Title race the same it was, Sky Sports will somehow tell you its different. Relegation battles now starting to take shape. Which managers are really feeling the pressure? A Premier League weekend to look back, a midweek to also briefly look ahead. Issue 72. Go.

No matter what direction I go in, there is plenty of Premier League narrative to dissect and although it is tempting to start at the top, I am going to start at the bottom and with Burnley losing to West Ham on Saturday, I think we can now finally cast them adrift.

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Their survival life raft broken into plenty of sticks, the Hammers picking up a third win in four games. Not only was it another game where Crysencio Summerville gets himself on the scoresheet, it is also a win that makes a group of teams above a little more nervy.

The final third of the campaign starts in midweek, anything after the Easter break and they call that ‘the business end’ of the season. It will be a huge downturn in business if one team in particular suffers the drop.

The thing with a relegation battle at this stage of the season is that you can join it, you can leave it, it’s fluidity means that things are far from done and dusted. At the same time, this is the battle in its truest and current form:

I always think with this many games left, six points from the drop is a fair margin of error. Therefore, although Brighton and Crystal Palace are suffering their own woes - more so the former after their drab performance on Sunday, they are the last of the ‘safe’ clubs.

Not a mantle that Spurs can claim possession of at present. West Ham’s win coupled with Thomas Frank overseeing another defeat now brings the North London outfit in the firing line, their next two outings are both Newcastle and Arsenal at home.

Two of four matches that Cristian Romero will be unavailable for after his reckless almost mindless sending off at Old Trafford. In a week where his comments about the club’s injury record were misguided at best, his tackle on Casemiro was rather ugly at worst.

A red card that is the fourth of his Spurs career, only further feeding the narrative that the Argentine is hot-headed and reckless. You may think that narrative is pushed too hard, what happened in Manchester is hard to push back from.

Whoever it was on, the board need to take their fair share of criticism - a share that needs to be rather substantial after not being active enough in the January transfer window. The arrival of Conor Gallagher feeling like new brickwork when the roof is still leaking.

One of the shiniest stadiums in the Premier League could be welcoming Bristol City and Hull through its doors next season if this current trajectory continues. You never want to be the team that sleepwalks into the bottom three, Spurs need to wake from their slumber.

Long-term subscribers will know that I have often referenced the concept of managers under pressure and how you go about trying to quantify that. For those who are new to the landscape, it is an attempt to measure those who are feeling the most heat.

That heat may be not matching the pre-season plan, it may a team circling the drain but its not as simple as looking at the league table and flipping it upside, there is a lot of nuance attached to it as well.

Which after a few weeks of really trying to make sense of how to add context to it all, I have finally collated my own rankings. Think of this as a v1.0 - I am very much open to feedback.

The key:

A score from 100-1 as the range. 100 you are all but out of the door, 1 and you have a lifetime contract at the club. Parameters between those two numbers than place you in the relevant category.

Burnley’s Scott Parker is currently the man who is under the most pressure. Admittedly, I don’t think the model is quite nailed yet but being second bottom and not winning any of your last 16 means its not an outrageous position either.

There probably needs to some caveat because you would imagine he would still be in charge of the club in the Championship next season but if you took that out of the equation, an 86 out of 100 is not a million miles off.

Take him out of the equation and Thomas Frank’s score of 81 and second in the list ties in very nicely to what I have just mentioned above and more importantly how Tottenham have performed since the start of the year.

Rob Edwards is again a little too high but I think he cannot get too comfortable either. The team has certainly improved these past few weeks but the former Middlesbrough boss still needs to show that he is the right man to attempt any promotion bid next time.

Which means there are two more managers that I and the model would label as under severe pressure right now. The first of those is Nuno Espirito Santo at West Ham, the other is Eddie Howe at Newcastle.

Admittedly the pressure score of 78 out of 100 for Nuno would have been a lot higher if I had worked this out even a month or so ago. At the same time, the figure attached to his Newcastle counterpart would have been lower.

I also referenced earlier in the season that I felt like the stars were beginning to align for Howe to become the next England manager. A lot would depend on how the Magpies ended the campaign but it is fair to say that their upcoming FA Cup clash is now even more important.

Anyone in the ‘Under Pressure’ category seems in a relatively fair position to me. It only takes a handful of results to go against either Daniel Farke or Sean Dyche for them to feel the heat - even more so for the latter consider who owns Nottingham Forest.

Arne Slot’s rating is going to be one of the most volatile between now and May, a couple of points were probably added after their 2-1 defeat at home to Manchester City on Sunday - more of that in a moment.

Which leaves us to the ‘Watchlist’ category and to be honest this feels like the catch-all section for any team within the vicinity of the midtable. Nothing to see here, unless you are a Brighton supporter.

The Seagulls are now without a league win in five attempts but the optimism is draining from The Amex in recent weeks. Not saying Fabian Hurzeler has hit the end of the road but it does feel he is on a rocky path at present.

Any manager in the top five at present gets an obvious ‘Stable’ rating. Oliver Glasner is awarded the same due to him already handing in his notice. He may as well wear a Hawaiian shirt for the rest of the season.

That’s me having a rough but I think fairly educated stab at actually bringing this concept to life. Let me know what you think. Agree? Disagree? I will update the table each week may add the odd snapshot from time to time as we go.

When the final whistle blew at Anfield on Sunday, Manchester City had just completed a comeback win over Liverpool. A sensational end to the game after it felt nothing more than sparring in the first 75 minutes or so.

At that moment when Pep Guardiola’s men were celebrating, Gary Neville kept saying on Sky Sports that City had entered the title race. All very well, but then again:

Manchester City were six points behind Arsenal on Saturday lunchtime.

Manchester City are six points behind Arsenal this evening after that win.

Nothing has changed in terms of the gap, the nine to six was nothing more than temporary after the Gunners made light work of Sunderland at the Emirates the day before.

The Sky Sports hype machine in full flow? Probably

Gary Neville talking nonsense? Definitely

To play devil’s advocate, I do ‘kind’ of see what is he getting at because before the game it did feel as if City were drinking in the last chance saloon. Even more so when they went 1-0 down to Dominik Szoboszlai’s missile.

But nothing has changed in the grander scheme of things. If it was six points down to three with the top two still to meet at the Etihad, you would think game on. Now, you think the game still needs to be switched off.

Which then brings us to the final few seconds of the game, if the 15 minutes beforehand were barnstorming, the ending was nothing short of farcical. Step forward match referee Craig Pawson.

Is he the villain of the piece or is he just following orders? Truth be told, he is a little bit of both. Under the laws of the game, his decision to chalk off Rayan Cherki’s goal was correct but did anyone really gain from his final call.

Dominik Szoboszlai given his marching orders instead of City winning the game by three goals to one. Ask any Liverpool fan or even Arne Slot for that matter and they would have much rather taken the extra goal hit then worsen their right back issues.

Their Hungarian international now out through suspension, salt in the wounds after already seeing his incredible free-kick effort ultimately count for nothing. A video nasty if ever there was one.

Then again, it must be noted that referee Pawson is getting justification from VAR official John Brooks and although advantage was originally given, Erling Haaland then committed his own foul in the phase between that and the ball crossing the line.

Just an absolute mess really in how it unfolds but for the talk about wanting to see the right decisions being made, you cannot just have Craig Pawson just make it up because it feels like the logical conclusion.

Once again VAR does make the right call - the other recent example being Antoine Semenyo’s Carabao Cup goal being ruled out at Newcastle but it is a one where you ask whether VAR was needed at all.

A win for the technology but not for its image. I think that is the best way to describe it. I’m keen to get your take on the matter though. Let me know in the comments or email.

The big numbers before the midweek Premier League action:

Chelsea have won their last 7 home matches against Leeds in all competitions.

Bournemouth have won their last 3 away matches against Everton in all competitions.

Newcastle have been losing at both half time and full time in their last 3 matches (Premier League).

Manchester United have won their last 4 matches (Premier League). HAIRCUT ALERT

Manchester City are undefeated in 11 of their last 12 matches (Premier League).

Wolves have failed to win 28 of their last 29 matches (Premier League).

Burnley have conceded at least 2 goals in 6 of their last 7 matches (Premier League).

There have been under 2.5 goals scored in Aston Villa's last 5 games (Premier League).

Liverpool have won 1 of their last 6 Premier League matches

Arsenal have scored at least 2 goals in their last 3 matches

Manchester City going first in terms of scheduling, six points could be become three and then its over to you Arsenal.

Tottenham hosting Newcastle, even take the manager pressure out of the equation and both teams need a win on Tuesday - I will actually be in attendance for this one.

Can Manchester United make it five wins in a row? Will Crysencio Summerville have other ideas.

Can Liam Rosenior make it five league wins in a row at Chelsea

Aston Villa need to return to winning ways to stop the likes of United and Chelsea nipping on their heels. The visit of Brighton could be perfect opposition.

Right, that’s the end of issue 72 as word continues to spread around the football world.

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Issue 73 drops Friday and I’ll be back with another round of insight, analysis and trends that matter. Any feedback or comments on this issue, contact me below:

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