Positive European adventures for Manchester City and Arsenal ahead of crucial EPL week

Twentytwo13

12 April 2024 at 3:22 am·4-min read

"Positive European adventures for Manchester City and Arsenal ahead of crucial EPL week"

Arsenal faces a tough test on April 14 when it hosts Aston Villa in a match that could decide if it remains top of the table at the end of Match Day 32.

The Gunners earned a credible 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich in the Champions League, but The Villans are on a high after beating Lille 2-1 in the Europa Conference League. The second leg of both ties is next week, but for now, Arsenal must find a way past Villa to maintain its title charge.

Arsenal is top of the Premier League table with 71 points from 31 games, ahead of Liverpool on goal difference and one ahead of Manchester City. Tottenham is fourth on 60 points from 31 games, the same as Villa, which has played a game more.

John McGinn was Villa’s hero in December, and the Midlands club will now look to do the double over its London opponents for only the third time in the Premier League era. Arsenal will enter the match 24 hours after City – which held Real Madrid 3-3 away from home in the Champions League – plays relegation-threatened Luton.

Odds are City will score a comfortable win to go top of the table and pile the pressure on Arsenal and Liverpool. City is chasing a second successive treble – league, FA Cup and Champions League – as it is also in the semifinals of the FA Cup, where it plays Chelsea on April 21.

Liverpool, meanwhile, looked a spent force in its humbling 3-0 home defeat to Atalanta in the first leg of its Europa League quarterfinal. Jurgen Klopp’s men looked leggy and made too many unforced errors as the Italians ran riot at Anfield.

Liverpool must pick itself up when it hosts Crystal Palace on April 14 (9pm) or fall behind in the title race.

Elsewhere, Nottingham Forest will look to pull away from the relegation zone when it faces Wolves on April 13 (10pm).

The former European champion is 17th on 25 points – after being deducted four points for breaching the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability rules. Luton (25), Burney (19) and Sheffield United (16) are in the relegation zone.

Separately, the EPL voted unanimously to introduce semi-automated offside technology next season, a year after rejecting the proposal. The technology was a success at the 2022 Qatar World Cup as offside decisions were quicker, causing minimum disruption to games. Still, the EPL felt its officials didn’t need more assistance beyond adding more video assistant referee (VAR) cameras.

However, there have been numerous mistakes this season, none more glaring than when Luis Diaz scored for Liverpool against Tottenham on Oct 1, 2023. Although the Colombian was onside, the referee, Simon Hooper, thought he was offside. Darren England, the VAR for the game, thought Hooper gave the goal and signalled that he agreed with him.

The officials realised their mistake after the game restarted. Liverpool eventually lost 2-1 but would have been 1-0 up if the Diaz goal stood.

Now, England’s top-flight teams hope the semi-automated offside technology will avoid similar mistakes and speed up the process of making offside decisions by 31 seconds.

A Premier League statement read: “The technology will provide quicker and consistent placement of the virtual offside line, based on optical player tracking, and produce high-quality broadcast graphics to ensure an enhanced in-stadium and broadcast experience for supporters.”

The English Premier League (EPL) said that referees will have the final say in subjective calls, such as whether an offside player is interfering with play. As a backup, manual crosshair placement will be available in case the technology fails.

FIXTURES (Malaysian time)
SATURDAY
Newcastle vs Tottenham (7.30pm)
Brentford vs Sheffield United (10pm)
Manchester City vs Luton (10pm)
Nottingham Forest vs Wolves (10pm)
Burnley vs Brighton (10pm)

SUNDAY
Bournemouth vs Manchester United (12.30am)
Liverpool vs Crystal Palace (9pm)
West Ham vs Fulham (9pm)
Arsenal vs Aston Villa (11.30pm)

TUESDAY
Chelsea vs Everton (3am)

The post Positive European adventures for Manchester City and Arsenal ahead of crucial EPL week appeared first on Twentytwo13.

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