What We Learned from This Weekend’s Premier League Action

While there is one more game of this matchday to be played tonight (Crystal Palace vs Manchester United), today we will be taking a look at some of the things that happened over the weekend in the Premier League.

There are plenty of interesting talking points from 9 games played over 3 days. The weekend started off with a draw between Everton and Luton on Friday evening.

The title race took centre stage on Saturday, with Arsenal beating Bournemouth 3-0 and Manchester City winning 5-1 against Wolves.

3 more games took place on Sunday, with Liverpool defeating Spurs 4-2 being the highest profile match.

For all the other results and match reports, you can find plenty of information here.

Let’s move on for more conclusions and analysis from the games on matchday 36.

Title Race Steams Ahead

We continue to be impressed by the relentlessness of Arsenal and City. Both teams are going for it with all they have, and this always makes for interesting viewing.

The main thing we learned about it this weekend is that neither team appears to be willing to slow down in any way, but they do things a bit differently.

The Gunners had 3 scorers in their 3-0 win over Bournemouth, while Manchester City relied on Haaland putting 4 goals (2 from the penalty spot) past Wolverhampton.

Arsenal will be hoping that Guardiola’s footballing machine malfunctions long enough to drop some points, but City know they need all hands on deck to claim a 4th consecutive EPL title.

We cannot wait for next weekend!

Top 4 Chase Is All Thrills and Spills

Despite a VAR reprieve in the 68th minute, Villa still conspired to lose to Brighton after a goal from Joao Pedro 3 minutes before the end.

Tottenham, with a big chance to get closer to that shiny Champions League spot, ended up losing at Anfield in a high-quality game.

As we have seen in many previous seasons, especially during run-ins, the race for 4th in the Prem is always quite unpredictable. But we still think Unai Emery will guide Villa to next season’s UCL. It just might end up being more nail-biting than he was hoping.

No Stakes Means Drab Games

We only have to look at the goalless draw between Brentford and Fulham to understand that not all Premier League games are edge-of-the-seat viewing.

While we have seen worse 0-0’s over the years, this London derby was also one of those where you could tell that the players were considering their summer holiday options.

Thankfully it does not happen often.

Newcastle Still Going All In

One team that had no troubles focusing on the task at hand was Newcastle United. They won 4-1 away to Burnley, deepening Vincent Kompany’s relegation concerns even further.

What is more important to Eddie Howe’s team is that they continue to push hard for a Europa League (or Conference League) spot. They are now 6th, with Chelsea 2 points behind them, and Spurs 4 points ahead. Manchester United are level on points with Chelsea and can overtake Newcastle with a win at Selhurst Park tonight.

Next weekend will be crucial for the UEL/UECL races, as well as the relegation battle, as Chelsea travel to Nottingham, Newcastle host worry-free Brighton, and Spurs play at home against Burnley. Manchester United will have a significantly more difficult task as they host Arsenal.

It will surely go down to the wire.

Relegation Dogfight Almost Settled

In terms of emotion, we believe that a good battle to avoid the drop is almost as entertaining as a solid title race. So far this season we have been lucky to witness both.

But it is starting to look like the basement fight is almost done. Sheffield are already mathematically relegated, while Burnley and Luton Town are still hoping to save themselves.

The Clarets sit in 19th place, 5 points below the promised land of 17th, while Luton are 18th, 3 points under the line. The team in 17th? Nottingham Forest, buoyed by beating Sheffield 3-1 on Saturday.

It is not just points that hint to Forest playing Premier League football next season. They also have a significant advantage in goal difference. While the Tricky Trees are on -18, Luton and Burnley stand on -29 and -35 respectively.

Things are becoming clearer at the bottom of the table, and it looks like all 3 teams that came up last summer will be going straight back to the Championship.