LONDON: Liverpool can wrap up a record-equalling 20th English title on Sunday when Leicester City and Ipswich Town are both likely to have their relegation from the Premier League confirmed.
After several nail-biting Premier League title races that went down to the wire, Arne Slot’s Liverpool have turned this one into a procession as rivals fell by the wayside.
Despite trailing champions Manchester City and Arsenal early in the campaign, Liverpool have been top for all but one week since Sept. 28 and three points at 19th-placed Leicester could see them join Manchester United as England’s most-crowned club.
For that to happen, second-placed Arsenal would also have to lose away to third-from-bottom Ipswich.
But whatever the outcome of this weekend’s games, Slot looks certain to become only the fifth manager to win the Premier League in his debut season in English football — the others being Jose Mourinho (Chelsea), Carlo Ancelotti (Chelsea), Manuel Pellegrini (Manchester City) and Antonio Conte (Chelsea).
While Liverpool’s second Premier League title in six seasons has looked inevitable, so has Leicester’s return to the Championship after a woeful campaign.
Leicester snapped an eight-game losing run in the league to draw at Brighton last week but are 17 points behind 17th-placed West Ham United with six games remaining and anything other than a shock win over Liverpool will put them down alongside bottom club Southampton who visit West Ham on Saturday.
Ipswich, who are 14 points behind West Ham, may hope that Arsenal are still celebrating beating Real Madrid to reach the Champions League semifinals when they host Mikel Arteta’s team at Portman Road on Sunday.
The Suffolk club have at least shown some fight this season but defeat by Arsenal, along with wins for West Ham United and Wolverhampton Wanderers, would mean that for the second season in a row the three promoted clubs go straight back down.
With the issues at the top and the bottom all but decided, the battle for Champions League qualification is at least providing some tension in the closing weeks.
Arsenal look set to qualify, but the five clubs below them are battling for the three other places.
Third-placed Newcastle United (59 points) visit seventh-placed Aston Villa (54) on Saturday while fourth-placed Nottingham Forest (57) are away at Tottenham Hotspur on Monday.
Outgoing champions Manchester City (55) are currently hanging on to fifth place but can ill-afford any slip-ups at a rejuvenated Everton on Saturday.
Chelsea (54) have slipped down to sixth place after successive draws and, with a tough-looking run-in, will be desperate for a victory at Fulham on Sunday.
Bournemouth, Fulham and Brighton and Hove Albion are all still harboring hopes of qualifying for Europe. Bournemouth are at Crystal Palace on Saturday while Brighton visit Brentford.
Fourteenth-placed Manchester United are on course for their worst finish since 1990 and Ruben Amorim’s side will seek to snap a three-match winless run in the Premier League as they host Wolves on Sunday.
Liverpool on brink of title, Leicester and Ipswich prepare for drop
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Liverpool on brink of title, Leicester and Ipswich prepare for drop
- Arne Slot’s Liverpool have turned this one into a procession as rivals fell by the wayside
- Slot looks certain to become only the fifth manager to win the Premier League in his debut season in English football
Late winner seals victory for Al-Ettifaq on SPL return
- After month-long hiatus, the Saudi Pro League returned to action on Matchday 11 with Al-Ettifaq and NEOM both securing victories
RIYADH: Thursday marked the long-awaited return of the Saudi Pro League after a 23-day break due to the national team’s participation at the 2025 Arab Cup.
What appeared to be a night short on goals — following a goalless draw between Al-Fayha and Al-Hazem earlier in the day — dramatically shifted after four goals were scored after the 89th minute across the fixtures.
Al-Ettifaq — city rivals of Brendan Rodgers’ new side, Al-Qadsiah — faced Al-Riyadh, looking to strengthen their position in the upper mid-table, and ultimately emerged from the capital with a 2-0 win.
However, the contest proved far from straightforward against the relegation battlers, with Moussa Dembele unable to rediscover his scoring touch despite netting a brace in his last outing.
Al-Ettifaq, enjoying the majority of possession, struggled to find their way past Al-Riyadh goalkeeper Milan Borjan, who produced six saves to keep his side in the contest. Al-Riyadh were pushed deep for much of the second half, largely due to being reduced to 10 men following Mohammed Al-Khaibari’s dismissal after a professional foul.
The visitors’ persistence finally paid off in injury time, as goals from Francisco Calvo and Georginio Wijnaldum secured a dramatic victory to give Al-Ettifaq the valuable three points, lifting them to seventh place on 15 points, after 10 matches.
Sitting just ahead of them in sixth are NEOM, who remain two points clear after surviving a late scare against Al-Najma to claim a 2-1 home victory.
In the battle between two newly-promoted teams — one in the top 6, and the other at the rear end of the table — NEOM appeared to be cruising after centre-back Nathan Zeze scored his first goal for the club in the 54th minute, before Khalifah Al-Dawsari doubled the lead in the 89th minute.
The match took an intense turn when Al-Najma were awarded a penalty in the fifth minute of stoppage time, converted by Bilal Boutobba.
As Saudi National Team ex-captain Salman Al-Faraj made his return to the pitch for the first time in 400 days, Al-Najma managed to push forward once more and grab a late goal, believing they had claimed a dramatic equalizer — only for Faisal Al-Mutairi’s effort to be ruled out for offside. The result condemned Al-Najma to their ninth defeat of the season.
Action continues on Friday with three more fixtures: Al-Fateh host Al-Ahli in the Eastern Province at 4:05pm KSA, Al-Kholood face Al-Taawoun at 6:00pm, and Al Hilal welcome Al-Khaleej in Riyadh at 8:30pm.
