The Crowning of League Champions

As the 2024/25 football season marches swiftly towards its close, Supersport.com takes stock of the current state of the Betway Premiership, Premier League, LaLiga and Serie A as teams look to secure titles, qualify for continental competition, and escape relegation.

BETWAY PREMIERSHIP

The Royal AM saga looks to be coming to a close and the club is expected to be expelled from the Premier Soccer League but an official announcement has yet to be made. Should this happen, all the results of their games will be expunged, meaning that points gained from matches against Royal AM are lost and thus shaking up the lay of the league.

Tussle at the top: Mamelodi Sundowns are still sitting at the top of the table. However, their lead over challengers Orlando Pirates has been cut to nine points and the Buccaneers have two games in hand. Should the Buccaneers win both of those games and Sundowns stumble, the two sides could draw level and the title race go right down to the wire.

Last-day drama: Historically, the winner of South Africa’s top flight has rarely been decided on the final day in the PSL era. It last occurred in 2020, where Kaizer Chiefs blew a lead and drew their final game to Baroka, allowing Sundowns to sweep in and scoop up the title with a win over Black Leopards, winning the league by a two point margin.

The race for third place: With a spot in the African Confederation Cup up for grabs, multiple teams are jostling for third place on the log. Sekhukhune United occupy that spot with 37 points but could be replaced by Stellenbosch, who host AmaZulu on Tuesday. Stellies are two points behind Sekhukhune and will be looking to replicate their performance in February in Durban against AmaZulu which saw them dish out this season’s biggest beating, putting five goals past Usuthu. In turn, TS Galaxy are two points behind Stellenbosch, and two points above Polokwane City, as both sides look set to capitalise should Sekhukhune or Stellenbosch stumble.

PREMIER LEAGUE (ENGLAND)

When can Liverpool win the title: After defeating West Ham United 2-1 on Sunday, Liverpool need just six points to clinch a 20th Premier League title. The Reds will look to take one step closer to glory as they face struggling Leicester City at the weekend, who are winless in their last nine Premier League games. Should they win, Liverpool could be crowned at home on April 27 with a victory over Tottenham Hotspur.

Liverpool’s present v past seasons: Should Liverpool win their next two games, they would secure the title with three games left and a tally of 82 points. In recent years, Liverpool have had better performing seasons. They finished on 82 points last season, only to be rewarded with third place. They lost out on Premier League titles in both the 2021/22 and 2018/19 seasons by one point to Manchester City after registering 92 and 97 points respectively. Their last title winning season saw them rack up an astounding 99 points in the 2019/20 season, one point shy of the record set by City two seasons earlier.

Closest challengers: Title challengers Arsenal sit 13 points behind Liverpool at the top of the table, having won six games less that the Reds this season. The Gunners would need four wins and one draw from their remaining five league fixtures to draw level with Liverpool, provided the Reds do not earn any more points. In addition, they would need a goal difference of 13 in those five fixtures to match Liverpool’s current tally.

LALIGA (SPAIN)

Tight race between Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Atletico Madrid: Barcelona sit atop the LaLiga standings, four points ahead of bitter rivals Real. Atletico sit in third, six points behind their neighbours, but have a game in hand and could cut the deficit to three points should they defeat Las Palmas. With the “El Classico” between Barcelona and Real Madrid set for May 11, it could present an even more fiery fixture with title implications on the line.

Attacking v defensive strength: Barcelona appear to be the most well-rounded side in LaLiga this season. They have conceded the third-least amount of goals this season behind only Atletico Madrid and Getafe, and have scored a ridiculous 84 goals this season, 20 more than next-best Real Madrid. Barca’s front three of Robert Lewandowski, Lamine Yamal and Raphinha have been a devastating force in attack with Lewandowski leading all scorers in the league, Yamal leading the assists tally, and Raphinha contributing 13 goals and eight assist in league action this season.

Dark horses: Athletic Bilbao are unbeaten in their last five league fixtures and sit in fourth place, just three points behind Atletico Madrid. Their charge to secure Champions League football next season is being challenged by Villarreal who sit six points behind them. With either five or six games remaining for each team in LaLiga this season, the race for European football will be hard fought.

SERIE A

Three-horse race: Inter Milan have their sights set on a second consecutive Serie A title as they sit in first place on the log with 71 points. Napoli sit in second place, just six points behind the reigning champions with title aspirations of their own. They could close that gap to just three points as they have a game in hand. Third place Atalanta have stumbled in past weeks but are back to winning ways after defeating Bologna 2-0 on Sunday. They are 10 points behind the league-leaders and just four points behind Napoli.

Atalanta’s stumble: Atalanta have registered only three points in their last four league fixtures after suffering three straight defeats before overcoming Bologna at the weekend. This slip in form could cost the side its title hopes as well as a spot in next season’s Champions League as they sit only two points above fourth placed Juventus and four points above fifth placed Bologna.

Inter’s dominance: Inter Milan could secure their third Serie A title in five years. Their title defence, however, would not be as impressive as their performance last season which saw the Italian giants take the league by a 19 point margin. They have bagged 72 league goals so far this season, less than each of their last two title-winning campaigns, but still 17 goals clear of the next most, registered by Atalanta.

Key fixtures remaining: With the top three sides in Serie A having already played each other twice this season, Inter’s toughest challenge remaining comes this Sunday as they face fifth place Bologna.