On Saturday I suggested the race for the Premier League crown might not be over. I put forward a relatively convincing argument based on the current form of United and Chelsea and their respective run-ins.

Essentially, what I was saying was that a couple more slip-ups by Mourinho's team and Sir Alex (photo) might just be able to nip in and steal the title from under his rival's nose.

But, to be honest, I don't think I really believed it myself. The theory was sound, but at that stage I have to admit I didn't genuinely think it could happen.

Well, today I do. Very much so.

Chelsea may still be in the driving seat but their failure to beat lowly, injury-plagued, goal-conceding Birmingham has only served to fuel my belief that they are struggling to find anything like their early-season form and may yet be capable of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

On the same day United managed to overcome what I thought would be one of their trickiest remaining challenges when they beat Bolton 2-1, a result made all the more impressive by the fact that it came at a ground which has become a fortress for the home side in recent months.

There is no doubt that the two teams are heading in very different directions at the moment. United are on the crest of a wave that has seen them win eight in a row while Chelsea seem to have let their Champions League exit have an adverse effect on their domestic performances.

And the difference in fortunes is starting to show in the mannerisms and comments coming out of the respective camps.

Sir Alex, on the one hand, is looking calm, happy and confident, safe in the knowledge that even if he fails to win the title it doesn't really matter as nobody really expected him too.

Jose, on the other hand, looks troubled. He continues to attack his post-match press conferences with the same passion as always but now what was once seen as cockiness is fast starting to look like excuse making.

As one English newspaper put it on Sunday, Jose's designer stubble used to make him look deep and mysterious, now it just looks like he was too stressed to shave.

Let's be realistic though. United still have a lot of work to do if they really are going to pull off one of the biggest upsets in Premier League history. They can't afford a single slip-up in any of their remaining games that include Arsenal and, of course, Chelsea.

And Chelsea themselves, as Jose pointed out during his post-Birmingham excuse-fest, only need to win their home games to secure the title.

But stranger, if less dramatic, things have happened in football. And you just get the feeling there may well be one more dramatic twist in this tale…

Juve's brave face

Juventus are putting on a very brave face ahead of tonight's much anticipated quarter final second leg with Arsenal as they attempt to overturn a 2-0 deficit.

The Italian giants were humiliated at Highbury as Wenger's team outplayed them from the start of a game which saw the away side finish with just nine players on the pitch.

But the Juve players have been lining up over the past week to say how embarrassed they were with their performance in London and to promise better things tonight.

Captain Lilian Thuram has even gone as far as to warn Arsenal that they will attack "like a hurricane" and cause their opponents' defence countless problems.

"Player by player Juve are superior to Arsenal and it will not be a surprise if we were to get three or four goals," he added.

Fighting talk indeed, but the Frenchman has failed to take three important points into consideration.

Firstly, while at face value you would possibly agree that player for player Juve have a more talented set of individuals, Arsenal, at least in the first leg, were a better team. What they may have lacked individually they made up for by playing for each other and it was that unity which won the day.

The second thing to escape Thuram is that Arsenal are not conceding goals at the moment and have set a new Champions League record for doing just that. And that despite missing several key defenders.

Finally, Thuram doesn't seem to have realised the most important and crucial of all the points - even if they do concede a goal or two, Arsenal are very capable of scoring, especially on the counter attack. And if Arsenal get just one then Juventus automatically need four.

All in all we should be set for a classic match between two teams who are both capable of playing lovely football. I know who my money is on to go through but I won't even take the chance of jinxing them by making my prediction public.

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