Championship Sunday...

We've come to the end, the finale of football. Well, not quite, the Champions League Final does loom in another week's time. European League, however, comes to a close this Sunday... Titles and relegations beckon, and those with something on the line have one last chance to stake their claim. You CANNOT miss what's to come on Sunday.

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Let's get straight into it.

ICYMI (In Case You Missed It)

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Here's the Greek Scouser, Kostas Tsimikas, nailing the winning penalty in the FA Cup Final. Liverpool beat Chelsea again, on penalties, to win both English domestic cups in 2022. What a season it's turning into for Liverpool, who are still alive in the Premier League come Sunday, and who have a Champions League Final on the horizon as well. 

🇮🇹 AC Milan have done it again, beating Atalanta 2-0 and putting one hand on the Serie A title. It's a first win at home against Atalanta since 2014, and it means that a win against Sassuolo on Sunday will guarantee Milan the Scudetto. 

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Arsenal fell 2-0 in a shock defeat to Newcastle at St. James Park on Monday. This all but secures their fate outside of the top four, as Tottenham just need a single point at Norwich on Sunday to steal top four and get Champions League football next season.

🇪🇸 Frankfurt beat Rangers on penalties in Seville on Wednesday to win the Europa League Final. It was an incredible run from Rangers to get from the qualifying playoffs all the way to the final, but ultimately it wasn't meant to be. Former Arsenal man Aaron Ramsey missed the deciding penalty. 

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 EVERTON!!! Come on down to Goodison park 🎶. Frank's blues pulled off an astonishing comeback from 2-0 down to beat Crystal Palace 3-2 and secure safety from relegation in the Premier League. It lead to not one, but two pitch invasions––one after the goal in the 85', and another after the final whistle.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Another pitch invasion after Nottingham Forest completed their own comeback and beat Sheffield United on penalties to go the Championship playoff final at Wembley. Unfortunately, the occasion was smeared by a Forest fan ramming Sheffield captain Billy Sharp. It's disgusting behavior that mustn't continue, and thankfully the fan was charged and handed a lifetime ban from all football grounds. Forest will meet Huddersfield Town in the final on the 29th.

Quiz Of The Week

Including this Sunday's race, how many Premier League title races have gone to the final day?

Scroll to the bottom for the answer...

Championship Sunday

Sunday –– 11:00 AM ET

Manchester City (-600) vs Aston Villa (+1800)Liverpool (-600) vs Wolves (+1900)

Brentford (+140) vs Leeds (+185)Burnley (+125) vs Newcastle (+220)

We have reached the final barricade... the last stop in yet another unforgettable Premier League season. Two races to focus on––the race to the title and the race to stave off relegation. 

Title race: The context of this title race is pretty straight forward (though many murky possibilities were possible). If Man City beat Villa on Sunday, they will be once again crowned Premier League Champions. If they draw or lose, a Liverpool win will see the Reds take their second title in three years.

It's a season of failure if City don't bring this home come Sunday; there's simply no doubting this as fact. Pep Guardiola has been tasked with winning at City, and he has done. Yet, he cannot seem to get over the line in the Champions League, which is ultimately what the club is so desperately after. They've dominated the domestic cups until... this year, when Liverpool has taken over and added both trophies to the set. So, if Pep and his troops can't get over the finish line, it will be trophyless catastrophe for Manchester City.

For Liverpool, it's a season of great success, with potentially much more to come. Two trophies already and a chance to win the PL and CL titles. The Premier League might just evade them, but the Champions League is seriously on offer for Klopp. And not to mention, if Liverpool win they will finish on 92 points with +66(+) GD. In context, this number would win the Premier League 23/29 times since the reestablishment of the first tier in 1992. If Liverpool don't win the league, it's more down to Pep and City's supreme excellence in the league rather than Liverpool's shortcomings. Still, it will be a disappointment, and perhaps will shine a light on how both of these incredible teams need to focus on basically winning every league match of the season right from the outset in 22/23. 

Relegation: The race to the bottom is also fairly straightforward––Burnley just need to win one game, at home, and they will stay up. For Leeds, it is out of their own hands, but they will aim to likewise beat Brentford on the road; which is easier said than done. If both teams finish on the same points, Burnley's goal difference is far better than Leeds and will keep them up by a hair. It seemed not long ago that new American manager Jesse Marsch had done just about enough to keep Leeds up, but their struggles the past month have sucked them right back in. Now, they enter the final day in the relegation zone. Burnley fired longest serving PL manager Sean Dyche, only to unexpectedly find a little uptick in form that might be just enough to keep them up. All to play for on Sunday. 

The Scudetto

Sunday 12:00 PM ET

Sassuolo (+600) vs AC Milan (-215)Inter Milan (-750) vs Sampdoria (+2200)

The Serie A Title race comes down to Sunday, between both Milan giants, with the Scudetto just 90 minutes away. AC Milan have been somewhat unexpected, though the fall of Juventus has left something of a power vacuum in Italian football. Inter did the business last year, but it is Milan who have taken the league by the scruff of the neck this season, and who have gone on a magical 14 game unbeaten run to get to the final day in pole position to take home the Scudetto for the first time since 2011.

The one worry for Milan is playing the final game of their season away from home. Plus, Sassuolo's issue hasn't been scoring, it's been defending––they've scored just 2 fewer goals than Milan despite being in 11th place. And Gianluca Scamacca (possibly Inter bound) is a brilliant young striker. Milan will have to bog down and take control of this one, because they must win. Look for Olivier Giroud or Rafael Leão to get on the scoresheet.

Inter come into the final day somewhat looking out of the corner of their eye at Milan. Because of their far superior goal difference, Inter could win the title with a win and just a Milan draw at Sassuolo. And you would expect Inter to get the job done looking at the monstrous odds (bigger than both Liverpool and Man City this weekend) to beat Sampdoria.

Once you're done watching the finale of the Premier League, flick over and double screen the Serie A finale. You won't regret it.

Dan & Billy's Betting Picks

Dan's Picks: It's Championship Sunday, and I have one bet to hammer. It's actually four picks, but one parlay: Man City, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Spurs all to win at +130. I'm calling this my free money special. 

Billy's Picks: Dan's in the spirit of giving, so I suppose I'll join the fun. I'm backing his parlay, with one tweak... Man City to DRAW against Villa and hand Liverpool the title. Gerrard and Coutinho play their parts. You can get this at +1380, and then celebrate with me afterwards (the real win).

Goal Of The Week 

Sometimes it's not the greatness of the goal but the greatness of the occasion... Stuttgart scored this unbelievable winner at home in stoppage time to save them from relegation from the Bundesliga (via the playoffs). The absolute scenes, I highly suggest watching the full clip with audio. It just goes to show what this sport means to people.

Red Card Of The Week 

A truly bizarre scene in Kansas City as a late skirmish lead to FOUR RED CARDS in stoppage time between Sporting KC and Colorado Rapids.  

Quiz Answer: 9!! The last three (including this year's) being between Liverpool and Manchester City.

Have a great weekend and continue to spread the Straight Red love if you want a chance to win a jersey of your choice!