2018-2019 EPL Discussion Thread

[K]

The clock ticks past 70 minutes.
Live win probability: Man. City 98.6%.

They have two hands on the title.

[Jezza]

4-1.

Title done and dusted.

[K]

72': Brighton 1-4 Man. City.

The title is theirs.

But live win probability drops to 94%. Hmm....

Liverpool will have to comfort themselves with the Champions League.

[Jezza]

29 years and counting...

[K]

Liverpool 2-0 Wolves.

[Jezza]

City's dominance in the domestic competitions since the start of 2018 is incredible.

League Cup 2018 = Man City
Premier League 2018 = Man City
FA Cup 2018 = Chelsea
Community Shield 2019 = Man City
League Cup 2019 = Man City
Premier League 2019 = Man City
FA Cup 2019 = Man City ???

[Jezza]

PL Tally:
- Manchester United = 13
- Chelsea = 5
- Manchester City = 4
- Arsenal = 3
- Blackburn Rovers = 1
- Leicester City = 1

[K]

The 4cm 5-point swing saved for Man. City by technology was crucial in the end.

[K]

Liverpool Learns That Great Isn’t Always Good Enough

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/13/sports/liverpool-manchester-city.html

"Fandom is based around a comforting credo. Fans — of any team, in all sports — believe that they have power, that they can make a difference, that they are in some way participants in events, rather than mere observers. It would be too much to call it a delusion: in soccer, where statistics suggest there is a far more pronounced home advantage than in most other sports, especially. It is still likely, though, that the noise a crowd generates, the atmosphere it creates, accounts for only a small constituent part of what determines results.

That is even true at clubs like Liverpool, where the reputation of the fans is fetishized. (Last month, Arsène Wenger, no less, described Anfield as the most “heated” stadium in Europe, the “one place you do not want to go” for a Champions League second leg.) The idea of the fans’ power outstrips the reality of it.
...

This is, as Klopp said, the best season — in terms of points — Liverpool has ever had. It won 30 of 38 games. It picked up more points than any team that did not end the season as champion managed. If the way to beat City is to be “close to perfection,” it did that. It ran one of the best teams England has ever seen to the wire. It put together a season it could not have imagined, a season as good as could possibly be conceived given Liverpool’s resources when compared to City’s. A season, in fact, that will be almost impossible to better."

[K]

(D. Hoskins)

[K]

[Jezza]

Final Day Results:

Sunday May 12 2019:
Brighton & Hove Albion 1-4 Manchester City
Burnley 1-3 Arsenal
Crystal Palace 5-3 AFC Bournemouth
Fulham 0-4 Newcastle United
Leicester City 0-0 Chelsea
Liverpool 2-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Manchester United 0-2 Cardiff City
Southampton 1-1 Huddersfield Town
Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 Everton
Watford 1-4 West Ham United

Final Ladder:
1. Man City 98
2. Liverpool 97
3. Chelsea 72
4. Tottenham 71
-----------------------
5. Arsenal 70
6. Man Utd 66
7. Wolves 57
8. Everton 54
9. Leicester 52
10. West Ham 52
11. Watford 50
12. Crystal Palace 49
13. Newcastle 45
14. Bournemouth 45
15. Burnley 40
16. Southampton 39
17. Brighton 36
-----------------------
18. Cardiff 34
19. Fulham 26
20. Huddersfield 16

Blue = Champions League Qualification
Red = Relegation

[Jezza]

2018-2019 Season Facts:

Champions: Manchester City
Champions League Qualification: Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham
Europa League Qualification: Arsenal* and Manchester United
Relegated: Cardiff City, Fulham and Huddersfield Town

Awards:

Manager of the Season: Pep Guardiola (Manchester City)
Player of the Season: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Golden Glove: Allison (Liverpool)
Golden Boot: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal), Sadio Mane (Liverpool) and Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Young Player of the Year: Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)

Team of the Season:
-----------------------------------------Ederson----------------------------------

Alexander-Arnold-------------Laporte------------van Dijk-----------Robertson

-------------B. Silva----------------Fernandinho---------------Pogba----------

------------Sterling-------------------Aguero-------------------Mane------------

* = Arsenal have qualified for the Europa League, but if they win the Europa League final against Chelsea, they will gain entry into the Champions League.

[Jezza]