English Premier League Final Day – Live Blog – 24 May 2009

English Premier League – Final Day Live Blog
Date: 24 May 2009
Kickoff: 15:00 GMT, 11:00 EST

It’s the last day of the English Premier League season and there’s still plenty of suspense! Who will join West Brom in the Championship? Can Tottenham do the double over Liverpool? Can Manchester United’s reserves beat Hull City? Soccerlens will be looking all the games and chatting with readers in what should, hopefully, be a fun, free-wheeling interactive live session. Log on to the site 15 minutes before kick-off for the live-blog! In the meantime, feel free to leave comments and make predictions below!

Preview:

The Premier League title may be decided, but there’s still plenty of suspense as the final day of the 2008-2009 English Premier League season approaches. As is tradition, all matches will start at the same time. Here’s the rundown:

– Arsenal v. Stoke City – Emirates Stadium
– Liverpool v. Tottenham Hotspur – Anfield Stadium
– Aston Villa v. Newcastle United – Villa Park
– Manchester City v. Bolton Wanderers – City of Manchester Stadium
– Blackburn Rovers v. West Bromwich Albion – Ewood Park
– Sunderland v. Chelsea – Stadium of Light
– Fulham v. Everton – Craven Cottage
– Hull City v. Manchester United – Kingston Communications Stadium
– West Ham United v. Middlesbrough – Upton Park
– Wigan Athletic v. Portsmouth – JJB Stadium

West Brom are already relegated, but which two teams will join them? Perennial Premiership squads Newcastle and Middlesbrough are in the drop zone, but Hull City and Sunderland are in danger as well. Newcastle will be taking on an Aston Villa squad that has nothing to play for except for pride, wounded as it is (Villa have only won twice since February and are only ahead of Everton for fifth place by one point). Middlesbrough will face West Ham United without one of their top players in Stewart Downing. The teams ahead of them won’t be doing them any favors as Sunderland could get face a Chelsea side that’s more focused on the F.A. Cup Final, while Hull will get Manchester United’s reserves.

There will also be a number of individual and team records to keep an eye on. Cristiano Ronaldo and Nicholas Anelka are tied for the Golden Boot with 18 league goals apiece. With Ronaldo not expected to play, Anelka could win the award outright if he scores against Sunderland. Also, Pepe Reina will look to match Edwin Van der Sar’s league-leading mark of 21 clean sheets. He’ll have his hands full with Spurs, especially if Jamie Carragher and Alvaro Arbeloa get into it again. On the team front, Liverpool could finish with 86 points, which would not only be an all-time high for the Merseyside club, but would be the highest mark for a team that didn’t win the title since 1994-1995 when Manchester United earned 88 points but lost out to Blackburn. And, if Manchester United win, they would hit the 90 point mark for the first time since 1999-2000.

Join us for what should, hopefully, be a fun and interesting fully interactive live-blog!

English Premier League Final Day Live Blog