AFC Bournemouth’s trip to Anfield to take on runaway Premier League leaders Liverpool has been selected for television coverage by BT Sport.
Kick-off has been brought forward to 12.30 pm on Saturday 7th March. Leaving somewhat of a headache journey for travelling supporters.
All of Liverpool’s upcoming fixtures have been selected for live broadcast in the UK as both Sky Sports and BT Sport anticipate the Premier League title being clinched at some point in March.
Will it be achieved against the Cherries?
Written by Sorry Roger
Liverpool currently have a sixteen point lead with a game in hand, so assuming they beat West Ham in midweek, they will have a nineteen point lead over Man City and a 22 point lead over Leicester.
After we play them there are another 9 fixtures, so Liverpool need to go into the match against us 25 points clear of Manchester City and/or Leicester.
Liverpool, Manchester City and Leicester each have four matches between Liverpool playing West Ham and playing us. So for Liverpool to turn a 19 point lead over Manchester City into a 25 point lead in effect requires that Liverpool win every game in February and that City lose two of their four February/early March fixtures. They are Spurs (A); West Ham (H); Leicester (A); and Arsenal (H). Possible if not likely that Man City could lose two of those matches.
If Leicester beat Man City then Leicester could still theoretically catch Liverpool if they win their other three matches in February which are: Chelsea (H); Wolves (A); and Norwich (A). That looks tough.
So in summary, Liverpool could win the League against us but that realistically relies on them winning all of their next five PL games and Man City losing to two of Spurs, Leicester, West Ham and Arsenal between now and then.
But what about fixture scheduling for any further progression in the FA Cup?
The FA Cup Fifth round is being played midweek this year, so no League games will have to be re-arranged. See extract from the FA site below. So the Mickey Mousers might still win the League against us if they win their next 5 league matches, Man City lose 2 out of 4 and Leicester fail to win all 4.
“This season’s Emirates FA Cup fifth round will take place in midweek during the week commencing Monday 2 March, with any ties that are level after 90 minutes progressing to extra time and, if necessary, penalties to determine a winner on the night.”
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