England
The Cost Of Premier League Relegation Is At Least $50 Million
Although Chelsea has all but secured a second Premier League title in three seasons, the relegation battle is just heating up. Sunderland and Middlesbrough are going down to the Championship next season, and Hull City and Swansea City are trying to avoid the same fate.
Relegation certainly adds drama and raises the stakes for the final games of the season, but exactly how much do these teams stand to gain by staying up?
Chelsea Are One Win Away From The EPL Title, And Middlesbrough Are Relegated
Brad Guzan's favorite spice is nutmeg. Or maybe it's his least favorite spice, but Chelsea's favorite spice. I'm not sure which variation of the joke I'm supposed to make here. Diego Costa, Marcos Alonso and Nemaja Matic nutmegged the Middlesbrough keeper three times for three goals to move one step away from a second EPL title in three years.
Middlesbrough, meanwhile, started Monday one step away from being relegated to the Championship, and that step has been taken. Goodbye Middlesbrough.
N'Golo Kante Named FA Player Of The Year By The Football Writers' Association
N'Golo Kante is the best player in England. So say the Professional Footballers' Association, and now the Football Writers' Association.
Last season, Kante's Leicester City teammates Riyan Mahrez and Jamie Vardy split the awards. This season, with Chelsea, Kante has reminded everyone who the real engine of that Leicester City team was.
Kante's PFA win was announced in April, and his FWA win was announced on Monday.
Watch Francis Coquelin Experience The Miracle Of Human Flight
Look at that!
Up in the sky!
What is it?
It's a bird!
No, it's a plane!
No, it's Francis Coquelin!
Coquelin flying pic.twitter.com/vPH7vC9jat
— TouchofÖzil (@Touchofozil) May 7, 2017
Four Clubs Enter, Only Two Survive (To Play In The Champions League)
After securing three points yesterday behind Emre Can’s wonder goal, Liverpool are primed to finish in the top four and qualify for the Champions League for the first time in three years. The Reds have a very manageable schedule down the stretch.
Christian Atsu’s ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Free Kick Technique Is A Game Changer
Christian Atsu is one of the horde of 30-something Chelsea players out on loan for all eternity. After impressing at Portugal’s Rio Ave, Chelsea shelled out £3.5 million for the 21-year-old Ghanaian winger and immediately loaned him to the extremely Chelsea-friendly confines of Vitesse Arnhem.
He played well there, but not well enough to make Pedro or Willian fear for their Chelsea careers. So off Atsu went, making loan stops at Everton, Bournemouth and Malaga while making headlines at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations by scoring this banger.
Tottenham Clinging To Hope In EPL Title Race
With four games to play in the EPL season, streaking Tottenham trails Chelsea by four points in the title race. Spurs still have a chance to finish atop the table, but they can’t afford to give away any points down the stretch. Although Chelsea dropped two games in April, a favorable schedule bodes well for their title chances.
Tottenham will play three of their final four games on the road, and they certainly have the tougher schedule. Here’s a look at their remaining games:
West Ham (A)
Manchester United (H)
Leicester City (A)
Hull (A)
Emre Can Just Scored The Premier League Goal Of The Season
Emre Can, Liverpool's roving German midfield destroyer, is more than meets the eye, like a transformer. On the surface, he's a big, athletic, crunching central midfielder. When you look a little closer, though, he can do this:
What a goal this was for Emre Can! https://t.co/ln6ltb6Xjk pic.twitter.com/plvITDEATk
Pedro Wonder Goal Will Make You Wonder If He's Left-Footed
Pedro's left-footed goal against Everton today was so good it almost (almost) made me forget that, as a Tottenham fan, I'm supposed to hate Chelsea – especially at the moment as the Spurs sit four points behind in the race for the Premier League title.
It most certainly was good enough for me to question whether or not Pedro is left-footed.