Premier League Round-Up: Matchweek 23
Van Dijk and Firminio after taking an early lead to Manchester United
Credit: Liverpool Echo
Matchweek 23:
Watford 0-0 Tottenham
Arsenal 1-1 Sheffield United
Brighton 1-1 Aston Villa
Man City 2-2 Crystal Palace
Norwich 1-0 Bournemouth
Southampton 2-3 Wolves
West Ham 1-1 Everton
Newcastle 1-0 Chelsea
Burnley 2-1 Leicester
Liverpool 2-0 Man United
What’s The Earliest A Team Has Clinched The Title??
Because Liverpool have to be 100% on track to set that record. Liverpool continued business as usual by picking up a 2-0 over what has lately been a rejuvenated Manchester United squad. It was as simple as it got. Van Dijk opened the scoring 15 mins into the game and Mo Salah finished the game off in the dying moments of the game. Liverpool now hold a 16 pts advantage over a struggling Manchester City in 2nd place and they have also have a game in hand, as if they need that. Liverpool are essentially 19 pts up through 23 games, because let’s be serious we know the game in hand is an automatic win. As things stand, Liverpool would win the title with 6 games left which would top the record set by Manchester United in 2000-01 and Manchester City in 2017-18 in which both those teams won with 5 games left in the season. So as long as Liverpool can maintain there current margin then they will break this record along with the slew of other records they will be breaking. But if Liverpool were to continue at this pace while Man City and Leicester keep slipping up, Liverpool could win this title with 8-9 games in hand which would have the title sealed by mid-March. The earliest date the title has been won was by the 00-01 Man United team that won the title on April 14. With the title going to be wrapped up so early, Liverpool have put themselves in a great spot to compete in the FA Cup and Champions League and potentially win the treble. Liverpool face Wolves on Thursday, followed by an FA Cup match against Shrewsbury on Sunday.
Other Notes:
Leicester City are now going through their toughest stretch of the season as they’ve failed to win in their last three games and lost their last 2. Worst part is that this stretch came against Aston Villa, Southampton and Burnley, none of which are higher than 13th in the table. Leicester will be looking to bounce back on Wednesday against West Ham to get back on track for a top 4 finish. They still have an 11 pt advantage over 5th place.
Chelsea so desperately need another striker. Chelsea lost 1-0 to Newcstle on Saturday after failing to score on the slew of chances and then allowing Newcastle to nick a goal in the last seconds of the game. Tammy Abraham has done very well for Chelsea in his first season but any time he fails to score, so does the team. The Newcastle game had Eden Hazard all over it as he wheeled this team to wins in games like this over the years.
New coaches for Tottenham and Arsenal but still the same results. Both teams got a boost when they first got their new manager but now things seem to be back to old ways and both teams settled for a draw: Tottenham 0-0 against Watford and Arsenal 1-1 against Sheffield United. It’s only going to get tougher for Mourinho and Tottenham, who are already struggling to score goals, now that Harry Kane is out likely for the season.
The table has really split itself into 3 separate groups at this stage in the season. The top 4, the middle of the table which is 5th-14th, and the bottom 5. The middle of the table is so competitive that 5th place and 14th place is only separated by 7 pts. 5th place and 9th place are only separated by 4 pts. The question going into the last 15 games of the season is can any of the teams make the jump to the top 4 or can a team jump out of the relegation zone?
We are back to mid-week action again, with Premier League games on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and then followed by the FA Cup over the weekend.
Notable FA Cup games among Premier League teams: Norwich vs Burnley, Tottenham vs Southampton, Arsenal vs Bournemouth
Thanny