Man City title retention hopes flounder as Spurs top four bid flourishes
Published:Now in to 1/20 for the title, Manchester United have the Premier League within their grasp before kicking a ball this weekend.
Out to 10/1, Manchester City suffered a crushing 3-1 defeat away to Southampton, who did their survival chances no harm at all under new manager Mauro Pochettino.
The disjointed nature of City’s performance will have been almost as disappointing to their fans as the result, as their Premier League defence now appears ready to fizzle out with a whimper.
Elsewhere in the Premier League, Tottenham kicked off the day by bolstering their Champions League ambitions, with a 2-1 win at home to improving Newcastle.
Gareth Bale was once again in sensational form, notching a brace either side of Yoann Gouffran’s strike to keep his side a point behind third-place Chelsea.
And the Blues maintained that single point advantage by means of a comfortable 4-1 triumph over Wigan at Stamford Bridge.
Frank Lampard was amongst the scorers for the European champions, who are reportedly finally coming around to the idea of extending the 34-year-old’s contract.
It was a sour weekend for Chelsea’s local rivals QPR though, who lost by the same scoreline the Blues won by, away to an impressive Swansea outfit.
Michu hit the 14th and 15th goals of an astonishing debut Premier League campaign in the game, leaving the Rs six points adrift of safety at the foot of the table.
Arsenal showed determination to hold out for a 1-0 win away to Sunderland meanwhile, in a game where Bacary Sagna excelled as an emergency centre-half.
Santi Cazorla’s first-half effort was enough to push the Gunners up to fifth, past Everton, whose game in hand is a testing tie at Old Trafford.
A bore draw emanated from Carrow Road, where neither Norwich nor Fulham could break the deadlock in a battle of mid-table mediocrity.
On 29 points each, neither side’s safety is guaranteed, and even though a relegation scrap looks a far-fetched scenario for the pair, they would have welcomed the collapse of Reading’s good form.
Stoke became the first side in six to beat Brian McDermott’s men, emerging 2-1 triumphants through goals from Robert Huth and Cameron Jerome at the Britannia Stadium.
The travelling Royals remain two points clear of the drop zone, however.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
