The Premier League took another big step towards the end of its season in April with the confirmation that Fulham would be joining Huddersfield in being relegated to the Championship following their 4-1 loss at Watford.
Spurs played their first league game at their new stadium (the imaginatively-named Tottenham Hotspur Stadium), a 2-0 win against Crystal Palace, with Son Heung-Min scoring the first league goal at the new stadium. Lucas Moura wrote his name in Spurs history 10 days later by scoring the first league hat-trick at the stadium (against Huddersfield) and Michail Antonio became the first player to score an away goal there in the league with the only goal of a loss to West Ham.
Play on!
After a poor start to the season, Burnley’s escape from relegation continued with a huge 1-3 win at Bournemouth. The third and final Burnley goal was for too easy for the Clarets, as the entire Bournemouth team appeared to stop to appeal for a throw in (replays showed the ball stayed in play), allowing Chris Wood to be the first to a cross in and tee up Ashley Barnes.
I have never understood why players at the top level so frequently stop playing to appeal for a decision. One of the first things I remember being taught when I started playing rugby was to play to the whistle! It can be hard enough for a defence to keep up with an attacking team if they get in behind, giving them an extra advantage by coming to a complete halt while appealing makes it far too easy for an attacker.
With VAR coming in next season, it will be interesting to see if players continue to appeal at the time or if they begin to play on and then appeal if the goal is scored.
Under pressure
April was not a good month for David de Gea, with a number of costly errors both in the league and against Barcelona.
In their 2-1 win over West Ham, Felipe Anderson’s equaliser came about after the Spaniard rolled the ball out but put it between 2 players. Something similar happened a couple of weeks later in the 4-0 loss at Everton as he rolled the ball out to Diogo Dalot at a moment when he was not expecting or looking for the ball, while he also conceded a long-range effort from Gylfi Sigurðsson. Both goals in Machester City’s 0-2 win at Old Trafford were arguably due to de Gea errors too. Arguably the most high profile in the league, though, was a costly fumble of a long-range strike from Antonio Rüdiger, which led to the ball dropping at the feet of Marcos Alonso for an equaliser, the 1-1 final score putting a huge dent in United’s top 4 hopes (by time of writing, a draw with Huddersfield has left it mathematically impossible for United to qualify for the Champions League).
While he has clearly gone through a bad spell at the end of this season, the amount of people jumping to criticise him is crazy when you consider just how many times he has saved United over the years and also how poor the defence has been in front of him, not to mention the rest of his teammates for much of the season! Paul Pogba can choose to put in the effort for maybe half of the season and get away with it, yet due to de Gea’s position in goal, a couple of errors cause an uproar. It’s a lonely position and I feel for him.
I was so happy to see Ole Gunnar Solskjær come out in support of him as he recognises that de Gea is still one of the best shot-stoppers in the world and I’m hoping that the love and support he has received from so many around the team will make him want to stay at the club despite the lack of Champions League football next season.
It would have been interesting to see if Sergio Romero would have been given the start against Huddersfield had a knee injury not ruled him out, but with just 1 game remaining and nothing at stake, it makes sense to me now to keep de Gea in the XI to see out the season.
Just rewards
While the season may not yet be over, the PFA Men’s Player of the Year and PFA Young Men’s Player of the Year have been announced as Virgil van Dijk and Raheem Sterling respectively.
Personally, I find it odd that the award is given before the season itself is over, as the success of the player’s team could have a huge impact on who deserves the award. That said, I am really happy with this year’s winners despite the league results.
I have not been a big fan of Sterling in the past as he would not back up his club performances for England, but now he is putting in the performances for both club and country I am really starting to appreciate just how good a player he has become. In a team of stars, he has been the star for them this season, with 17 goals and 10 assists in 32 games. That said, take Sterling out and I think it has a minimal impact on City’s season as they have such an incredible set of attacking talent.
Van Dijk would have got my vote as if you take him out of the Liverpool back line, I can’t see the Reds doing anywhere near as well this season. Having played in every league match this season, he has lost just 1 match and kept 19 clean sheets. Liverpool have conceded a league-best 22 goals (level with Manchester City, who have played a game less at time of writing) and while Alisson has certainly helped steady things at the back, I feel that the introduction of the Dutchman has been key to their improvement, while also adding 4 goals this season – the most he has scored in a Premier League campaign.
Final prediction
So with Manchester City v Leicester City and just 1 round of games remaining at time of writing, the top 4 is guaranteed barring a Spurs loss, Arsenal win and an overall 8-goal swing in goal difference. So for this piece, I am going to focus on the top 2.
At time of writing, Liverpool have a 2-point lead but City have a game in hand over their title rivals and I will be shocked if they don’t beat Leicester at the Etihad. The final round of matches sees Liverpool at home to Wolves and City travelling to Brighton, and I honestly can’t see either team dropping points there, which means Liverpool finish on an impressive 97 points, but come up just short against City’s 98.
Eyes on the Ball 