EPL stars pay touching tribute to 2017 Manchester Arena victims

Today, EPL stars from Manchester posted heartfelt messages on their social media platforms to remember the lives lost at the Manchester Arena bombing three years ago on this day.

In the aftermath of this grievous attack, both the Manchester clubs of the EPL, Manchester United and Manchester City, put aside their rivalry to send out a united image.

Manchester Arena Bombing

Victims and families mark the Second Anniversary Of Manchester Terror Attack

This attack took place at the Manchester Arena, following a concert by Ariana Grande in 2017. This attack was perpetrated by a 22-year-old local Islamic extremist suicide bomber of Libyan origin. This was one of the worst terrorist attacks to happen on British soil since the 2005 London bombings.

There were 23 deaths, including the bomber and 139 were wounded in the aftermath of these attacks. Recently, in March 2020, the victims were finally granted justice when the brother of the bomber was found guilty on 22 counts of murder.

The Manchester Arena remained closed till September 2017, after which both the EPL clubs in Manchester came together to put out the #ACityUnited hashtag on social media.

EPL clubs from Manchester remember this sad day

Today, both the EPL clubs put out remembrance updates on their respective Instagram and Twitter accounts. Many players from the two EPL sides also put out commemorative tweets on their social media accounts.

This City Remembers. pic.twitter.com/8GykDJSSC3

— Manchester City (@ManCity) May 22, 2020

Harry Maguire put out the following statement on his Twitter account:

Remembering all those that lost their lives at Manchester Arena three years ago. Thoughts with their family and friends and all those affected.

Manchester born Marcus Rashford was also amongst the players to have done so:

Manchester together.

Raheem Sterling retweeted Rashford's tweet and put out a message of his own.

Manchester Clubs' state of play in the EPL

Phil Foden dribbling with the ball in recent Manchester Derby

Manchester City are right now second in the EPL table, on 57 points. They are currently an unprecedented 25 points behind runaway leaders Liverpool in the EPL but are four points of Leicester with a in hand.

Manchester City will be disappointed at the lack of fight shown by them as defending champions of the Premier League.

They have lost a whopping seven games this season, which is more one more than their previous two seasons combined. What will gall the club, even more, is the fact that they've lost points against the laggards of the EPL. They have conceded 31 goals, which is more than what Leicester and Manchester United have conceded in the EPL this season.

This is because they did not sign another centre-back, following the loss of former captain Vincent Kompany. This loss has had a two-fold effect on them of having their defensive midfielder Fernandinho being played in defence.

They could also potentially not be playing in Europe next season, as a result of them being banned by UEFA for breaching Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations.

Manchester United occupy fifth place in the EPL standings, three points behind fellow Champions League rivals Chelsea. They could be in the Champions League next season because of Manchester City being banned by UEFA for 2 seasons.

This could mean that 5th place in the EPL guarantees Champions League football. United have been boosted by the arrival of Portuguese star Bruno Fernandes in the January window. He has turbo-charged their claim to the Champions League through the Premier League places.