Of course, you don’t need this SBOTOP writer to tell you that.
Nor do you need to study the Premier League betting odds or the league table to know just how much is at stake over the next few weeks.
That is because there is always plenty to talk about where the Premier League is concerned.
Ever since it was formed 31 years ago, the top flight of English football has provided stories and headlines few other sporting contests – or even non-sorting contests – can compete with.
So, where shall we start this week?
Well, how about with the incident – and I use that term in the loosest sense of the word – which occurred at half-time in the match between Liverpool and table toppers Arsenal on Sunday.
The assistant referee Constantine Hatzidakis has been stood down while an investigation takes place after it was suggested he elbowed Liverpool defender Andy Robertson.
He didn’t!
As the chief executive officer of Ref Support UK, told BBC Sport: ‘We should never advocate violence or match officials hitting anyone but it genuinely looks like Andy Robertson grabs him and Con pushes him to get off.’
And that is the case m’Lord.
Surely, anyone watching television evidence can see that but no, there is a drawn-out process which has seen the assistant stood down from officiating this weekend.
Former Manchester United skipper Roy Keane said after the match that Robertson acted like a ‘big baby’ and it’s hard to disagree.
By making a big issue out of this, once again the spotlight is falling on the side-show, rather than the issues that actually matter.
After all, the match in itself provided enough stand-alone Premier League highlights without the need for this side-show to still being discussed 48 hours on.
Elsewhere, the managerial merry-go-round continues, although there surely won’t be any more changes between now and the end of the season.
The latest has seen Leicester City turn to Dean Smith in a bid to preserve their top flight status after appointing the former Aston Villa manager on a short-term contract until the end of the season.
He met the Leicester squad before taking charge of training on Tuesday and there is an irony that Smith has been joined by Craig Shakespeare and John Terry, both of whom were part of his coaching staff at Villa.
Shakespeare, who was sacked four months into his reign as Leicester manager in 2017, actually worked as an assistant to Nigel Pearson and Claudio Ranieri, who led the club to the Premier League title against all odds in 2016.
He may have been branded ‘snakes-speare’ by some rival fans who felt he later went behind Ranieri’s back, but he is well respected within the club’s hierarchy.
Leicester have lost eight of their past nine matches in all competitions and are two points from safety with eight games to play.
Smith will know that precarious position can be overcome but, second bottom in the table, he may have to wait to start working wonders given his first game up is at champions Manchester City this weekend.
As for City, is a third successive league title now a reality?
Certainly, they will have worked out if they win their remaining league games – including a showdown with leaders Arsenal – they should grab top spot (perhaps on goal difference).
Even accounting for their resources, that would be a fine achievement for a club which possesses the league’s most potent weapon.
In the words of their manager Pep Guardiola: ‘As a top scorer we lived two incredible decades with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, but he is on that level.’
He is, unsurprisingly, talking about Erling Haaland whose phenomenal goal record speaks for itself – the manager clarified he was pinpointing that rather than suggesting the Norwegian’s all-round package was comparable with the other two greats.
Yet in Haaland and Kevin de Bruyne, City have two players who could make their title (and Champions League) dreams a reality.
Haaland now has 30 top-flight goals this season and will surely beat the 34-goal record Alan Shearer and Andy Cole share for the Premier League era over 42 league games (not the current 38).
Last weekend, De Bruyne also notched his 100th Premier League assist, making him the quickest player to reach that tally by a margin of 56 games from ex-Arsenal and Chelsea man Cesc Fabregas.
‘Kevin is back,’ smiled Guardiola, who was frustrated with his playmaker’s form earlier in the spring but is no more.
Players of this quality often win top prizes. Would you bet against the champions as they ignore the noise and focus on the football?
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