Week 38 game thread: Championship Sunday

[InstaFace]

Pretty good couple days of games coming up. All times ET.

Weds the 17th:
- Wednesday (0) - Huddersfield (0), 2:45pm. Winner to Wembley.
- Southampton - Man United, 2:45pm. The undercard to:
- Celta Vigo - Real Madrid, 3:00pm. The last meaningful challenge to Real Madrid reclaiming La Liga.

Thurs the 18th:
- Leicester - Spurs, 2:45pm. Possible revenge for last season.
- Football League Two playoff semis. Luton-Blackpool and Exeter-Carlisle both at 2:45pm

Sat the 20th:
- Bundesliga at 9:30am. Bayern-Freiburg, Dortmund-Werder Bremen, Frankfurt-Leipzig, Hoffenheim-Augsburg, all largely academic. But:
- Hamburg (16th, 35 pts) vs Wolfsburg (15th, 37 pts). Bobby Wood & co can spare themselves a relegation playoff with a win; this is basically a pre-playoff playoff. Quite a fall for Wolfsburg; last year they made the QF of the UCL and took a 2-0 lead to the Bernabeu, with all downhill since then.
- League One playoff final: Bradford City & Millwall, at Wembley, 10:00am, for a spot in the Championship

Sun the 21st:
- EPL at 10:00am ET, including:
- Arsenal - Everton (NBC) - Sanchez vs Lukaku for the Golden Boot
- Liverpool - Boro (NBCSN)
- Watford - Man City (USA)
- at 2:00pm, Barcelona vs a feisty Eibar, and RM vs Malaga. Likely only interesting if RM drop points vs Celta.

 

[InstaFace]

Bobbi Wood with the start today, just started on FS1. Wolfsburg has come out blazing, though, since they need a point to avoid relegation. Hamburg need the win to stay out of the relegation playoff.

Five minutes in and Wood has yet to touch the ball. He's alone up top, gonna need some service here.

Edit: just after 30 minutes, Wood nicks a ball just at the edge of the center circle and plays a precise little chip to release his streaking midfielder. Result is a very nice goal to tie the match.

Wolfsburg has come very close to a counterattack breakaway to go up again, but they are playing very cautiously after a blazing start to the game.

 

[InstaFace]

Day of reckoning for most fans of EPL superclubs. Me, I'm rooting for an Arsenal 1-0 win and a Man City 0-4 loss resulting in a playoff similar to the FA Cup semifinal. And:

- at 2:00pm, Barcelona vs a feisty Eibar, and RM vs Malaga. Likely only interesting if RM drop points vs Celta.

Yeah, so, this didn't happen. RM needs to lose their match at Malaga, combined with a Barca win, to lose the title.

 

[Senator Donut]

Serie A has one more round of games, but Juventus is three points away from a title, and Crotone is fighting for survival.

 

[SoxFanInCali]

Something I couldn't help but notice when looking at the EPL table: The top 7 teams all have a GD of +20 or better, and the other 13 teams are all negative.

 

[67YAZ]

Liverpool starting Sturridge and Lallana, which suggests to me that Klopp is going for an early goal. Guzan in net for Boro, so maybe a 5-hole goal is coming up soon.

Edit- new Liverpool uniforms look great.

 

[SoxFanInCali]

I really like the darker red on these new kits.

 

[the1andonly3003]

I feel bad for MSNBC. They get hate from the political vile, and this morning they have angry Spurs and Hull City fans who can't watch the final match of the season.

 

[SoxFanInCali]

Arsenal and City have both scored.

 

[SoxFanInCali]

Arsenal are up 1-0, but down to 10 players! Koscielny is off.

 

[miracleofmidre]

What a stupid tackle by Kos. How does a veteran player make such a boneheaded play?

 

[coremiller]

That looked like a penalty/red card for Lovren to me.

 

[PedroSpecialK]

Holy shit Lovren looked to get away with one

 

[SoxFanInCali]

On second look, Lovren looked OK, he was looking to fall with any touch.

 

[shawnrbu]

Park the double decker, Boro. Stan will send a charitable donation.

 

[SoxFanInCali]

A second for Arsenal, even down a man.

Thanks, Everton.

 

[67YAZ]

A second for Arsenal, even down a man.

Thanks, Everton.

So much for relying on your rival. Liverpool have looked ok, but Boro is routinely dropping 5 into the box with another 4 or 5 just outside. But this is the kind of moment Sturridge was born for, right?

 

[PedroSpecialK]

So this is going just about as expected. The nancydom grows deep within me

 

[SocrManiac]

Hard to see what you can change up with this group of players. The lack of progress in breaking down this scheme is disappointing.

There's a feeling of panic around Anfield already and it's creeping into the players. Klopp was doing his best to turn the crowd around awhile back but it's turning into a funeral.

 

[SoxFanInCali]

FUCK YES!

 

[SocrManiac]

And breathe.

 

[PedroSpecialK]

GINI!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[67YAZ]

Fantastic movement and goal by a Wijnaldum! Guzan might have done better not to get beat near post, but that thing was blasted at close range.

 

[Zomp]

Something of note from United. Pogba and Lingaard were taken off just before half. Pogba that was expected but Lingaard means he'll probably start the final over Martial.


2 subs down. 1 to go. Hoping it's Angel Gomes. 16 years old.

 

[PedroSpecialK]

Everton's 'effort' on Arsenal's second goal defies words

https://my.mixtape.moe/rqkwxu.mp4

 

[JimBoSox9]

Everton's 'effort' on Arsenal's second goal defies words

https://my.mixtape.moe/rqkwxu.mp4

There may have been some confusion as to whether a whistle went off, according to the broadcast

 

[SoxFanInCali]

I get that this game didn't mean anything to Watford, but really? 2 keepers on the bench?

And apparently 0 natural center-backs in the starting 11.

 

[SoxFanInCali]

AND THAT IS TWO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[PedroSpecialK]

COUTINHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

[SocrManiac]

Guzan might have done better not to get beat near post, but that thing was blasted at close range.

I have never understood this. Is it somehow better to be beaten at the far post? As a goalkeeper, you set yourself up to cover as much of the goal as possible. If you shade the near post at the upper levels, it becomes a trivial task to just roll it beyond the keeper's reach to the far post.

This "protect the near post" thing needs to go away.

 

[JayMags71]

The next 45 minute just became a tiny bit more relaxing.

 

[SoxFanInCali]

Start the party! 3-0 Lallana.

 

[PedroSpecialK]

LALLANAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

 

[SoxFanInCali]

What a difference 10 minutes of game time can make on my mood.

And of course we almost give one right back...

 

[JayMags71]

Who gave the assist to Lallana?

 

[PedroSpecialK]

Who was assist to Lallana?

Wijnaldum

 

[JayMags71]

OH MY GOD SHUT UP ABOUT CRYSTAL PALACE FFS

 

[SocrManiac]

Just catching up... Guzan is a fucking dunce on Coutinho's second. If you get beaten over your wall, that's part of the game. If you get beaten on the side of the goal you're supposed to be covering, you're the dumbass. He cheats toward his wall and gets embarrassed.

 

[SoxFanInCali]

Everton get one.

 

[67YAZ]

Start the party! 3-0 Lallana.

They're definitely getting Ryan Sessegnon now!

 

[DJnVa]

Meanwhile Kane gets his 3rd, and 7th in last two games.

 

[SoxFanInCali]

Lucas coming on, possibly his final appearance in the shirt.

 

[SoxFanInCali]

Haha, Coutinho tried to set Lucas up.

Crowd yelling "shoot!" whenever he touches it, no matter how far away.

 

[PedroSpecialK]

Poor Brad Guzan

 

[SoxFanInCali]

Milner comes off, giving Lucas the armband for the last 5 minutes.

And he promptly takes a ball right off his face.

 

[Zomp]

Angel Gomes on for Wayne Rooney. I may have teared up.

 

[67YAZ]

Poor Brad Guzan

You mean his distribution? He was regularly sending punts out of bounds and goal kicks directly to Liverpool players.

 

[SoxFanInCali]

Kane outscored Boro in the league this year. And Harry missed several weeks.

 

[SoxFanInCali]

Has any captain who raised the Premier League trophy ever done less to earn it than John Terry this season?

 

[Mighty Joe Young]

Have to say that the Premier League trophy looks like something they'd give out in a bowling league .