AFTER 37 games, a three-month hiatus and the crowning of worthy champions, it all comes down to the final day.
Liverpool lifted the Premier League trophy at Anfield on Wednesday following their entertaining 5-3 win over Chelsea, but despite the title being decided there’s still plenty riding on the final day of competition.
Liverpool lifted the Premier League trophy at AnfieldCredit: Reuters
No more so than at the King Power Stadium, where almost a year of hard work for Leicester comes down to one game.
Leicester vs Man Utd (Sunday, 4pm)
It’s a straight shoot-out in LE2 for a Champions League place.
Regardless of Leicester’s form since football returned, this has been a superb season for Brendan Rodgers and his side.
They’ve finished 9th in the last two but have produced another campaign above their pay-grade, again mixing it with the big boys – and qualification is in their hands.
After Man Utd were held to a draw by West Ham in midweek, the Foxes can leapfrog Ole’s men into the top four with a victory.
The other situation is simple – if United avoid defeat, it’s mission accomplished for them as they line-up in next year’s premier European competition.
A week ago we’d have been all over the visitors in this once, with Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba looking the business and United on a long unbeaten run.
But after a pretty dismal loss to Chelsea in the FA Cup – which saw Solskjaer tinker with a winning formula – suddenly his team looked jaded and disjointed as West Ham frustrated them at Old Trafford.
We’ve definitely seen that before.
We’re backing Marcus Rashford to score against LeicesterCredit: AFP or Licensors
The sheer amount of games in this mad mini-season from June 17 looks to have caught up with the Red Devils and they’ll have to summon a real effort here to grind out a result.
Leicester are hampered by injuries at the moment and will be without James Maddison and Ben Chilwell, as they were in the 3-0 loss to Tottenham.
The young England pair are big losses for the Foxes and losing Maddison’s creativity in the No10 role is a sickener at this stage.
United will have had a wake-up call against the Hammers are we’re taking them to beat Leicester and secure third-place in the table.
After three-straight wins on the road without conceding, you’d expect them to be odds-on.
But grab the 5/4 on a United win with both hands and don’t let go – what a price that is.
Marcus Rashford’s penalty was the decider between the sides when they met before Christmas, but we expect a more open game despite what is at stake.
Jamie Vardy leads the race for the Golden BootCredit: Reuters
With Leicester needing a victory, expect them to break out of the traps quickly and we reckon they do find the net on Sunday.
They’ve scored in five of the last seven home H2H’s with United and with David De Gea all over the shop at the minute, the 2/3 on both teams to score is banker material.
If you want to play things a little safer, United to score two or more goals is a whopping 21/20.
Again, that really should be an odds-on shot with the Red Devils scoring eight in three away matches since the league resumed.
Should Leicester be forced to play the ageing duo of Wes Morgan and Ryan Bennett in defence again, expect the speedy Rashford to thrive.
The England forward is a cool 9/4 to score anytime and while he didn’t have a great game against West Ham, he does have history here, netting the winner last season.
SunSport’s best bets
Chelsea vs Wolves (Sunday, 4pm)
We don’t expect this to be a walkover at Stamford Bridge.
Just like the game at the King Power, Chelsea have Champions League qualification in their own hands and will stay in the top four if they win or draw this game.
Frank Lampard was probably wishing he’d played Christian Pulisic and Callum Hudson-Odoi from the start against Liverpool, as the pair almost kick-started a second half comeback.
The former looks a star in the making and was Eden Hazard-esque as he terrorised the Reds defence – just a shame about the other end.
Kepa’s days look numbered with the Blues eyeing up a move for Atletico Madrid’s Jan Oblak and Chelsea simply concede too many goals.
They’ve let in a whopping 54 so far this season, which is 16 more than Nuno Santo’s visitors over the course of the campaign.
Wolves have plenty to play for themselves and are unbeaten in three, with victory securing them a place in the European League.
They might make it anyway if Spurs fail to beat Crystal Palace, but they won’t be sitting back and trying to nab a point.
Kepa conceded five goals as Liverpool beat Chelsea 5-3
These sides played out a cracker way back in December, where Chelsea put FIVE past Wolves at Molineux.
We’re not expecting anything like that to happen again, although Wolves did manage to score twice that day and we’re all over both teams to score in this one.
Back that 8/11 shot with confidence, while we also expect the Blues to provide us with one more over 2.5 goals winner for the season.
That’s been the token bet for Chelsea games since the season kicked off way back in August, with a whopping 25 of their 37 matches featuring three or more goals.
Only Man City average more per game, so don’t pass up on the 17/20 in your weekend acca.
Pulisic should be back in the starting lineup for this one and is a favourite of this column after his scoring streak proved profitable in late June.
He’s the man to be on for a goal in what should be a nervy but open contest in West London.
SunSport’s best bets
Arsenal vs Watford (Sunday, 4pm)
What a difference a fortnight makes.
Back on July 11, Watford recorded a second-straight Premier League victory as they saw off Newcastle 2-1 and appeared to have booked their place in the top-flight for next season.
Two defeats and yet another managerial casualty later, the Hornets are staring down the barrel.
Aston Villa’s brilliant run has left Watford’s destiny out of their hands, and the visitors must better the Villans result if they want to retain their Premier League status.
Judging by how dismal Arsenal were against Villa, they might be in with a chance.
The Gunners’ season is over – bar the FA Cup of course – but they were sluggish and lacking in ideas against a Villa team scrapping for their lives.
No shots on target in 90 minutes against a team in the relegation zone tells it’s own story.
Mikel Arteta has a huge rebuild job on his hands over the summer, with his own reputation now on the line after it’s revealed he has a worse record after 19 games than the last four Arsenal bosses.
Stay well away from the results market on this one, because you never know which Gunners side will decide to turn up.
Although if Arteta rings the changes, 4/5 on Watford getting either a draw or a win doesn’t look that bad.
But we prefer the 23/20 on the Hornets to win EITHER half at the Emirates.
That’s a big price, despite their mauling by Man City earlier in the week – and was a winner at West Ham, despite them going down 3-1.
Goals are on the menu in this fixture and five of the last six meetings here at the Emirates have seen three or more goals.
Back that again at 4/7, while picking a goalscorer bet is a complete lottery.
Wait until Arteta releases his teamsheet, but if he opts to go with young Eddie Nketiah he’s the value pick of the field.
Despite a wasteful game against Villa, the former Leeds loanee has a real eye for goal and 8/5 is a huge price for him to net anytime.
SunSport’s best bets
Nketiah was luckless against Villa – but we like the look of him to bounce back against WatfordCredit: EPA
Final Day specials
The final game of the season wouldn’t be complete without some big price outrights.
Here’s two of the best value picks which could net you a decent profit by Sunday evening.
- Aston Villa to be relegated (15/8) – Dean Smith’s men have fate in their own hands, but West Ham have been very strong in recent games and will want to finish on a high. Arsenal are a basket case and Watford getting at least a point is not out of the question, making this a big price.
- Danny Ings golden boot (11/1) – The Southampton forward has been in incredible form and a brace against Sheffield United is definitely not out of the question. This is worth a sneaky pound in a dead-rubber game, whereas Jamie Vardy has a pressure situation against Man Utd.
*All odds from Ladbrokes and correct at time of publication.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
