Month: May 2019

Sunday is the final day of the 2018/19 campaign, with all 20 teams in action as the title race and battle for a top four finish are decided.

Manchester City and Liverpool have taken the fight for silverware down to the wire, with Pep Guardiola’s side one point ahead of their title rivals heading into the final day.

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Meanwhile, Arsenal are hoping they can do the unlikely and overtake Tottenham to guarantee Champions League qualification.

talkSPORT.com explain all the permutations for the Premier League final day, below…

The Liverpool faithful were already in poor spirits after losing out on a first league triumph in 29 years by just one point, and Sterling’s comments seemingly haven’t improved their mood.

Pep Guardiola’s men went into the season’s final day with a one point lead over Jurgen Klopp’s side, meaning they simply had to match the Reds’ result to claim the crown.

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Liverpool took the lead at home to Wolves early on through Sadio Mane and City initially went a goal down at Brighton, however they came back to win 4-1 and so the Scousers’ 2-0 victory was rendered meaningless.

“I’m just delighted,” Sterling began, speaking to Sky.

“This is exactly what I came to this club for.

“To win trophies, be in these moments.

“I’m just happy to be able to pick up a second Premier League medal.

“It’s fantastic, it’s an amazing day for me.”

The interview has not gone down well with a section of the Liverpool support who have interpreted it as a dig in their direction.

You can read a round-up of the reaction below.

The 19-year-old was given a rare start by Unai Emery at Turf Moor and did not disappoint.

Under the guidance of Gunners Under-23 coach Freddie Ljungberg, the Londoner has continued to develop his game.

With the Europa League final against Chelsea still to come, the Spaniard was keen to rotate his squad ahead of the trip to Baku.

After making his first Premier League start at the Emirates in Arsene Wenger’s last game against the Clarets last season, it was almost fitting the England Under-20 international was given another chance to shine in the first team.

With Aaron Ramsey leaving for Juventus, a midfield spot could well become available.

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The former Manchester City midfielder featured alongside Jamie Redknapp and Graeme Souness for the broadcaster’s final day coverage.

Toure, 35, has enjoyed a remarkable playing career, winning numerous titles with Barcelona and City as well as the African Cup of Nations with the Ivory Coast.

However, supporters aren’t sure whether he’s cut out for life in the studio.

 

Interestingly, though, Toure denied claims from his agent which seemed to confirm his retirement from the game.

The midfielder is a free agent as things stand and plans a return to action next season.

“Retired? Never! I will still keep playing,” he said.

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The Reds ended the campaign with a 2-0 win over Wolves to finish on 97 points but it was not enough to topple Manchester City, as they beat Brighton to be crowned champions for a second successive season.

Klopp, whose side reached the final of the Champions League in remarkable fashion earlier in the week, refused to be downbeat about losing out to City though as he insisted plenty more chances to win the title will present themselves for his ever-improving squad.

He said: “As long as City are around, with the quality they have, the financial power and all that stuff, it’s not that any other team will pass them easily, that’s clear.

“You need to be very, very close to perfection to win the Premier League as long as this is the case. But we made unbelievably big steps and I really expect more to come, that’s the truth. What that means at the end, I don’t know.

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“But if you see whatever happens to you in life as the only chance you ever had, I feel a bit for you, to be honest.

“There’s a lot to come, a lot of years and it’s all about you, what you do with it – and that’s what we do with it. People will tell us now it’s 30 years [since Liverpool won the league] but they have bigger problems, to be honest, all the people who will say that.

“We will go again. This team tried it for the first time and I really think they did quite impressively to try the first time. And, on this road, to qualify for the Champions League final is pretty special. This team is one of the best that ever played for Liverpool, 100 per cent. But we play in a league with other very good teams, that’s what we have to accept and we do accept, no problem.

“We will go again, 100 per cent. But give me at least a few hours to come over that today.”

He added: “It was brilliant, 97 points is incredible, and only because City are there it was not enough. In each other country, it would have been easily enough. But here, that’s how it is, no problem with that because that’s the competition we are in.

“It’s not a competition of 30 years ago, 20 years ago or 10 years ago, that’s completely different. These boys were really ready for it and they have my maximum respect.

“Not only them because I have to say, a lot of people say about the Liverpool supporters that they are so desperate about winning the league and stuff like that, but how they followed this path, how they followed this way, is just incredible.

These include the Golden Boot for the top goalscorer, the Golden Glove for the goalkeeper with the most clean sheets, and the Playmaker of the Season award.

The Playmaker award is handed to the player with the most assists throughout the Premier League season.

It was introduced last year with Kevin De Bruyne, the Manchester City midfielder, the inaugural winner with 16 assists as Pep Guardiola’s side romped to the title.

The Belgium was a favourite to retain the award before 2018/19 began, but injury has forced him to miss much of the season and he was never in the running.

But who has been crowned Premier League Playmaker of the Season for 2018/19?

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Nathaniel Mendez-Laing netted in both halves – the first from the penalty spot – as the Bluebirds snatched a shock 2-0 victory at Old Trafford, extending United’s winless run to six matches in all competitions.

They end the season in sixth, a whopping 32 points behind Premier League champions Manchester City, and Solskjaer is aware that bridging that gap will prove a sizeable hurdle.

He said: “We have been poor. We’ve more or less hit a brick wall towards the end of the season so that’s very disappointing.

“We were in with a shout (of the top four) but the last two games, of course, we’ve let ourselves down performance-wise.

“We should have won against two relegated teams (United drew 1-1 at Huddersfield last week) but that’s another reality check for everyone.

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Trailing Manchester City by a point before kick off, the Reds knew they had to better the Citizens result against Brighton in order to lift the title.

After taking the lead against Wolves through Sadio Mane, Anfield was absolutely rocking.

And it got even better for the Reds when Glenn Murray headed home at the Amex to give the Seagulls an incredible lead. As it stood, City would relinquishing their crown.

But goals from Sergio Aguero and Aymeric Laporte put the champions back in front on the south coast to silence Merseyside.

But fear not Reds fans, because an absolutely statistic has been unearthed which will instil hope.

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Anfield dared to dream when Glenn Murray gave the Seagulls a shock lead, but his strike was instantly cancelled out by Sergio Aguero before Aymeric Laporte, Riyad Mahrez and Ilkay Gundogan made it back-to-back titles.

The Reds did all they could – Sadio Mane’s brace sealed a 2-0 win over Wolves – and they will finish second with a staggering, record-breaking 97 points.

Elsewhere, Manchester United’s dreadful season ended in fitting fashion with a shocking 2-0 defeat at home to already-relegated Cardiff City.

Nathaniel Mendez-Laing struck twice to raise more questions over the appointment of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, whose side finish the campaign without a win in their last six games.

The top four might’ve been all-but decided already, but Tottenham scuppered a fine opportunity to leapfrog Chelsea into third by slipping to a 2-2 draw at home to Everton.

Fresh from their miraculous Champions League comeback in Amsterdam, Spurs took the early lead through Eric Dier before two quickfire goals from Theo Walcott and Cenk Tosun turned things around.

Christian Eriksen equalised but it wasn’t enough to climb above the Blues, who played out a goalless draw at Leicester.

Arsenal needed an unrealistic eight-goal swing to usurp Tottenham in the top four and now the Gunners must win their Europa League final against Chelsea to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

Nonetheless, they still beat Burnley 3-1 thanks largely to a brace from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – leaving the Gabon international level with Mane and Mohamed Salah as the league’s joint-top scorers this season with 22 goals.

The final day usually provides a ludicrous amount of goals and today was no exception.

City, the defending champions, have overturned a seven point deficit at the end of 2018 to lead the Reds by just a single point going into the final round of fixtures.

Pep Guardiola’s men will be all too aware that victory will see them become the first side to retain the Premier League title in a decade.

However, any slip up from the Citizens will open the door for Liverpool to capitalise. Win at Anfield against Wolves and Klopp could well become the first manager to lift a Premier League trophy in Liverpool’s illustrious history.

But if reports emerging this week about the Brighton players turn out to be true, then it could well be advantage City before a ball has even been kicked.

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It has been claimed by ESPN reporter Adrian Healey several members of the Brighton squad have spent this week partying after staving off relegation for another season.

Healey said: “I’ve got a mate who’s a Brighton fan who informs me that several of the Brighton players have been spotted out on the town for the last three nights in a row.”

But his colleague Craig Burley responded: “Well I’d be disappointed if they weren’t.

“In the days before we were going for the title at Celtic, we were out for three days and we were going for the title, and won it by the way.

“So I’d wholly anticipate that if they’ve got nothing to play for on their behalf, they’re having a few shandies, strawberry daiquiris.

“They’ve got a duty to the rest of the league and to Liverpool. Yeah, yeah, sod that.”