Liverpool. Amazing Liverpool. Unbelievable Liverpool. This season is all about Liverpool. This is how I started the post last week and I think its where we need to start again this week. The Liverpool train continues charging toward an unbeaten season.
This past week Liverpool played two games, their regular week 24 clash and then a makeup game from a match missed earlier in the season. And as expected….two wins in two tries. Unbeaten season intact.
In honor of Liverpool. I wanted to share a video of their pregame routine where the fans sing, “You’ll Never Walk Alone”. It quite inspiring and a bit emotional….to hear the entire stadium singing as one….wow. To be in that stadium with all those fans! A little history on the song and how it connected with Liverpool. The song was part of a successful Broadway musical, “Carousel” from 1945 and then in the UK, the song’s most successful cover was released in 1963 by the Liverpool area music group Gerry and the Pacemakers, peaking at number one on the UK singles chart for four consecutive weeks. Sung by Liverpool fans in 1963, the song quickly became the football anthem of Liverpool FC which adopted “You’ll Never Walk Alone” as its official motto on its coat of arms. The song is sung by its supporters moments before the start of each home game at Anfield with the Gerry and the Pacemakers version played over the public address system. Enjoy!
Unbeaten Season/Streak. 24 down and 14 to go for the season. Their current streak of undefeated games is 39 stretching back to last year. Third best in Premier League history. They are 10 games away from tying Arsenal’s record of 49.
It’s all about Liverpool and I think I might cheer them on. It could be the greatest single season in Premier League history. Just 1 game where I won’t be cheering them on….Chelsea!! Take a look at the Liverpool season so far. Enjoy!!
Match Week 24 Recap
I know we have crowned Liverpool, but after that, things are getting interesting. There is still a race for the Top 4 and the teams are battling it out. This past week there were 8 winners in the 10 games. Here is a recap.
- Liverpool wins 2-1 over Wolverhampton.
- Bournemouth takes down Brighton 3-1.
- Aston Villa with a 2-1 win over Watford.
- Southampton with a big 2-0 win over Crystal Palace.
- Manchester City with a top 10 win over Sheffield United 1-0.
- Leicester City with a dominating 4-1 win over West Ham United.
- Tottenham wins 2-1 over Norwich City..
- The surprise of the week, Burnley take down Manchester United 2-0
Race for the Top 4
Liverpool is a run away leader. How does the rest of the table look.
- Liverpool 23-1-0 70 points.
- Manchester City 16-3-5 51 points.
- Leicester City 15-3-6 48 points.
- Chelsea 12-4-8 40 points.
- Manchester United 9-7-8 34 points.
- Tottenham 9-7-8 34 points.
Wolves (34), Sheffield United (33), Southampton (31) and Arsenal (30) round out the top 10. a 19 point lead at this point is the season is pretty amazing….never have seen that before.
The Relegation Zone
There are now 6 teams within 3 points of the relegation zone and fighting to stay up. Brighton sit with 25 points, Aston Villa at 25 and West Ham United at 23. The current bottom three include:
18. Bournemouth at 23 points 19. Watford at 23 points 20. Norwich City 17 points. Norwich City slipping a bit but then the next five are all with in 2 points. A team can win and jump 5 spots.
Games of the Week. Match Week 25. There are three big clashes this weekend to keep an eye on. 6 of the Top 7 playing each other….that’s a treat for soccer fans.
- #5 Manchester United vs. #7 Wolverhampton
- #2 Manchester City vs. #6 Tottenham Hotspur
- #3 Leicester City vs. #4 Chelsea
Chelsea News
So as a Chelsea fan, a tough weekend. What started out great…a 1-0 lead over Arsenal and a David Luiz red card puts Arsenal down a man. 1-0 into the second half and the second goal feels like its coming. Arsenal counter attack….Kante, Chelsea’s best midfielder slips and that leads to a breakaway. Arsenal’s first shot of the game leads to a goal. Oh man., 1-1. Chelsea continue to press and get shots and then it happens, Chelsea take back the lead in the 84th minute, okay, they’ll see the game off and get the win. 3 minutes later, yes, only three minutes later, Arsenal counter attacks, the defense gets a little soft and gives a little opportunity for a shot…Arsenal’s second shot of the game finds the corner, 2-2. What the heck! Chelsea has over 60% possession, has 19 shots on goal and scores 2. Arsenal have 2 shots on goal and score 2. Ugh! Uff da! Dang! 19 shots to 2 and a man advantage and they draw, seems pretty unbelievable. How does that happen.
But then comes the fun part of the weekend for a Chelsea fan. Manchester United with a chance to cut the point differential from 6 down to 3 and put a ton of pressure on Chelsea’s Top 4 plan….lose to Burnley, 13th in the table, 2-0. Whew! Still have the 6 point gap.
Things get very interesting for Chelsea the next few weeks. They are 6 points clear of 5th and holding the important 4th spot. Their next three games. Leicester City (currently 3rd), Manchester United (currently 5th), Tottenham (currently 6th). Oh my—that is three really big games, back-to-back-to-back. If Chelsea can survive the next three and hold the Top 4 spot, maybe they are safe, but its a big three week run. They tend to play big in big games, but three in a row. We will learn a lot about Frank Lampard’s team in the next few weeks.