We are now 30 weeks into the Premier League season, and Liverpool and Chelsea are in a heated battle – for which is the worse club.
Despite Liverpool’s shocking run under Arne Slot’s questionable tactics so far in his 2nd season with Liverpool, he is still somehow ahead of Liam Rosenoir’s “aged-men” Chelsea. The two teams went into Game Week 31, just outside the Champions League spot in 5th and 6th respectively.
However, with Aston Villa’s terrible form as of late, losing 2-0 to last place Wolves and 4 winless games until today’s win against West Ham, Liverpool and Chelsea had the perfect chance to capitalize on Villa’s missed points. So how did it go?
Liverpool vs. Brighton
Liverpool conceded early from a point-blank Danny Welbeck header in the first 15 minutes, until a defensive howler from Lewis Dunk let a sprinting Milos Kerkez level the score. However, Danny Welbeck scored his 2nd of the game at minute 56, and despite Liverpool’s best efforts, the score remained Brighton 2 – 1 Liverpool.
Liverpool fans were extremely upset with the loss against a 10th place team featuring a 35 year-old Danny Welbeck and 40 year-old James Milner. This leaves the scousers 5 points behind 4th place Aston Villa. Missing from the action was star man Mohammad Salah, who with a muscle injury is now out for the season.
It doesn’t help they have to balance their F.A Cup tie against Manchester City and Champions League alongside their Premier League campaign, facing PSG in the quarter finals. Their upcoming matchups against an in-form Manchester United, and a crucial 6 pointer against Aston Villa, would need a complete shift in momentum.
Although their title-defending season seems to be in jeopardy of even remaining in Europe next season, they are still at least 1 point ahead of Chelsea, who had their Game week 31 go as follows.
Everton vs. Chelsea
After their recent Champions League howler and exit, Chelsea faced 8th place Everton who are hot on their heels for the Europa League spot.
Beto scored on minute 33 for Everton, and the sides remained 1 goal apart until Beto scored again 20 minutes into the 2nd half. Chelsea began chasing Everton for the rest of the game, unable to even score despite the front 3 of Joao Pedro, Pedro Neto and Palmer. Everton eventually secured the final blow with a goal from Ndiaye, capping off the final result, Everton 3 – 0 Chelsea.
This game now leaves Brentford and Everton just 2 points behind Chelsea. the Europa League spot is now in contention between 4 clubs simply because of this match.
Both Liverpool and Chelsea are now in a tough spot for qualifying for Tuesday nights. Despite the level of talent and market value of both teams, especially Liverpool’s €500 million summer, both rely on Aston Villa bottling a 5-point lead over both of them.
Chelsea’s situation seems to be more dire than the reds. Their last stretch of games don’t look promising, facing both sides of Manchester. Although it seems they have a 6 pointer fixture with Liverpool for what is now the Europa League spot.
Overall, this week’s results leave Aston Villa with an more comfortable cushion. Their recent inconsistent form can still take them to another Champions League appearance next season, although they are still in the Europa League and can qualify by winning that as well.
The race for the final spots of Europe is intense in the Premier League, although it’s possible up to 7th place can qualify this year, no team has taken this unlikely scenario for granted. It remains to be seen which clubs out of Liverpool, Chelsea, Everton and Brentford can catch up to Villa.
