Three horse race

We look at the three clubs currently in the title race and deliberate over some potential deciding factors.

Having been imperious up until the turn of the year it is only now with successive defeats that questions have begun to surface over the depth of quality in Manchester City's much lauded squad. There is no doubt City possess the greatest number of players who wouldn't look out of place on the cover of FIFA 12, but with Stefan Savic the only centre-half in the Premier League this season to have made Andy Carroll look like a professional (well nearly), Vincent Kompany's enforced absence could be sorely felt come May. Kolo Toure is away with the Ivory Coast at the African Cup of Nations and with Nedum Onuoha out of favour, Roberto Mancini - cue cries of derision from his and the club's detractors - is right in saying City don't have the biggest squad at present. Pablo Zabaleta is an option to slot in alongside Joleon Lescott, or alternatively his presence in the side could see Micah Richards shift across to centre-half. Alternatively they could just buy Gary Cahill. Rafael van der Vaart's recent comments about City have been mischievously reported in Friday morning's papers but the reality is Mancini's side haven't lost 'it', but rather their three best players. Kompany, David Silva and Yaya Toure (like his brother at the ACON) make Mancini's side tick, so should we really be talking about 'losing' anything, other than a couple of cup games, in their absence? Silva started against Manchester United but wasn't at his best as he looks to shake off an ankle injury, while Kompany's dismissal and subsequent ban is arguably the biggest difficulty they've had to deal with since Carlos Tevez. There is no easy solution to the problem of Yaya Toure's absence either. Nigel de Jong's destructive qualities are well documented and he's been unfortunate to be reduced to a peripheral role this season after excelling last year, but his team-mate's remarkable driving runs from deep will be sorely missed. City miss their best players just like any other side and it's largely premature to talk of cracks emerging on the back of a couple of iffy performances. Samir Nasri has endured a tough start to life in Manchester but a brighter performance against Liverpool could be built on given greater responsibility, should Silva be wrapped in cotton wool over the next few weeks. He hasn't become a bad player overnight. Monday's away day in Wigan should steady the ship, before ten days that could shape their season as a home game with Tottenham is followed by the second leg of their Carling Cup semi-final and a trip to Goodison Park. For a squad that is supposedly the worst Sir Alex Ferguson has ever worked with, Manchester United have got a decent second string. As City will find out with Kompany, losing your defensive talisman is difficult to cope with. Nemanja Vidic's serious knee injury and Rio Ferdinand's descent into Ledley King territory has accelerated the progression of Chris Smalling and Phil Jones into regular starters. Both, for the most part, have coped admirably but with all young players inevitable peaks and troughs will ensue. The elephant in the room is a lack of a world class central midfielder. Ferguson has oft spoken of a loathing for dealing big in January so the imminent return of Tom Cleverley, who was excellent in tandem with Anderson before injury reduced the pair of them to the sidelines, could not be better timed. Paul Scholes'