Talking points leading up to Premier League restart
Some talking points ahead of the resumption of the Premier League following a three-month suspension caused by the coronavirus pandemic:
Record-breaking Reds
The fact that Liverpool will win its first English league title in 30 years is not really in doubt.
Still to be ascertained, however, is how much of a record-breaking season this will be for the team coached by Jurgen Klopp.
Liverpool needs 19 more points from its remaining nine games to break the record total for a season of 100, set by Manchester City’s title-winning team of 2017-18. That same City team had the biggest title-winning margin of 19 points — Liverpool currently leads by 25.
If Liverpool wins at least six of the games, it will have the most victories in a season. The team could also still become the first to win all 19 of its home games, having triumphed in all 15 so far.
Liverpool has already made the best-ever start to a season in any of the major European leagues, with 61 points from the first 21 games. The 25-point lead is the biggest in English history, while 22 straight home wins — over the past two seasons — is also a Premier League record.
Champions League
Manchester City’s twoyear European ban, which is currently under appeal, has opened up the race for Champions League qualification because a fifth-place finish could now secure a place in the competition.
Seven teams are in realistic contention for the remaining three spots alongside champion-elect Liverpool, from third-place Leicester down to ninth-place Arsenal.
Leicester is 10 points clear of sixth-place Wolverhampton Wanderers, so is in good shape for a second Champions League campaign in five years.
Chelsea has held fourth place for much of the season, but had seen the gap to fifth-place Manchester United shrink to three points on the back of only two wins from seven games before the shutdown.
Five points separate United from Arsenal, which has a game in hand. Of all the teams, United has the kindest schedule in the run-in, with games against five of the bottom six teams.
Much intrigue, too, lies in the fate of Sheffield United, which was widely expected to be a relegation candidate this season but finds itself two points behind Man United with a game in hand, against next-to-last Aston Villa in the first game of the restart.
Fight for survival
Could the 60,000-seat Olympic Stadium in London be playing host to second-division soccer next season?
West Ham, the stadium’s tenant, is among the six teams in realistic danger of relegation going into the last six weeks, currently only out of the bottom three on goal difference.
And with matches against Champions League-chasing teams Wolverhampton Wanderers, Tottenham and Chelsea to start with, the team led by David Moyes could soon be plunged into the relegation zone.