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Weekend In Numbers: The final reckoning

Ultimately, Chelsea's relentlessness has meant this Premier League season won't go down as a clas...



Weekend In Numbers: The final...
Soccer

Weekend In Numbers: The final reckoning

Ultimately, Chelsea's relentlessness has meant this Premier League season won't go down as a classic, much as when the Blues won the title two year previously with something to spare.

The final day of the season arrives this season with matters at the very top and bottom resolved.

However, the race for the Champions League is not fully dealt with, as Arsenal just about keep themselves in with a chance of pipping Liverpool and even Manchester City to a place in the Top Four.

Arsenal lack a potent goalscorer 

Arsenal host Everton on the final day with victory a necessity. Romelu Lukaku is far and away Everton's top scorer this season.

But for Arsenal, it's inside forward Alexis Sanchez who has hit 23 in the Premier League this season (Olivier Giroud who often hits double figures but never breached 20 in the league comes closest with 12).

It's by far the highest goal tally from an Arsenal player in the league since Robin van Persie hit 30 in the 2011-12 season. 

Prior to that, you'd have to go all the way back to 2007-08 when Emmanuel Adebayor scored 24 for an Arsenal player breaching the 20-goal mark in the league and prior to that, all the way back to the club legend Thierry Henry in 2005-06.

While Sanchez provides goals, a reliable centre forward who could guarantee at least 20 goals a season would go a long way to helping Arsenal.

Liverpool's Middlesbrough test 

Liverpool's season will be deemed a success if they get Top Four. But they will have to improve drastically in some ways next season.

Their record against the fellow members of the Top 6 was rightly lauded during a season when they went unbeaten against Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal, Manchester United and Manchester City in 2016-17. They also defeated derby rivals and seventh placed Everton home and away.

As they prepare to finish off their season against Boro, performances against teams outside the Top 7 left much to be desired.

Defeats against Burnley (2-0), Bournemouth (4-3), Swansea (3-2), Hull City (2-0) and Leicester (3-1) proved costly as did a draw against Sunderland (2-2) at the start of a January run that would almost derail their season.

 Pep Guardiola's most testing season

Manchester City was always going to be the biggest challenge of Pep Guardiola's management career so far after immense success at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

It will also finish with a few career firsts. It will be his first season in a senior role not to finish in the Top 2 in a league season. 

Indeed, he has only experienced second place once in his career and this campaign will see him finish no higher than third.

Outside of domestic competition, Man City's failure to go beyond the last-16 in the Champions League means Pep missed out on a European semi final for the first time as a coach.

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