One by one, Premier League teams are extricating themselves from the race to be amongst the first visitors to Brighton's impressive new stadium. Aston Villa, West Brom, Sunderland and now Stoke have eased away from danger in the past few matches, and I think that by the end of the coming weekend, we may be left with a five way tussle that looks likely to be settled by the narrowest of margins. Four of the top five face each other this weekend, so we are presented with some vital fixtures for the threatened sides, starting at Ewood Park:

Unfortunately, due to travel plans, I'm having to write this week's column prior to the midweek Premier League matches, but I'll assume that by the time you read this, Man.U. are still well clear, Arsenal still have no chance of catching them, Newcastle have done the opposite of what I predicted and Fernando Torres has continued to look as effective as Blackpool's defence. It can't be long now until the Champions' podium is erected at Old Trafford, and that's where the Easter Weekend's fixture list kicks off:

The FA Cup semi-finals take place this weekend, and thanks to the blinkered money-grabbers at the FA who have again decreed that they are not bothered about devaluing the Final by holding both semis at Wembley, it will mean absolute chaos for anybody travelling between London and the North West, not to mention an expensive and potentially explosive situation for the police to deal with. With all four semi-finalists coming from the North West, together with Liverpool playing at Arsenal and the London Marathon taking place on Sunday, the coming weekend will definitely be one to leave the car in the garage and walk to watch your local team playing, leaving the M6 and the Wembley area to those once-a-season supporters whose faces will never be seen at the Britannia or the Reebok.

I mentioned last week how much I was looking forward to the return of League football after the international break, and I certainly wasn't disappointed with the fare on offer over the weekend. The usual elements of goals, excitement and controversy were all there in abundance, but what was exceptional about the latest round of League fixtures was that no fewer than seven hat-tricks were scored in the four English Leagues, which is a stunning number, especially considering that players from Crewe and Norwich managed two apiece.