The Post

Gunners spike top four race

ESHLIN VEDAN eshlin.vedan@inl.co.za

A LOSS of wits at the tail end has once again haunted Arsenal. The Gunners looked dead set for a place in the top four a few weeks ago, but now have to rely on a combination of form revival and luck. They only have themselves to blame for their predicament.

The Gunners 2-0 loss to Newcastle United on Monday means that they need to win their final match of the season against Everton, while also hoping that the already relegated and bottom-of-the table Norwich City can somehow win against Tottenham.

Should Norwich draw with Tottenham, it still won’t be enough for the Gunners. Even though that could mean that Arsenal and Spurs go level on points should the Gunners win their match, Spurs have a vastly better goal difference than Arsenal which will be impossible for the Gunners to overcome.

Norwich will be demotivated knowing that this game is a dead rubber and they also have won just one out of their last 16 games in all competitions. Expecting them to beat Spurs is a very tough ask right now.

Spurs largely have Son Heung-Min to thank for their likely return to Champions League football.

The South Korean has been in the form of his life having scored 21 goals to date. A big focus of the last day of the season will be on who between Mohamed Salah and Son wins the golden boot.

Son will certainly back himself with regards to scoring against the defensively leaky Canaries, while Salah will face a more tricky task when it comes to trying to breach the back of the net against Wolves in Liverpool’s final match of the season.

Liverpool will also have one eye on their Champions League final clash against Real Madrid at the Stade de France next Saturday.

Jurgen Klopp, the Liverpool manager, is sure Salah and Virgil van Dijk will be fit to face the Spaniards.

The Reds will be looking for revenge against a Madrid team that controversially beat them 3-1 in the 2018 final, a match in which Sergio Ramos famously injured Salah before ex Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius committed a brace of howlers, which resulted in his team gifting Madrid with two goals

Madrid are vying for their first Champions League title since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo, with Karim Benzema now their key goal poacher.

It remains to be seen if Manchester United’s match against Crystal Palace will be Ronaldo’s last for the Red Devils. United’s failure to qualify for next season’s Champions League means that should Ronaldo remain with the club, he will essentially be missing Europe’s premier club competition for the first time in more thjan 20 years.

Ronaldo will be 38 by the end of next season and it also remains to be seen whether he will be in the plans of incoming United manager Erik ten Hag who has the reputation of working well with younger talent.

Should the Portugal captain opt for new pastures, he is unlikely to be short of offers given that he has not struggled to find the back of the net this season for United in the Premier League.

Another player who will be playing the final match of his career this weekend is West Ham club captain Mark Noble. The 35 year-old will go down as one of the most underrated English footballers of modern times.

Noble has spent his professional career on the books of West Ham, having begun his senior career with the club in 2004.

Despite being a solid performer at Premier League level for his club over several years, he never made an appearance for the England senior national team, even though he represented his country at various youth levels.

Sport

en-za

2022-05-18T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-18T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://thepostza.pressreader.com/article/281883006944715

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