Archive for March, 2020

Premier League Update

As of today, the Premier League is postponed until April 30. This is the newest update that we have received since the league was postponed at the beginning of March.

The Premier League, like may leagues, are trying to figure out the best way to carry out the final third of the season. As a result, they are all hoping for the best and will resume play in May. There have been a few ideas of finishing the season where it is, first place gets first place and the bottom three get relegated. There are a lot of ethical decisions involved in this situation that needs to be made.

One of the key issues at hand is the payment of matchday employees. This is tragic as there are no games which means no pay for a large number of employees within clubs. One of the greatest things to come out of this situation is the fact that clubs, players, and owners have all donated to most of the club’s matchday employees.

This is a tough time for everyone, the sports world or not, and it is fantastic to see everyone come together in order to come out stronger.

Premier League and the Coronavirus

It seems like nowadays there is one thing that you cannot escape from- Coronavirus. The sporting world is feeling the effects of it deeply. In Italy, they have suspended their respective league and have had multiple cases within teams. As it has progressed over time, the Premier League has decided to carry out the remainder of the season behind closed doors. This is an attempt to keep players and staff safe.

On top of that, the Champions League and Europa League appear to be suspending the campaign altogether. This instance has never happened before and appears to be one of the craziest things to happen to the sporting world without being related to sports in quite some time.

This blog will be affected by the Coronavirus as well because I will be changing it to update on the Premier League in relation to the virus and the next steps to take within the league.

I apologize for the change but we all must adapt and move forward together.

Liverpool Loses!!!

Liverpool’s Manager, Klopp, left in disarray following his team’s performance

The unexpected 3-0 defeat for Liverpool F.C. at the hands of 19th place Watford was the Premier League’s story of the weekend.

The loss is the first for Jurgen Klopp’s men during the 2019-20 campaign, having picked up 26 wins and a draw so far this season. The match featured the rise of Ismaila Sarr, Watford’s Senegalese forward who put the Reds to the sword twice in the second half.

After scoring a tap in off of a poorly defended throw-in in the 54’, Sarr chipped Allisson and doubled Watford’s lead in the 60’. Troy Deeny killed the fixture in the 73’ after Trent Alexander-Arnold’s poor back pass was intercepted by Sarr, who found the Englishman for his sixth goal of the season. 

Sarr wheels off celebrating leaving Liverpool defenders out of focus

It was a quality performance for Watford, but in reality, it looked as though the Liverpool players’ legs had tired from carrying the 44-game unbeaten streak. They missed the serene presence of Joe Gomez at Centre Back, and Alexander-Arnold was caught pulling his socks up before giving up the first goal. 

The Reds also missed Jordan Henderson, who was replaced by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who couldn’t shore up the midfield. Dejan Lovren deputized in place of Gomez and didn’t cover himself in glory during the first goal, letting the ball bounce in front of his man and over his head. 

Watford’s forward line had a strong showing but face questions going forward after the distressing injury of Gerard Deulofeu, who ruptured his ACL and Meniscus as a result of a hard tackle from Virgil Van Dijk. Deulofeu will have exploratory surgery in Spain in the coming weeks, and he is expected to be out for at least six months, according to the BBC

Deulofeu needed to be put on oxygen as a result of the horrific knee injury

The loss means that Liverpool’s unbeaten streak comes to an end at 44 games, five off the pace set by Arsenal’s Invincibles in 2004-05. It also means they failed to secure a record 19th straight win, leaving them on top with Pep Guardiola and Manchester City’s 18 game streak in 2019. 

Liverpool also fell to Chelsea in the FA Cup on Tuesday. 

They’ll face Atletico Madrid’s one-goal lead in a Champions League second leg at Anfield in the near future. 

It will take a lot to move on in Europe, but the Reds look assured in the Premier League, with a 22-point lead on second-place City. They’ll face Bournemouth in the league at the weekend in what is now a crucial tie in order to right the ship and exert their dominance that they’ve shown all season.