No more international matches! We’re back to the title race, to the battles for a place in Europe and for positions that secure a place in next season of the british Premier League!
This weekend sees the 29th round of matches. The round kicks off with a match worthy of a UEFA Champions League final, the duel between Manchester City and Liverpool! Neither team can afford to slip up if they want to meet their end-of-season target. Manchester City is still in title race, but the gap to leaders Arsenal London is a worrying eight points, even if Arsenal played one match more. ManCity is coming off six consecutive wins in all competitions. There have been six games in which Pep Guardiola’s team has scored 23 goals and conceded just one! In the last two games alone, against RB Leipzig in the Champions League, and Burnley in the FA Cup, City has scored 13 goals, 9 of which were scored by Norwegian striker Erling Haaland, who has been in outstanding form.
For Liverpool FC, the duel at the Etihad Stadium is the first in a terrible series for the cormorants. After the duel with ManCity, Liverpool will face Chelsea away and Arsenal at home! Seven points off fourth place, the last place that secures tickets for next season of the Uefa Champions League, Liverpool are doomed to have a flawless end of the season, otherwise they will notch another failure. Having been eliminated prematurely from the League Cup, FA Cup and Champions League, Liverpool has little chance of climbing the Premier League table if they don’t seriously improve their play. In the first leg, Liverpool beat Manchester City 1-0, but the Cormorants’ inconstant results, coupled with the poor form of many of their stars, does not give much hope to the fans.
Another big match in this 29th round is the duel between Newcastle and Manchester United. With two wins in the last two rounds, Newcastle seems to have recovered from a run of five games without a win, two draws and three consecutive defeats (including the League Cup final defeat). Newcastle is 5th in the table, just two points behind 4th-placed Tottenham and 3 points behind this weekend’s opponents. Manchester United has won only one point in their last two Premier League games: 0-7 to Liverpool – away and 0-0 against bottom-placed Southampton – at home.
In the relegation zone, West Ham United will host Southampton in a ‘six points’ game. The two sides are separated by just one point in the table.
After the home win, Bournemouth ‘bounced back’! Second-bottom in the Premier League, Bournemouth lost 3-0 away to Aston Villa in the last matchday. This weekend they play Fulham former Championship rivals, along whom they promoted last year.
There are only four points between 12th and 20th place, leaving the fight to avoid relegation open. From Crystal Palace (inclusive) down any team can be relegated, any team escape.
The epilogue of the round, Everton v Tottenham, is scheduled for Monday evening at Goodison Park. Everton has not lost in their last three games (two draws and a win) and is looking better since Sean Dyche arrived at the team.
