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Chris Kamara analyses contrasting victories for the top four

Image: Brendan Rodgers' Liverpool edged Swansea in a thriller

Chris Kamara compares and contrasts victories for Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool after all of the Premier League's top four won this weekend.

Why did West Brom sell Shane Long?

If you're a West Brom supporter, you must be thinking 'what on earth have we done in getting rid of Shane Long?' You can say Long doesn't score enough goals but the one thing you could never say is that he doesn't work his socks off. When he goes over that line, the only time he might let you down is if he's not feeling well! I've never seen him fail to run around lots. He gives you that and he's also clever - his movement's good. Now, he's found a partner on the same wavelength as him in Nikica Jelavic and they're both thriving. If you're a club at the bottom then you don't sell your striker to another club down there - Pepe Mel must be looking at him and thinking 'I wish I had him here.' With regards to Cardiff, they were in 16th when they got rid of Malky Mackay. If they'd have been in the bottom three then you could say it was the right decision, but when it's just a clash of personalities rather than anything to do with football, you'd be disappointed as a Cardiff supporter. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has come in and found it difficult because they're not his players. He's got a philosophy of how he wants the team to play but he might have to re-think that in the same way that Monk might have to at Swansea.

Big boys lift Moyes' mood

KAMMY SAYS: Tony Pulis came in and decided he was going to make his Crystal Palace team very difficult to beat. Bar the rash challenge from Marouane Chamakh, you never know what might have happened against Manchester United on Saturday. With regards to United, Wayne Rooney has just signed a new contract, Robin van Persie is now back fit, Adnan Januzaj has been a real bonus for them and the midfielders will gain a lot of confidence from Rooney and Van Persie being reunited. So all in all, you can't say they won't go on a run from now until the end of the season because it's more than a possibility. You can't speculate they won't make the top four when there's still a mathematical chance of them doing it. Palace have had a great run but they're still down in it. There are still 10 or 11 teams who are in this relegation battle. Until they have 40 points on that board, nobody can say they're safe. Everything's up to play for - I've never known this many teams involved. It's as tight as it's ever been!

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