Epic battle unfolding in the EPL
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For many football fans the major focus for the next few months will be firmly on the English Premier League and what has the makings of one of the greatest battles for the title in years.
Liverpool’s one-point lead over Manchester City is tenuous to say the least and Arsenal are only two points behind the leaders and waiting to pounce. All three have tough assignments this weekend, not least Pep Guardiola’s City who host neighbours Manchester United.
Liverpool go away on Saturday to Nottingham Forest,
where they lost last season, and Arsenal are at Bramall Lane in Yorkshire on Monday up against a desperate Sheffield United, who share bottom spot with Burnley.
It has been a while since matters were so closely contested, which gives credence to the EPL’s reputation as the most competitive in the world. They like to promote themselves as the competition in which any team can beat another on any given day and while that is not always the case, it is increasingly so in the closing stages of the title race as the pressure ratchets up.
Manchester City have not always had it easy against their neighbours, but Sunday’s clash looks firmly in their favour. United lost at home to Fulham last Sunday in an embarrassing end to a five-match winning sequence and have an extensive injury list. Rasmus Hojlund is the latest to join it after being ruled out for two to three weeks with a muscle injury. It is a blow for the in-form Denmark striker, who has scored eight goals in his last eight matches for United.
Hojlund’s injury leaves manager Erik Ten Hag with a dearth of options up front with Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho and Antony the only senior options available to the United boss.
At home in the PSL the top three clubs are not playing this weekend, but Stellenbosch can manoeuvre themselves closer to the top if they beat Chippa United on Friday.
At the bottom end of the table Cape Town Spurs must win at home against TS Galaxy on Sunday to keep up hopes of a miraculous recovery. The previous evening 14th-placed Royal Am and 15th-placed Richards Bay meet in a KwaZulu-Natal derby. HIRED/FIRED: Thomas Tuchel is being linked with Manchester United for next season after Bayern Munich announced he would be leaving at the end of the current campaign.
BACK IN ACTION: Of their contingent of 12 players that went to the Africa Cup of Nations finals in the Ivory Coast, and returned with knocks and niggles after a lengthy campaign, Mamelodi Sundowns have all but Thapelo Maseko, Khuliso Mudau, Mothobi Mvala back in action.
WHO’S HOT: Jurgen Klopp and his Liverpool Academy “kids” that he sent into battle at Wembley last Sunday in the Carabao Cup Final against Chelsea, in which Virgil van Dijk’s late header captured the trophy. WHO’S COLD: Kaizer Chiefs’ elimination from the Nedbank Cup means they likely cannot win any silverware again this season, making it nine seasons in a row without a trophy.