This could be the best Premier League run-in yet, but also the most farcical

THE first and most important thing to say about the Premier League run-in is that we are probably about to experience one of the great title showdowns.

- Dan Kilpatrick

Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City are separated by just a point with seven games to play and each of the top three is in imperious form.

Arsenal, for my money, are the most robust of the three but the least experienced in these situations. Mikel Arteta, the Arsenal head coach, has built surely the best out-of-possession side in Europe.

City and Liverpool, though, have the pedigree, particularly the current champions who are aiming for an unprecedented sixth title in seven seasons under Pep Guardiola - a record which has imbued them with an aura of grim inevitability.

Liverpool, the choice for most romantics, have the extra drive as they aim to deliver manager Jurgen Klopp a farewell championship before the German stands down at the end of the campaign.

The race really is impossible to call and, such is the quality of the three teams, we could go into the final day of the top-flight season with three potential champions for the first time since 1972, when Liverpool and Leeds were vying to knock Brian Clough's Derby Country off top spot.