In what is quickly becoming one of the most compelling title races in recent memory, the finish line to the Barclays Premier League is just around the corner. There’s three teams that are still firmly in the hunt for pole position.
It has been a season full of ups, downs, controversies and returns, but as we edge closer to the closing stages of the season, only one team can lay claim to the moniker of Premier League champions. Problem is, it’s anyone’s guess as to which team that might be.
Will Liverpool finally end their 24-year drought as the top team in England? Can the ‘Special One’ redeliver in his first year back at Stamford Bridge? Or will Manchester City be able to keep their composure and regain the title from bitter crosstown rivals United?
All these questions will be answered in the coming weeks but let’s take a quick look at each team’s chances and who are the key players that will be at the heart of any title run.
Liverpool
Key Players – Luis Suarez, Daniel Sturridge, Steven Gerrard
Remaining Fixtures – Manchester City (H), Norwich City (A), Chelsea (H), Crystal Palace (A), Newcastle (A)
Odds – $2.80*
Liverpool fans and players are finally allowing themselves to talk about the club as legitimate frontrunners for the title after years of contention, end-of-season collapses and mediocrity. After just falling short at the hands of Chelsea a number of years ago, Liverpool have finally re-emerged as a contender.
When they finished second in 2008/09 there were a number of key characteristics that contributed to their success that season that have also been pivotal in this current campaign.
They are: possession of a world class striker (2009 – Fernando Torres, 2014 – Suarez); total belief in the manager’s plan and a strong desire to play for him (2009 – Rafa Benitez, 2014 – Brendan Rodgers); and the most overlooked characteristic in any domestic champion, depth.
Liverpool are finally at a stage where they possess the depth, the manpower (and willpower), and a manager who has implemented a style of football that is suited towards the strength of his best players. They have exceeded the expectations of many (even themselves), but, given the historic nature of the football club, anything other than a maiden Premier League title will have to be considered a failure.
What gives them hope, and what has separated this campaign from any other in previous years, is the possession of the most prolific strike partnership in world football. Suarez and Sturridge have been simply unstoppable for the Merseysiders, destroying defences up and down the country and scoring seemingly at will.
Add this to an improved defence, a creative spark from Raheem Sterling and Philippe Coutinho and the genius of a determined, hungry Gerrard and you have a Liverpool outfit that is extremely capable of breaking one of the most publicised droughts in football.
They have five games to play, of which two are at home against their biggest threats to the throne – Chelsea and Man City. They’re on a roll right now, winning their last six in a row and losing just one home game all season. If they’re not neck-and-neck with City they’re about as close as you can get.
Chelsea
Key Players – Eden Hazard, David Luiz, Oscar
Remaining Fixtures – Swansea (A), Sunderland (H), Liverpool (H), Norwich City (H), Cardiff City (A)
Odds – $8.00*
One of the most charismatic, intriguing, but above all successful, managers in world football, the ‘Special One’ has returned and appears to be picking up exactly where he left off. While they were in a stronger position a few weeks ago, Chelsea are still in the hunt trailing league leaders Liverpool by only two points.
Chelsea have one of the more favourable run-ins out of the three contending teams, but their season is really on the line when they head to Anfield on April 28. They will surely have to come away with all three points.
At their very best, Chelsea are an entertaining, clinical and ruthless side capable of burying teams. They utilise attacking wing-backs, in Cesar Azpilicueta and Branislav Ivanovic. They have pace and trickery on the outside with Hazard and Willian. And Luiz and Nemanja Matic fill the holding-midfield role popularised by Mourinho almost a decade ago with Claude Makelele.
Add the creative spark of a flourishing Oscar playing just behind a clinical and consistent Samuel Eto’o and it gives the Blues a well-rounded, balanced attack.
But they can often be lacklustre and despite the brilliance and talent throughout their squad, can often under-perform and misfire. Chelsea have world-class players littered throughout their squad and are excellently coached but can quite often be erratic and stifled by weaker opposition (e.g. Crystal Palace).
Odds-wise it’s pretty generous given their remaining schedule and, although Liverpool and Manchester City are more fancied, you can’t quite count them out.
Manchester City
Key Players – Sergio Aguero, Yaya Toure, David Silva
Remaining Fixtures – Liverpool(A), Sunderland(H), West Brom(H), Crystal Palace(A), Everton(A), Aston Villa(H), West Ham(H)
Odds – $1.72*
The Manchester juggernaut just keeps on rolling and it’s only about to get better. Aguero is waiting in the wings, raring to go, which is good for City and terrifying for opponents.
After a horrific string of results, in which they were upset by Wigan in the FA Cup and were dumped from the Champions League by Barcelona in back-to-back games, City have been demolishing opponents.
At the heart of it is Yaya Toure. Five goals in his last four games and the heartbeat of Manchester City all season, Toure has elevated his level of play to meteoric heights, dominating nearly all facets of the game. The box-to-box midfielder has proven to be a game winner week-in, week-out.
Similarly to Chelsea, Manchester City have periods of scintillating, potent patches of play seemingly cancelled out by lethargic, stale periods. Fortunately for City, the potent moments of play quite often can overload opponents and they are able to turn opportunities into goals. Edin Dzeko, who has been clinical as well as missing at times this season, has been more the former than the latter of late.
The keys to City’s chances lie in the spine of the field – from Joe Hart in goals, to Vincent Kompany in defence, Toure in the centre, and Silva or Samir Nasri playing behind Dzeko or Aguero.
They have their toughest challenge of the season heading to Anfield this weekend, facing a red hot Liverpool side who never needed any more motivation. The fact that this game will commemorate the victims of the Hillsbrough disaster of 1989 makes the match even bigger.
Even if you’re the most casual of football fans, this weekend’s clash between the two table-toppers is a can’t miss. The winner of this weekend’s game may very well decide who is holding up the trophy at the end of May.
*All odds via sportsbet.com.au
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