Monday 10 February 2014 8:24 pm

Blues lead closest race ever

By: Express KCS

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Top three is tighter than in any Premier League season

SHOULD Chelsea make it 10 wins from 12 tonight at West Brom they will open up a four-point gap in what is, by some measurements, the closest title race in Premier League history.

With just 13 fixtures remaining the Blues are a solitary point ahead of Arsenal, their nearest rivals, while Manchester City are only one point further behind. Fourth-placed Liverpool are only six points adrift of the leaders, while Tottenham, in fifth, are just nine off the summit.

There have been previous seasons in which the top five were more closely bound with the same number of games left, such as 1997-98, when six points separated the top five, and 2001-02, when it was eight. In 1996-97 the spread was also nine points.

But never before in the Premier League’s 21-year history has the top three been separated by so slender a margin. In 1997-98 the gap was five points; in 2001-02 it was three. The 1996-97 season offers perhaps the best comparison: Liverpool trailed Manchester United by one point, a scenario that mirrors Arsenal’s current pursuit of Chelsea. But while 17 years ago the team in third, the Gunners, were another two points behind Liverpool, this year City are closer.

It all adds up to a captivating contest that has swung one way and then the next. City looked bound for the crown until eight days ago, when Chelsea abruptly ended their buccaneering run of 18 wins in 20 games and became the first London team to take three points from the Etihad Stadium since 2010.

Jose Mourinho’s men and Arsenal have both enjoyed moments of supremacy, while Liverpool are now considered the form team, having closed to within two wins with Saturday’s 5-1 drubbing of the Gunners. History lends weight to Chelsea hopes of lifting the trophy in May, whatever Mourinho’s supposedly modest expectations. In nine of the last 10 years the team leading with 13 games to play won the title. The exception came in 2007-08, when Arsenal led United by two points only for Sir Alex Ferguson’s team to triumph, with Chelsea also overtaking their London rivals. On the only other occasion when the gap between first and second has been just one point, 1996-97, the team in front at this stage, United, went on to prevail.

Tottenham and Liverpool supporters with a glass half-full mentality will note that Arsenal recovered from fifth place, six points behind then-leaders United, to snatch the title by a point the following season, 1997-98. Otherwise no team has come from outside the top three with 13 to play to hoist the trophy since the competition began in 1992.

Standing between Mourinho and a four-point lead are relegation-battling West Brom, now under the stewardship of his former adversary from Spain’s top flight, Pepe Mel.

Mourinho’s Real Madrid suffered a wounding 1-0 defeat at Mel’s Real Betis last season, allowing Barcelona to open up an 11-point lead that proved decisive. If Mourinho can exact revenge at the Hawthorns tonight it might, this time, be a landmark result to celebrate.

HOW THE CAMPAIGNS COMPARE

Never in Premier League history have the top three been separated by so slim a margin – two points – with 13 games remaining. 1996-97 is the closest comparison, when United led Liverpool by one point, though third-placed Arsenal were further adrift than Man City are now. For some seasons not all teams reached 13 to play simultaneously; we have tried to choose the next best point to compare.

Points Spread