Riverside It’s back to battle stations can seal title bid
EAST London Central LFA concludes the penultimate round of its fifth premier league season tomorrow at North End Stadium.
Riverside will seal their second championship in three years should they beat struggling Napoli side tomorrow at 3.30pm.
They are six points ahead of their only other title rivals Seagulls. Napoli are in a precarious position of having to face the dreaded promotionplayoffs should they falter in their last two tough league encounters against the championselect tomorrow and Star of India next week.
This after Conquerors ended Prides hopes of a Top Six finish with a 5-0 win in midweek – a win that has placed the Duncan Village-based side in a strong position to retain their premier league status as they are now three points clear of Napoli. Saints, though were relegated to the First Division after only one season in the top-flight when they suffered a 3-2 defeat to old rivals Parkside United on Wednesday.
Seagulls will guarantee a top two finish should they beat Atlantic Spurs at 12.30pm while third-place Stars and Swaraj clash at 2pm.
With the Top Six sides automatically qualifying for the 2018 Premier Top 8 the battle for the remaining two berths is still up for grabs between Buffalo City Sports Academy, Brothers of Peace and Atlantic Spurs.
Buffalo City Academy and Brothers of Peace meet tomorrow at 11am mindful that defeat could dent their top eight ambitions. — DDC
“You can say, like some people do, we have not played one of the top five teams, but last season we did not beat West Ham at home, last season we did not beat Everton at home or Southampton away.”
Much of the focus in the season’s early weeks has been on the freescoring Manchester clubs, but Arsenal have been going about their business with quiet efficiency since their 4-0 mauling by Liverpool in late August.
Despite uncertainty over the futures of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil, they have knuckled down to win three of their past four league matches, with the exception being a hardfought 0-0 draw at champions Chelsea. Wenger conceded on Thursday he may have no option but to sell Sanchez and Ozil in the January transfer window.
The pair are both out of contract at the end of the season and are yet to agree new deals.
“It is possible,” Wenger told a press conference ahead of his side’s trip to Watford today.
“Once you’re in our kind of situation, we have envisaged every solution.”
Champions Chelsea would not be Crystal Palace’s chosen opponents as Roy Hodgson’s beleaguered team attempt to break their embarrassing scoring duck at Selhurst Park.
The south London side are the only team in Europe’s top 20 leagues not to have notched a single goal, with seven defeats in seven matches.
They have already lost one manager in Frank de Boer and Hodgson has so far been unable to stop their slide.
Palace are rooted to the bottom of the table with a goal difference of -17, already five points adrift of safety.
Harry Kane’s recent goalscoring exploits are frightening.
The Tottenham striker, the only English player on the 30-name Ballon d’Or shortlist, has found the back of the net 15 times in his past 10 games for club and country.
Manager Mauricio Pochettino, who describes Kane as one of the best strikers in the world, says he is sometimes lost for words.
“It’s so difficult to talk every three days about Harry Kane and find different words to describe him,” Pochettino said after his side’s ruthless 4-0 win against Huddersfield Town.
“He is fantastic and for me he is so great in front of goal, but when we don’t have the ball he also runs and fights and works hard for the team.”
After a busy close season in the transfer market, Everton were tipped by some to upset the established order at the top of the Premier League.
But the loss of Romelu Lukaku to Manchester United has outweighed the acquisition of the likes of Wayne Rooney and Gylfi Sigurdsson and Ronald Koeman’s team find themselves just two points above the drop zone. Everton travel to Brighton and Hove Albion tomorrow.
Fixtures: Today: (4pm unless otherwise stated): Burnley v West Ham, Crystal Palace v Chelsea, Liverpool v Manchester United (2.30pm), Manchester City v Stoke, Swansea v Huddersfield, Tottenham v Bournemouth, Watford v Arsenal (6.30pm)
Tomorrow: Brighton v Everton (2.30pm), Southampton v Newcastle (5pm)
Monday (9pm): Brom — AFP Leicester v West