Johnny Phillips: Settle in and get set for a thrilling race for glory

From week to week it seems a new favourite emerges. And – to use some equine racing parlance on Grand National day – as a genuine three-horse contest we could be in for the most exciting Premier League title finish in many a year.

Everything is resting on a handful of fixtures as the gruelling league season has turned into a sprint finish.

Liverpool’s 2-2 draw away at Manchester United last Sunday allowed Arsenal to get a nose in front, with their own 3-0 win at Brighton & Hove Albion taking them top on goal difference.

Manchester City look as relentless as ever, and that 4-2 win over Crystal Palace last Saturday lunchtime means they sit just one place and one point back. All three clubs have seven games to go.

With a home tie against Luton Town this afternoon, Pepe Guardiola’s side can lay down an early marker before Liverpool entertain Palace and Arsenal host Aston Villa tomorrow.

City’s run-in looks the more straight forward. Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United lie in wait from the top eight but otherwise it is an appealing set of games.

With clashes against mid-table sides like Wolves, Brighton and Fulham on the horizon and a trip to relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest, the likeliest issue will be fatigue.

City still have Champions’ League and FA Cup fixtures ahead so resources will be stretched. The side performed admirably against Real Madrid in midweek, with the absences of Kyle Walker and Kevin De Bruyne weakening the team.

For all three sides, fourth-placed Spurs are probably the most difficult test they have left to face.

That is especially true of City, with the North Londoners a recent bogey side for Guardiola.

With the game at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, Ange Postecoglou’s men are well capable of causing plenty of problems.

Liverpool were stunned by Atalanta on Thursday night and the three-goal deficit ahead of the second leg means it is unlikely they have more than one game left in Europe.

The Reds managed 28 shots against United at Old Trafford on Sunday but owing to a defensive slip and a moment of brilliance from Kobbie Mainoo they could only draw the game, with the result seeing them slip back down to second place.

A run of four away games in a row, starting in Bergamo, followed by trips to Fulham and derby rivals Everton, before ending in east London against David Moyes’ Hammers will be a decisive period for Jurgen Klopp’s title challenge in his final season at Anfield.

Fixtures against Spurs and Villa will also represent huge tests for the Reds.

Arsenal have progressed impressively since last season’s title challenge ebbed away in the closing weeks and Mikel Arteta’s side seem to be managing games well and have a solidity they lacked last time around, with their defence playing to consistently high standards every week.

The Gunners still have an interest in Europe after that exciting first leg against Bayern Munich in midweek. But unquestionably the most eye-catching Premier League game left for them is a trip to face north London rivals Tottenham.

Last season’s 2-0 win for Arteta’s side was their only victory in their last nine Premier League visits to N17.

So will Spurs be the kingmakers? Quite possibly, but more locally Wolves fans will also be wondering about their club’s role in the title race.

Like Spurs, Gary O’Neil’s side play all the three challengers and despite recent results suggesting that form is tailing off, the return of a couple of key injured players would make Wolves a dangerous prospect once more.

With Arsenal and Liverpool separated by goal difference alone there are echoes of the incredible denouement to the 1988/89 season when the pair met in a thrilling title decider in the last game of the season on a Friday night, a week after the FA Cup final had been won by Liverpool.

Michael Thomas’s last-minute goal has gone down in folklore and – despite Sergio Aguero’s added time goal in City’s win over QPR at the end of the 2011/12 title race – that Anfield moment remains the most dramatic finish ever to a season.

But with Manchester City just a point adrift, the fight at the top appears all that bit tougher in the 2023/24 edition.