Background
On the last date of what will be remembered as the Covid 19 season, half the premiership fixtures will have either a champions league place or a place in the premier league riding on it. To put it in financial terms, half the fixtures will have £80m or more riding on the outcome. Truly a high stakes games. Let’s look at these scenarios.
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Champions League Places
Man Utd (63 points, +28 GD), Chelsea (63 points, +13 GD), Leicester (62 points, +28 GD); Fixtures: Leicester vs Manchester United; Chelsea vs Wolves
Going into the games, all three teams have struggled with consistency. Manchester United began the restart strongly but in recent games, seem to be a tired team. Defensively, they are conceding goals again and the creativity seems to be stifled again. However, any team with creative players like Fernandez and Pogba, and finishers like Rashford, Martial and Greenwood will always have a chance to get a result in a match. Their main challenge will be that the team they are playing have a dynamic attack with Vardy and Perez. A lot will depend on De Gea finding his form to ensure that they do not concede early goals and thus leave themselves open to the Leicester counter attack. Leicester on the other hand have similar problems to their opponents and need to have one of their better days. It is well documented that they have a lot of players injured especially in defence. But with Jamie Vardy looking to close off the golden boot award and with the experience they have as a club of winning titles, this will be a dangerous challenge for United. Both teams are optimised to play counter attacking football so this this game could very well be decided on who scores first.
Chelsea have goalkeeping and defensive issues with the attack keeping them with a chance of getting into the champions league. However, the problem they have is that their opponents Wolves are optimised to pounce on Chelsea’s vulnerability. They also have the carrot of a europa league spot with Spurs on their tail. With Adam Traore and Raul Jiminez in full flow, a well balanced midfield and a style of football suited to get a 1-0 away victory from home, Chelsea are under risk of missing out. They will be hoping for a United victory but if not, they will need to score lots of goals today to get the draw that they need.
Premier League Place
Aston Villa (34 points, -26 GD), Watford (34 points, -27 GD), AFC Bournemouth (31 points, GD -27); Fixtures: Arsenal vs Watford; Everton vs Bournemouth; West Ham vs Aston Villa)
When was the last time a team with 31 points still have a chance of staying in the premier league on the last day? Since when did a team with 34 points actually stay in the premier league? Today could be that day and that signals that these three teams are not of the highest quality. The other point to make is that the teams they are playing are not the highest quality either and none of them have anything to play for. Today’s results will depend more on their opponents and where they are mentally than how they fare. Arsenal have a FA Cup final in a weeks time so may be looking to get through this and avoid any injuries to players. Everton and West Ham will already be looking to next season whilst thinking about where they will be flying off to with their families on Monday. However, with the lack of quality of their opponents, any of these games could go either way. So expect a lot of drama and goals, but do not expect quality football. Once the final whistle blows, there will be one awful team left in the premier league, who we hope for the sake of the league, use the reprisal to build themself up again over the next two months. Let the games begin!
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