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I’ll start this week by reflecting on Arsenal’s brilliant achievement of reaching the Champions League final. A lot of people will say they were on the favourable side of the draw, but they still managed to get the job done. They still played against some strong opposition, and beat Atlético Madrid in what wasn’t a classic, but they won’t care what anyone says. They're in the final and anything can happen.
That result came after a brilliant weekend for them after they beat Fulham and Manchester City dropped two points against Everton. I couldn’t believe the way in which City just capitulated, and if Arsenal beat West Ham this weekend, then I think the title race is over. If it's a draw, then it's back on, because I don't think City will do what they did against Everton again. I feel that this weekend could be pivotal at both ends of the table.
Clinton Morrison: 'Man City made basic mistakes against Everton and were punished'
Everything has flipped over after everyone thought Man City were going to go on and win it. But I felt their run-in was the hardest, and they made basic mistakes against Everton and got punished. However, that Jérémy Doku equaliser could end up being a hugely important goal if Arsenal drop points this weekend.
But I can't see Arsenal dropping points. They're in good form and the Champions League result should give them real confidence going into the weekend.
It wasn’t all bad news for City though, as it seems like Phil Foden has agreed to sign a new four-year deal. He’s had a disappointing season by his standards, and I think he's in a real fight to get on the plane to the World Cup this summer with the number of players in that position who are playing well right now.
But we know Foden's got tremendous talent and he's just had a season where it hasn't gone according to plan.
Other players at City have stepped up and are playing better than him at the moment, but I understand why they're giving him a new contract.
He doesn't become a bad player overnight and will rediscover his top form. He's probably well aware himself that this season has been a big disappointment.
Antoine Semenyo has come in and done well and Foden is probably in direct competition with him. But when Foden is at the top of his game, he'll be in that Man City side — he's got too much natural ability. He just needs to keep going and rediscover what he's done in previous seasons.
It’s all very interesting down the bottom of the table too, and you have to applaud Roberto De Zerbi for the job he’s done at Tottenham in such a short space of time. He’s given the players confidence, and they respect the manager.
You can see he hasn't fully implemented his style yet — against Aston Villa, Yves Bissouma was going long from back to front, which is not what happens in a De Zerbi team. But when you're in the mire and need to win football matches, you play high tempo, press hard, and that's what they did against Aston Villa. I thought they were fantastic and to beat them 2-1 was a massive result.
But it's not over — just because they beat Wolves and Villa doesn't mean they're safe. They've got a big must-win game against Leeds and will hope West Ham don’t get anything from Arsenal to create a four-point gap.
Tottenham still have Chelsea and Everton after that, which are both hard games. So it'll go right down to the wire, and I still think there'll be plenty of twists and turns this weekend.
The race for the European places is also looking very exciting, with Brentford, Bournemouth, Brighton, Chelsea, Everton and Fulham all in the mix. Palace know that winning the Conference League would get them in as well. There's still loads to play for, and I love the fact that the title, Europe, and relegation are still to be decided.
Finally, I’ll give a shout-out to Ipswich after they made an immediate return to the Premier League. Kieran McKenna is experienced enough to know what's needed this time round, and you have to look at what Sunderland and Leeds have done — bring in players with Premier League experience. That's the model.
The gap between the Championship and the Premier League is getting bigger, but Leeds and Sunderland have proved that if you invest wisely and have a good manager, you've got a real chance of surviving. McKenna is a good manager — he just needs to go again in the summer.
Last time round, I felt there were too many players who were Championship quality but not Premier League quality. They weren't building to come straight back down — but they didn't have enough Premier League experience in the team. That was the biggest thing missing.
They were competitive, they went toe-to-toe with a lot of teams. Liam Delap also scored a lot of goals for them and they're going to need a striker like that again, while being harder to break down at the other end of the pitch. They’ll need to take advantage of free transfers, loans, and maybe a few hidden-gem signings from Europe in order to survive.
