Tough at the top

Last weekend saw the top four Premiership clubs play at different times which was the complete opposite of the previous weekend when they all kicked off on a Saturday.

On that occasion they all won whereas this time they all drew thus making the title race even cloudier.

First up was Arsenal away at improving Middlesbrough and in what is now becoming more than a frustrating performance they managed to muddle their way through to a disappointing 1-1 draw.

After taking the lead in the 17th minute through an Emmanuel Adebayor goal they should have got more out of the game but it was the North East club who responded better and they got a deserved equaliser on the half hour.

Now seven points off the top and finding it difficult to get any level of consistency, it is not easy to see how they can win the Premiership without some help from their rivals. Luckily for the Gunners, this is exactly what they are getting.

League leaders Liverpool were next up in the 3pm kick-off at home to surprise package Hull City and expectations were high for a comfortable win, and rightly so given the status of the two sides and the resources at their disposal. However, things started off very badly with the Tigers taking a 2-0 lead inside 20 minutes only for talisman Gerrard to get the Reds level again within 10 minutes.

Any fans believing their team would then move on to win the game with still an hour to go were hugely disappointed and some even disgruntled as Keane, a multi-million pound player, sat on the bench apparently superfluous to requirements. Benitez most definitely has his own way of doing things and appears immune to any suggestions from elsewhere despite the last minute 'coming from behind' victories - that peppered the beginning of the season - which are now turning into draws. If, as the season draws to its conclusion, these then turn into narrow defeats their title aspirations will be over.

At least, though, they managed to score a couple of goals which was two more than Manchester United achieved at White Hart Lane against a rejuvenated Spurs side.

With Ronaldo not having one of his best days, and Rooney out, United struggled to break down the home team who were intent on strangling the game rather than winning it.

United, who travel to Japan to take part in the World Club Championship this week, are finding it hard to find the form of last season, which is surprising given the addition of Berbatov.

They, like their rivals though, are coming up against teams who have a specific plan to contain the game and the more teams that manage it the more confidence is generated for the rest of the division as they take on the top four.

In previous seasons avoiding humiliation was seen as the priority but not now, and the only person laughing on Saturday night would have been Chelsea manager Phil Scolari who now had the chance on Sunday to take his team back to the top of the Premiership.

In what was now feeling like a bad dream, another 90 minutes passed with a top four team being held by a side of lesser players with the determination to put a manager's plan into place.

West Ham United held on for a draw and in fact should have won the game in injury time when Carlton Cole failed to beat Cech from an excellent position.

Scolari must be getting slightly concerned about his home form as that makes it only three wins out of 10 and this judged against his predecessor's record is far from acceptable to the Stamford Bridge faithful.

What to make of it all? Well, in horse racing the way they distinguish champions is by how far they win by and if horses finish in a group then that season's thoroughbreds are deemed to be inferior. And, this is how much of this season feels in the Premiership - a bunch of pretty good sides playing some pretty good football but none of it inspiring

Considering the influx of foreign talent and the excessive salaries of these players it is somewhat disappointing to reach the conclusion that the standard of football is actually no better than when it was half the price to watch a game.

Paying more money for more quality is an acceptable situation but to pay more money for what appears less is difficult to stomach. Unless it changes soon, what with a worldwide recession emerging, then gate and TV receipts for these clubs might begin to suffer. Perhaps then they will do something about it - we can only hope.