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Gameweek 25 has come to a close, with not many shocking results this week excluding the poor performance by Liverpool. With only 13 matches left to play for each side, the season is approaching its crucial stages where every club will be hoping to put up a good showing to climb up the table.
Though the matches this week did not provide us with many surprises, it was loaded with enough talking points for football enthusiasts to speak about until the next set of fixtures.
#1 Gonzalo Higuain has arrived and how
Gonzalo Higuain did not have the best of debuts against Bournemouth, with the Cherries shocking Chelsea with a 4-0 hammering. The Argentinian wasn't that bad on his debut but was let down by poor defending and playmaking of his teammates. However, the Argentinian brought his A-game against the Terriers.
He scored a brace against Huddersfield, with the first one being a real poacher's effort while the second one was deflected in. His movement off the ball was very sharp and the Huddersfield defenders couldn't keep up with him. Though it is still early days in his Chelsea career, the fans will be hoping that he brings some more of this next week when The Blues face a dominant yet fallible Manchester City.
#2 Cardiff City may have found their inspiration
I was shell-shocked when I heard the news about Emiliano Sala's disappearance. The Argentinian's private plane which was set to reach Cardiff went off radars and completely vanished. Despite rigorous searches across the area where the plane vanished, the police could not find his plane or any parts of the plane.
A private search funded by football superstars such as Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Adrien Rabiot was later conducted and wreckage of Sala's plane has been found now.
Sometimes a bad event is what it takes to bring the best out of people. Cardiff City spent a club record £15 million fee to buy him from Nantes and were shaken by the news of the ill-fated striker. However, the players seem to have gotten a new lease of life.
They seemed to have been brought together by the news of Sala and put in a respectable performance in their 2-1 defeat to Arsenal, also having an impressive 19 shots against the Emirates outfit.
They continued their form and registered a 2-0 win against a Bournemouth who were fresh off their 4-0 victory against Chelsea. It is safe to say that Cardiff City have a good chance of staying up this season if they continue in this new inspired form.
The club was hoping that Emiliano Sala could inspire Cardiff City in their relegation battle, but he was still able to inspire them in a completely different way.
#3 Everton continue to underperform
Everton have spent big this season, with a total of around £90 million spent in reinforcements to build up the squad. The Merseyside club bought Brazilian winger Richarlison and centre back Yerry Mina for a combined fee of about £65 million. They also bought Lucas Digne for £18 million and Andre Gomes on loan. The signing of Bernard from Shakhtar Donetsk is considered a coup for a club of its stature.
However, performances haven't improved this season. Following their 1-3 loss to Wolves, Everton have garnered only 33 points from 25 games and lie 9th in the table, which was also the same position they finished last year. With Wolverhampton and Watford being the 2 clubs that are likely to battle it out for the 7th spot this season, I do not see the Toffees making a return to European football anytime soon.
#4 Arsenal likely to miss Champions League qualification again
Following the 3-1 loss to Manchester City, Arsenal lie in 6th place and are 3 points below the Champions League spots. With a resurgent Manchester United side under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer vying for the top-4 spot, I do not see the Gunners making a return to Champions League football.
The London club have improved under Unai Emery but may not make the cut for the European grand-stage. This could be a huge setback as their key players may leave the club in order to play Champions League football.
However, they could still qualify by winning the Europa League, which is not an easy task with the likes of Chelsea, Napoli and Inter Milan also in the tournament.
#5 The title race heats up
Everyone sees the current Premier League title chase as a two-way race, but I implore you not to forget about Tottenham Hotspur. They are currently 5 points behind Liverpool and 2 points behind Manchester City. Though Liverpool and City are considered favourites to win the league, I wouldn't write off the North London club.
Liverpool do have the tag of 'chokers' on them. For the past 10 years, there is only one team that did not go on to win the title after finishing 1st during Christmas, that team being the one and only Liverpool. The Merseyside club came infamously close in the 2013/14 season before they literally slipped(Sorry, Steven Gerrard). They also came close in the 2006/07 season.
They drew against Leicester City in the mid-week fixture and dropped the 2 points that could have defined the title race, given that Manchester City had shockingly lost to Newcastle the day before.
Another disappointing fixture against West Ham has seen Liverpool conceding another 2 points to title hopefuls Manchester City. With the Skyblues playing an extra fixture on Thursday against Everton, they have the opportunity to top the table though Liverpool would still have an extra game in hand.
It was just a month ago when Liverpool were headed to the Etihad with the probability of being 10 points ahead of Manchester City by the end of the match. That gap has been closed down to 3 and the title race is anything but over. Liverpool have to regain their momentum if they do not want to disappoint their fans come the end of May.
With 13 fixtures to be played by every side, anything is still possible in this wonderful game of football.
