tune into ‘In On Goal’ every Friday for your weekly football fix with previews and predictions of the weekend’s Premier League action.