Match Week 24 of 38 is almost in the books. Let’s take a closer look at the results and impact.
Race for the Top 4
Things were calm at the top for the first time in a few weeks. League leaders Manchester City , along with #2 Manchester United, #4 Chelsea and #6 Arsenal all posted wins. One game remains tomorrow with #3 Liverpool playing bottom three Swansea City. Looks like the top will be unchanged this week. Chelsea have a chance to resume third on goal differential based on then 4-0 thrashing of Briton on Saturday. The only wobble in the weekend was #5 Tottenham who were drawn by Southampton and dropped a few points, now 5 points out of 4th place.
Race for the Relegation Zone
Things are heating up in the relegation zone this week with one team making a move out of the bottom three. Stoke City with a huge 2-0 win over Bournemouth to move from 19th to 17th and currently clear of the zone. The bottom three, assuming Swansea City can’t pull the huge upset over Liverpool tomorrow will be:
Swansea City 17
West Bromich Albion 20
Southampton 22
One win is huge at this point as the point differential from 12th place Bournemouth with 25 points to 18th place Southampton is only 3 points. It’s going to be an interesting race to stay in the Premier League.
Goal of the Week Nominations
Some nice goals this weekend but a few I wanted to share with you. In the Chelsea vs. BH&A game there were two incredible goals. First up was Willian with a magical goal to go up 2-0. I counted 6 one touch passes including two back heel passes leading to a one time smash into the corner of the net. Impressive. The great Spanish National teams coined the phrase Tika-Taka to describe this intricate, quick passing between 2-3 players. The defense can’t keep up and it is really pretty to watch when it works. This goal is a great example. You can see the goal at the :30 second mark in the video clip. The second goal is in the same game. A beautiful long pass from Musonda Jr. to a streaking Victor Moses to make it 4-0. The thing to watch here is the amazing touch and quick shot to beat the keeper. I am amazed at the ability of these players to pinpoint long passes and also amazed at their ability to touch trap these same passes and then deliver a shot. Incredible stuff! the Moses goal starts at the 2:38 mark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtB2ksDQCxk&feature=onebox
The last nomination is in the Liverpool game. A sweet build up goal by Lacazette. Similar to the Willian goal with amazing interplay and quick one touch passes. More Tika-Taka. Not as much one touch passing but a nice back heel to create space. Starts at the 1:08 mark of the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJvO3XmXmyo&feature=onebox
Liverpool finishes off the week tomorrow. Check it out!