Football Matchday Preview and Review

The final Premier League matchday is here and it’s awfully close. We’ve got only a few hours till the games kick-off later in the evening, and the anticipation might just be driving most of us crazy. Especially after this week’s midweek games that saw Manchester United get only one point against West Ham United, who secured another year of Premier League action, and Chelsea lose 5-3 against Liverpool, who were finally given the Premier League trophy. Champions League Qualification Realistically, there are three teams competing for the two spots which ensure Champions League football for next season. Manchester United, Chelsea and Leicester City are the three teams which would look to ensure their fans see them competing in the big leagues. Manchester United will be playing against Leicester City in what would be the most crucial game of the night in terms of a Champions League spot and Chelsea play against Wolves, which would also be a decisive match. The current scenario is such...

As season-end almost upon us, most teams will be looking at their respective performances and planning what they have to do in the following year. There will only be one champion – but there will be at least 2-3 other teams that would be celebrating along with them. There will also be 2-3 other teams that would regret having played how they had as they say goodbye. Confused? Don’t be, I’ll be explaining how the entire process works. Football all over the world works in a tier system, where the teams’ individual performance decides which tier they will be playing the next year. The bottom-placed teams are relegated to the second division from the premier division, and the top-most teams from the second division get promoted to replace the bottom-placed teams for the next season. Let’s take the example of last season’s English Premier League points table to understand how the process works. Man chester City was crowned champions, while Cardiff City, Fulham and Huddersfield were the w...

The UEFA Champions League Yesterday, the official draw of the UEFA Champions League’s Quarter Finals and Semi Finals, and the official draw of the UEFA Europa League’s Quarter Finals and Semi-Finals were conducted. For most people like me, who are used to watching draws with representatives from all participating teams present, it was very awkward to see a social distanced draw, where each person was seen standing away from another. In the end, there were a few surprises, but not many can complain of an unfair draw as at this point, most teams matching up seem equal.  The first QF the game would see the winner of the Manchester City – Real Madrid match play against the winner of the Juventus – Lyon match. I predict Manchester City to beat Real Madrid in their matchup and would be rooting for Juventus to get the better of Lyon. The reason for choosing City as winners are that Real Madrid will be without their captain, Ramos, who is suspended. This should give City the upper ha...

Premier League  MD32 started with Aston Villa hosting the Wanderers at Villa Park as the relegation battle intensifies with each passing week. It was a relatively dull game with Wolves pulling clear at the 62nd minute and the game ending 1-0. Aston Villa needs a couple of results to go their way in the coming weeks if they are to avoid the drop, which at this stage seems quite unlikely. Highlights -  https://www.hotstar.com/in/sports/football/aston-villa-01-wolves/1260031266?utm_source=onebox&utm_campaign=PL&utm_term=highlights Watford hosting Southampton was an anticipated fixture as both teams have been in decent form regardless of their respective positions in the table. The game saw the Saints score 4 goals, though one of those for Watford as Jan Bednarek's 79th minute saw Watford get away with a consolation goal with the game ending 3-1. Danny Ings scoring continued as he is now only one goal away from the Golden Boot top scorer chart. Highlights -  https://w...