The Crowning of League Champions

With less than a month remaining of the 2024/25 season, Supersport.com takes stock of the state of the Betway Premiership, Premier League, LaLiga and Serie A as these leagues draw to a close and teams inch closer to glory.

Betway Premiership (South Africa)

The PSL is expected to expel Royal AM from the Betway Premiership in the coming days, meaning that all games, and points won, against the club will be forfeited.

Tussle at the top: Mamelodi Sundowns remain rooted to the top of the table, but have not played a Betway Premiership fixture since March 16 because of African Champions League and Nedbank Cup obligations.

Orlando Pirates, who sit in second place, are still playing catch up with three games in hand over Sundowns and four in hand over third place Sekhukhune United, who sit six points behind the Bucs in third place.

The Buccaneers are 12 points off top spot and would need to win all of their catch-up fixtures to reduce the deficit to three points.

Last-day drama: It is not a common occurrence that the winner of South Africa’s top flight has been decided on the final day of the league the PSL era. It last happened in the 2019/20 season, where Kaizer Chiefs blew their lead at the top of the table and drew their final game to Baroka, allowing Sundowns to sweep in and scoop up the title with a win over Black Leopards, claiming the league title by a mere two point margin.

The race for third place: With multiple teams competing to qualify for a place in next season’s African Confederations Cup, the race for third place may come down to the wire. Sekhukhune United currently hold the coveted spot, sitting two points above Stellenbosch, who have a game in hand due to their own Confederations Cup fixture this past weekend. 

TS Galaxy’s qualification hopes took a knock as they lost to Magesi on Sunday. The Rockets have played more games than both Sekhukhune and Stellies and sit closely behind them, although that gap could widen as both sides catch up their fixtures. Stellies returned to the win column after beating AmaZulu for the second time this season.

Premier League (England)

When can Liverpool win the title: Liverpool marched three points closer to the Premier League title on Sunday after a late winner from Trent Alexander-Arnold gave them a 1-0 victory over Leicester City, sealing the Foxes’ relegation. Liverpool now need just three points to secure a 19th league title, and 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 game, they would secure the title with two games left and a tally of 82 points. In recent seasons, Liverpool have had better performances both with and without winning the title.

They finished on 82 points last season, only to be rewarded with third place and lost out on silverware in both the 2021/22 and 2018/19 seasons by one point after earning 92 and 97 points respectively. On both occasions, it was Manchester City who claimed the title. 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, after thrashing Ipswich Town 4-0 at Portman Road on Sunday. Given that Liverpool only need three points to win the league, it is most likely that the Gunners are too far back to mount a late title charge.

The race for Champions League: With Liverpool and Arsenal having practically secured qualification for next year’s Champions League, three spots remain for Premier League sides. Newcastle sit in third place on 59 points after losing 4-1 to Aston Villa at the weekend.

Villa, Chelsea and Nottingham Forrest all sit on 57 points, just one point behind Manchester City who occupy fourth spot and the last Champions League place. The Blues sit in fifth with a better goal difference than Villa and Forest and returned to winning ways with an extra-time winner at Craven Cottage on Sunday. Villa have now won their last five straight Premier League games, while Forest are dipping in form, losing their last two league fixtures.

LaLiga (Spain)

Tight race between Barcelona and Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid slip: Barcelona kept top spot on the LaLiga standings after a thrilling comeback against Celta Vigo on Saturday. They remain four points ahead of bitter rivals Real Madrid, who also picked up a win against Athletic Bilbao at home on Sunday.

Atletico Madrid’s title hopes took a significant blow as they were downed by Las Palmas on Saturday.

Although staying in third place, they now sit 10 points behind the league leaders and six points behind Real Madrid. With the “El Classico” derby between Barcelona and Real Madrid set for 11 May, 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 fourth-least amount of goals in LaLiga this season, and have scored an impressive 88 goals this season, 23 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 goal scorers in the league, Yamal leading the assists tally, and Raphinha contributing 15 goals and nine assist in the league so far this season.

While their recent comeback performance against Celta Vigo displayed their attacking ability and prowess, it also exposed holes in their defence as they conceded three goals courtesy of Borja Iglesias and were saved by Raphina’s late-game contributions.

Dark Horses: Athletic Bilbao suffered their first defeat in their last six league games to sit in fourth place, six points behind Atletico Madrid. Their charge to secure Champions League football next season is being challenged by Villarreal who are a further five points behind them in the league standings, but unbeaten in their last four league fixtures.

With limited games remaining for each team in LaLiga this season, the race for European football and the title will be hard fought.

Serie A (Italy)

Tied at the top: Inter Milan’s bid for a second straight Serie A title took a hit at the weekend following their 1-0 loss to Bologna, while second place Napoli defeated Monza to draw level on points at the top of the table.

Napoli are still second, but only on goal difference and could steal top spot with a win over Torino on Sunday if Inter fail to overcome Roma on Saturday. The fixtures scheduled for Monday were postponed following the death of Pope Francis.

Atalanta’s late charge: Atalanta have won consecutive league games after losing their previous three, and sit seven points behind both Inter and Napoli. While slim hopes still remain for their title ambitions, they could just as easily lose out on a spot in next season’s Champions League.

After winning at the weekend, Bologna now sit four points behind them, with Juventus also knocking on the door.

Inter’s dominance: Now under serious pressure, Inter Milan are still fancied to secure their third Serie A title in five years. Their title defence, however, will by no means be as impressive as their performance last season when they took 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 six 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 on Saturday as they face sixth place Roma.