Our experts cast an eye over the title chances of Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal

Joe Royle on the managers

Manchester United
At the risk of upsetting a great friend, Sir Alex Ferguson has brainwashed the English public, and his players, into believing that United will automatically be stronger during the second half of every season. It has become a self-fulfilling prophecy and this year, the title is now his to lose. United have not been at their best this season and they have missed Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez but Sir Alex knows his remaining players inside out and how best to use them. He hasn’t even felt the need to bother involving his rivals in mind games

Chelsea
Carlo Ancelotti has won an awful lot of trophies in Europe but I just have a feeling that maybe his lack of Premier League experience will count against him. That’s why Chelsea are now only my third favourites for the title. I don’t know the man and I don’t like to criticise but Ancelotti does seem a much colder fish than José Mourinho. Maybe he’s a bit too cold with players who responded so well to Mourinho’s extrovert streak and openness

Arsenal
Where Arsène Wenger has been clever is by not complaining about the loss of Robin van Persie, who is such an important player for them. It almost seems as if Van Persie never existed. His injury has not been allowed to turn into an excuse. I don’t buy Arsène’s theory that rival teams have a vendetta against Arsenal but he is very good at protecting his players and they appreciate that. Arsène deserves to be rewarded for Arsenal’s fantastic football but they are my second favourites

Joe Royle’s verdict: Manchester United

Alan Kennedy on the defences

Manchester United
United have missed Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand playing together and it’s a huge plus that they’re both fit for the final games. When they had to draft in players like Darren Fletcher to help out at the back it was a severe test of their resources. If they have their first-choice back four out it’s a formidable-looking defence: Neville, Vidic, Ferdinand and Evra. Patrice Evra in particular is a fantastic player – as a full-back myself I’m full of admiration for him

Chelsea
The controversy surrounding John Terry’s private life has affected his form but there were problems earlier on in the season too. Petr Cech had trouble deciding whether to come for crosses or not. The defence have a system that suits them well but there have been games where the defence have let them down badly: they conceded four against Manchester City at home and that wouldn’t have happened a few years ago. You get the feeling the Chelsea defence will always give the opposition at least one chance a game

Arsenal
Some people question Manuel Almunia’s consistency: he makes some fine saves but he also makes a few errors. Overall they do have a good defence, though. Their main problem is that sometimes the likes of Thomas Vermaelen and Gaël Clichy are so keen to get forward and help out the strikers that they forget to defend. It’s fantastic to watch but sometimes you’ve got to grind out cagey games to win the title and I don’t know whether they have the players to do that

Alan Kennedy’s verdict: Manchester United

Andy Gray on the attacks

Manchester United
Against the top clubs Ferguson plays Wayne Rooney centrally with two wide players flanking him. In other matches Dimitar Berbatov joins Rooney up front. There is nothing that Rooney does at the moment that does not work for him – he can even miss a penalty and the rebound drops back for him to score. His colleagues in that part of the pitch – Ryan Giggs, Park Ji-sung, Nani – have developed a nice blend. Luis Antonio Valencia particularly has grown at Old Trafford

Chelsea
When Didier Drogba went away to the Africa Cup of Nations, Chelsea had to tinker their shape and go with a three-man midfield and three-man forward line. They had good results playing this way and Carlo Ancelotti has persisted with this approach. It has caused Nicolas Anelka to be pushed wide and he is undergoing a bit of a dip, but Florent Malouda is playing tremendously well. Drogba, meanwhile, is one of the most difficult attackers to stop in the world. At the top of their game, Chelsea’s attack is the most fearsome

Arsenal
Nicklas Bendtner central, Andrey Arshavin on the left and Samir Nasri on the right – technically that’s a very good front three, with excellent mobility. They are all comfortable on the ball but they do not have what I would call a natural goalscorer. They will all contribute goals but you get the impression they’d all rather be creating a goal than scoring it. If Robin van Persie was fit and had played all season then I might be assessing it a little differently

Andy Gray’s verdict: Chelsea

Gary Speed on the dressing rooms

Manchester United
United are certainly my favourites because of the experience of the manager and coaches that they have at Old Trafford. They have won the title the last three years and looking from the outside they seem to have a fantastic team spirit. If they didn’t then I think Sir Alex would have something to say and do about it! At this level the players are all so good that a lot of it comes down to spirit and the man-management of the players to get that little something extra out of them. I think there is no one better than Sir Alex at doing that

Chelsea
They have a lot of experience in players such as John Terry and Frank Lampard who have won the league before. Losing Ricardo Carvalho this week was a big blow. He has maybe not grabbed the headlines like the others I’ve mentioned but I think people have come to appreciate how good he is now and he has lots of experience from winning the Champions League with Porto as well. Going out of Europe was a major setback but it might just help with all the injuries they have. I would have to put them as my third favourites, though

Arsenal
Arsenal don’t have that many experienced players but maybe Arsène Wenger will turn that round and use it as a positive. I’m sure he will just be telling them to enjoy playing football. When you have a lot of players in a squad who are of a similar age they seem to gel quite well usually and even though Cesc Fábregas is still a baby in footballing terms, he has vast experience already and is the catalyst for the team

Gary Speed’s verdict: Manchester United

David Fairclough on the run-ins

Manchester United
United got past one of the tougher games in their run-in when they beat Liverpool last week and I thought they were a bit lucky. United were there for the taking and Liverpool should have been more aggressive. Vidic and Ferdinand haven’t been 100% fit this season and that may well hurt United as the season comes to a close. There’s also the small matter of the Manchester derby to negotiate

Chelsea
Not too long ago the title was Chelsea’s to lose and they’ve managed to let their grip on it slip. It’s vital that they re-establish themselves and what better way to do it than by victory at Old Trafford on 3 April. I’ve got a sneaky feeling they’ll get at least a point out of the game: Terry and Lampard have seen their form slump but players of that quality don’t play badly for long. But even if Chelsea do get a good result at United there’s a couple of tough away games they have to play: they’re also going to have to visit Tottenham and Liverpool

Arsenal
On the face of it, Arsenal definitely have the easiest run-in. They don’t have to play either of their rivals for the title and while United and Chelsea are battling it out with each other, Arsenal will be playing teams such as Wolves. I’m not saying the teams they’re due to play are pushovers but momentum can be crucial at this stage of a title race and it’s a lot easier to build up if you’re not playing the big teams week in and week out. There’s no reason why Arsenal can’t go unbeaten between now and the end of the season

David Fairclough’s verdict: Arsenal

Premier LeagueArsenalManchester UnitedChelseaguardian.co.uk

The ruthlessness of old has gone missing and Chelsea seem susceptible to the less intimidating occasion

All the results are packed into a league table, but it still cannot tell the whole story. If it did Chelsea would be at ease. The current total of 58 points is their best at this stage of the programme since José Mourinho was strutting towards a second consecutive title in the 2005-06 campaign, but there is no echo of those times now.

The club do continue to top the ­Premier League, but Carlo Ancelotti’s team have not been imposing themselves fully in away games. Mistakes by John Terry led to Everton’s goals in the 2-1 defeat at Goodison yesterday. He is about to get the weekend off while he attends to his private life and accustoms himself to the fact that he is a former England captain.

Ancelotti, all the same, cannot suppose Terry is being swamped by events. He had an easy authority to his work as recently as last Sunday, when Arsenal were hindered by the lack of a genuine centre-forward in a line-up beaten 2-0 at Stamford Bridge. It would be simpler for Ancelotti if the blame for the fallibility could be pinned on one individual but the team have won only one of their last six away games in the league.

The old ruthlessness has gone missing. Chelsea have conceded leads in three of their four defeats this season – they have been unable to instil fatalism in their competitors. They have been more likely to bring themselves to a shuddering halt. The 3-0 victory at the Emirates was ­followed by a loss at Manchester City in the next league game and then a 3-3 draw with Everton at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea’s defensive record is bettered only by those of Aston Villa and Manchester United, but the goals conceded have done damage. A 3-1 loss at Wigan, for instance, was not anticipated. ­Roberto Martínez’s team have had just two other league victories at the DW Stadium, against lowly West Ham United and ­Sunderland. Ancelotti has many players who have already achieved much over long careers and it seems that there is now a difficulty in sustaining concentration over what appears to be a humdrum game.

The side give the impression of being better adapted to grand occasions when the threat is not concealed in the slightest. In this campaign they have won all three games with United and Arsenal while keeping a clean sheet every time. Last Sunday’s meeting with Arsène Wenger’s side seemed to lift the concentration of the goalkeeper Petr Cech to a higher plane. With such factors in mind, Chelsea may not be perturbed by the seemingly ­intimidating occasions that lie ahead, such as the trip to Old Trafford on 3 April. At least the hostile setting will provoke a rise in their own intensity.

Ancelotti’s team will still have to be authoritative elsewhere and the ­manager seems to have identified areas of ­concern. None of Chelsea’s main rivals would ­countenance a rotation policy in the heart of the back four, but that was the practice in a recent spell when Alex alternated with Ricardo Carvalho. The Portuguese has had knee trouble in the past and could be ­succumbing to wear and tear, but has now started in each of the last three ­fixtures while Alex has had a hamstring problem.

Continuity can bring reliability, but the loss at Goodison showed there has been no complete return to steadfastness. That is remarkable in view of the personnel. Ancelotti could hardly hope for a better left-back than Ashley Cole. That Cole will be out for three months after fracturing his ankle against Everton is a blow, but the Russian Yuri Zhirkov is a capable replacement. Branislav Ivanovic, on the opposite flank, had done so well that it is forgotten José Bosingwa has been sidelined following knee surgery four months ago.

The intermittent fault in Chelsea’s displays has a number of causes and is therefore harder to correct. Michael Essien, for instance, had barely got over injury when he damaged his knee while with Ghana at the Africa Cup of Nations. The powerful midfielder, if fit, would have a deterrent effect that is absent from the Chelsea midfield.

There may be wider issues, too, for a line-up that has faltered. It is, for instance, a boon to have Didier Drogba back in the country, but his return has ­coincided with a dip in Nicolas Anelka’s level. The Frenchman has not scored in any of Chelsea’s three games since the Ivorian returned to the line-up.

This looks a tactical matter more than one of temperament. In the current, ­three-pronged attack Anelka is uneasy towards the right. It is likely that Ancelotti will now consider allowing him to revert to a more central post, just behind Drogba. With United gathering themselves and Arsenal arguing that they can still get back in contention, the Chelsea manager has to show he can establish momentum.

Carlo AncelottiChelseaJohn TerryPremier LeagueKevin McCarraguardian.co.uk