Spurs will be wary of Hornets’ sting
Tottenham looks to finish season ahead of city rival Arsenal for first time in 22 years
Second-place Tottenham Hotspur hosts mid-table Watford in the early game Saturday to kick off Premier League action. Spurs trail Chelsea by seven points, and will want to keep the pressure on the title favourites. Tottenham has won five straight in league play.
Watford can be a dangerous side, as it has players with good technical skill, and can also play it physical. The Hornets, though, have no away wins in 2017 and haven’t won a league game away to Spurs since 1985!
Watford will look to veteran forward Troy Deeney to lead the attack. Its skipper is in good form, with six goals in his last eight games. Spurs, meanwhile, are still without the injured Harry Kane, but they don’t seem to miss him. Tottenham is undefeated in eight games this season without its star striker.
While overtaking Chelsea for the title is unlikely, Spurs have another incentive, and that’s to finish ahead of bitter rivals Arsenal for the first time in 22 years. Arsenal fans even have a special day of celebration each year for when they officially clinch finishing ahead of Spurs. They call it St. Totteringham’s Day! This year, though, Arsenal trails Tottenham by 11 points, so those celebrations may not happen.
Derby days
The Madrid derby is Saturday as league-leaders Real hosts Atletico. The home side is 10 points up on its cross-town rivals, as Atletico sits in third place. Atletico isn’t in position to overtake Real, but can help stop its bitter enemy from winning the title. With eight rounds remaining, Barcelona trails Real by two points, although the Madrid side does have a game in hand.
Despite being hampered by a string of injuries, Atletico is on an impressive five-game win streak that has seen it move past Sevilla in the standings. Real, meanwhile, is coming off a tough 4-2 win away to Leganes on Wednesday. Real coach Zinedine Zidane rested superstars Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo in that match, knowing he would need them fresh for the derby.
Real has a couple of other big league games coming up, with Barcelona later this month and Sevilla in May. Madrid has home advantage in all these games, though, which leaves it in good shape to win the title race.
It’s a knockout
The UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg is next week, featuring some heavyweight encounters. On Tuesday, Juventus hosts Barcelona in a rematch of the 2015 final. There is a lot of history between these two clubs, and it’s always hotly anticipated when Spanish and Italian sides clash. Also on Tuesday is Monaco away to Dortmund, a match featuring a lot of attacking flair from two very explosive sides.
The feature contest is on Wednesday, as Bayern Munich hosts Real Madrid. This will be a record 23rd meeting between these two teams, as no two sides have faced each other more in UEFA competition. This will be a big game for Bayern boss Carlo Ancelotti, as he was in charge of Real the last time these two teams met, back in the 2014 semifinals. Real handed Bayern a crushing 5-0 aggregate defeat in that contest.
Finally, we have resurgent Leicester City away to Atletico Madrid. Leicester will look to defy the odds yet again after getting past Sevilla in the previous round.
The gunner granny
A contest to find China’s biggest Premier League fan was won recently by 79-year-old Hong Wen Liu, a passionate Arsenal supporter from Beijing. Her video beat out 600 other entries in online voting, in the contest run by British tourism group VisitBritain.
Known as “Granny Liu,” the retired teacher was rewarded with a trip to London to watch Arsenal battle Manchester City to a 2-2 draw at the Emirates on Sunday. She was given VIP seats, a VIP tour of the stadium and Arsenal’s training ground, got to meet some of the players and was given a commemorative statue of a cannon.
Liu has become something of a minor celebrity in China, and now has over 10,000 followers on social media. It sounds like she had a great trip.
Bob Lenarduzzi is president of Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Tickets: visit whitecapsfc.com/tickets.