This is going to be a really exciting finish to the Premier League season.

People have, in recent years, said the top flight’s been boring because only a couple of clubs have been in with a chance of winning it, but
suddenly we’ve got five strong contenders for the years to come.

At the start of the season, Liverpool were 33/1 to take the title and, at one stage during the campaign, they went out as far as 66/1.

Now, with City dropping points at Anfield and also slipping up against Sunderland on Wednesday, Chelsea have come in to just 3/1.

It means their trip to Anfield is going to be massive and, potentially, decisive in the race for the 2013-14 crown.

Gary Neville said on Sky last week that whoever won the Liverpool v Man City match would win the Premier League – but now I’m not so sure.

The big difficulty for Chelsea, perhaps, is that they’ve got two games against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League either side of their game at Anfield.

I think you could see in Liverpool’s display against City the value of not having to play European football.

People just expect players to turn up and perform, but when you have European football on top of domestic league and cup, it can become a really draining treadmill.

I remember from my time playing in Belgium that you had one game per week, and that was that.

By the weekend, you were desperate to go out and play because you were fresh, you were properly prepared and tactically polished. You couldn't wait to kick off.

Some of the top Premier League stars have been playing three times a week over an intensive period.

And now, and I think you can see the difference in Liverpool, because they have not had the Europa League to bother about and they’ve got a real single focus.

Whether Chelsea can pip them I just don’t know, but you can bet the competition will be even more fierce next season when the likes of
Arsenal, Everton, Tottenham and Manchester United will want to be right in the shake-up with Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City.

And my footnote this week is just to say I hope Town can pick up the points they need against Brighton and Yeovil to avoid being dragged into a late scramble for Championship survival.

Good luck to Mark Robins and his squad, to Dean Hoyle and everyone on the staff and, of course, the supporters after what has been a tough run.

The Championship is far from an easy battleground and the more experience Town get, the better they’ll become.