Ben Guest
Wayne Rooney has admitted that Liverpool ‘deserve’ to be crowned Premier League champions following their ‘fantastic’ campaign, in spite of his links to rivals Everton and Man Utd.
Jurgen Klopp’s men have enjoyed a campaign of unprecedented excellence, dropping just five points so far this season, their form taking them to within two points of ending their 30 year wait for a league crown thanks to their whopping 25 point lead at the summit.
However, the ongoing coronavirus crisis has seen football across Europe grind to a halt, prompting a whole host of suggestions of how to bring the campaign to an end.
Some have called on the 2019/20 campaign to be completely voided, a scenario which would cruelly deny Liverpool the title, though earlier this week, the Premier League, EFL and FA announced their intentions to finish the campaign.
The Premier League has a ‘tentative plan’ to return on June 1st with games played behind closed doors, according to @TeleFootball pic.twitter.com/EoUfvo4OAm
— B/R Football (@brfootball) March 21, 2020
Writing in his weekly column in The Times, former England skipper Rooney admitted that ‘theres a bit’ of him that would like to see the Reds miss out due to his loyalties to Everton and Man Utd, but conceded that it’s the ‘right decision’ to play the remaining nine games.
“Liverpool will win the Premier League,” Rooney said.
“Now, as you can imagine, I have Everton fans phoning me up saying: ‘The season has to be cancelled!’ And, of course, as an Evertonian and someone who played for Manchester United for 13 years, there’s a bit in me that thinks that would be good…
“But no, Liverpool have been fantastic. They have put so much work in. They deserve this title.
“Can you imagine waiting 30 years and then having it taken away like this? The right decision has been made.
“It’s also right in terms of promotion and relegation and Champions League places. These issues are so big for the clubs involved that I imagine there would be a lot of legal fights if the season was just abandoned. The fair this to do is to finish the 2019/20 season – even if we have to lose next season in the process.”
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