Wolves suffer second defeat in five days
A long season might just be catching up with Wolverhampton. As for Liverpool, the newly crowned Premier League champion looks as fresh as ever.
The race for Champions League qualification might have lost a contender on Wednesday after Wolves conceded a stoppagetime goal to lose 1-0 at Sheffield United. It completed a chastening five-day span for Wolves, who also lost to Arsenal on Saturday to end their three-match winning run since the restart.
They stayed in sixth place and could be six points off the top five if Manchester United wins at Aston Villa today. Fifth place will earn a spot in next season’s Champions League if secondplace Manchester City fails in its bid to overturn a two-year European ban.
Perhaps it’s no surprise Wolves’ players are starting to wane. After all, their season did begin nearly 12 months ago in the Europa League qualifiers, and manager Nuno Espirito Santo’s style is to rarely rotate his team because of the trust he has in his tight-knit squad.
A hard-fought game at Bramall Lane was settled by a powerful header from Sheffield United centre half John Egan in the third and final minute of stoppage time. Egan also scored United’s late equalizer against Burnley on Sunday. Widely tipped for relegation at the start of the season, Sheffield United is only a point behind Wolves in a remarkable first year back in the Premier
League and could even qualify for the Europa League.
With records to break and the Golden Boot scoring trophy still up for grabs, Liverpool’s league season is far from done despite having already clinched a first title in 30 years.
Mohamed Salah netted twice for the champions in a 3-1 win at Brighton and moved onto 19 goals for season, three behind the league’s leading scorer, Jamie Vardy. Salah won the Golden Boot two years ago and shared the trophy last season with teammate Sadio Mane and Arsenal’s PierreEmerick Aubameyang.
Liverpool now has 92 points and needs nine more from its last four games to beat Man City’s record for one season of 100.