The crown for the English Premier League is coming down to the wire. There are only 2 games left and only 1 out of 2 possible winners; the greatest club in the world Manchester United or cash-cow-club-that-could-only-win-since-they-spent-a-billion-pounds-on-players Chelsea.

This season could very well be the most interesting yet. Even those that don’t follow the EPL must’ve heard people talking about who’s gonna win it this year. So for the benefit of the those that are interested to know what is going on, here is a quick run down.

The English Premier League is, well, a league. They play a total of 38 games from July to May the following year, then they take the whole of June off and start the new league in July again. When a team wins a game, they get 3 points. If teams draw they get a point. If a team loses, they get no points. Simple right?

Take a look at the above league table. Below is a legend of what each and every column means:

P = games played

W = games won

D = games drawn

L = games lost

GS = goals scored

GA = goals against or how many goals conceded

GD = goal difference (GS minus GA)

Pts = total points accumulated

As you can see the title race for number one is between Chelsea and Manchester United. There’s only 1 point separating Chelsea from Manchester United and there are 2 more games to be played with a total of 6 points up for grabs. If Chelsea wins their remaining 2 games, they will win the title. If Manchester United have any hope of winning the title for a record breaking 4th consecutive title and a total of 19 league wins, we need Chelsea to at least either draw or lose one of their games. That is also assuming Manchester United must win their last 2 games.

This is where it gets really interesting. Manchester United have won 18 league titles to date, sharing the record with Liverpool who has also won the league 18 times. If Manchester United win this year, they would be the best English Premier League club with 19 league titles on record, however, that’s not to say Manchester United isn’t already the best in the world. Chelsea is quite insignificant in this, they just started winning a few years back when some rich Russian pimp bought over the club and started pumping in hundreds of millions to buy players. So the question remains,

Will Liverpool lose on purpose to Chelsea?

Tomorrow at 8.30 GMT+8 Liverpool is playing against Chelsea at Liverpool’s home ground Anfield. Then at 10.30 GMT+8 Manchester United will take on Sunderland at the Stadium of Lights (Sunderland’s home ground). There are mixed reactions as to whether Liverpool will lose the game on purpose. Some say Liverpool will and should lose the game so Manchester United won’t go one up to 19 league titles. Also considering the fact that Liverpool and Manchester United are fierce rivals, there are no love or favours between the two.

The conspiracy gets better, Liverpool have recently appointed Martin Broughton as chairman of Liverpool. Martin Broughton is a season ticket holder and a huge fan of Chelsea. So we wonder…

If you take a look again at the league table above, you will notice that number 1 to number 4 is in green, 5 to 7 is in grey then 8 to 17 is in white and 18 to 20 is in pink. Here is what it means…

1 to 4 = able to play in Champions League

5 to 7 = able to play in the Europa League

8 to 17 = mid table, nothing interesting there

18 to 20 = teams that will get relegated to the bottom division next season

Champions League is the most prestigious club in Europe because only the top 4 teams in Europe leagues get to play in it. That’s the league where you get to see the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan and AC Milan to name a few, play against each other. Why is the Champions League important? Bragging rights and money from TV revenues and sponsorship of course.

Then you have the Europa League. The winner gets revenue from TV and sponsorships and bragging rights to being the best of the worst in Europe. It’s not much but still better than ending up with nothing right?

So if you look at the table above, Liverpool is fighting for an Europa League spot with Everton. The title race is too tight this year. Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal would be looking to strengthen their teams for next season. With Liverpool out of the Champions League for next season, they are sure to lose a few of their key players that will want to play in the Champions League. So I doubt Liverpool can even challenge for the EPL next season. Their best bet would be to try for the Europa League, FA cup and the Mickey Mouse cup. So the question again…

Will Liverpool lose on purpose to Chelsea?

The question remains to be seen tomorrow. On one hand it seems like Liverpool has nothing to play for but on the other hand it seems like they have everything to play for. Either way, the pride of the club is at stake and almost certainly fucked whatever the outcome. All this said and done, the mother of all question still remains… is Liverpool even good enough to beat or at least draw with Chelsea?