The Premier League took a decisive turn on the weekend with major movements at the top and bottom of the table.
Manchester City now have a three-point advantage over Liverpool in the race for the title after their 5-0 hammering of Newcastle followed the Reds’ 1-1 draw with Tottenham. Watford have joined Norwich in being relegated to the Championship, while Leeds have dropped into the relegation zone after a 2-1 defeat by Arsenal, with Everton climbing out thanks to a 2-1 win at Leicester.
The race for the top four is finely poised, with Arsenal four points ahead of Tottenham ahead of their crunch meeting on Thursday. Meanwhile, heavy defeats for Manchester United and Southampton have prompted difficult questions. Here are Mirror Football’s talking points from the weekend’s action.
City cash in on Liverpool slip-up
City responded to their latest Champions League exit by taking advantage of Liverpool’s slip to move three points clear at the top with three games to play. Liverpool were held 1-1 at Anfield by Tottenham on Saturday before City brushed aside Newcastle on Sunday in an emphatic 5-0 win at the Etihad.
Pep Guardiola’s side, who now have a better goal difference than the Reds, face trips to Wolves and West Ham before closing the season at home against Aston Villa as they bid for a fourth domestic crown in five years.
Gunners steal a march
The race for the last two Champions League spots is a three-horse affair between London rivals Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham. Chelsea dropped more points after being held at home by Wolves and sit one better off than Arsenal, who made hard work of a 2-1 home win against 10-man Leeds.
Fifth-placed Tottenham sit four points behind the Gunners after securing a point at Liverpool. Manchester United face a fight for a top-six finish following their 4-0 thrashing at Brighton on Saturday.
United hit new low
It has been a season packed full of crushing lows for Manchester United, but their 4-0 humiliation at the hands of Brighton on Saturday somehow saw Ralf Rangnick’s side plumb new depths. United being off the pace, disorganised and completely devoid of team spirit is nothing new, but this defeat felt even worse than previous ones.
Brighton were absolutely fantastic across the board and thoroughly deserving of their biggest ever Premier League victory. United managed to give the impression of playing with 10 men despite not having had a player sent off as they were constantly torn apart by the Seagulls’ movement in the second half. The end of the season can’t come soon enough for United, who must have had Erik ten Hag wincing with every goal conceded.
Table looks sweeter for Toffees
Everton, one of six clubs never to have been relegated from the Premier League, gained more momentum in their bid to extend their 67-year stay in the English top flight by clinching their first away win since August with a 2-1 victory at Leicester. It was just their second league win on the road this season and their first back-to-back since September.
It also lifted them out of the bottom three, one point above both Burnley and Leeds, with a game in hand on both and four to play.
Hasenhuttl out of answers
This stage of the season is always notable for the accusations of teams “being on the beach”. Southampton currently have the best claim to that unwanted title following their 3-0 defeat by Brentford on Saturday afternoon. Saints are in 15th place, six points above the drop zone, but are in dreadful form having won just one of their last 11 games in all competitions.
Ralph Hasenhuttl is now under serious pressure, with an unhappy fan base starting to turn on the Austrian. Hasenhuttl appears to have run out of answers for his side’s shoddy performances, which is a worrying place to be ahead of a first summer transfer window under new ownership. Sport Republic have a decision to make. Hasenhuttl could really do with some positive results in the final two matches of the season against Liverpool and Leicester.
Leeds on the slide
Leeds slipped into the bottom three for the first time since September after a 2-1 defeat at Arsenal. The Yorkshire club imploded at the Emirates in a shambolic first-half display, which saw them go 2-0 down inside 10 minutes before skipper Luke Ayling was sent off.
Jesse Marsch’s 10 men rallied in the second period, pulling a goal back through Diego Llorente, and with games against Chelsea, Brighton and Brentford to come they will be hoping there are more twists in the fight to beat the drop.
Klopp hits wrong note
It was a bad weekend for Liverpool, who blinked first in the title race with Man City. Jurgen Klopp showed all that frustration in his post-match media duties. The Liverpool boss brought up his most frequent complaint – the fixture schedule – before going on to criticise Spurs for their approach which saw them nearly win at Anfield.
“For all the praise, probably, for Tottenham. They play a world-class team, they sit back. They drew against us now, they won against City and against Chelsea as well,” he told BT Sport. “So the game plan works for these games but they’re still fifth, so that’s how it is. It’s really a tough one. They obviously work for everything, again time-wasting, these kinds of things, it’s makes it not easier – it’s smart – but it makes it not easier for us.” Klopp is under huge pressure, with Liverpool still in the running to win a quadruple, but his criticism of Antonio Conte’s approach came from a place of bitterness and was not based in reality.
Watford follow Norwich through trapdoor
Watford’s swift return to the Championship was confirmed after their 1-0 defeat at boss Roy Hodgson’s former club Crystal Palace. It is the second time in three seasons the Hornets have been relegated from the Premier League and they must search for a new manager to lead their bid to bounce back, with Hodgson set to retire at the end of the season.
Watford never looked like preserving their top-flight status during the run-in and a six-game losing streak has seen them join Norwich in the second tier.
Defensive frailties remain for Chelsea
Chelsea are stumbling their way to the finish line in the Premier League. Their 2-2 draw with Wolves on Saturday means the Blues are in danger of surrendering third place to in-form Arsenal, who are now just a point behind. Romelu Lukaku’s return to the goals was a welcome one, but was balanced out by continued problems at the other end of the pitch.
Under Thomas Tuchel, Chelsea’s success has been based upon a solidity in defence, but things have started to unravel recently. The Blues were very vulnerable to Wolves’ counter-attacks all game at Stamford Bridge and Tuchel’s change in formation at half-time did not stem the flow, with Conor Coady’s 96th-minute equaliser well deserved. Chelsea now have just one clean sheet, and one win, in their last five Premier League games. With Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen – and potentially Cesar Azpilicueta – leaving this summer, it could get worse before it gets better.
Happier Hammers
West Ham put all their eggs in the basket of the Europa League and defeat in the semi-final against Eintracht Frankfurt has understandably had a deflating effect for David Moyes’ side. After four successive defeats in all competitions, a return to winning ways was much-needed on Sunday.
Norwich made generous hosts, putting up little resistance as the Hammers ran out 4-0 winners at Carrow Road in the sunshine. While Said Benrahma was the star, with two goals, there was a nice landmark for Jarrod Bowen too. His assist saw him move onto 10 goals and 10 assists in the Premier League this season and join an elite goal. Only three English players have reached that tally for both metrics since the start of the 2016/17 season and both are England regulars: Raheem Sterling (2017/18 and 2018/19) and Harry Kane (2020/21). Surely international recognition is coming for Bowen.
