Premier League Table: Updated Standings and Schedule After Leicester vs. Spurs
Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane scored four goals to move ahead of Everton striker Romelu Lukaku in the race for the Premier League's Golden Boot on Thursday as his side hammered Leicester City 6-1 at the King Power Stadium.
Kane and Son Heung-min netted in the first period to give the visitors a two-goal lead at the interval.
Leicester improved after the break initially, and Ben Chillwell kept composed to capitalise on an error from Hugo Lloris to halve the deficit. But Kane and Son were both on hand to net again to make the game safe for the visitors; the former then struck twice late on, moving his tally on to 26 in the top flight.
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Following this result, every team in the Premier League has just one game left to play. Here's a look at Sunday's final round of fixtures and a reminder of how a lopsided tussle between Spurs and Leicester played out.
| Sunday, May 21 | 3 p.m. | Arsenal vs. Everton |
| Sunday, May 21 | 3 p.m. | Manchester United vs. Crystal Palace |
| Sunday, May 21 | 3 p.m. | Liverpool vs. Middlesbrough |
| Sunday, May 21 | 3 p.m. | Watford vs. Manchester City |
| Sunday, May 21 | 3 p.m. | Swansea City vs. West Bromwich Albion |
| Sunday, May 21 | 3 p.m. | Hull City vs. Tottenham Hotspur |
| Sunday, May 21 | 3 p.m. | Chelsea vs. Sunderland |
| Sunday, May 21 | 3 p.m. | Burnley vs. West Ham United |
| Sunday, May 21 | 3 p.m. | Leicester City vs. Bournemouth |
| Sunday, May 21 | 3 p.m. | Southampton vs. Stoke City |
For the updated Premier League standings visit the competition website.
Thursday Recap
Although their title charge came up short, there were no signs of Spurs sulking on the road on Thursday, as they tore into the former champions.
The opener came in the 25th minute, as Son latched on to an excellent long ball from Toby Alderweireld. The South Korean picked a pass across goal, where Kane was on hand to prod home.
Having missed a chance himself earlier in the game, Son got on the scoresheet 11 minutes later. Dele Alli was the architect, as he lofted a delightful ball over the top of the Foxes defence. This time the forward kept his cool.
As Tottenham's Twitter feed noted, the team has some serious firepower in the final third:
It gave Spurs total control, and aside from a penalty appeal from Leicester that was waved away, the hosts offered nothing in the opening period.
After the break, there was much more aggression in the Foxes' play, and when Lloris failed to beat Jamie Vardy to a through ball, Chilwell could have lashed at goal from distance. But the young left-back shimmied past a couple of challenges and guided home a low finish.
Per sports journalist Raj Bains, it was a calamitous effort from the French goalkeeper:
Kane spared his blushes, though, as the England striker quickly restored Spurs' two-goal lead with his 24th strike of the Premier League season. He was in the perfect place to nod home as Victor Wanyama headed a deep cross into the danger area.
Any hopes of a comeback were dashed not long after, as Son scored a splendid second. The forward drove forward, pulled away from a couple of defenders and arched a perfect shot into the bottom corner from distance.
Having gone close to a hat-trick on a couple of occasions, Kane finally grabbed his third late on, as his shot from the edge of the area deflected past Kasper Schmeichel.
In the final minute of added time, the England striker made it four, capping a memorable away win for Mauricio Pochettino's side.
Weekend Preview
The champions have been confirmed, the relegated teams decided, and that means the focus will be on the race to finish in the top four spots on the final day.
Manchester City, who visit Watford, and Liverpool—who will host already-relegated Middlesbrough—are favourites to book their place in a UEFA Champions League spot for next season. Arsenal face Everton knowing they need to win and will be hoping either City suffer a defeat or Liverpool fail to win to secure their spot in the top four.
For Pep Guardiola's City side, three points would ensure they finish third behind Chelsea and Spurs. As we can see courtesy of the Guardian, he's admitted the team should be aiming higher:
"Pep Guardiola admits he'd be sacked at Barcelona or Bayern pic.twitter.com/ruWWsLO80i
— 101 Great Goals (@101greatgoals) May 16, 2017"
Liverpool will be looking up rather than over their shoulder on Sunday, too, as they're heavy favourites to overcome a toiling Boro team.
Jurgen Klopp's side did threaten to challenge for the title earlier in the season, as they conjured an aggressive and inventive style of football. Those lofty hopes have faded, although qualifying for next season's Champions League would represent progress for the Reds.
Liverpool set up this scenario with a commanding 4-0 over West Ham United last weekend, with Philippe Coutinho shining in a deeper role. Per Neil Jones of the Liverpool Echo, Klopp wants to see the Brazilian on the ball more often:
For Arsenal supporters, the prospect of UEFA Europa League football next season is a real one, as they need a big favour from Watford or Boro on the final day of the campaign.
The Gunners have finished the season strongly and kept the pressure on the two teams above with a decent win over Sunderland on Tuesday. However, with arguably the most testing fixture of the three teams and a deficit to make up, fifth place is likely to be the best the Gunners can do in 2016-17.
