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James Richardson is joined by James Dart, Barry Glendenning and John Ashdown on your Easter Monday edition of Football Weekly.

We begin by looking back on the weekend’s action, as Chelsea returned to the top of the Premier League against a tired-looking Manchester United. Will the Red Devils’ game with Bayern Munich in the Champions League also end in defeat?

In the fight for fourth, Manchester City obliterated hopeless Burnley, while Tottenham Hotspur came unstuck at Sunderland, and Liverpool blew two points away to Birmingham City (did you see the look Steven Gerrard shot at Rafael Benítez when Fernando Torres was substituted? Ouch). Can the Reds save their season against Benfica in the Europa League on Thursday? Probably not.

In the relegation fight, West Ham United ended their run of six consecutive defeats with a point at Everton. Who’s got more stomach for the scrap – the Hammers (yes, we’re looking at you, Mido) or Hull City?

Finally, Sid Lowe looks ahead to Barcelona’s big week, which involves the visit of Arsenal and then, in all likelihood, the title-deciding derby with Real Madrid, while there are also honourable mentions in the pod for Stevenage Borough, Scunthorpe, and our Italian friend, the Calciopoli scandal, which has reared its head once again.

We’re back as usual on Thursday, but in the meantime, share your Easter spirit on the blog below. We’re also on Facebook, Twitter, and iTunes, and there’s more occasional hilarity with our tea-timely email, The Fiver.

James RichardsonBen GreenBarry GlendenningJames DartJohn Ashdown

There is no disgrace in drawing with a Birmingham City side that have now taken points off every club in the top six at home but the harsh reality for Liverpool is that matching their rivals’ results is no longer enough. Liam Ridgewell’s equaliser, after Steven Gerrard had put Liverpool in front with his 10th goal of the season, means that Rafael Benítez’s side are four points behind fourth-placed Manchester City having played a game more.

That deficit leaves Liverpool with little margin for error over their five remaining Premier League matches, even allowing for the difficult run-ins that City and Tottenham Hotspur face. Three points could have been Liverpool’s here but David Ngog, who came on for the largely anonymous Fernando Torres, spurned a hat-trick of chances and Maxi Rodríguez blazed over in the closing minutes with Joe Hart prone. How Liverpool must wish they had started like they had finished.

The first half had made for painful viewing and it was not until the 35th minute that either side came close to scoring. That chance fell to Liverpool and it was only Hart’s sharp reflexes that prevented Rodríguez from giving the visitors the lead. Pepe Reina started the move, the Liverpool goalkeeper’s long throw releasing Dirk Kuyt on the halfway line before possession was transferred to Yossi Benayoun and then Torres. The Spaniard’s right-wing cross picked out Rodríguez but his crisp side-footed volley was turned onto the bar by Hart.

Things improved after the restart with two goals in the space of nine minutes. Gerrard struck first, the Liverpool captain benefiting from an awful Glen Johnson mis-hit that dropped at his feet deep inside the Birmingham area. There was still much to do but Gerrard sold Lee Bowyer a brilliant dummy, to create a yard of space, before curling a fine shot past Hart and into the bottom corner.

Liverpool were in control but their lead proved short-lived when James McFadden swept in a deep centre from the right flank that Ridgewell, completely unmarked as the visitors defence were all sucked towards the ball, nudged over the line with his thigh. More poor Liverpool defending should have been punished in the 69th minute but Bowyer horribly scuffed Ridgewell’s fine cross as the goal yawned in front of him.

Liverpool, however, finished the stronger. Ngog sent a bullet header narrowly wide of Hart’s near upright before sweeping a snap-shot into the side-netting. His best opportunity arrived in injury-time but after taking Gerrard’s raking pass on his chest he shot tamely at Hart.

Premier LeagueBirmingham CityLiverpoolStuart Jamesguardian.co.uk

Arsenal won’t win the league; Chris Smalling has a way to go yet and Harry Redknapp doesn’t know who will finish fourth

Arsenal won’t win the league

Surely, then, that’s it. Arsenal aren’t far off the top of the league, and meet first-placed Chelsea on Sunday, but the manner of their defeat at home to Manchester United doesn’t encourage much optimism. The Gunners got a fair old tonking, and, while they were feeble in all areas, if we had to pick a single player to cruelly vilify we’d be pointing a podgy finger at the left-back, Gaël Clichy. So far this season the words “Clichy” and “tormented” have appeared in the same sentence as Shaun Wright-Phillips, Ashley Young and now Nani, who is starting to look like he can combine his natural show pony instincts with a genuine cutting edge and thus become a very good player indeed, rather than someone who’d do all right at Osasuna. There will be no better assist this season than that which set up United’s first.

Chris Smalling’s got a way to go

It wasn’t just on the pitch that Arsenal lost to United, with Fulham’s 20-year-old centre-back rather presciently deciding that he had a better chance of success at Old Trafford than the Emirates. If he’s good enough to have the nation’s two best judges of crowd-pleasing talent outside of Simon Cowell salivating then he’s clearly got something about him, but while Smalling’s rapid rise from obscurity has been pretty thrilling, he’s not the new Nemanja Vidic quite yet. Back at Fulham on loan until the end of the season, Saturday’s game against Aston Villa represented his third ever league start and the way that Gabriel Agbonlahor nipped in front of him to head Villa’s first suggested he’s still got a whiff of the lower leagues about him. But then Brede Hangeland was made to look considerably sillier for Villa’s second and he’s got a half-century of international caps for Norway. While we’re on the subject of Fulham, either this was a total fluke or Stefano Okaka, who joins them on loan today, is probably an improvement on Bobby Zamora.

Javier Mascherano’s got a brilliant left foot

So far as we can remember, the only notable thing the Argentinian has done with his left foot in the past is break it, yet there he was on Saturday spraying the pass of the weekend from the left wing, looping 50 yards into Steven Gerrard’s path. Nothing came of it, except for a notable leap of the eyebrows in the Burnton household, though of course the sudden appearance of hitherto undiscovered creative talents in their existing players is pretty much exactly what Liverpool need if they’re going to turn unconvincing 2-0 wins over the likes of Bolton into emphatically convincing more than 2-0 wins over the likes of Bolton.

Harry Redknapp doesn’t know who will finish fourth

In a contender for least revelatory quote of the season, here are the Tottenham manager’s thoughts on the race for the final Champions League place: “Manchester City are going to be there, and Liverpool. It will be tight. If Fernando Torres comes back strong, then I think Liverpool have a great squad. Manchester City have a great squad too. And so do we. And Aston Villa. I don’t think there’s a lot between us.”

Birmingham need a striker who can finish

It seems harsh to criticise when they’re riding high in the Premier League but the Blues’ finishing leaves a lot to be desired. Cameron Jerome is tall and powerful but has more shanks in his repertoire than a lifer in a particularly tough prison. Christian Benítez’s rubbery limbs and pace create three or four chances a game. Unfortunately those chances usually end in a tame finish and Birmingham are the joint-second lowest scorers at home in the league, level with Wigan. Only Wolves lie below them. It’s not a crisis by any means, but Birmingham’s excellent defenders and goalkeeper may prefer their forwards to provide them with a little bit of leeway by helping build decent leads in games.

Premier LeagueArsenalManchester UnitedFulhamLiverpoolTottenham HotspurBirmingham CitySimon BurntonTom Lutzguardian.co.uk