Matchday 24 of the Premier League kicked off with a mouth-watering clash between the league leaders Chelsea and their rivals from North London, Arsenal and it ended with yet another big game between defending champions Leicester City and Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United.
This week proved to be yet another surprising one as Crystal Palace were perhaps the biggest losers after a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Sunderland. To make matters worse, Hull City beat Liverpool, which now leaves Palace one point behind the Tigers and level on points with Sunderland.
Losses for Middlesbrough, Swansea City and Leicester City now makes the relegation battle an intense one between the six aforementioned teams. On the other side of the table, Chelsea are now nine points ahead of their closest rivals, Tottenham Hotspur and seem to be on their way to another Premier League title.
All this and more as here are the ten things we learned this game week:
#1 This could the season Arsenal finish outside the top 4
Arsene Wenger came to Arsenal in 1996 and for twenty years the legendary French manager achieved an incredible feat by securing a top four finish every single season. However, it has now been 13 years since he last won the Premier League title and time seems to be running out for Wenger.
With a number of fans showing up with ‘Wenger Out’ slogans and signboards, it seems like the Frenchman is perhaps looking at his last season as the manager of Arsenal. With fixtures against Liverpool, Tottenham and Manchester City yet to be played, Wenger and his men have a tough task ahead of themselves if they want Champions League football next season.
#2 Sunderland can stay up this season
After what many called one of the worst starts to the Premier League, Sunderland have certainly recovered well to come up with such a thumping performance against Crystal Palace. With veteran striker Jermaine Defoe leading the way for the Black Cats, they put four past Palace to now go level on points with them.
This still leaves Sunderland at the bottom of the table, however, they are only one victory away from moving to 15th on the table. With the defence maintaining two clean sheets in two games, it will give the team massive confidence going into the last few games.
#3 Romelu Lukaku shows us why he is one of the best strikers in the game
Everton took on Bournemouth in what was perhaps one of the most thrilling games of the season. After Lukaku demolished the Cherries’ defence to give Everton a 3-0 lead by half time, it was Joshua King’s turn to come to the fore with two goals which gave Bournemouth hope.
However, the big Belgian scored two more in the 83rd and 84th minute respectively to make the score 5-2 and put the game well out of the reach of the visitors.
Lukaku showed brilliant finishing, smart movement off the ball and pure strength to establish himself as one of the best strikers in Europe.
#4 Marco Silva has made an instant impact at Hull City
After being appointed as the manager of Hull City, Marco Silva has won four and drawn one of the eight games the Tigers have played this year in all competitions. In his first Premier League game, Silva coached his side to a 3-1 win over Bournemouth.
This was followed by a victory over Manchester United in the League Cup as well as a draw against them at Old Trafford in the Premier League. With the 2-0 victory over Liverpool, Silva has now won all four of his home games and certainly seems to be saving the Tigers’ season.
#5 Arsenal victory puts Watford back on track
Watford picked up three more points to cap off a stunning week with a 2-1 victory over Burnley thanks to goals from Troy Deeney and new signing M’Baye Niang. The former A.C Milan striker netted the winning goal in the 45th minute after which Ashely Barnes managed to pull one back for Burnley in the second half.
It was yet another poor outing for Burnley, who simply seem to be unable to pick up points away from home. On the other hand, Watford seem to have filled the void left by injuries to important players and are right back on track to finish in the top half of the table.
#6 Stoke City still cannot beat former manager Tony Pulis
Since leaving Stoke City in 2013, Tony Pulis has faced his former club as the manager of both Crystal Palace and West Bromwich Albion. Stoke City have not managed to beat their former manager in any of the occasions as Pulis has gotten the better of the Potters every single time.
In a battle between two similar teams with similar playing styles, it was West Brom who capitalised on an early goal from James Morrison to take away all three points in front of their home crowd.
#7 Tottenham may have slowed down but they are the only team that can challenge Chelsea
Tottenham Hotspur started the year in red-hot form by beating league leaders Chelsea 2-0 and had a fantastic January to kick-off the year in prime fashion. However, the last week wasn’t the easiest for Pochettino and his men after a 0-0 draw against Sunderland and a hard fought 1-0 victory over Middlesbrough.
Despite the hard times against relatively weaker clubs, it looks like Tottenham are certainly the biggest threat to Chelsea for the Premier League title as they face only Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United out of the top six, of which the latter two games will be at home. If Tottenham go on an unbeaten run, Conte’s Chelsea could surely be troubled.
#8 Could Gabriel Jesus replace the mighty Sergio Aguero?
Gabriel Jesus started the game against Swansea City ahead of Sergio Aguero and the striker completely justified this controversial move of Pep Guardiola by scoring two goals that gave City all three points. With Leroy Sane, Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling in red hot form, could this be Manchester City’s new front three?
Jesus certainly seems to have fantastic movement off the ball, which Guardiola is a great fan of. His work rate has been incredible and the striker covered 11.12 km against Swansea City against the 9.8 km which is usually Aguero’s average. With that much movement, he adds fluidity and intensity to City’s game.
#9 Leicester City could break unwanted records
The Foxes are certainly having a horrendous season as defending champions and could well be staring at relegation after yet another appalling performance against Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United. Ranieri’s side are now on 21 points, just two ahead of Sunderland, who are at the bottom of the table.
Leicester City have fixtures against four of the top six teams including Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester City and Arsenal, which would not help their case. However, they have games against Hull City, Sunderland and Crystal Palace, who are in the bottom three, and this gives the Foxes a chance to extend their lead over their fellow relegation stragglers.
#10 Liverpool and Arsenal are out of the title race
With only 14 games to go for each team in the Premier League, it looks like Chelsea are certainly the favourites to win the league with a nine-point lead over Tottenham Hotspur and ten-point lead over Manchester City. The title race seems to be only between these three clubs as Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United are all but out of the title race.
Manchester City have a game against Chelsea which could be vital as we head towards the last few games while Tottenham do not have a fixture against either Chelsea or Manchester City, which could add to their advantage. It would, however, take a miraculous effort for both Tottenham and Manchester City to overtake Conte’s side from this point in the season.
