Premier League Notebook Heading into Week 36
If the Championship play-off final is the richest game in football, then a couple of the games still to come over the final weeks of the Premier League season are surely not far behind.
The Wembley showpiece is a chance to win one of those golden tickets to the riches and rewards of the top flight. For the likes of Sunderland, Aston Villa, Leicester City, Hull City and Newcastle United, however, the coming weeks and games will define whether it is their lucrative ticket that is the one being transferred.
With the Premier League title already secured—congratulations, Chelsea, for a deserved triumph that has been on the cards from almost the first weekend—and the battle for the top four effectively over, the only real scrap of any interest left this season is at the foot of the table.
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Burnley and Queens Park Rangers might already be doomed—the former more so than the latter—but above them, there are five teams embroiled in a desperate battle not to slip into the choppy waters of the Championship.
"They realise they’re in a severe situation here. There is a real danger of relegation. They have been warned about that from start," Villa boss Tim Sherwood told Sky Sports. "We can all agree they are doing everything they can to keep this great club in the Premier League—that’s where it belongs."
Villa apart, Leicester are the form side at this crunch time of the season, having won five of their last six games. Even so, the need for points remains as desperate as ever.
As manager Nigel Pearson noted, again via Sky Sports: "I'm very pleased with how we've played, but there's a lot of hard work left—it's not done, not at all.
"Of course it helps when things go your way elsewhere, but you can't bank on that. We can't leave the field with regrets."
At the moment, the bookmakers, per Oddschecker, have Sunderland as the favourites to go down in that third relegation spot, perhaps because they are the current holders of that spot and also because after Saturday's trip to Everton, finally in good form after a disappointing campaign, they have a home game against Leicester before visiting Chelsea and Arsenal.
If Dick Advocaat's side are to stay up, they will have to do it the hard way—although that is certainly something the Black Cats have done more than once before.
As Advocaat said, per the Daily Mirror's Simon Bird:
"We always go out to win the game. You see during the game if it is possible. If not you try to get one point.
There has been a positive atmosphere. It was a good win against Southampton, after a draw against Stoke. Four points from the last two games. We still need at least four or five points. The next two games are vital.
You can see the players are coming in the right shape. Organisation too. And they work hard to get the results.
"
Sunderland, like Hull and Villa and almost all the other teams around them, have been in the relegation battle all season long, but their hopes of a remarkable escape are boosted considerably by the travails of one team that has dropped like a stone into the mix: Newcastle.
From almost nowhere, the Magpies now have just a two-point cushion on their local rivals but a far worse goal difference and considerably less momentum. Newcastle finish with games against West Bromwich Albion, QPR and West Ham United—a better run-in than most—but having not picked up so much as a point in their last eight games, you wonder if the stuffing has already been knocked out of them.
If they survive, it might simply be because another side cannot pick up the point or two required over the next few games. If they end up going down, however, owner Mike Ashley will not be able to blame outside circumstances—right now, they perhaps look the team who most warrant relegation.
Week 36 Fixtures
All games 3 p.m. BST (10 a.m. ET) unless otherwise stated.
Saturday
Everton vs. Sunderland (12:45 p.m.)
Aston Villa vs. West Ham
Hull City vs. Burnley
Leicester City vs. Southampton
Newcastle United vs. West Brom
Stoke City vs. Tottenham Hotspur
Crystal Palace vs. Manchester United (5:30 p.m.)
Sunday
Manchester City vs. QPR (1:30 p.m.)
Chelsea vs. Liverpool (4 p.m.)
Monday
Arsenal vs. Swansea City (8 p.m.)
1. What to Watch out for This Week
Salt in the Wounds as Gerrard Forms Guard of Honour
Steven Gerrard must be braced for a torturous afternoon on Sunday: Not only will he have to form a guard of honour for the new Premier League champions when Liverpool run out to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, but he will doubtless hear more than a few chants about that slip that cost the Reds so dearly in last season's run-in.
If Stephen Hawking believes there is a parallel universe somewhere out there where Zayn Malik is still a member of One Direction, perhaps it follows that there is also one in which Steven Gerrard joined Chelsea in 2005 and went on to win Premier Leagues, Champions Leagues and FA Cups with almost relentless zeal in the following years.
Instead, in this world at least, Gerrard arrives in west London having spent his whole career at Liverpool—a decision that has certainly brought its rewards, though perhaps not as many as Gerrard could have accumulated if he had left Merseyside at one point or another.
So close to the end of his career with Liverpool, and now acutely aware he will leave without ever winning the Premier League, Gerrard can be forgiven for briefly wondering whether he made the right decision to stay at the club his entire career. Time, however, is a great giver of perspective, and in two or five years, he is unlikely to feel any real regrets about leaving a club of loyal legends, an eternally revered band.
Alan Shearer, the nearest reference point to Gerrard in many ways, seems to have become more comfortable and proud of his decision to play for Newcastle United, at the expense of Manchester United, for the majority of his career as time has passed—and for Gerrard, it will doubtless be the same.
Depay Excitement Will Wait for United
Manchester United announced on Thursday that they had completed a deal to sign PSV Eindhoven attacker Memphis Depay, ushering in the start of Louis van Gaal's summer evolution. However, United still have three more Premier League games to negotiate before they can start thinking about what might be ahead.
Over their last three games, United have struggled horribly to convert their huge amount of possession into goals and points, losing to Chelsea, Everton and West Brom in painful fashion. Depay will undoubtedly help with that lack of incision once he adapts to his new club, but Van Gaal is about the system more than the individuals, and he will want to prove his system is not the underlying problem before the season finishes.
On Saturday, they face a Crystal Palace side whose threat is predicated on their wide players, Yannick Bolasie and Wilfried Zaha—the player whom, in some ways, Depay is replacing within the United squad.
Alan Pardew's side may have nothing really to play for beyond adding United to the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool among the scalps they have taken since being promoted back to the Premier League nearly two years ago. But with their robust defence and unpredictable attack, they would seem to have similar qualities to the teams that have caused United so many difficulties recently.
The Other League Battle Might be One No Team Wants to Win
The other major issue still to be decided over the final weeks of the season revolves around which teams will participate in the Europa League next season.
Chelsea's League Cup win earlier in the year means sixth in the Premier League will join the fifth-placed finisher in next season's competition, while if Aston Villa do not win the forthcoming FA Cup final against Arsenal, then the team that finishes seventh will also have a spot in the Europa League. UEFA announced on Friday that the Premier League will get an extra place in next season's competition for its fair-play record, but West Ham and Everton are on course to battle for that berth.
Liverpool, who so famously thrived last season when they did not have any European competitions to worry about, seem certain to finish fifth and resigned to their fate, while Spurs and Southampton are locked in a battle for sixth and seventh.
It will be interesting to watch how both sides fare over the final weeks of the season. Southampton might see European qualification as a great reward for their recent progress, whereas Spurs might feel it is a distraction they could do without as they look to finally qualify for the Champions League again.
Alternatively, of course, Mauricio Pochettino might use it to give his fringe squad members more first-team opportunities.
“I think it’s a very good competition," Pochettino said, per Anthony Chapman of the Express. "It was good for us because we gave opportunities to different players to play and compete during the season.
"Our challenge now is to try to win the three games to be sure we play in the next Europa League.
“This is our objective, our challenge, to bring young players from the academy. If they deserve to play, why not?”
2. Video of the Week
3. Player to Watch
Danny Ings
Only the most optimistic of fans would suggest that Burnley can still survive in the Premier League. Eight points adrift with only nine left to play for, the club's fate is no longer in their hands.
The Clarets could very well be officially relegated on Saturday if they fail to beat Hull City—themselves in a battle for their lives—at the KC Stadium. Even if they win, they might still be demoted.
This is last-chance saloon for Sean Dyche's side—if that moment has not already passed. To have any hope of prolonging their fight, Burnley will need to be far more clinical in front of goal than they have been most of the campaign, with Danny Ings in particular needing to rediscover the goalscoring touch that has eluded him since a purple patch in the middle of the season.
Out of contract in the summer, Ings is one of the few Burnley players who will almost certainly still be playing in the Premier League next season. But the club have been good to him, and he will surely want to end his stay at Turf Moor with a flurry of goals.
As Dyche noted, per Alec Kennedy of AFP (H/T Yahoo):
"The quality is there, I believe in the players, it is just the moment of quality, and delivering that at the key moments.
You know the little fella who has done all right over in Spain? He [Lionel Messi] had a couple of moments like that, when he was prepared to deliver the quality [against Bayern].They are often the defining margins in any game. We were on the right side of it to the tune of only losing five games last year.
This year has been a lot tougher job, of course, but the approach has always been to win.
Obviously we are at that last-chance stab at it. You have got to be reality-bound, but the lads are definitely up for it. They have been all season.
"
If Ings scores on Saturday, it will be his first goal since February 11.
4. Game of the Weekend
Newcastle United vs. West Brom
After the utter shambles that was their defeat to Leicester City last time out—not just the result but the manner of the performance and the ensuing fallout—it is something of a surprise that John Carver remains Newcastle United manager heading into the final three games of the season.
There is surely no longer any doubt that Newcastle are in a desperate fight for survival, one they might just be favourites to lose at the current point in time. Sunderland and Hull need to pick up a few points to overhaul them, but Carver's reign has been so disastrous that all the momentum at this crucial juncture seems to lie elsewhere.
Carver has remained bullish this week, but it is hard to believe that morale at Newcastle isn't at an all-time low. He has just one recognised defender fully fit for the Saturday's game against West Brom, a side that has been the opposite of the Magpies over the last two or three months: disciplined, focused, cohesive and well-drilled.
Consequently, West Brom are safe for another season, while Newcastle are sinking without trace. Carver has a reputation as a great coach, one of the best in the country, but the past few weeks have made it abundantly clear why he has never previously had the opportunity to step up into the manager's seat.
"I still think I’m the best coach in the Premier League. That’s what I think," Carver said on Thursday, via the Telegraph, to widespread amusement, though "coach" and not "manager" is perhaps an important choice of word. "Now there’s nothing wrong with that. But I still do.
"If I have the right tools, I can do the job. I’m doing the job to the best of my ability at the moment and I’ll continue doing that for the next three weeks."
Three games to save the club from relegation might be the best chance Carver gets. West Brom have nothing to play for, and Newcastle have everything to prove. If they cannot get a positive result, perhaps the writing is on the wall.
