Matchday 36 Awards
Another round of games has passed and we’re getting ever closer to the end of the season. Only two matchdays are left and, while the title and the relegated teams have long been decided, the battle for Europe rages on.
Newcastle beat Chelsea to put themselves within touching distance of next season’s Champions League, while at the other end of the spectrum, Forest relinquished a lead against Leicester to only come away with one point. Also, Manchester City somehow failed to win against Southampton, meaning that Guardiola’s men still have plenty of work to do to secure UCL football for next season. And the Saints ensured that they will not be remembered in the same breath as Derby County, so there’s that.
We also witnessed Villa’s narrow win against Bournemouth, which made things even more intriguing in the top five race, while Brentford and Brighton are still hoping that the stars align for 8th place to take a Prem team to the Europa Conference League.
There was also the small matter of Liverpool vs Arsenal which, despite not having much by way of actual stakes, was still a hugely entertaining game. Perhaps even BECAUSE it didn’t matter that much.
As usual, you can click here to check out all our reports from this round’s action.
And you can visit our YouTube channel for previews of each matchday, as well as predictions and hot takes on current EPL topics.
But back to the task at hand: who earned our Premier League awards this time? Read on to find out.
Best Player
Eberechi Eze gets the nod for our Best Player award after an impressive display at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
After the visitors had a goal chalked off early in the contest, the Englishman decided to take the game by the scruff of the neck, scoring two goals either side of half time and sealing a morale-boosting win for Palace as they approach the FA Cup final this week.
Best XI
GK – Aaron Ramsdale (Southampton)
RB – Daniel Munoz (Crystal Palace)
CB – Jan Bednarek (Southampton)
CB – Michael Keane (Everton)
LB – Pervis Estupinan (Brighton)
CM – Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace)
CM – Tomas Soucek (West Ham)
CM – Sandro Tonali (Newcastle)
RW – Jarrod Bowen (West Ham)
ST – Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)
LW – Kevin Schade (Brentford)
Best Goal
We’re going with Kevin Schade’s header for Brentford against Ipswich. It was a perfectly executed one from an extremely difficult position and, to top it all off, it was also the winning goal for the Bees.
Beautiful and impactful, what more could you want?
Schade header sends Bees eighth 🤩 | Ipswich Town 0-1 Brentford | Premier League Highlights
Best Game
Definitely Liverpool vs Arsenal. It seemed like the pressure being off made both teams just go out there and enjoy themselves. Four goals, 4.87 total xG, a bunch of big chances, a red card, late VAR drama… You name it, this game had it.
While this was not the title decider people were expecting it to be a few months ago, it lived up to the billing with some excellent action.
Best Stats
Ollie Watkins scored his 75th Premier League goal for Aston Villa, making him the club’s top scorer in the competition, one strike ahead of Gabriel Agbonlahor.
This is the first Premier League campaign in which Brighton have more than one player to score 10 or more goals. Joao Pedro has struck 11 times, while Danny Welbeck now stands on 10 goals. Kaoru Mitoma could become the third Seagull to reach double figures in the EPL, needing one more goal for that milestone.
Liverpool have failed to win after being two goals ahead at Anfield for only the third time in the Premier League. Their collapse against Arsenal comes after 2-2 draws against Leicester in January 2015 and Newcastle in April 2016.
Best/Worst VAR Decision
Sure, there were some controversial decisions this weekend (as always), but we don’t really have much in terms of complaints about how the referees performed.
Best Substitution
Facundo Buonanotte came on for Leicester at the hour mark of their game at the City Ground against Forest. As the hosts were leading 2-1, the Argentine capitalised on a mistake by the Forest defenders to get into the penalty area and slot past Matz Sels in the 81st minute.
Funniest Moment
Liverpool fans decided to have a bit of fun at the Gunners’ expense, targeting Martin Odegaard’s now-famous camera-wielding moment from February 2024, when Arsenal defeated Liverpool 3-1 at the Emirates.
