Bob Lethaby is loving the tightest title race in living memory. Strap yourselves in and enjoy the ride.

As someone who currently follows Reading FC with a degree of apathy and uncertainty of the direction of where the club is heading, the Premier League has become a great distraction because as a neutral, it is making compelling entertainment.

The Premier League may well fall short of Champions League quality but on a domestic level, it is shaping up to be the most keenly contested league in Europe, with four teams, at the time of writing, contenders rather than pretenders to throne that has been handed on a plate by the spectacular demise of Moyes’s merry men from Old Trafford.

Top of the gang of four are Chelsea, the least popular challengers who have muscled their way to the top with determination but scant flair and the lack of a consistent goal scorer. However, their spectacular, some might say (me included) hilarious collapse in front of a gleeful Aston Villa Holt End, slammed the brakes on a potential one horse race that looked distinctly possible after Vincent Kompany was dismissed after ten minutes at Hull.

In second place we have a resurgent Liverpool. Who would have thought that after the dreadful and nauseating attempt at nostalgia under the archaic management of ‘King Kenny’ that Brendan Rogers (once sacked by my club) would set about creating the most vibrant Liverpool side in years. The Reds remain marginal outsiders but (I am choking as I say this) they are a pleasure to watch and if the old adage that goal scorers win trophies is true, the SAS partnership of the brilliant Suarez and Sturridge could just bring Steven Gerrard the title he deserves.

Sat in third and constantly written off are Arsenal, fluent and flamboyant at their best, but a team that was woeful at Anfield and roughed up and deservedly beaten at Stoke City, surely can’t win the title can they? The table would suggest otherwise and if Arsenal can upset Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday they are right in it…However, if they lose, it is surely time for the fat lady to start singing.

Finally, in fourth it is the rising Blue Moon, quite possibly the next dominant force in English, even European football. With a star studded squad and emerging facilities that are the envy of football, City are looking to cast a shadow over their dominant neighbours. It looked all over for them on Saturday when they lost Kompany to an early red card but David Silva struck a curling beauty straight from a Roy of the Rovers annual and dictated proceedings from then on to ensure a tricky fixture resulted in maximum points. On such days, titles are won and Brian Kidd’s reaction was an echo of that telling day in 1993, when Steve Bruce thumped in two headers for Manchester’s other half (United) against Sheffield Wednesday.

Steve Bruce was Hull’s manager on Saturday, if only Alanis Morrisette followed football, she would then know what irony is; football is laced with it.

So who will it be on May the 11th?

My heart says Liverpool, which is quite remarkable considering how much I detested them pre-Rodgers. Maybe it has something to do with being vindicated after the way he (Rodgers) was treated at Reading but it is probably more to do with the attacking abandon they have played, particularly at home, it is great to watch.

Most neutrals will agree that Chelsea are not a team to stay awake during MOTD for, so I really hope they don’t win it, though out of all the four top managers, Mourinho is the one I would most like to share a beer or glass of wine with, purely because his brain ticks in extraordinary ways. Even those who hate him know that the Premier League needs him, if only for pantomime villain purposes.

Arsenal are a club that supposedly do things the right way and are the model for financial stability blah blah blah…But I am afraid I am a bit bored of them now; they are like a beautiful woman without substance, stringing you along then letting you down before ringing you up and convincing you that she is great, no really…Honestly. I am also sick of hearing “I deed not see zee inceedent.”

As a neutral Arsenal infuriate, so what it is like to be a fan, I just don’t know.

So my head says Man City and to be honest, the only reason I want Liverpool to win it and not City is because I believe they (City) have bags of titles and cups ahead of them, such is the infrastructure of the club. This providing of course, they show more tolerance with managers and the Arabs don’t get bored. The investment suggests they are in for the long haul.

So I’m going for Liverpool but I will have to remember, if it happens, not to visit an antique furniture shop down in here in deepest Hampshire.

Why? Because it will be full of plastic scousers crawling out of the woodwork whilst glory hunting faux United fans in Hampshire accents, burrow themselves in.

Enjoy the ride