Manchester City or Liverpool…who you got? There is really only one thing left to be decided, who will win the Premier League title. It has been a two horse race the entire season and we are down to one weekend and it remains a two horse race. Manchester City has control of their destiny….Liverpool needs them to stumble. They don’t need them to lose, but they need them to draw. It has been a pretty impressive display by the front runners. Both have not lost in months in league. Manchester City with 14 straight wins. Liverpool with 16 games since their last loss. The difference…Liverpool has had 4 draws in their last 16. That has cost them 8 valuable points and allowed Manchester City to slowly creep back into the race. It has been a 1 point difference for the past 6-8 weeks. Every weekend there was immense pressure on both clubs, and every week they both found ways to win. So it comes down to the last day of the season.
Manchester City vs. Brighton. Liverpool vs. Wolves.
All 10 games on Sunday start at 9:00 CST so no teams will know the outcomes and every team will need to fight to the finish. It should be interesting. Manchester City is a heavy favorite over Brighton, but Liverpool has had a charmed season….is there one more surprise ending left in their year. Could the soccer gods somehow give Liverpool a chance.
The Top 4 Finish has also been decided, well basically decided. After last weeks results, both the #3 and #4 spots are looking locked into place.
Chelsea beat Watford 3-0, Tottenham lost to Bournemouth on a late goal, Arsenal tied Brighton 1-1, and Manchester United tied Huddersfield 1-1. It was quite a disappointing end to the season for Manchester United who were officially eliminated form Top 4. Arsenal are hanging on by a mathematical thread. If they win by 4 goals and Tottenham loses by 4 goals, they could end up tied. That is pretty astronomical odds. Let’s go ahead and say it, Arsenal is eliminated as well. So what’s left….If Chelsea wins, they finish 3rd. If they lose and Tottenham wins or draws, Tottenham finish 3rd. Not much drama, but the pride of third is on the line.
Relegation Zone
The three teams being relegated has been decided. Going back down to the Championship level in 2019/2020 will be Cardiff City, Huddersfield and Fulham. That means three teams from the Championship level get to replace them. Here is the current standings.
Norwich City and Sheffield United finished 1/2 and are officially promoted. There is a 4 team playoff for the final team. Drama. Norwich has been in the Premier League recently, but it has been awhile for Sheffield United, 2006/200, for one of the historic clubs in English soccer. There now will be a 4 team playoff for the final spot between: Leeds United, Aston Villa, West Bromich Albion and Derby County.
Match Week 38 Preview
Game of the Week: Manchester City vs. Brighton. Liverpool vs. Wolves. It all comes down to these two teams.
Get ready for an exciting finish to the season.
UEFA Champions League
Mayabe the most exciting Semi-Finals in UEFA history this past week. I am not trying to be bold or dramatic….it really might have been the best semi-finals ever. Here is the set up.
Barcelona won the first leg against Liverpool 3-0. For Liverpool to advance they would need to beat Barcelona by 4 goals while playing against the historic Barcelona football club. Unthinkable. An impossible task. Barcelona advances to the final, right. Well, we mentioned earlier, the magical season for Liverpool. Let’s take a look at the highlights.
But as we said, a magical year for Liverpool. An amazing second half. Down 3-1 on aggregate and needing 3 goals in the second. An then a substitute gets 2 in two minutes….and then there is a corner….and then the corner taker acts like he is changing spots….and then Barcelona relaxes…and then its the old double cross, the corner kick is taken and Origi scored the 4th goal. Oh my! How did that happen! No way! But it did and we were treated to one of the most amazing comebacks in Champions League semi-final history.
Whew. Can’t match that with the second semi-final Ajax vs. Tottenham, right. Well maybe. Here is the set up. Ajax wins game 1 by a score of 1-0 at Tottenham. Heading into Game 2, Tottenham would need to overcome the deficit and secure 2 goals. Ajax comes out of the gate strong and really controls the first half, scoring 2 goals and taking an aggregate 3-0 lead. For Tottenham, they now would need to score 3 second half goals, all away goals, and that would give them a win, but three second half goals, on the road, after being shut out in the first two games so far. No way, right. Lets check out the highlights.
Oh my again. The second half was pretty intense. A great first goal. A crazy second goal…how did the GK not collect that ball…and how did Luca Moura dance around all those defenders to get odff the shot. And then the drama….shots, saves, deflections, cross bars, side posts, all of it!! And then 5 minutes into extra time with just seconds left before a final whistle, and Ajax is holding on….but then a moment of magic. A lofted ball, a volley touch, a beautiful weighted pass from Deli Ali and then the man of the match, Moura, fires in a hat trick winner. Tottenham advance. Tears were flowing everywhere. Announcers were crying, the Coach was crying, everyone. Tottenham have never advanced to this position….ever. It will be their first Champions League final in Club history. This may have been one their greatest victories in club history and certainly in the last 15-20 years. They have great history in FA Cup and League Cup competitions and some early UEFA Cups, but in the last 30 years have not won much. They had become synonymous with late losses, soft play, and unrealized expectations and even recently I would hear the phrase, “very Spursy” for their expected poor play. But…maybe that is changed forever…this was the most UN Spursy thing to do. Come back when all is lost and there is no hope and the easy path would be to just lose and move on. Great Character was shown by Tottenham. Wow!! Back to back 3 goal comebacks in the Semi-Finals.
Last, I have repeated a lot on this site that the Premier League is the greatest soccer league in the world. We now have another source of proof. For the first time in UEFA history, one League will have all four teams in the two major UEFA Championships.
UEFA Champions League: Tottenham vs. Liverpool June 1 at 2:00 CST
UEFA Europa League: Chelsea vs. Arsenal May 29 2:00 CST
Get your popcorn ready!!!