1-6: Changing of the Guard or a Freak Result?

Manchester United 1-6 Manchester City

Man United's defence has been unconvincing so far this season, and their vulnerability was finally, and brutally exposed by their bitter, and now dangerous, local rivals.

City have won derbies over the last decade or so, but previously, those results had little significance beyond the local. At the end of every season, United were hoisting trophies, and City remained a sleeping giant at best.

While the lopsided nature of last Sunday's scoreline is largely due to the dismissal of Jonny Evans with the score at 0-1, it is, nonetheless, very impressive. United have had numerous difficult spells during Ferguson's long reign. But no team has previously had the talent or the balls to come to Old Trafford and hand them such a whipping. Circumstances played a big part, but boy did City take advantage of their opportunity to lay down a marker.

Just how significant will the game prove to be?

It should send City's confidence sky-high. They already have the best squad of players in the league, and are playing the best football (despite their manager's reputation for negativity). They are rightful favourites, at this point, to win the title.

But United under Ferguson have the handy habit of turning adversity to their advantage. One would expect them to be just as galvanised by their own humiliation as City are by their moment of glory.

With that said, there are deficiencies in the United team that were cruelly exposed by their neighbours and this has surely shot some holes in the aura that often allows United to coast through games against lesser sides. Their relatively ordinary central midfield and a defence that has been unsettled by changing partnerships and by an apparent decline in the performances of its senior members are primary concerns.

They do not have a player with the creative flair of David Silva, or indeed a player with the destructive zeal of Nigel De Jong who, frighteningly enough, City don't even seem to need at the moment.

The evidence is that if United are to make it title number twenty, they will need to rely on their neighbours' oft-showcased appetite for self-destruction.

David Silva was the star again. His imperious volleyed pass through to Dzeko for the final goal has garnered much of the attention, but he was involved in so much. He has that admirable habit, like Bergkamp before him, of making the players around him look better. He attracts the attention of defenders, and that frees up space for others, and he has the vision, technique and selflessness to help those other players exploit the space fully. Witness the build up to Balotelli's second goal, and how Silva waits and releases to Milner at just the right time.

Something is Rotten in the state of European Football

There has been talk of the current Barcelona team ranking with the all-time greats of European football. But before we all get too excited, we should really look at the strength in depth of European football, or lack thereof.

Italian football is in a wretched state. The two Milan teams and Roma have all lost their opening knock-out round games, all at home. None of these defeats were to particularly formidable opposition.

Inter's victory in the competition last season seems an aberration, the result of Mourinho's abilities rather than any sign of revival in the Italian game.

You would be very, very surprised if the eventual winners this year are not one of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Chelsea or Manchester United. Arsenal can of course count themselves as contenders if they pull off the admirable feat of knocking Barcelona out.

Of those teams, Chelsea have been pretty dreadful, by their own lofty standards, for most of the season. Manchester United went to Marseilles, a very ordinary side, lastnight, and barely showed any attacking intent. With their home record as impressive as it is, a 0-0 draw is fine, but anyone interested in footballing aesthetics must sometimes question Alex Ferguson's commitment to attacking football, something that the great man constantly trumpets. Didier Deschamps realised that United would sit back and try and score on the break, relying on the front three of Rooney, Berbatov and Nani to create something. Marseilles thus played conservative themselves, denying United any real openings for a counter attack, and the result was one of the most rotten stalemates you'll ever have the misfortune to sit through.

United's midfield was made up of Gibson, Fletcher and Carrick: disturbingly bad. United fans now complain that they cannot splash the cash to replace Scholes and Giggs but replacing Scholes and Giggs has been on the agenda for quite a while and the quest has so far been one of Ferguson's few failures. A fearful amount was spent on Anderson, the highly rated Brazilian, who has been either mismanaged, played out of position, or just wasn't worth the money in the first place. A further 30million or so was shelled out on Berbatov, a player United arguably never needed. He's been more impressive this season but looks unlikely to ever live up to that price tag.

While Arsenal have Fabregas, Wilshere, Nasri, and Ramsey, and Spurs took advantage of bargain prices to bring in Modric and Van der Vaart, with the exception of the aging Scholes United still lack an inventive presence in the middle of the park. Assuming they can knock Arsenal out Barcelona will be faced with the threat of three teams who will only really look to stifle them- Mourinho's Madrid will hardly adopt any other tactic, with the memory of that 5-0 battering at the Nou Camp still fresh in their minds.

Only Arsenal, Barcelona, and Spurs are really flying the flag for attacking football with any distinction. There is a lot of dullness elsewhere, although Bayern Munich were well worth their 1-0 win at the San Siro against Inter and Arjen Robben continues to make them halfway watchable.

It has been suggested by many that a change to an all knock-out format would revive the stale Champions League, but this is a lazy assumption. It would not solve the jarring inequality in the game. Big teams might have the chance to face off earlier but the net result would probably be even less competitive games at the end of the tournament. A more multicultural FA Cup, perhaps.

The good thing about the current format is that it allows the cream to rise to the top. The problem is that there is so little cream. A change in format won't change that.

Arsenal 2-0 Wolves, 4 points remains the gap

A routine win, after the debacle at Newcastle, and before the daunting fixture against Barcelona.

Van Persie has added a lot since his return. In trademark fashion, he has embarked on a goal glut. In just nine league starts, he now has ten goals. His two in this game were impressive in differing ways.

The first came from Fabregas's dink into the box. Van Persie executed an impressive right foot volley into the bottom corner. The Dutchman now scores plenty of goals with his "weaker" foot.

The goal that killed the game was a fine breakaway effort, a move full of first time passes, starting at the edge of Arsenal's penalty area and ending in the back of the Wolves net. Fabregas swivelled to release Walcott, his cross was instant and the frontman's finish emphatic.

Overall, the game was a satisfactorily quiet build-up to Barca. Djourou's quick return will have settled a lot of nerves. Wolves barely threatened- would that have been the case with Squillaci on the pitch?

With Barca labouring to a 1-1 draw at Sporting Gijon, maybe some of the Fear Factor around the impending Champions League tie will evaporate. Arsenal can ill afford to hold their visitors in awe, even if that may be what they deserve.

The only pity for Arsenal on this weekend was that Wayne Rooney's astonishing overhead kick in the Manchester derby had a very decisive feel to it. Not only did it win a big, difficult game for United, it maintained breathing space between them and the chasing pack led by Arsenal. I've never felt that Arsenal had much of a chance; Rooney's piece of long-awaited magic cemented that feeling.

United 1-0 Arsenal: Out-Thought and Out-Fought

Arsenal lost a tactical and a physical battle on Monday night. This incarnation of Manchester United is far from the most sophisticated but they consistently come out on top against the Gunners: Ferguson has found Wenger out.

While tactics have never been Wenger's strong point, the lack of physical presence in the Arsenal team is very worrying. As I've said before, Wenger's successes have been based as much on power as on technique. These days, his team is made to look feeble against United and Chelsea.

Alex Song is, supposedly, the closest thing this Arsenal side has to an "enforcer". Late in the game, he was brushed aside by Patrice Evra- one of United's more diminutive players. The same Patrice Evra who was confident enough in United's superiority to insult Arsenal BEFORE the game this time!

Were his harsh words used as motivation in the away dressing room? There were many fouls by Arsenal, but not enough winning of the ball, United first to every 50-50, still looking like they want it more, despite being a team who've won it all, playing against a team who've won fuck-all.

Arsenal have nothing to match the tenacity of Fletcher, the running power of Anderson, Park and Nani. United have a rock-solid defence whereas Arsenal have a charitable one.

But it's not as simple as Arsenal lacking United's robust element: Arsenal's passing game is grossly overrated. They barely put a move together in the entire game. Wenger indulged in a bit of trademark excuse-making afterwards, which doesn't even deserve discussion. The pitch was bad, yes. So what? Will United be complaining after the next encounter that the pitch was "too good" for their game? Probably not, because they'll have won the match.

Bottom line: No Surprises. United win big games, and Arsenal lose them.

could it be that rarest of things?

A genuinely exciting, three-way title race?

Arsenal 2-0 West Ham

Man Utd 2-1 Liverpool

Blackburn 1-1 Chelsea

THE SPIRIT OF 01/02 LIVES
After Denilson's sweetly-struck opener, a sense of complacency descended on the Emirates. Arsenal overplayed, West Ham were allowed to play, and the crowd was, characteristically enough, quiet.

Adversity, then, was invited, but there was still a sense of injustice over how it arrived. There was little contact between Vermaelen and Franco as the ball bounced through. The flawed rules indicate that a red card was always likely once the linesman flagged for a foul, but this was particularly harsh, and seemed like a potentially season-defining moment.

After Almunia's great save from Diamanti's penalty, Arsenal were galvanised ahead of a difficult-looking second half. And throughout that second 45, it never looked like West Ham had an extra man, except perhaps for a few jittery early minutes. Song, moved to centre back, took a lot of the plaudits, but Fabregas deserves special mention aswell.

The temptation when talking about ten-man performances is to laud the players who provide that extra bit of running and hard work, but you need someone like Fabregas aswell. Remember that, aside from Larsson's cameo, the arguable turning point that night in Paris was the impetus-surrendering replacement of Fabregas with Flamini, after which Arsenal became terminally pinned back.

On Saturday, the captain was wonderful on the ball, not because of his usual incisive passing but the way he zealously held onto the ball, finding space, giving it simply, never pushing things needlessly. And the second goal summed up this captain's performance. He won the ball with a sliding tackle, drove forward to collect Eboue's pass, chipped the ball against Upson's arm and then buried the resultant penalty, to defuse the building tension as the game entered its final stages.

A word for Eboue- his performance was brilliant again. Going forward, he continues to provide a threat that Sagna does not, and his decision-making seems to be improving, as evinced by his clever pass to Fabregas for the penalty. Another player who I've reserved special criticism for, Diaby, made a positive impact after replacing an unfit-looking Arshavin. Thankfully, the officials gave EVERYTHING Arsenal's way after the red card, starting with the linesman ignoring Almunia's little hop off his line to aid his dive for the penalty.

UNITED LOOKING OMINOUS AGAIN
Typically, Man United are playing ok, not making mistakes, winning their games as the season draws to a close. They are clear favourites now to win a fourth consecutive title.

Liverpool were poor, as they have been all season. Gerrard looks an almost spent force. Torres a wantaway striker, sulking through the game. Their manager has possibly lost the dressing room; perhaps the players have grown tired of his relentless negativity. Babel, Benayoun and Aquilani were all left out of the starting eleven.

ARE CHELSEA'S LEGS GONE?
Many expected a positive reaction to their Inter disappointment- it didn't happen, desite the ideal start in the shape of Drogba's early opener. United will now stay top even after Chelsea, presumably, win their game in hand against Portsmouth in midweek.