Premier League Update
Match Week 30 is in the books, only 8 games remaining in the 2017/2018 Premier League season. So what are the story lines as we move into the final weeks of the season.
Who will survive the Top 4 and qualify for Champions League next year. Manchester City and Manchester United feel like locks right now, but still some drama for the final two spots. Tottenham move into third this week and Liverpool down to 4th while Chelsea ended their tough stretch with a critical 3 points in a win over Crystal Palace. They are in 5th but in striking distance with games still against Liverpool and Tottenham… both at home in the final 8 games.
Race for the Top 4.
Manchester City 25-3-1 78 points. Plays Monday.
Manchester United 20-5-5 65 points.
Tottenham 18-7-5 61 points.
Liverpool 17-9-4 60 points.
Chelsea 17-5-8 56 points.
Arsenal 14-6-10 48 points
Race for the Relegation Zone. Still a tight race and teams fighting to get out of the zone.
17. Southampton with 28 points. Currently safe in 17th.
18. Crystal Palace 27 points.
19. Stoke City with 27 points. Plays Manchester City on Monday and needs an epic upset to gain some points and get out of the zone.
20. West Bromich Albion with 20 points.
Big Matches Next Weekend
No top 6 match ups to get you excited about. Next week is all about the relegation zone. Some games between teams in the 14th – 19th positions that could get teams out of the zone or lock them down even further. Drama for sure.
Highlights for the Week
Game of the week: Manchester United vs. Liverpool
Marcus Rashford…oh my! Two goals and a wonder strike for the first one. He is a spot starter and can’t find much playing time. Wow…how does he not start. Did I ever tell you this was a tough league, best players in the world. A little English soccer talk…they call two goals in one game a Brace. Not sure about that one, how does 2 goals equal a brace. May need to google or talk to some of my English friends.
FA CUP Update
Round 5 games are now complete and we are on to the final 8 and Quarter Final action. There was still some hope of the underdogs advancing, but unfortunately, as expected, the clock has struck midnight, the carriage has turned back into a pumpkin and the big bad teams from the Premier League have taken over the FA Cup.
So here are your FA Cup Quarter Final match ups.
Manchester United v Briton
Chelsea v. Leicester
Wigan v. Southampton
Tottenham v Swansea City.
Only one true underdog left is Wigan. They have a shot of getting to then Semi-Finals. The next round of games are on March 17-18.
Champions League Update
The round of 16 is underway. The second leg games will be the week of March 6 – March 14. Round 2 games are halfway complete. Four teams have advanced to the Round of 8 Quarter Finals.
Real Madrid advances with a second win over PSG. PSG, one of the pre-tourney favorites is knocked out of the competition!
Check out the Ronaldo header.
Juventus advances over Tottenham on aggregate 4-3. After a 2-2 tie in the first leg Juventus wins 2-1 in the second leg.
Liverpool advances over Porto with 5-5 aggregate. A 0-0 game in the second leg after crushing Porto 5-0 in leg 1.
Manchester City advances 5-2 on aggregate over Basel. Basel wins the second leg 2-1 but Man City crushed Basel 4-0 in leg 1.
Big games this week. Chelsea and Manchester United both tied on aggregate in their matches and need big wins to advance. Chelsea vs. Barcelona should be a classic again.
And I could not finish the blog without a shout out to my alma mater, the University of Kentucky, who won the SEC Tournament today with a hard-fought victory over Tennessee. Check it out. Not soccer, but I love me some Big Blue!! March Madness is here!
Check it out. All Kentucky highlights of course!!