LONDON • The Premier League title race has provided plenty of thrills and spills this season, with the winners to be decided on the final day tomorrow - only the eighth time since the league's inception in 1992 that this has happened.
Just one point separates Manchester City (95) and Liverpool (94), with both teams only losing a combined five times between them, and even Raheem Sterling has acknowledged "how big an occasion it is".
Such has been the titanic tussle that the Reds could set their highest points tally in league history, a win over Wolves will put them on 97 points - only City last season have achieved better with 100.
But even a victory at Anfield for Jurgen Klopp's players will come to nought should Pep Guardiola's men beat Brighton away.
City will become the first team in a decade to retain the league title since Manchester United in 2009.
And, because it is in their hands, Sterling is confident they can finish the job at the Amex Stadium and prolong Liverpool's agonising 29-year wait for a league title.
Speaking on Thursday evening after picking up his Football Writers Player of the Year Award, the England forward, who is the joint-fourth highest scorer in the league this term with 17 goals, said: "I'd much rather be on our side, to know if we win the game (against the Seagulls), it's ours."
However, the 24-year-old, whose exploits have also seen him collect the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) Young Player of the Year accolade, warned his teammates "it will be a tough day" as Chris Hughton's players were not going to roll over for City to be crowned champions.
He said: "We know Brighton won't just sit there and let us score goals. They're safe and it is going to be really tough, to be honest with you, but it is one I am really looking forward to."
Paying tribute to his mum as his inspiration for "where I get my fight from", he added: "Right now, being here and getting voted the Writers' Player of the Year is amazing and on Sunday, I have the biggest game of my life to go and win. It's very special.
"My mum is the biggest inspiration in my life. Whenever something is going wrong, I always think of my mum. She is always fighting, I have seen her fighting through the hardest things."
He also told reporters of his delight at seeing his former club Liverpool reach their second straight Champions League final after stunning Barcelona 4-0 in midweek, despite having left Anfield for the Etihad under a cloud in 2015.
Sterling said: "I was really happy for Liverpool, I was buzzing. People might not believe me, but it's true.
"Seeing some of the boys like Hendo (Jordan Henderson) and Trent (Alexander-Arnold) in the final makes me happy, I'm really happy for them."
Virgil van Dijk, though, is not giving up hope City still can be pipped to the league title believing Liverpool are "still in this season and anything is possible".
The Netherlands defender, who pipped Sterling to land the PFA Player of the Year prize, told Liverpool's website that even if Guardiola's men do not slip up tomorrow, their double tilt - they will meet Tottenham in the Champions League final - will be a springboard for future silverware.
He said: "We have a great age group, between 20 and 27, 28. So hopefully, we can do it all together for the next couple of years at least and grow as a team and get a lot of successes.
"It's just the start... We'll see. If it (the league title) doesn't happen, then it's not the end of the world. We've had a fantastic season.
"To compete with City says a lot about how we're progressing from last year. It's not like next year we're not going to try to do it again. It's something we have to build on."
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Al-Ain (United Arab Emirates) (AFP) - Japan cashed in on a defensive mix-up and a controversial penalty as they stunned favourites Iran 3-0 in the Asian Cup semi-finals to move one win away from
Football: 'Emotional breakdown' as Japan stun imploding Iran
MANCHESTER: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer celebrated his first game as permanent Manchester United manager with a 2-1 Premier League win over Watford at Old Trafford on Saturday. It was a far from impressive performance from United but goals from Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial earned the victory which moved them up to fourth in the table, level on
Man Utd 2-1 Watford | Rashford & Martial Goals Give Ole Win
Latest Singapore News. Singapore: Crypto Exchange DragonEx Reports Hack of Both Platform, User Assets - Cointelegraph; Football: Singapore fall short in bid to qualify for AFC Under-23 Championship finals despite beating Mongolia 3-1 - The Straits Times
Pakistan national football team - Wikipedia
City and Liverpool leave chasing pack facing tough summer. By Reuters 16:53 12 May 2019 , updated 16 Tottenham's late-season Premier League collapse saw them go from outside title contenders
Soccer-City and Liverpool leave chasing pack facing tough
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Few of the 24 women's World Cup teams arriving in France for next month's tournament will bear the weight of expectation quite like reigning champions the United States. The
Soccer: Holders U.S. shrug off weight of World Cup expectations
Football News -. Read more at straitstimes.com. 'Emotional breakdown' as Japan stun imploding Iran at Asian Cup of Iran in action against Minamino Takumi of Japan during the 2019 AFC
AFC Asian Cup: 'Emotional breakdown' as Japan stuns imploding
Football: Son's South Korea survive Bahrain scare to reach
With the Spanish giants still reeling from Zinedine Zidane's departure, having sacked his replacement Julen Lopetegui in October and then appointing the inexperienced Santiago Solari, some Spanish media reports have said Perez could be tempted to bring Mourinho back. The Portuguese, who was sacked by United on Tuesday, was with Real between
Is Jose Mourinho Heading Back To Madrid?
He envisions a pacy and attacking brand of football for the Lions, and new national coach Tatsuma Yoshida was quick to emphasise this philosophy to his players during his first training session
Solomon Islands News, Scores, Schedule, Stats, Roster
Football: Spurs beaten for first time in new stadium, Southampton stay up Tottenham's South Korean striker Son Heung-Min applauds the crowd at the end of the match. PHOTO: AFP
Premier League: Tottenham beaten for the first time in new
DUBLIN, June 10 (Reuters) - Ireland had an own goal by Joseph Chipolina and an injury-time header by substitute Robbie Brady to thank for a 2-0 win over Gibraltar in their Euro 2020 Group D
Kane, who has scored 14 Premier League goals this season, was originally expected to be out until March after damaging ligaments in his left ankle in stoppage time against United. "Everyone knows that Harry is an animal and wants to be ready as soon as possible and he does everything to make the recovery.
Kane set to return for Champions League final - Read Liverpool
Ex-United star denies homophobia after spat with PSG. French national team defender Patrice Evra takes part in a past training session. on social media" after a bizarre spat in which Evra
Evra denies homophobia after social media spat with PSG
Football: Molde owners will support me if I stay at
Leicester Welcome Rodgers With Win, Newcastle End Burnley Run. League round of 32 second leg football match between Valencia CF and Celtic at the Mestalla stadium in Valencia on February 21
Leicester welcome Rodgers with win, Newcastle end Burnley run
0 comments:
Post a Comment