GLEN JOHNSON: After securing the league, Liverpool’s focus has turned to breaking Man City’s points record, however Brand Ambassador Glen Johnson believes that whether or not The Reds surpass 100 points is not as important as some may think.
Points record won’t define Liverpool’s season
I thought Burnley’s performance against Liverpool was a masterclass from Clarets boss Sean Dyche in the sense that the longer the game went on, the more they made it difficult for Liverpool.
Liverpool weren’t firing on all cylinders and Mo Salah was disappointing by his standards, but you have to give Burnley credit for the way they hung in there and they might have even won it.
That said, these games don’t concern me as these games and this type of form can be normal for a side like Liverpool when the league has been won.
They were so motivated for so long to win the Premier League and they’ve ticked that box, so to try and keep up that strong, mental attitude can be tough when you’ve achieved your goal.
I think it could be difficult to win all of their games now to break the Premier League points record, but I don’t think their season will be defined by that.
The Arsenal game coming up will be a big one if they are looking to break that record.
This fixture doesn’t have that same spark that it used to because Arsenal don’t have the likes of Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry and other heavyweights from their side that won Premier League titles, but it’s still a big game due to the size of the clubs. I’m looking forward to it.
Final Champions League spot will go to Man U
I believe this final Champions League spot is going to come down to the strength of Manchester United’s squad over Leicester’s. Leicester took that game against Bournemouth lightly, and they gifted that match to Eddie Howe’s team. And now it looks like United’s momentum will get them over the line to take fourth spot away from the Foxes.
United are flying at the moment, and they are probably the number one team nobody wants to play right now. For the first time in a long time now they are an exciting team to watch, which is good to see.
I wouldn’t go as far as saying United can challenge next season, because their back four or back five still isn’t good enough yet. They are still making horrid defensive errors even when they score four or five goals, so that’s something they need to sort out if they are to go to the next level.
Nemanja Matic is so important for them to hold the shape and let the front three or four go and create, but they still need to sort out a strong central defender in the summer.
Bruno Fernandes has been great to watch, but Mason Greenwood is the one that I’m excited about, especially as a potential England international.
He’s got a lot of growing as a player to do, but the way he’s playing is a joy to watch and if he can keep up this form then he’ll be a Three Lions player for years to come.
Manchester City’s Champions League appeal
The news that Manchester City won their appeal came as a surprise to me. We all want to see Manchester City in the Champions League as an English club and we want to see the best teams and the best players in the competition. Many will have wanted to see Manchester City given a punishment, beyond the fine they’ve been given, if they have broken the rules around financial fair play. They might have got off lightly with this.
The club would have worried about not playing in the Champions League for a number of reasons: commercially of course and not being able to attract the best players being two key factors. It’ll be interesting to see what happens now, as this will invariably set a precedent around financial fair play.
Did you know that as well as checking the realtime prices on BETDAQ below – you can also log into your account and place your bets directly into BETDAQ from BETDAQ TIPS.
