Tottenham went into Saturday’s match against Bournemouth joint fewest red cards earned in the league; Spurs ended the match joint sixth in most red cards received. Two Tottenham red cards spelled doom for Mauricio Pochettino’s side in a 1-0 loss to Bournemouth on Saturday, once again opening up the race in for the top four.
This season’s Premier League has been very interesting to say the least.
Liverpool and Manchester City have been battling it out for the title after Chelsea and Tottenham began dropping points. Liverpool put itself in a great position to go clear at the top only after a difficult run of games saw City catch up and retake the top spot. There has been talk among football fans and pundits alike that if Liverpool and Manchester City are equal on points, goal difference and goals scored on the final day. The two teams will have to play a Premier League title playoff.
There’s a new most valuable Premier League club, and it’s not Manchester United.
Manchester City was rated the most valuable Premier League club for the 2017-18 season in a recent study conducted by University of Liverpool’s Centre for Sports Business Group, as reported by BBC.
The Citizens were valued at $3.11 billion (£2.364 billion) compared to United, which dropped nearly half a billion dollars to $2.75 billion because of “higher wages and lower profit,” according to the study.
Liverpool has had a tough week.
First, Liverpool fans were criticized around the globe as a few jackasses acted like assholes while visiting Barcelona before the Champions League semifinal first leg. Then Liverpool played well but lost 3-0 in that match because Lionel Messi. On Friday, the Reds found out Naby Keita is out for two months after picking up a knock against Barça.
Liverpool was dominating in the second half. Fullbacks were flying forward, midfielders were ripping shots and forwards were bamboozling defenders.
But only Barcelona had Lionel Messi.
More than ever before, Messi is carrying Barcelona this season. Unlike past Champions League-winning sides Messi has been a part of, he is both the primary goal scorer and primary goal creator.
Liverpool spent a lot of the first half against Barcelona chasing Lionel Messi’s backside. Fabinho will probably have nightmares of the Blaugrana No. 10 jersey always fluttering just out of his reach.
But when James Milner finally caught up to Messi at one point after the ball had gone out of bounds, he knocked the Argentine on his backside.
What ensued was a wild embellishment from Messi, who isn’t usually prone to such antics. He followed that with a cheeky smile.
Fair or foul?
Barcelona and Liverpool both started the first leg of their Champions League semifinal with plenty of attacking intent, throwing caution to the wind in search of a go-ahead goal. It didn’t take too long to arrive, with a Luis Suarez goal vs Liverpool giving the home side a lead in the 26th minute.
And the former Liverpool man had no problem celebrating his goal.
Often, players choose to refrain from celebrating a goal against a former club as a show of respect. It’s a nice gesture.
It seems as though football fans become more emboldened the better their team does. And while many British supporters like to claim they’re better than their continental counterparts when it comes to racism, violence and general hooliganism, Liverpool fans are proving they’re a despicable lot ahead of the Champions League semifinal first leg in Barcelona on Wednesday.
Longtime Manchester United defender John O’Shea announced his retirement on his 37th birthday Tuesday.
Believe it or not, O’Shea has been playing continuously since his departure from Manchester United in 2011.
O’Shea spent 12 years with United and was part of five Premier League championship teams as well as one Champions League-winning team.
John O’Shea has announced his retirement from football:
Forget all the complaints about which team had more rest or which team has more money — the first leg of the Champions League semifinals between Ajax and Tottenham was everything you want in a big match.
Full of attacking intent from both sides, neither of which backed away from a single challenge, Ajax turned 30 minutes of first-half dominance into a 1-0 victory, a third-straight away win in the knockout rounds for the Amsterdam side. Spurs, meanwhile, suffered back-to-back defeats at the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.