Rise of a Football God

The highlight of matchday 33 of the English premier league was of course Fulham's blockbuster encounter with Chelsea in Craven Cottage, and the repercussions that it had in the premier league title race against Liverpool.

Fulham and Liverpool were still neck and neck at the top of the premier league table, it was an exciting head-to-head battle.

Fulham's home game against Chelsea was not the only highlight though, blockbuster encounters between Aston Villa and Newcastle, including Tottenham vs Nottingham Forest also brought a lot of drama and excitement to the matchday.

And eventually, matchday 33 of the premier league came to an end.

(Premier league results:)

(Matchday 33 of 38:)

(Aston Villa 3-3 Newcastle)

(Date: 19th April, 2025)

…

(Ipswich Town 1-3 Arsenal)

(Date: 19th April, 2025)

…

(Brentford 2-1 Brighton)

(Date: 19th April, 2025)

…

(Leicester 0-2 Liverpool)

(Date: 19th April, 2025)

…

(West Ham 1-0 Southampton)

(Date: 19th April, 2025)

…

(Everton 1-2 Man City)

(Date: 19th April, 2025)

…

(Tottenham 1-1 Nottm Forest)

(Date: 19th April, 2025)

…

(Crystal Palace 1-0 Bournemouth)

(Date: 19th April, 2025)

…

(Man United 1-2 Wolves)

(Date: 19th April, 2025)

…

(Fulham 1-0 Chelsea)

(Date: 19th April, 2025)

(Updated premier league table standings:)

(1. Liverpool GP: 33/ W:26/ D:1/ L:3/ Pts: 85)

(2. Fulham GP: 33/ W:25/ D:5/ L:3/ Pts: 81)

(3. Arsenal GP: 33/ W:21/ D:8/ L:4/ Pts: 71)

(4. Chelsea GP: 33/ W:20/ D:9/ L:4/ Pts: 69)

(5. Man City GP: 33/ W:16/ D:8/ L:9/ Pts: 56)

(6. Nottm Forest GP: 33/ W:15/ D:10/ L:8/ Pts: 55)

(7. Tottenham GP: 33/ W:15/ D:5/ L:13/ Pts: 50)

(8. Aston Villa GP: 33/ W:13/ D:11/ L:10/ Pts: 50)

(9. Newcastle GP: 33/ W:12/ D:11/ L:10/ Pts: 47)

(10. Brighton GP: 33/ W:12/ D:8/ L:13/ Pts: 44)

(11. Bournemouth GP: 33/ W:11/ D:9/ L:13/ Pts: 42)

(12. Man United GP: 33/ W:12/ D:6/ L:15/ Pts: 42)

(13. Brentford GP: 33/ W:11/ D:8/ L:14/ Pts: 41)

(14. Crystal Palace GP: 33/ W:10/ D:11/ L:12/ Pts: 41)

(15. West Ham GP: 33/ W:9/ D:9/ L:15/ Pts: 35)

(16. Leicester GP: 33/ W:5/ D:10/ L:18/ Pts: 25)

(17. Everton GP: 33/ W:5/ D:7/ L:21/ Pts: 22)

(18. Wolves GP: 33/ W:4/ D:10/ L:19/ Pts: 22)

(19. Ipswich Town GP: 33/ W:3/ D:10/ L:20/ Pts: 19)

(20. Southampton GP: 33/ W:3/ D:4/ L:26/ Pts: 13)

The atmosphere within the Fulham squad after the impressive win against Chelsea was absolutely electric.

Again, Coach Marco Silva celebrated the victory exuberantly with his players even as they prepared for their next premier league fixtures.

After the game against Chelsea though, Fulham's next fixture was complicated since 2 games fell on the same day.

Their next game in the premier league is against Southampton in away ground but it was scheduled for 26th April, the same day for the blockbuster FA Cup semifinal encounter between them and Newcastle.

And since this time, the FA Cup semifinal took precedence, the premier league game against Southampton was postponed.

In the next few days, Coach Marco Silva multitasked. Even as he prepared his players for the blockbuster FA Cup semifinal encounter against Newcastle in St. James' Park, he also paid attention to Liverpool's fixtures.

In recent weeks, the Fulham coach was becoming obsessed with Liverpool.

While he finalized his tactic to be used in St. James' Park, he could not help but pay attention to their last 5 league fixtures of the premier league campaign, comparing them against Liverpool's.

(Premier league- Fulham fixtures:)
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(Matchday 34 of 38:)

(Southampton – Fulham)

(Date: 26th April, 2025)

…

(Matchday 35 of 38:)

(Aston Villa – Fulham)

(Date: 3rd May, 2025)

…

(Matchday 36 of 38:)

(Fulham – Everton)

(Date: 10th May, 2025)

…

(Matchday 37 of 38:)

(Brentford – Fulham)

(Date: 18th May, 2025)

…

(Matchday 38 of 38:)

(Fulham – Man City)

(Date: 25th May, 2025)

***

(Premier league- Liverpool fixtures:)

(Matchday 34 of 38:)

(Liverpool – Tottenham)

(Date: 26th April, 2025)

…

(Matchday 35 of 38:)

(Chelsea – Liverpool)

(Date: 3rd May, 2025)

…

(Matchday 36 of 38:)

(Liverpool – Arsenal)

(Date: 10th May, 2025)

…

(Matchday 37 of 38:)

(Brighton – Liverpool)

(Date: 18th May, 2025)

…

(Matchday 38 of 38:)

(Liverpool – Crystal Palace)

As soon as Coach Marco Silva was done drafting the fixture comparison between his team and their archrivals this season competing for the premier league trophy, a smile could not help but outline his face.

"We have a chance!" This coach clenched his fists, excited.

Compared to their archrivals this season, Fulham had a more forgivable fixture against the likes of Southampton, Aston Villa, Everton, and Brentford, their toughest game of the last 5 being the eventual blockbuster clash against Man City to close off the 2024/2025 premier league season.

The likes of Aston Villa and Brentford were obviously going to put up a challenge as the battle for spots in the premier league ramps up but the Fulham coach had higher hopes of getting a result against them.

Even against Man City, Coach Marco Silva could see his team beating them comfortably despite the fact that the reigning champions were already regaining their form in recent weeks.

Compared to them though, Liverpool's final 5 fixtures were fixtures of death.

Their matchday 34 and matchday 35 alone were against 2 troublesome clubs in North London, Tottenham and Chelsea.

Liverpool may be the more in-form team compared to the other 2, but football was football, it could not be predicted.

Winning against both clubs was not going to be easy since they were among the top 6 clubs of the English premier league and from there on, it did not get any better for the Merseysiders.

Of their last 3 premier league games of the season, they had blockbuster encounters against Arsenal in Anfield and a clash against Brighton in away ground, games that were likely going to give them a headache.

And besides, one important factor that Coach Marco Silva added to his calculations was the fact that Liverpool was still competing in the top competition of club football, the UEFA champions league.

They were one of the favorites to claim the trophy this season buoyed by Salah's consistent performances, and it served as a distraction to them.

All these reasons gave Coach Marco Silva confidence.

'We can still do it," he thought. 'We can create history!'