Curtains for the EPL season: who will be crowned champions?
The English premier league (EPL) 2018/19 season comes to a close this evening at five pm Kenyan time. Manchester City has 95 points, one more than Liverpool, and city will know that a win over Brighton will see them declared champions on the final day. Liverpool will hope they beat Wolverhampton Wanderers and city draw or lose to Brighton so they can win their first title since 1990.
This is the first season since 2012 where the title race has gotten to the end day when Sergio Aguero scored a last minute winner over queens park rangers to ensure Manchester city won the title.
It promises to be a great day for football, yet, all other matters have been concluded, including top four, the battle for relegation and “best of the rest” or the seventh-place team (Wolverhampton have won that honor)
Here are some of the highlights of the season, in what has been one of the most one-sided and stratified English premier league seasons in many years.
The title race.
The top two sides Liverpool and Manchester City have been mostly excellent. City has won 14 matches in a row, and both sides are unbeaten since January. Liverpool has lost only once all season. Liverpool could finish with the highest points total of second-placed side in the EPL since 1992. This is historical greatness, and it has been incredible to watch.
The battle for the top 4
The next best four sides, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Manchester United have been terrible and brilliant to watch at different times, and all four clubs know that the gap between them and the top two sides is huge.
All four sides have had bad results and performances and will know they must do better next season. Spurs and Chelsea will round up the top four this time
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Someone tweeted last week that wolves have beaten all the four sides in European cup finals (Tottenham, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Chelsea), and on 57 points, they will finish with the highest points of any promoted side since 1987. They have been the best story of the season.
African strikers’ performances
For the first time ever, there are three African strikers with 20 goals and above in the premier league.
| Mohammed Salah | 22 goals |
| Pierre Emerick Aubameyang | 20 goals |
| Sadio Mane | 20 goals |
While mo salah looks certain to finish as the top scorer, Aubameyang and Mane will try to do their best and score hattricks and get the golden boot. Sergio Aguero also has 20 goals, and while these numbers are not historically excellent, these four men have delivered for their teams.
In a nutshell, while it hasn’t been a vintage season, and many observers note that the EPL is becoming more and more predictable and lopsided, the excellence of the top two sides (Liverpool and Manchester City) means that going into the final weekend, there is a title to play for.
While my money is on Manchester City to lift the title, it will be gripping to watch.
