Premier League Round-Up: Matchweek 37 (1 Week Left!!)
Vincent Kompany after scoring his wonder-goal
Photo Credit: J. Cairnduff
Matchweek 37:
Everton 2-0 Burnley
Bournemouth 1-0 Tottenham
West Ham 3-0 Southampton
Wolves 1-0 Fulham
Cardiff 2-3 Crystal Palace
Newcastle 2-3 Liverpool
Chelsea 3-0 Watford
Huddersfield 1-1 Man United
Arsenal 1-1 Brighton
Man City 1-0 Leicester
Who Wins It On The Final Day?
Liverpool continue to get by with a 3-2 win over Newcastle. In a match in which Newcastle were able to comeback and tie the game twice it was an 86th minute goal from Divock Origi of all people that put them ahead 3 goals to 2 just minutes before the final whistle. While that game was played on Saturday afternoon, we had to wait two days today for Man City to play their 2nd to last game. And somehow, someway, Manchester City just continue to sneak by. It was a goal last week against Brighton that crossed the line by centimeters and it was a goal from about 25 yds out from Vincent Kompany of all people (and when i say of all people I mean he’d be near the bottom to score a screamer like this) that handed Man City the win this time around. Check out the goal from Kompany that might have won Man City the league. (Refresh the page if the tweet doesn’t load the first time)
While Kompany is a club legend at Manchester City, he’s starting to get up there in age and has only appeared in about half the games so far this season. Up until this point the 33 yr old defender hadn’t score at all this season but when the Citizens needed a goal most he stepped up to the plate.
So with City and Liverpool both coming out with wins again, the two clubs remain separated by just 1 pt heading into the final matchday. Liverpool will be home vs Wolves while Man City will be away at Brighton, and as always both matches will kickoff at the exact same time. My prediction is that Man City beat Brighton 2-0 with both goals coming shortly after half-time while Liverpool win 2-1. Liverpool will get their goals early and will be going into half-time on top of the table but as the final whistle blows, Man City will be Premier League Champions for the 2nd year in a row and for the 4th time in 8 years. It’s going to really suck for Liverpool to have scored 97 pts and lose the title by 1 pt all because Manchester City decided to go on a 14 game win streak to finish the season.
Chelsea Practically Given Top 4 Spot By The Others
The race for the remaining two spots in the top 4 has been an absolute disaster the last 4 weeks. What if I told you that Chelsea sat in 5th place just 4 matches ago and have only won 1 game since but have managed to find themselves in 3rd place,because that is absolutely what has happened. This is seriously the last 4 games for Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal and Man United.
Chelsea: L, D, D, W 5 pts total
Tottenham: L, W, L, L 3 pts total
Arsenal: L, L, L, D 1 pt total
Man United: L, L, L, D 1 pt total
Such a widespread choke job is something I don’t think we’ve eve sen before. Sure a team or two but 4 teams that are all fighting tooth and nail for Champions League football is crazy. As a big fan of Chelsea, I’ve been a huge critic of them this season. They played poor and ugly football for most of the season. I mean they were even terrible and getting out played this past week against Watford but somehow managed to win 3-0 thanks to some set piece magic. It’s shocking how that even though it seems we’ve played 5 times as bad as last year we are in the top 4 this season and can finish with 4 more pts than last year if we win against Leicester in the final week. This top 4 spot should guarantee Sarri’s safety into next season but one has to think that he is going to have to turn things around over the summer and going into next year because we won’t be this lucky again.
Other Notes:
What are the chances that was the last home game for Eden Hazard at Stamford Bridge? Even with Chelsea qualifying for Champions League, I’m going to go with yes, though I hope it’s not. If he does leave it’s been a great 7 seasons with a handful of trophies and buying price from Real Madrid better be through the roof.
Solskjar may have a recently signed a 3 year contract to stay as manager of Manchester United but I would have to say that his odds of making it through next season are slim to none. As Neville said, the team is full of headcases and the managers aren’t the problem, but he will be the one to take the blame.
No relegation drama on the final day. Cardiff have officially joined Huddersfield and Fulham as the three teams relegated from the Premier League.
And Huddersfield join the list of worst Premier League teams ever, scoring a whopping 21 goals through 37 games this season, with a total of 15 pts in the table. Granted they can increase that total by 33% with a win in their final match against Southampton. This Huddersfield team was so bad this year I wouldn’t be surprised if they did the old double drop and got relegated from the championship division next year.
Norwich and Sheffield United are the two teams automatically promoted to the Premier League, while Leeds United, West Bromwich Albion, Aston Villa and Derby County are the four teams that will battle for the final promotion spot.
What to watch for on the final day. Really the only thing of interest is the title between City and Liverpool. While Arsenal aren’t mathematically eliminated from 4th place they would need a huge win like 5-0 and for Tottenham to lose big by about 0-4. So incredibly unlikely that that happens. All other spots are pretty much set with United, Arsenal and Wolves rounding out 5-7 spots for Europa league.
Thanny