Liverpool, Bournemouth have scenario to set up extra 39th game for Champions League spot
Most of the final day scenarios for Liverpool and Bournemouth are relatively simple.
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There’s one, though, that could send the Premier League table, and its Champions League qualification, into pretty much unprecedented territory.
A specific outcome could send Liverpool and Bournemouth into an extra 39th game to determine which club gets to play Champions League football next season.
Liverpool enters Sunday fifth in the table, on 59 points.
Bournemouth enters the day with 56 points.
Liverpool hosts Brentford, while Bournemouth heads to Nottingham Forest.
And it could get crazy.
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Final day 39th game scenario for Liverpool, Bournemouth
The Athletic’s Mark Carey provided this great explanation in an article this weekend.
The first thing that would need to happen is Liverpool to lose and Bournemouth to win. That brings them level on 59 points.
Goal difference becomes the first tiebreaker, and Liverpool enters the day with a six-goal edge. So the Liverpool loss and Bournemouth win would have to combine to be lopsided.
If Bournemouth makes up the goal difference gap and evens that, then goals scored is the next tiebreaker. Liverpool has a five-goal edge there.
So, for example, if Bournemouth won 5-0, and Liverpool lost 0-1, that turns both categories into a tie. That means 6-1, 1-2 and every addition beyond in that fashion does the same.
Ties in all those categories bring it to head-to-head record, and these sides split the series this season. And they had the same number of away goals (2), the next tiebreaker.
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That’s the whole list. Beyond that, it’s a 39th game at a neutral site.
Those who root for chaos can certainly root for that.
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