With approximately one quarter of the Premier League season remaining, the battle for 2021/22 Champions League football took a number of dramatic twists over the Easter bank holiday weekend.
Defeats for Chelsea at home to West Brom, (2-5), and Leicester (0-2) at home to Manchester City have left the door ajar for the likes of Tottenham, Liverpool, West Ham, Everton & Aston Villa.
Tottenham shot themselves in the foot by dropping points at Newcastle, courtesy of an 85th minute equaliser from Joseph Willock, Jose Mourinho was not impressed;
“Same coach, different players,” was Mourinho’s response when BBC Radio 5 Live reporter Juliette Ferrington pointed out his teams are usually good at defending leads.
Bradley Walsh, presenter of ITV’s ‘The Chase’ was not impressed either….
Arsenal’s hopes of finishing in the top four look over after Liverpool left Emirates Stadium with a 3-0 victory on Saturday evening. Two goals from substitute Diego Jota & one from Mohamed Salah left Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta in reflective mood;
“They were better in every department. I take the blame, it’s my responsibility. They were the best team by far. They won by three goals and it could have been more” said Arteta to the BBC.
He added, “They won every duel, every second ball, every challenge. To be fair, I’m in shock. I didn’t expect that one coming. It’s my job to make things better. Today we hit a really low level. It was not acceptable.”
Bradley seemed to enjoy some of the Arsenal defending….
Aston Villa continued their impressive season with three late goals in a 3-1 victory at home to Fulham, two from Trezeguet & one from Ollie Watkins during a nine minute period. If Villa win their game in hand it will leave them four points off a Champions League spot.
Aston Villa Manager, Dean Smith, seemed very happy with his substitutions. Smith stated, “It was certainly a very good last 20 minutes or so. Sometimes you need players to make an impact from the bench and the three who came on certainly did that and lifted our performance.”
Bradley was also very impressed with the late Villa flourish….
Everton can leapfrog Chelsea into fourth if they win both of their games in hand, first up are Crystal Palace at home this evening. Everton Boss Carlo Ancellotti is no stranger to Champions League football, having won the trophy three times already, twice with AC Milan & once with Real Madrid. Securing a top four spot at the expense of Merseyside rivals Liverpool would certainly endear him to Everton fans even further.
West Ham travel to Wolverhampton Wanderers this evening for a 20:15 kick off. If West Ham can secure three points it will propel them into fourth spot ahead of Chelsea. West Ham Manager, David Moyes, was a perennial challenger for the top four during his stint as Everton Manager. His spell as Manchester United Manager proved less successful. After Moyes was dismissed, Bradley’s end of season review seemed a little harsh…
Manchester City appear to have the title wrapped up, and it would take a Greg Norman-esque collapse to throw it away with only seven games remaining, Manchester United would need to bridge a 14 point gap which should be beyond them.
Manchester United have a four point cushion whilst currently sitting in second, but Leicester & Brendan Rodgers will be trying to catch them before the season end. The Red Devils host Leicester on May 11th in what could prove to be a very significant fixture, Bradley would hate to see Manchester United slip out of the top four after such a promising season….
Whatever happens over the next few weeks, I think we’re going to see ‘The Chase’ for Champions League football go down to the last few games. There will be further twists & turns, with moments of controversy & debate, but let’s hope it’s decided with a moment of brilliance rather than a shocking mistake. No-one likes a pantomime villain…..
