The highlight games for the next set of EPL matches are ASTON VILLA versus BOURNEMOUTH and FULHAM versus LIVERPOOL. Our feature columnist, John Newsome previews these and all game week 34 matches with his unique and insightful commentary. You can view all previous analysis from John’s regular column here: English Premier League Predictions For Saturday.
Please note all prices quoted below were correct at the time of publication.
Game Week-34
Chelsea, Man City and Manchester United all miss this weekend’s Premier League action due to the Semi-Final of the FA Cup taking place at Wembley.
Chelsea v Man City (1-3)
Manchester United v Coventry (3-1)
That could potentially throw up a Manchester Derby for the Final, which would be a repeat of last year’s.
Tottenham, Brighton and Newcastle are the others that don’t play this weekend.
Saturday 20th
All of these remaining fixtures are the reverse of Game Week-14, which took place over the first weekend of December 2023.
************Betfred have paid out on Man City winning the 2023/24 Premier League.
Any bets for Man City to win the Premier League, placed before 14.00 on April the 14th 2024, will be paid by Betfred, regardless of what happens in the remaining games.******************
LUTON v BRENTFORD
15.00 in England
Luton came up against possibly the best team on the Planet at the moment and matched them stride for stride, then the referee blew to start the game.
Whilst the Hatters always put in a good shift, Rob Edwards men were no match for Pep’s High Flying Blues and despite a goal from Ross Barkley, Luton suffered a defeat against Man City at the Etihad by a 5-1 scoreline.
That leaves Luton in 18th place with 25 points from 33 games played.
A point and a few goals away from safety.
Remaining fixtures-
Luton v Brentford
Wolves v Luton
Luton v Everton
West Ham v Luton
Luton v Fulham
It’s quite possible that the 3 who gained promotion last season will be relegated, which has only happened once in the history of the Premier League and that was in 1997/98 when Bolton, Barnsley and Crystal Palace were relegated following promotion the previous year.
Brentford finally gained a victory on Saturday inflicting a defeat on Sheffield United by a 2-0 score.
One says ‘finally’ as the Bees had gone 9 games without a win.
Frank Onyeka added a 2nd late on after the opening goal was credited to a Sheffield United player.
Ivan Toney was on the bench but didn’t see game time, in the hope of a quicker recovery from injury.
Ethan Pinnock has been injured himself and has not played since February but got a couple of minutes at the end of the game against the Blades so could be back for this fixture against Luton.
Brentford sit in 15th place with 32 points from 33 games completed.
Remaining fixtures-
Luton v Brentford
Everton v Brentford
Brentford v Fulham
Bournemouth v Brentford
Brentford v Newcastle
The boys and girls from Oakwell will have a special interest in this fixture with quite a few ex-Barnsley players on show.
Ethan Pinnock and Ivan Toney from the Bees had a run out in Yorkshire.
The Hatters Carlton Morris, Cauley Woodruff, Jordan Clark, Luke Berry, Jacob Brown, Mads Andersen and the Gaffer Rob Edwards, all at one point, wore the iconic Reds Shirt.
A quick story regarding Luke Berry.
The lad was playing for the Reds back in April 2015 against Peterborough.
After scoring a last-minute equaliser to gain Barnsley a point from a draw by a 1-1 score, Luke was rightly named Man of the Match.
John Newsome had the privilege of presenting the award to Mr Berry in the lounge afterwards.
It’s fair to say that John had partaken in a few lagers, which didn’t go unnoticed by Chuck who was given a Bottle of Champagne for the Man of the Match and laughingly asked Mr Newsome if he wanted to share the Bubbly and join the post-Match celebrations.
There was a young mad Barnsley fan at the match against Peterborough who was in the lounge for a birthday celebration with his family.
When the Man of the Match award was about to be given, John Newsome shouted the youngster up to help present the Champagne to Luke, who in return had a signed shirt for John.
John Newsome said to Luke,
‘Give the shirt to the youth please Chuck!’
Which made the young Barnsley fans’ day very special.
All the best boys!
At the GTech Stadium in December, it was Thomas Franks Bees who gained the home victory over Rob Edwards Hatters by a 3-1 scoreline.
After a goalless 1st-half, goals from Neal Maupay, Ben Mee and Shandon Baptiste gave Brentford all 3 points.
Jacob Brown did score to halve the deficit following Ben’s goal but it wasn’t enough with Shandon putting the game to bed late on.
Betfred offer Luton at 2/1, the draw at 13/5 and 5/4 for Brentford to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 5/1 that Carlton Morris Scores First and 23/20 that Ivan Toney Scores Anytime.
(If your pre-match First Goalscorer bet scores First and then scores a Second, Betfred DOUBLE the odds.
If they score a Third, Betfred TREBLE the odds.)
Away Win 1-2- Get 8/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
SHEFFIELD UNITED v BURNLEY
15.00 in England
The ‘Who Will Be Promoted From The Championship In 2025 Derby!’
Granted, that doesn’t roll off the tongue as easily as say the Manchester Derby or El Classico, however, this El Rubbisho will see both teams eventually end up in the Championship come May and then it’s who can bounce back and get promotion to the Premier League the following year.
Maybe both will.
Sheffield United suffered another defeat on Saturday, this time against Brentford at the GTech Stadium.
The first 6 words from that sentence can be copied and pasted and used in most of the games involving the Blades.
The unfortunate Midfielder Ollie Arblaster
was credited with Brentford’s opening goal before Sheffield United conceded a 2nd late on to ultimately suffer the away day defeat by a 2-0 scoreline.
That leaves the Blades at the foot of the table with 16 points from 32 games played.
Sixteen!
Remaining fixtures-
Sheffield United v Burnley
Manchester United v Sheffield United
Newcastle v Sheffield United
Sheffield United v Nottingham Forest
Everton v Sheffield United
Sheffield United v Sheffield United
Like Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest back in the day, those remaining fixtures could produce,
Nil Points!
James, from Swinton nowhere near Bramall Lane, didn’t make the trip down South to the GTech and instead spent the day working, mending someone’s car.
On Sunday, the news came through that there was a 25-mile tailback on the M1 near Sheffield due to a car being on fire.
Rumours that the car was the one Little Jimbo had worked on the day before, were strongly denied by Toyota’s finest.
Burnley gained a great point from a draw by a 1-1 score against Brighton on Saturday.
Josh Brownhill scored the Clarets goal midway through the 2nd-half, however, a horrendous error by the Burnley Goalkeeper AriJanet Muric, gifted the Seagulls an equaliser.
The point gained leaves Burnley in 19th place with 20 points from 33 games played.
Remaining fixtures-
Sheffield United v Burnley
Manchester United v Burnley
Burnley v Newcastle
Tottenham v Burnley
Burnley v Nottingham Forest
As with the Luton v Brentford fixture, it’s amazing to think about the ex-Barnsley players that are now competing in the Promised Land.
In the team that Luke Berry played in against Peterborough back in 2015, the current Sheffield United Defender Mason Holgate was in the starting lineup.
Adam Davies who is a backup Goalkeeper at Bramall Lane was with Luke and Mason that day.
Back in 2016, when Barnsley won the League One Play-off Final against Millwall at Wembley, Adam was again the Goalkeeper, who had the Clarets’ latest goal scorer Josh Brownhill as a teammate, along with Ivan Toney, who came on as a substitute in the 2nd-half.
The legendary Peterborough Chairman Barry Fry, stated recently that back in 2018, whilst at London Rd, the home of the Posh, Ivan Toney and his Dad wanted a move away from the club and join Barnsley on a permanent deal.
Barry wouldn’t allow it and later sold IT to Brentford, the rest, as one says is history.
Jay Rodriguez had a run out at Oakwell back in 2010, appearing 6 times in a loan spell from Burnley.
Probably the best of the best of the ex-Barnsley Boys currently on show in the Premier League, is the Barnsley Beckenbauer himself, John Stones.
All the best boys!
It was Burnley who gained the victory over Sheffield United in the cold of Turf Moor back in December.
Goals from Jay Rodriguez, Jacob Bruun-Larsen, Zeki Amdouni, Luca Koleosho and Josh Brownhill gave Vincent Kompany’s Clarets the win over a sorry set of Paul Heckinbottom’s Blades by a 5-0 score.
Betfred offer Sheffield United at 9/5, the draw at 5/2 and 7/5 for Burnley to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 23/10 that Ollie McBurnie Scores Anytime and 6/4 that there are Over 3.5 Goals.
Draw 2-2- Get 10/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
WOLVES v ARSENAL
19.30 in England
Sky Sports
Wolves gained a point from a draw by a 2-2 score against Nottingham Forest in the Midlands Derby at the City Ground on Saturday.
Matheus Cunha scored both of the Gold and Blacks goals to give Gary O’Neils Wolves a point against the ex-Wolves Gaffer Nuno Espírito Santo.
Wolves sit in 11th place with 43 points from 32 games completed.
Remaining fixtures-
Wolves v Arsenal
Wolves v Bournemouth
Wolves v Luton
Man City v Wolves
Wolves v Crystal Palace
Liverpool v Wolves
Significantly, there are 4 home games at Molineux from the 6 remaining.
Arsenal’s Title Train was derailed on Sunday when Mikel’s Young Guns suffered a devastating defeat at the Emirates against Unai’s Claret and Blues.
The ex-Arsenal Boss Unai Emery, who came in after Arsene Wenger but was unceremoniously sacked by the Gunners hierarchy was in no mood to see his new Villains lose against Arsenal and was all set to gain a great point, however, Arsenal’s Defence conceded 2 late goals to ultimately suffer the defeat by a 2-0 scoreline.
After watching Man City gain the victory on Saturday and then seeing Liverpool suffer their own defeat a couple of hours earlier, it was thought that Arsenal would be sitting at the summit of the Premier League come 18.30 on Sunday.
Unfortunately, for the Gooners, their team now sit in 2nd place with the same 71 points as Liverpool who are both 2 points adrift of Man City at the Top of the Table.
One could now say, advantage Pep 1 as City have the experience to see out the run-in, whereas Pep 2 hasn’t.
Added to that, Klipperty Klopp is all over the place at the moment and maybe the decision to leave at the end of the season, or the decision to give out that information, is coming back to haunt Liverpool.
It is still going to be tight with only 2 points in it but Arsenal have to hope that City at least draw a game and then themselves gain a victory in all 6 games left.
Remaining fixtures-
Wolves v Arsenal
Arsenal v Chelsea
Tottenham v Arsenal
Arsenal v Bournemouth
Manchester United v Arsenal
Arsenal v Everton
Can one see Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester United having the decency to lose against Arsenal?
Plus Wolves, Bournemouth and Everton will go all out in preventing a defeat, especially if the Toffees have to gain at least a point to stay up on the last day of the campaign.
Arsenal head to Germany on Wednesday to finish off the Champions League Quarter-Final tie against Bayern Munich, which is delicately poised at 2-2.
Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard scored the 1st-half Gunners goals at the Emirates before Matheus Cunha pulled one back late on.
Fortunately for the watching Gooners, their idols held on for the victory by a 2-1 scoreline.
Betfred offer Wolves at 15/2, the draw at 4/1 and Odds On 4/11 for Arsenal to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 13/8 that Kai Havertz Scores Anytime and slight Odds On 19/20 that Arsenal Score in Both Halves.
Away Win 1-3- Get 10/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
***Premier League Team of the Week***
GOALKEEPER- Dean Henderson- Crystal Palace
RIGHT-BACK- Diego Carlos- Aston Villa
CENTRE-BACK- Fabian Schar- Newcastle
CENTRE-BACK- Joachim Andersen- Crystal Palace
LEFT-BACK- Josko Gvardiol- Man City
MIDFIELDER- Tyrick Mitchell- Crystal Palace
MIDFIELDER- Mateo Kovacic- Man City
MIDFIELDER- Eberechi Eze- Crystal Palace
FORWARD- Cole Palmer- Chelsea
FORWARD- Anthony Gordon- Newcastle
FORWARD- Alexander Isak- Newcastle
STAR MAN- Joachim Andersen- Crystal Palace
Sunday 21st
EVERTON v NOTTINGHAM FOREST
13.30 in England
Sky Sports
The Battle of the Points Deduction!
Granted, another headline that doesn’t roll off the tongue, however, these two teams have had points taken from them this season.
Everton 8 and Forest 4.
Everton felt the full force of the Cole Palmer effect on Monday Night Football, with the Chelsea Blue scoring a superb hat-trick in the space of 16, 1st-half minutes.
A left-foot, a header and a right-foot giving Young Cole the perfect 3.
The Toffees then conceded a 4th to trail at the break by a 4-0 scoreline.
Cole converted a penalty midway through the 2nd-half to increase his personal tally to 4 goals on the night, then received a standing ovation when Mauricio Pochettino took him off, with 10 minutes remaining.
That wasn’t the end of the torment for Everton with Chelsea then scoring a 6th, to cement the Blues’ victory over a sorry set of Toffees by a 6-0 scoreline.
Everton sit in 16th place with 27 points from 32 games completed, remember Sean’s Toffees have had 8 points deducted and are currently appealing the latest 2 taken from them, which could still change things after the season has finished.
Remaining fixtures-
Everton v Nottingham Forest
Everton v Liverpool
Everton v Brentford
Luton v Everton
Everton v Sheffield United
Arsenal v Everton
Significantly, 4 games at Goodison Park, so if the unthinkable happens, that being relegation, then the Toffees can’t really complain too much.
Nottingham Forest gained a point from a draw by a 2-2 score against Wolves at the City Ground on Saturday.
Nuno Espírito Santo took on his old club and goals from the ex-Wolf Morgan Gibbs-White and Danilo earned the Tricky Trees a point from the Midlands Derby.
Forest remain in 17th place with 26 points from 33 games completed.
That’s a point above the relegation zone.
Remaining fixtures-
Everton v Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest v Man City
Sheffield United v Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest v Chelsea
Burnley v Nottingham Forest
There is just a point between these two teams so the winner will end the weekend above the other.
A single Dwight McNeil goal scored midway through the 2nd-half was enough to give Everton the away day victory over Nottingham Forest at the City Ground by a 1-0 scoreline.
Betfred offer Everton at slight Odds On 9/10, the draw at 13/5 and 3/1 for Nottingham Forest to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 7/5 that Dominic Calvert-Lewin Scores Anytime and 8/5 that Chris Wood Scores Anytime.
Draw 1-1- Get 6/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
ASTON VILLA v BOURNEMOUTH
15.00 in England
Aston Villa took on the once Premier League leaders Arsenal on Sunday and came away with a victory by a 2-0 scoreline.
Following a tight cagey affair at the Emirates, it did appear that Unai Emery had gained a point from a draw against the team that sacked him, which in itself would have been a great result.
However, goals from Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins late on in proceedings elevated the draw to a brilliant victory over Arsenal, which surely must have been a personal triumph for Mr Emery, who had the arduous task of coming into the Emirates after Arsene Wenger.
Mikel Arteta has done brilliantly at Arsenal but some of the current players are there because of Unai Emery.
A lot assume it’s Mikel Arteta who introduced Bukayo Saka to life as a professional footballer, however, it was Unai Emery who gave Bukayo his debut.
In Unai’s final game at the Emirates, which resulted in a defeat against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League, Bukayo Saka started the game, along with Gabriel Martinelli.
Obviously, Mikel has improved Arsenal, no doubt about it but Unai Emery should be afforded a bit of credit for his time at the Emirates, especially coming in straight after Arsene Wenger.
The victory on Sunday may have been tinged with a bit of regret but one is sure that it would only have been ‘a bit’ with the majority of emotions being emphatic elation.
The added bonus to the victory over the Gunners was the fact the other North Londoners, Tottenham also suffered a defeat, meaning Aston Villa now sit on their own in 4th place with 63 points from 33 games played.
Tottenham do have a game in hand but as it stands at the minute, would have to score 4 goals more than the opponents in that game to go above Villa
Aston Villa- 63 points, scored 68 and conceded 49 (plus+19)
Tottenham- 60 points, scored 65 and conceded 49 (plus+16)
Remaining fixtures-
Aston Villa v Bournemouth
Aston Villa v Chelsea
Brighton v Aston Villa
Aston Villa v Liverpool
Crystal Palace v Aston Villa
Bournemouth gained a point from a draw by a 2-2 score against Manchester United on Saturday.
John Newsome did offer up that this fixture would finish in a Draw, in last week’s column.
Dominic Solanke scored the opener before United equalised 15 minutes later.
Justin Kluivert then scored a 2nd to give the Cherries a lead at the break.
Just after the hour mark, United were awarded, what could have been considered, a ‘soft penalty!’
Bruno Fernandes converted with his 2nd of the game and another equaliser and with no goals, both teams shared the points.
Bournemouth sit in 13th place with the same 42 points as Fulham in 12th, who have a slightly superior goal difference but the Cherries have only completed 32 games, not the 33 that the Cottagers have.
Remaining fixtures-
Aston Villa v Bournemouth
Wolves v Bournemouth
Bournemouth v Brighton
Arsenal v Bournemouth
Bournemouth v Brentford
Chelsea v Bournemouth
Both teams shared the points from a draw by a 2-2 score at the Vitality in December.
Antoine Semenyo scored the opener that was cancelled out by Leon Bailey to take both teams in level at the break.
Dominic Solanke scored early in the 2nd-half to reinstate the Cherries’ lead before Ollie Watkins equalised in the 90th minute to give both teams a point apiece.
Betfred offer Aston Villa at Odds On 4/5, the draw at 16/5 and 3/1 for Bournemouth to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 4/1 that Ollie Watkins Scores First and 11/10 that there are Over 3.5 Goals.
(If your pre-match First Goalscorer bet scores First and then scores a Second, Betfred DOUBLE the odds.
If they score a Third, Betfred TREBLE the odds.)
Home Win 3-1- Get 11/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
CRYSTAL PALACE v WEST HAM
15.00 in England
Crystal Palace not only gained a brilliant victory over Liverpool at Anfield but also put a massive dent in the Reds Title Challenge.
Eberechi Eze scored the only goal of the game in the 14th minute and despite a lot of pressure from the home team, the superb Defending from all of the Eagles plus some brilliant saves by Dean Henderson, kept Liverpool at bay, giving Oliver’s Army the win from a 1-0 away day score.
Crystal Palace sit in 14th place with 33 points from 32 games played.
Whilst not mathematically safe, it’s unlikely that Palace will be relegated, which will mean Oliver Glasner has the Summer to get his Army together for a new start in next season’s Premier League.
Remaining fixtures-
Crystal Palace v West Ham
Crystal Palace v Newcastle
Fulham v Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace v Manchester United
Wolves v Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace v Aston Villa
West Ham suffered a defeat against Fulham at the London Stadium on Sunday.
That was off the back of a defeat against the New Bundesliga Champions, Bayer Leverkusen in the 1st-leg of the Europa League Quarter-Final.
The return leg takes place on Thursday, with the Hammers needing to overturn a 2-0 scoreline.
That was the same 2-0 scoreline that occurred in the loss against Fulham on Sunday leaving West Ham in 8th place with 48 points from 33 games completed.
Chelsea have 47 points and have only played 31 times, so have 2 games in hand over David Moyes Boys.
Remaining fixtures-
Crystal Palace v West Ham
West Ham v Liverpool
Chelsea v West Ham
West Ham v Luton
Man City v West Ham
Mohammed Kudos scored first for the Hammers at the London Stadium to give West Ham a lead at the interval.
Odsonne Edouard equalised for the Eagles just after the restart and with no further goals, David Moyes shared the points with his old mate Roy Hodgson from a 1-1 scoreline.
Betfred offer Crystal Palace at 13/10, the draw at 12/5 and 21/10 for West Ham to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer that 15/8 that Eberechi Eze Scores Anytime and Evens 1/1 that there are Under 2.5 Goals.
Draw 1-1- Get 11/2 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
FULHAM v LIVERPOOL
16.30 in England
Sky Sports
Due to the 2 amazing results on Sunday that saw Crystal Palace inflict a defeat on Liverpool and Aston Villa do the same to Arsenal, both away from home, Fulham’s victory against West Ham did go under the radar, also an away victory.
Andreas Pereira scored in the 1st-half and then added a 2nd after the break to give Fulham the victory at the London Stadium by a 2-0 score.
The odds for the 3 away wins on Sunday were 280/1
Fulham sit in 12th place with the same 42 points as Bournemouth but a place higher on goal difference.
Fulham have played a game more (33) than Bournemouth (32).
Remaining fixtures-
Fulham v Liverpool
Fulham v Crystal Palace
Brentford v Fulham
Fulham v Man City
Luton v Fulham
Liverpool suffered a devastating defeat against Crystal Palace on Sunday that has put a massive dent in the Premier League Title Challenge.
After conceding a goal in the 14th minute, Liverpool did have chance after chance but the ball just wouldn’t go into the back of the Palace net.
That was after Jurgen’s Reds suffered a defeat against Atalanta in the 1st-leg of the Europa League Quarter-Final last Thursday.
That return leg takes place in Italy this week, with Liverpool having to overturn a 3-0 deficit.
After 32 games played by the Top Three in the Premier League, Liverpool sit 3rd with the same 71 points as Arsenal but with a slightly inferior goal difference.
Both are 2 points adrift of Man City.
If one remembers, there was a game between Crystal Palace and Liverpool back in May 2014, that went a long way in costing Liverpool the Premier League Title.
The first thing to say regarding that is, one cannot believe it’s been 10 years, where does the time go?
Granted, that fixture was at Selhurst Park but was the penultimate game of the 2013/14 campaign, with Liverpool heading to South London on a Balmy Bank Holiday Monday Night.
The following is taken from an EveryTip column that was published back on March 24th, 2020, when the World suddenly stopped due to the horrendous Coronavirus Pandemic, enjoy.
‘Monday 5 May 2014
CRYSTAL PALACE 3 v LIVERPOOL 3
Despite running away with the 2019/20 Premier League title, Liverpool, before Jurgen Klopp’s arrival, had some up and down years over the course of the 27, that the Premier League has been in existence.
Back in May 2014, Brendan Rodgers was at the Anfield helm and sitting pretty with 80 points at the top end of the Premier League table before this trip to Selhurst Park for a Bank Holiday Monday Night fixture against Crystal Palace and knew a convincing victory would keep their title challenge going.
Man City also had 80 points but were at the summit on goal difference so Brendan had been hoping for a convincing victory to go 3-points ahead of City and try and reduce the goal difference.
The Liverpool starting eleven that night included Raheem Sterling (yes!), Steven Gerrard, Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez before he took his biting over to Barcelona.
Philippe Coutinho was a substitute and replaced Raheem in the 78th-minute.
When Raheem left the field of play, his Liverpool boys were leading Palace by 3 goals to nil, so job done as far as Mr Sterling was concerned.
Joe Allen had opened the scoring for Brendan’s Wonderful Scousers just before the 20-minute mark.
After the break, the unfortunate Damien Delaney deflected a Daniel Sturridge effort past Julian Speroni in the Palace goal.
Within minutes of Damien’s own-goal, Mr Teeth, Luis Suarez scored Liverpool’s 3rd to comfortably give the Reds (or Whites as Liverpool were wearing their away kit) a 3-0 cushion.
Raheem was taken off with just over 10-minutes to go but before he had time to put on his tracksuit top and take a sip of his energy drink, Crystal Palace had pulled a goal back.
Big Damo Delaney made up for his earlier error by scoring a superb goal from a 25-yard shot, albeit similar to him with the Sturridge effort, taking a wicked deflection past Simon Mignolet.
The ex-Newcastle striker, Dwight Gayle, then plying his trade for Tony Pulis, who was the manager of Crystal Palace at the time, scored 2-late goals to send the Eagle Ultras wild and dent Liverpool’s title challenge.
The point gained did put Brendan’s Boys at the top of the Premier League table, however, only by a point and the Reds had now played a game more than Man City and had only 1-game left.
The Premier League is a 38-game competition so to win a title, or to be relegated isn’t defined by just one game but all connected with Liverpool will feel, that game away at Selhurst Park, on a May Day Bank Holiday Monday, when they let slip a 3-0 lead to ultimately come away with just a point, did go along way in costing them the title.
City fans will argue that they would have still won the Premier League even if Liverpool had been victorious against Palace.
Man City won both of their remaining games, gaining a total of 86-points and Liverpool won their one remaining game, giving them 84-points so in reality, the City fans were right as even with a victory against Crystal Palace, Liverpool would have had the same 86-points as Man City but with a far inferior goal difference.
Probably the defining game that did cost Liverpool the title was the week before the Crystal Palace fixture when Liverpool suffered a 2-0 defeat at Anfield against Chelsea.
The game against Chelsea will be forever remembered for a slip, literally, by Steven Gerrard that allowed Demba Ba in to score late on for Chelsea.
There was a great song immediately composed by the football fraternity that went something like,
‘Steve Gerrard, Gerrard, he slipped on his Bloomin bum, he gave it Demba Ba, Steve Gerrard, Gerrard’
Well, that’s the clean version anyway.
There is a Sports Psychologist called Steve Peters who works with top sports stars and teams.
Liverpool had sought the expertise of Mr Peters in the hope that he could give them the edge to win their 1st-Premier League title.
Another of Steve Peters’s clients is the Snooker legend, Ronnie O’Sullivan.
At the same time that Liverpool were capitulating at Selhurst Park, Big Ronnie was competing in the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible in Sheffield.
If one is not familiar with the Snooker World Championship, the final takes place over 2-days and is played over 35-frames.
The 2-days are usually the Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday at the beginning of May.
In the 1st-days session, Ronnie had taken a 10-5 lead against Mark Selby.
With just 2-frames left of the day’s play, Ronnie missed a Yellow ball that would have given him a lead of 6-frames and looked for all intent and purpose that a 6th-World Title was in the offering for the Rocket.
Missing the Yellow allowed Mark in to claim the 16th-frame and that missed opportunity from Ronnie literally knocked the stuffing out of him.
Mark won the final frame of the day, to trail 10-7 overnight.
Like Liverpool against Palace, Ronnie himself capitulated and blew the lead, only winning another 4-frames, whilst Mark won 13 out of 17 frames to take the title by a scoreline of 18-14.
It’s fair to say that Steve Peters had a very bad Bank Holiday Monday.
‘Steve Gerrard, Gerrard …’
The World Snooker Championship kicks off on Saturday the 20th with the Rocket Ronnie O’Sullivan hoping that Crystal Palace’s victory over Liverpool on Sunday, isn’t a bad omen for the coming weeks on the Green Baize.
Remaining fixtures-
Fulham v Liverpool
Everton v Liverpool
West Ham v Liverpool
Liverpool v Tottenham
Aston Villa v Liverpool
Liverpool v Wolves
Significantly, 4 games away from Anfield, which a couple of weeks ago, could have been considered worrying, however, following back-to-back defeats at the home of Liverpool, maybe the Anfield Rappers are glad their team are playing away.
At Anfield back in December, Liverpool gained the victory over Fulham in a 7-goal thriller, by a narrow 4-3 scoreline.
The Fulham Goalkeeper Bernd Leno was credited with Liverpool’s opener, which Harry Wilson cancelled out.
Alexis Mac Allister scored a 2nd for the home team that again, was cancelled out by Fulham’s Kenny Tete to take both teams in level at the break.
There were no further goals until the 80th minute, then the fun started.
Bobby Decordover-Reid scored to give Fulham a lead, before Wataru Endu and Trent Alexander-Arnold notched in the space of 2 minutes, giving Liverpool the victory over Fulham by a 4-3 scoreline.
Betfred offer Fulham at 5/1, the draw at 18/5 and Odds On 1/2 for Liverpool to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 17/2 that Rodrigo Muniz Scores First and 6/4 that Luis Diaz Scores Anytime.
(If your pre-match First Goalscorer bet scores First and then scores a Second, Betfred DOUBLE the odds.
If they score a Third, Betfred TREBLE the odds.)
Home Win 2-1- Get 16/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
The excitement really started in the Scottish Premier League over the weekend, when on Saturday, Celtic gained a victory over St Mirren (who?) to remain at the summit with 78 points from 33 fixtures completed.
Rangers then played on Sunday and were expected to get the victory over Ross County, to reduce the gap at the top of the Pub League to 1 point and still have a game in hand.
Unfortunately for all of the Teddy Bears all over the world (including the loveable OzScot), Rangers suffered a devastating defeat against Ross County (who?) to remain 4 points adrift of the Green and White Hoops.
Even with a victory in the game in hand, against Dundee FC (who?) which will take place on Wednesday, regardless of whether the Dens Park pitch is fit for purpose (it hasn’t been for the last two attempts) as if not, the game will go ahead at McDiarmid Park, the home of St Johnstone, then Rangers will still be 2nd in the table, a point adrift of the bitter rivals.
The Scottish Premier League now splits into 2 groups of 6, with the Top 6, facing each other and subsequently the Bottom 6 matching up to see who avoids relegation.
There will be 5 games left for both of the Glasgow clubs with a final Old Firm Derby league fixture included.
Which significantly will be played at Celtic Park.
The other fixtures that both will face are against-
Hearts (who?), Kilmarnock (who?), St Mirren (who?) and Dundee FC (who?)
As of yet, the dates for these games are unknown, until after this week’s Dundee v Rangers fixture is over.
There is also the possibility of another Old Firm Derby if both Rangers and Celtic get to the Final of the Scottish FA Cup.
As for Braveheart/Kylie and Lad, there’s no new information to share, as the boys have gone missing following Rangers’ devastating defeat against Ross Kemp, sorry Ross County (who?)
Once the loveable OzScot and Son have been found, an update will be released.
No doubt, there will be remnants of Tennents Extra, Haggis Scotch Eggs, Kylie Minogue tapes and VHS recordings of Mel Gibsons warbling,
‘You’ll never take our freedom!’
‘He’s Celtic, United but Brendan has decided that Glasgow is the best place to be.’
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