 So the English Premier League title race has been the gift that keeps on giving and defending depending on the team you call your own. This past weekend may have just been the gift you have never asked for. But in the case of Mariah Ramarack and the city fans all over the world they are back in the driver's seat. Both Liverpool and Arsenal were handed damaging losses at the weekend while the citizens notched a crucial win sending them to the top. That happened from Saturday. Let's have a quick look at the weekend results in the English Premier League. Newcastle four-nilover Tottenham jolting Tottenham's UCL qualification hopes, Brentford two-nilover Sheffield United, Luton beaten 5-1 by Manchester City, nothing enforced 2-2 with Wolves, Brighton 1-1 at Burnley, Bournemouth 2-2 against travelling Manchester United, Crystal Palace winning 1-0 at Liverpool, West Ham beaten at home by Fulham, Aston Villa two-nilover Arsenal, Chelsea six-nilover Everton that happened today. So based on these results we are looking at Manchester City top of the table on 73 points, two ahead of Arsenal and Liverpool who share second although Arsenal are ahead on goal difference of Liverpool, Aston Villa with their weekend victory moving up to 63 points Tottenham on 60 and losing ground, Newcastle on 50 points. So that's how the top six in the English Premier League, that's how they're setting up at the moment and here is Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp following the jolting 1-0 home defeat they had against Crystal Palace. We got because we were against the ball and absolute machine and that's what we have to be in that moment. We have the rhythm, we have the momentum in the game, it's difficult for the opponent they don't feel great, we feel much better and then we this boys can really play football today they showed that in a really difficult situation that they can do that and that was good but it doesn't feel great anyway now because we lost the game and we planned this day completely differently but here we are and now how is that we have to deal with that. Yeah so Liverpool are missing a lot of scoring opportunities there and suffering damaging won the loss. Now after being handed their first loss of 2024 the Arsenal boss Michael Arteta says now is the time for his team to rise to the occasion. And now is the moment to stand up as a leader, as a character to make yourself count because when you win and win and win and win and win and win and win and win for four months it's very very simple to do it, the moment is now we don't have any other solution if you want to win Champions League you want to be there in the Champions League when you have these moments you have to stand up even though that means that you don't have a quality that is very very necessary and now it's a big test for us. And from the Manchester City perspective Pep Guardiola says his players are relishing the pressure of the title race. They like to play the pressure they like to know is dead or alive so yeah they did it that doesn't mean we are going to do it but that we are there it will be dead until the end I'm pretty sure because I know them I see the faces before the game the meetings how they prepare that means win Premier League champ no I'm not saying that but that will compete that's for sure. Yes or football analyst Brent Sancho joins us now via zoom Brent this title race a cinema isn't it I want to say quickly though that while the Arsenal Liverpool losses this weekend were not expected Man City climbing to the top of the table isn't surprising because given what we've seen from this man City team in the recent past they show that they have the stomach for this kind of scenario. Yeah I like the phrases that you're using Lance the stomach for this type of thing they do and you know we talk so much about Arsenal's frailty now we're seeing some chinks in the arm of Liverpool who normally can't do well in these sorts of situations but when you juxtapose that against Manchester City a team that is built for these type of situation I've always said on this show I don't think people realize how difficult a task it is to keep winning the way Pep does I'm not just not just winning football games or eating out results but dominating football teams for 95% of the season and he would easily go down as one of the greatest managers of all time simply because of what he's been able to do but it's something that it is a characteristics of his team that we've seen since he's gotten into Manchester City and even before that is that they have what you call title credentials they understand the importance of executing when it matters and that's what makes Manchester City so special. Yeah I want to compare the two losses that Liverpool and Arsenal suffered the Arsenal loss given the fact that it's a top five team that had beaten them and a team challenging for a spot in Europe that may be regarded as a lesser of a surprise than the Crystal Palace result they got of the Liverpool because Crystal Palace are toward the bottom half of the table. Yeah I think when you start to take a deep dive into it and you move away from obviously the attributes that you need to win a title you look at the Liverpool loss they'll certainly look back at some of the missed chances that they had throughout the game and a lot of those chances we're going into the back of the net when you had the likes of the front three that they had before led by Salah who's not typically been up to his sharps up that he's been there and as we know his his challenges despite being a tremendous player in an asset for Liverpool he's just not seeing the frequency and potency that we've seen in the past when he had the likes as I mentioned Salah Bobby Firmino etc and Lucia so the goals that they normally get lands and they normally win them titles it's just not there for Liverpool but in the Arsenal situation it was it looks like a complete collapse in the second half I was looking at I was absolutely amazed to see a team that's challenging for a title yesterday they played against a top four or five team but I go back again to my comparisons of Manchester City when you are in these situations with the amount of games that are left in the season you find your championship medal and it just looked like the longer the game went on at Arsenal at the Emirates it just looked more and more likely that they were going to lose and that's a disappointing thing I think when our tether looks back at it he may look at it and think that something fell wrong within the team in the second half and then they go they didn't do have this difficult fixture against Bayern during the week here you just hope that the unraveling that we saw in the Villa game does not become something contagious and now plagues them with the running that they have. Yeah you know I listen to Pep Guardiola print and he says that Manchester City will be there at the end and he's very confident about that not saying that they will definitely win but they will be right there on the final day of the three teams which do you suspect if any at all might not be there at the very end. I think that's a good question and normally in these sorts of situations I would lead to Arsenal because I have been quite stiff on them for many for many years on this program but I just feel it's Liverpool and I'll tell you why because we've seen this deterioration you look at the Atalanta result yes I'll be it they didn't start a lot of their key figures but there was a deterioration there that is not symbolic with the Liverpool club team there was defensive priorities there was an absurdly a team that looked a bit clueless well in possession you didn't see the identity that's normally of course attributed to a club team throughout the minutes but it's not something that you know that happened in a one-off game it really started and I can go even further back some of the results that they escaped and they've got results here and they are draw here but that deterioration we've seen it now happening and I just wonder if this team could put the car in reverse and of course try to get out of this mud that they're stuck in but it's it's building it's going and it seems to be repetitive and I do I do wonder and fearful of a poor moving forward because again they have that difficult fixture against a very difficult Boogamo stadium in Atalanta and if that's another loss then it becomes almost the Alambels and Sirens ringing yeah right where is the deterioration happening for Liverpool I watched the game yesterday and I thought to myself on another day Liverpool could have won this by six goals to two as it turned out they lost it by a goal to Neil but um Diego Jota had an empty goal Mohamed Salah had opportunities um Jones one and one with the keeper Curtis Jones and he couldn't score Darwin Nunes he had opportunities as well so it's not as if they did not create chances they did and they should have won the game and I think club pointed at that in the press conference as well so I'm very interested to hear from you where exactly you think the deterioration is happening or is it a case of well yesterday it was the finishing but on other days it's the goalkeeper or maybe it's the midfield not coming to the party yeah and the wood the wood is sharpness the sharpness that we used to see it from the Liverpool team where they bury the but bury chances half chances uh etc but when you look at the Atalanta game and I go back to that as well you saw some of the defensive fruities and the sharpness the lack of a sharpness at the back we saw in the game against even against Palace there was a chance that of course uh Robinson had to clear off the line again that's the sharpness that we we used to see in defensively from Liverpool they did rear its head as well so throughout the game and I'm happy you mentioned goalkeepers as well that was a situation in the Atalanta game so the sharpness the overall sharpness that we see I mean add the word efficiency that we see with the Liverpool team especially when it comes to the business end of the season that's what we're talking about here the business end the end that wins you trophies is really lacking and I'm as I said I'm a bit surprised with that with the type of talent because when you look at the personnel it's not a lot of changes within the Liverpool team there's still there's still a lot of players that won a lot of trophies there but there's not much wrong with the way Klopp has set his team up there's a lot wrong with the individual sharpness that we have come so used to seeing when you talk about the Liverpool team yeah I want to talk a little bit about my favorite team in the English Premier League Arsenal we had quite a discussion a number of discussions last season Lance is over there greening from air to air and I don't know why but we had a number of discussions last season about Arsenal bottling it and you know I couldn't help after yesterday's defeat and I know that Lance pointed to the fact that they were going up against the top five team in Aston Villa but I think going into that one most people expected Arsenal to win that game then Liverpool lost and I can't help but think to myself that Liverpool losing and Arsenal getting into pole position and you now feel that your destiny is in your own hands might have affected the result of yesterday's match I don't know what you think Brent listen I appeared in the zone for so many years a lot of Arsenal fans here in Toronto Diego always give me a lot of flak and stick because I do use the word bottling it I do use the word and Arsenal winning mentality is not there I do use the words and sentences and phrases that Arsenal does not have a championship feel to them and I will continue to use it because it is very evident and the reason why I say what I say about Manchester City because they have given me evidence over the year that they are a championship team this Arsenal team and for the last couple of years they just don't give me that and you're right when you're playing you sit in that locker room you would know that Liverpool just just lost the game which gives you pole position to go to the top there's everything within you if you do have that championship metal if you do have that championship belief that this is a result that could possibly put you right in the path rate of going on to win in the Premiership what happens is they come out and give that performance against Villa yes I take credence to the fact that yes it's the Villa side that's had a phenomenal season but I will always ask the question if this was Manchester City playing against Villa at the Etihad I am very sure I know what the result would be simply because Manchester City has championship metal and Arsenal do it. Yeah I have to ask you this one as well Brent away from the tighter race Leon Bailey the Jamaican scoring for Aston Villa having come on as a second half for substitute how important do you think this goal was for him and generally that he continues to perform well at the back end of this season for Aston Villa especially in the aftermath of his recent interview where he suggested that he wouldn't mind going to a big four club and I know that his team came out and said well what you heard is not what he meant but the fact is it was still said a number of papers across the world picked that up but yesterday came on as a substitute and got another big goal because remember when Villa beat Manchester City earlier this season he scored as well listen one thing I know about sport once you're performing once you're hitting targets and once you're being a star nine times out of ten they forget you and some of your your your utterances in the media and that's what Leon Bailey needs to do and I will also say that I'm a bit surprised that he signed an extension at Villa because I do agree with him. I can see Leon Bailey moving to top four team because he has that sort of pedigree as a player and if you look at his stats if you look at his numbers if you look at his play at Villa I know most Jamaican fans might not agree because he has not performed significantly well at the national team level but if you look at what he's done and the body of work he's done at Aston Villa I can see him fitting into a team I can see him fitting into a top four team so it's important for him to keep getting these sorts of goals it's important to keep playing the way he has been playing at Aston Villa there's absolutely no one could come out and say that Leon Bailey has been a failure at Aston Villa because he's been far opposite to that I think he's been an absolute star he's been an integral part of what when I amry has been trying to do at Villa and he's been an impact player and as I said I finished what I started with I'm extremely surprised that he signed an extension at Villa because I felt that if he left it open I think suitors would have come in for him yeah but Brent isn't it a case though that we should be looking at it that Villa is now a top four team and could consistently be a top four team and so he's already operating in a top four team I think they have the possibility to be a top four team but you have to consistently yes because they are a top four team right now right now at the moment yes at the moment you have to take things into context of course that you've seen a bit of a drop-off from Spurs Manchester United still having their struggles and their problems yes but that's 10 years Brent that didn't start last month no it didn't start last month I'm glad you pointed that out but at some point we do hope for Manchester United to find their leg somewhere the point I'm making is like I'm not sure that Ashton but if you ask me right now with Ashton Villa is going to consistently be a top four team I would have to say no and I would have to stick with that because I just don't think they have built that way to be a top four team I think Unite Emory has a lot of credit to take in why they are where they are because I think he's a tactical genius but at some point next season I think teams are going to start to figure him out and situations may become a little bit difficult for Ashton Villa and again they may have to take on Champions League football next season can they operate with having two sets of two sets of plates of food on the table I'm not sure Brent we're out of time I don't know why the producer isn't wrapping us up he's enjoying our conversation so much but quick one are you a Manchester United fan? I don't know why you'd make such a pronouncement no it's a question I'm a Juventus fan and I stay well out of England because I've started watching football Italian football at a very young age never been pulled into the English system no it's just because you always say things like we need Manchester United to get back to the glory days can't wait for Manchester United we all want Manchester United to you had me a little bit confused it's starting to look like La Liga when there's only two teams we need more teams involved in the race like Ashton Villa we're out of time let's take a break we'll be back with more on the sports mic zone Mariah is next with the second zone update