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VITALITY STADIUM — Arsenal’s agonising 22-year wait for a Premier League title is finally over after Manchester City drew 1-1 at Bournemouth.

City needed to secure victory on the south coast to take the title race to the final day on Sunday, but Erling Haaland’s injury-time equaliser after Eli Junior Kroupi’s opener was not enough for Pep Guardiola’s side.

Preparation for the vital clash was far from ideal, with news breaking on Monday night that Guardiola will leave City at the end of the season, something he and the club hoped to keep under wraps until the title was decided.

Arsenal had done their part in securing a nervy victory over Burnley, edging one step closer to that elusive title crown.

The Arsenal. Your Premier League champions. pic.twitter.com/gNnfzesrhP

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) May 19, 2026

After three seasons finishing second in a row, Arsenal supporters were fearing the worst not so long ago, as City did what they usually do at the business end of a season and put together a long unbeaten run, which is now at 15 after their draw at the Vitality Stadium.

Arsenal had been eight points clear after 29 matches, only for City to overhaul that gap and climb to the summit of the table for the first time since August late last month.

But while City have dropped points, Arsenal have not buckled this time, shedding their “bottlers” moniker to put together four successive wins to pile the pressure on City as they travelled south for their do-or-die trip to Bournemouth.

In the end, it was City who wilted, ensuring Guardiola will head off into the sunset without the perfect ending to his trophy-laden decade in the Premier League.

Agitated Guardiola departs without the finale he wants

After Monday night’s news, this all felt somewhat inevitable: some closure.

City did have a shot at giving Guardiola the perfect send-off by completing the domestic treble, but not really.

The perennial bridesmaids have finally become the bride, ending the North-West’s nine-year stranglehold on the Premier League trophy. Andoni Iraola, while guiding Bournemouth into Europe for the first time in their history in the process, should also never have to buy a pint again anywhere north of Kensington Gardens as a result.

But was City’s downfall as a result of the seismic ruptures caused beforehand? You can see why the club were so desperate to keep Guardiola’s decision under wraps.

Against a Bournemouth side unbeaten in 16 league games – the longest run in Europe’s top five leagues – Guardiola looked agitated, his charges somewhat distracted.

Full-Time scenes as Bournemouth hold Man City to a 1-1 draw which confirms Arsenal are Champions! pic.twitter.com/w0qGAyARSj

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 19, 2026

A weary City, who deserve immense credit for even keeping the title race alive this long, having looked dead and buried a month ago, cannot blame themselves too much for failing to beat a team as vivacious as Bournemouth. Very few come away from here with anything. Perhaps the outcome had been preordained.

“One more year, Guardiola,” came the cries from the visiting City supporters upon kick-off. Nobody could escape the least shocking, surprise news. Some City staff were frosty with the media after the cat had been let out of the bag on the eve of such a crucial encounter at the Vitality.

All camera lenses focused on one man throughout the first half, with Guardiola’s main gesticulation a simple head shaking as City struggled to put the hosts under any pressure.

Antoine Semenyo, on his old stomping ground, did have the ball in the net, only to see the offside flag raised. Bournemouth were instead good value for their lead at the break, given to them by a super strike from young superstar Kroupi, who now has the most goals as a teenager in a debut Premier League campaign.

Read more

Analysis: Pep Guardiola: Football’s greatest manager or sportswashing stooge?

Daniel Storey: This is the end of Man City as we know it

Guardiola shuffled around his technical area, rubbing his head as he looked for one last roll of the dice. On came Rayan Cherki, Phil Foden and Savinho, but the chances just didn’t present themselves often enough.

The lively home ground celebrated every last-ditch tackle as if it was a goal. Haaland’s stoppage-time finish threatened the most Pep-like dramatic finish, but a draw was enough to set fireworks off all over North London.

Amid scenes of euphoria, one man cut a more sullen figure. Guardiola’s final season in England, while still having garnered two trophies, will end without the finale everyone at the club so desperately wanted for him.

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When Thomas Tuchel named his bumper England squad in March, the most questionable striker omission was Danny Welbeck.

Ollie Watkins could have few complaints. Out of form for Aston Villa – without a league goal in six games – call-ups instead for Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Dominic Solanke were justifiable, even if Welbeck’s own omission was unfortunate.

To borrow Michael Jordan’s The Last Dance catchphrase, Watkins took that personally, bottling the disappointment and responding where it matters most: in front of goal.

Now, a purple patch. Since that squad was announced on 20 March, Watkins has scored 10 goals in 11 games across all competitions, more than Calvert-Lewin, Solanke and Welbeck combined (eight) in that same period.

So when Tuchel names his World Cup squad on Friday, Watkins should expect to see his name. It is no longer a debate, but a no-brainer.

And it is not merely because of how Watkins has reacted in the last couple of months that makes him the ideal back-up to Harry Kane in North America, but also previous tournament experience.

If this really is a close call then Watkins edges it for his role at Euro 2024, where he delivered one of England’s moments of the tournament when scoring the winner in the semi-final against the Netherlands.

With previous few minutes as Kane’s deputy – 58 minutes in all at Euro 2024 – Watkins seized his chance to the point where some called for him to start the final. Kane was out of sorts, clearly injured, but Gareth Southgate stood by his captain, and Watkins could not have the same impact off the bench in the 2-1 defeat to Spain.

Fast forward two years and England’s prospects without Kane are scarcely worth thinking about, such has been the forward’s form for Bayern Munich this season – 58 goals, 50 games.

That also means a lot of minutes, 3,960 in total, meaning Kane will have to be carefully managed at the World Cup, particularly now there is an extra knockout game – the round of 32 – in this tournament’s new 48-team guise.

Tuchel therefore needs not only an able back-up to Kane, but someone he can rely on to start, especially if England beat Croatia and Ghana in their first two Group L (yes, there’s a Group L) games.

Watkins fits the bill for that final Group L game against Panama. His hold-up play rarely dips even if his finishing can fluctuate, while his understanding with Morgan Rogers at club level could also pay dividends on the international stage.

It could be the ideal chance to rest Kane, and give Watkins more minutes than he managed in the earlier stages of the Euros.

Add to that the March friendlies where both Solanke and Calvert-Lewin failed to make the most of their chances.

Tuchel had addressed dropping Watkins at the time, admitting he knew the qualities the Villa striker could bring, whereas the two Dominics were greater unknowns to the German.

Against Uruguay and Japan though neither shone and while they were not alone in struggling, Watkins’ stock rose by his very absence from a double-header that cooled World Cup expectations.

Read more

• Daniel Storey: England have a serious Harry Kane problem
• Michael Hincks: Nine options to replace Ben White as England right-back – and who I would pick

In the weeks since, Watkins has been integral in Villa’s run to the Europa League final, scoring three goals across both legs of the Bologna quarter-final, then scoring and assisting in the 4-0 semi-final second leg win over Nottingham Forest.

He was as close to unplayable that night against Forest as he has been all season, playing with a point to prove and silverware to chase, while in the league a return to form included two goals and an assist in the Champions League-sealing 4-2 win over Liverpool last Friday.

The timing has been perfect, and a star turn in Wednesday’s final would only further rubber stamp Watkins’ place at the World Cup.

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“He changed world football,” Xavi Hernandez said in a Sky Sports documentary when Pep Guardiola was appointed as Manchester City manager. Xavi was one of the defining players of his generation at Barcelona and perhaps the ultimate Guardiola disciple: he knew.

“He did not just change Barcelona, he changed world football,” Xavi continued, smiling. “And I think he is one of the few people who can change English football too.”

Points spectacularly proven, in every place you look. The impact at the top of English football, where Guardiola’s Manchester City usually sat, is patently obvious. And then you watch Newport County pass the ball around the back on a bitter November night, concede a goal doing it and the universality of the Guardiola effect is reinforced.

It’s easy to forget that that legacy was not always guaranteed. Guardiola arrived in England having produced brilliance but grew weary at Barcelona and failed to win the Champions League with Bayern Munich. There was a faint whiff of “Our league” exceptionalism to greet him. Guardiola’s “I don’t coach tackling” line sparked a cavalcade of snorts and shaken heads. This guy doesn’t even get English football, Jeff!

Then, the nonsense accusation was that Guardiola only took on easy projects. Risible: elite football is an extraordinarily pressurised working environment, and one in which few thrive and even few thrive for years on end. If Guardiola chose to manage elite clubs, it is because those in power at those clubs considered him to be the best in the business at managing those pressures with a monastic commitment to tactical expertise that allowed his players to flourish.

It turned out Guardiola did get English football and bent it to his own will when needed. The notion that rampant, repeated success was inevitable is obvious only in hindsight. That is what the best do: normalise exceptional performance until exceptional becomes expectation.

Never before had an English team won four straight league titles. Never before had an English team taken 100 points in a top-flight season. Never before had a manager stayed so long at a club and won a higher percentage of their matches. Whatever the result of the 115 charges case and City’s squad-building during that period, it barely alters Guardiola’s brilliance in every aspect.

And when greatness steps aside, it leaves a hole many times the size of their physical frame. The 115 charges become of even greater relevance. Depending upon the result of that case and how the saga then unfolds, Manchester City could be thrown further backwards.

This matters at a club that, with respect, has got plenty wrong. The ticket price rises that froze out sections of a loyal, local fanbase started before Guardiola’s time but his success became a robust argument for avarice. If that all falls away, City will count the cost in empty seats and it will be an issue entirely of their own making. The Harry Kane club, as Guardiola once called Tottenham Hotspur – did this not deliberately become the Pep Guardiola club?

There has clearly been some future-proofing. Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi were landmark arrivals in January. Rayan Cherki and Abdukodir Khusanov came before them and are still only 22. City have the fifth youngest starting XI in the Premier League this season, 12 months on from having the sixth oldest. Erling Haaland will likely be the fourth longest-serving player next season. That reflects an internal understanding that Guardiola wouldn’t stay forever.

Enzo Maresca too is proof of evolution chosen over revolution. Ordinarily we would need to take care on this point, but Maresca literally told reporters that he had twice spoken to City when under contract at Chelsea. Maresca was in the dugout when City won the Champions League final in 2023 and is a student of the Guardiola tactical school. It is a grab at a business-as-usual short-term future.

Read more

• Pete Hall: Pep Guardiola to leave Man City with replacement waiting in wings
• Pete Hall: Pep’s astonishing FA Cup record another reason he’s the greatest ever

But that in itself is highly risky. Moving away from Guardiola would be a mighty wrench but it would at least allow the replacement to be their own person, a defined cut-off point where one era ends and another begins. To attempt replication without an exact replica is dangerous because it allows easy comparison and contrast. “Weird,” a player’s subconscious flashes – “Pep didn’t do it quite like that.”

But then nobody else ever has. Guardiola is one of the great pillars of modern management, a reputation and personality so all-encompassing that City built the church from which he preached. Few inside the club expected him to stay so long. Nobody is sorry that he did and nobody will feel happier without him.

And now a dynasty must be rebuilt, if that’s even possible and with other uncertainties swirling around Manchester City. Certainty is no more. English football will deeply miss Guardiola, although supporters of those clubs unfortunate to collide into him may disagree today. City will miss him more. Nothing will ever quite be the same again.

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Adam Wharton faces one of the longest weeks of his life.

With the core group already in Thomas Tuchel’s mind for the World Cup this summer, Wharton has an anxious wait to learn whether he has been granted a supporting role in the England squad.

Elliot Anderson and Declan Rice have cemented themselves as Tuchel’s preferred midfield pair, with the England manager opting for physicality since taking the role in January 2025. Their boarding passes have already been printed.

But the German still faces a conundrum over who will play understudy. Sources were unwilling to commit either way, but described the decision as a close call.

Wharton is competing with Alex Scott, James Garner, Kobbie Mainoo and Jordan Henderson for a place on the plane.

Tuchel is likely to take Henderson for his experience. Mainoo offers a profile similar to Rice and Anderson, while Garner has been operating in a more advanced role. Wharton still plays in a pivot while providing something different stylistically and that variety is what England need.

The Crystal Palace midfielder, who scored his first Premier League goal against Brentford on Sunday, is an outlier. England lack progressive midfielders within the talent pool. They have very few players who can open a game up with one pass. Wharton has that idiosyncratic ability.

“Every manager has a different view on what they want from a central midfielder,” said Palace boss Oliver Glasner as he advocated for Wharton to go to the World Cup. “I don’t know exactly what Thomas Tuchel wants. He’s played most of the time with Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson, maybe a little bit more physical, more dynamic and more box-to-box.

“On the other side, if he wants somebody to accelerate the game, that is what Adam can do. If nobody sees a free player on the pitch, Adam sees him and finds him. With his one-touch passes and line-breaking passes, I think he’s one of the best – not just in England, but in the world. If you want this kind of quality, you pick Adam.”

Among the 10 midfielders who have featured for England since Tuchel took the job, Wharton has completed the most through-balls and the fewest backward passes per 90 minutes. He sits deep and controls games; spotting where a single threaded pass can put his team on the front foot. He is constantly scanning, ensuring he is immediately ready to find a pass into the channels or beyond the defence.

For Palace, there is a noticeable difference in their effectiveness without Wharton. Whenever the former Blackburn man has been absent, they find it difficult to progress the ball because of his ingenuity in possession. The influence he consistently has on Premier League games is profound.

In cagey games where England are struggling for a breakthrough and unable to break down their opposition, Wharton has the craft to breach defences. It makes him a handy alternative, particularly in the United States, where the intense heat will force Tuchel to rely on the depth of his squad.

This will be an attritional tournament, with scorching temperatures forcing to play lower-tempo football. The intensity of pressing will be determined by the heat. England will need a line-breaking passer, which Wharton excels at. He has produced seven assists this season, increasing his tally of two from last season. Meanwhile, he averages 1.6 chances created per 90 with an even greater influence on shot-creating actions.

Anderson is a more complete midfielder than deep-lying playmaker Wharton, which is why he will start. But the Palace player’s ball progression in possession is what sets him apart. Without the ball, Wharton has improved this season, but he still falls behind the rest – especially with poor timing in tackles. It is a significant factor that prevents him from starting for England, with Tuchel concerned about his lack of strength.

He is more than a progressive passer, though. Another string to his bow is his coolness, whether that is with the ball or his general demeanour. Nothing seems to bother him. He is a quiet character, but that allows him to focus on his game with little fuss.

His minutes in an England shirt have been sporadic, albeit he has been in the last two squads. In 2024, he was in Gareth Southgate’s squad that reached the final of the European Championship, but he did not feature in Germany. He has made just three appearances for the Three Lions since, with his most substantial minutes coming in a 2-0 World Cup qualifier win over Albania in November, where he partnered Rice in midfield. During the last break, he played 45 minutes in an experimental side.

Read more

• Kat Lucas: Crystal Palace’s next manager is taking an extraordinary gamble
• Bobby Manzi: Chaos couldn’t break Crystal Palace – it made them stronger

This could be the biggest summer of Wharton’s career. With the Conference League final coming up next week for Palace, he could end the season as a European trophy winner before representing his country at the World Cup.

There is also a major decision to make over his future, and missing out on the England squad could influence any choice to leave Selhurst Park. Equally, if he were to go to the tournament and impress, it would further elevate interest in him.

Regardless, as Tuchel mulls over his midfield options, Wharton’s ability to create something from nothing offers England a quality they otherwise lack.

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The cold, hard truth this summer is that everyone at St James’ Park has a price.

There are those like Lewis Hall, Bruno Guimaraes, Lewis Miley and Sven Botman who Newcastle United want to form the spine of next season’s reshaped team and are almost certain to be around.

And then there are those like Anthony Gordon, who has one foot out of the door with Newcastle haggling with Bayern Munich over a transfer fee on a move that suits both parties, and Sandro Tonali, who is yours if you get close to the Magpies’ near £100m asking price. So far on that score, no takers.

For most of the rest it will depend on the offers that come in. Newcastle need to be effective traders to rebuild their squad, so there are no sacred cows.

Where does Will Osula sit in this equation? It is a fascinating question given the trajectory the Danish striker has been on in recent months.

There is no doubt that he has taken the chance afforded to him by the uncertainty surrounding Gordon’s future and the inability of Yoane Wissa to reach the levels required. In six consecutive starts he has five goals but also the look of a striker who has what it takes to prosper in Eddie Howe’s favoured system.

His movement and understanding of the game, which looked so rudimentary when he started for an Alexander Isak-less Newcastle at Leeds United back in August, has developed hugely.

Hard work on the training ground by assistant manager Jason Tindall, who has mentored a sometimes erratic Osula over the course of the campaign, and first-team coach Graeme Jones has borne fruit in a period where he suddenly looks like a top-level striker.

The dilemma for Newcastle is this: for a club who have to become better sellers to keep the financial wheels in motion, is now the time to cash in on a player whose stock is high?

The i Paper understands that Osula does indeed have suitors, both in the Premier League and abroad.

Everton and Aston Villa have long been admirers of Osula, while interest from the Bundesliga persists. But the £30m deal Eintracht Frankfurt were proposing last summer? The feeling is it would now take nearly double that to get around the table with Newcastle.

That makes sense. Osula is only 22 and has the raw materials to get better. In terms of goals per minute, he has one every 106 minutes played – the best ratio in the Premier League.

Outperforming his expected goals (xG) significantly, it feels like he will benefit from a recruitment plan which intends to lower the age and boost the energy of a Newcastle team that has looked stale at times this season. With all that going for him, the Magpies are correct to apply a huge premium for any team interested in signing him.

As The i Paper reported earlier this year, it will be effectively “one in, one out” this summer, which means the task is to either find a buyer and take a hit on Wissa, broker the possibly unpopular sale of Nick Woltemade or reshape with what they have.

Option A – even if it has financial consequences – feels like the best route if it allows Newcastle to add another energetic forward to share the goalscoring burden with Osula and Woltemade, who looked smart in the No 10 role against West Ham.

The recruitment wheels are in motion at St James’ Park and the nature of the targets who have emerged – Monaco midfielder Lamine Camara one to watch – backs up the feeling that this will be a very different sort of transfer window on Tyneside.

Read more

• Mark Douglas: West Ham’s reckoning has arrived
• Daniel Storey: My verdict on every Premier League team after Gameweek 37

European targets, perhaps a couple of off-the-radar additions and a Premier League proven acquisition, would give Newcastle freshness, while also supporting a manager whose preference has historically been for tried and trusted.

But few expect it to be quite that easy, with plenty of competition for the likes of Camara.

A few weeks ago, the red flags were fluttering over the striker department at Newcastle. But Osula’s emergence means the prospect of a forward firesale no longer feels necessary. He has earned the opportunity to keep on improving at St James’ Park.

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A truncated Premier League weekend, but one with a little added spice after Manchester City won the FA Cup and confirmed that eighth place will qualify for Europe. That made Sunderland the big winners of the weekend, who really could qualify for Europe as a promoted club.

The other major interest was West Ham having a chance to push their noses out of the earth and put extra pressure on Tottenham. Unfortunately for them, they can’t defend and the attack isn’t really working either. Relegation will be sorted if Spurs take one more point.

Here is one piece of analysis on each of the top flight clubs who played this weekend (in reverse table order)…

This weekend’s results

• Aston Villa 4-2 Liverpool
• Man Utd 3-2 Nott’m Forest
• Brentford 2-2 Crystal Palace
• Everton 1-3 Sunderland
• Leeds 1-0 Brighton
• Wolves 1-1 Fulham
• Newcastle 3-1 West Ham

Wolves’ ray of positivity

There’s not much to hang your hat on with this Wolves squad for next season. The players Rob Edwards would like to keep are probably going to leave and the ones he would like to lose will probably be the hardest to shift.

But Mateus Mane has likely enjoyed this season; so few others can have. He is still 18 years old, has started 18 Premier League matches and on Sunday scored his second goal with a cracking finish from the edge of the box.

18-year-old Mateus Mané fires Wolves ahead against Fulham! pic.twitter.com/RQumjkO8TZ

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 17, 2026

Raw wide forwards with pace and directness typically do well in the Championship. If Wolves can persuade Mane to give them one more season and a shot at promotion, it could be the making of his career.

Burnley

Play Arsenal on Monday night.

West Ham’s defending is why they’re going down

Nuno Espirito Santo got the team shape wrong, sticking with the three-man central defence when they needed to get at Newcastle and stop them settling. But there are passages of play that define entire seasons and West Ham’s defending for the opening goal was one of them.

Mads Hermansen plays a rotten pass between two players. Jean-Clair Todibo is late to react but also makes a criminal mistake in not stopping play by any means necessary and allowing Harvey Barnes to jump past him. The collective inability not to spot the absolutely massive frame of Nick Woltemade on the edge of the six-yard box and thus giving him time and space to wait for a pass.

The defending for goals two and three were little better. This was the West Ham of Molineux in January, when they looked doomed. All the progress since has been wasted.

Tottenham

Play Chelsea on Tuesday night.

Nottingham Forest have every right to be annoyed

Hello and welcome to the latest edition of “I have no idea what the handball law is anymore”. This week, we have a bloke almost catching the ball and then playing a five-yard pass to someone who scores.

Firstly, the VAR officials clearly considered it to be a handball because they sent the referee to the screen. I can also understand in some cases why a deflection off a body part can negate the offence, which was the explanation given.

"I think that's an absolute shocker in every single way!"

Gary Neville reacts to the referee overruling VAR to allow Cunha's goal to stand. pic.twitter.com/aulQv1eKt0

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 17, 2026

But when a player literally stops the ball between his arm and body and it then drops to his feet, how on earth is that not gaining an advantage and how on earth can it matter that it is accidental? Lots of handballs are accidental!

Wharton’s Crystal Palace milestone

Palace may not have much to play for in the league, but Sunday still produced one of the moments of their season when Adam Wharton, who had waited 94 matches to score his first Palace goal, finally broke that duck.

Firstly, Wharton doesn’t look like a natural back-flipper but he did that celebration when he scored his first Blackburn Rovers goal in 2022 and he did it again on Sunday.

Adam Wharton’s mum is here in the away end and saw her son score his first goal for #cpfc.

She is now joining in her own chant. pic.twitter.com/3AOVwmVvKE

— Andrew M (@awmcs) May 17, 2026

Even better than that, Wharton’s mum was in the crowd, celebrated her son’s goal like mad and then joined in with a chant sung in her honour. Lovely stuff.

Calvert Lewin’s astonishing Leeds record

In a 26-man squad, it is quite possible that Thomas Tuchel only takes two strikers: Kane and Watkins. With Marcus Rashford likely going and capable of playing through the middle, England’s manager might consider that sufficient backup for Kane.

Which would be an enormous shame for Dominic Calvert-Lewin, because I reckon he is third in the queue. No English player has scored more goals in the Premier League this season, astonishing given we suspected that Calvert-Lewin was done at the top level. It is more than he has scored in all but one season in his career.

The MOMENT Dominic Calvert-Lewin sealed victory for Leeds! pic.twitter.com/wZInuhvThx

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 17, 2026

Here is a final fun fact: the goal that Calvert-Lewin scored on Sunday was his first winner in any match for more than two years. If three strikers go, he could be one.

Fulham’s attack must be rebuilt this summer

If you take out a 3-1 win over a rotten Burnley team at home, Fulham have now scored two goals in their last nine matches: Ryan Sessegnon against Aston Villa and the penalty against Wolves on Sunday. That is why Fulham have fallen away from the top eight and their shot at Europe.

As such, the attack must be rebuilt over the summer whether Marco Silva leaves or not.

Antonee Robinson scores as cool as you like from the spot! pic.twitter.com/ZAjZvxFbmd

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 17, 2026

Harry Wilson is the top scorer and is out of contract. Raul Jimenez is 35, looks weary and will be playing at the World Cup this summer. Rodrigo Muniz has endured a rotten season and scored one league goal. The next highest scorer after Jimenez and Wilson is Alex Iwobi on four.

Everton’s perfect Moyes season

It’s something we said fairly recently, but after boos met the final whistle of Everton’s final home game of the season and European football was taken off the table, it’s worth reflecting on just how perfect a David Moyes season this has been.

There has been good progress, because he is a good manager. There has been overachievement, a couple of really good runs and some fine results against the bigger boys: two away wins against teams that will finish in the top four.

And then just when you think something is building, there are just enough flaws and foibles to persuade you that none of the excitement was worth it. This isn’t a brilliant squad but nor is it one that should have taken three points from their last 18 available. Everything collapsed just when Everton had sight of something special.

Newcastle’s tricky dilemma

Last summer, William Osula looked certain to leave Newcastle United on a permanent deal for Eintracht Frankfurt.

If Newcastle had kept hold of Alexander Isak or signed their replacements earlier, the deal would surely have been done. With Osula scoring one league goal before the start of March, his value dropped.

Since then, Osula has scored six Premier League goals after jumping both Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa in the striker queue. Now the question is not whether Newcastle would still get the £30m from a Bundesliga club, but whether he might be worth keeping if Woltemade is now a No 10 and Yoane Wissa will be sold this summer.

Chelsea

Play Tottenham on Tuesday night.

Sunderland are the biggest winners of the weekend

Sunderland have been flying a little under the radar recently after a fast start and tricky spring. Because of the results around them and their own supreme result at Everton, they still have a shot at European football despite taking 15 points from their last 13 games. It really has been an odd Premier League season.

To put Sunderland’s achievement into context, whether they qualify for Europe or not, they were the shortest odds of any Premier League team to be relegated before a ball was kicked.

Wilson Isidor makes no mistakes! pic.twitter.com/ByaOmToNzz

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 17, 2026

If they beat Chelsea at home on the final day, they will enter the top ten of points totals from promoted clubs in the Premier League era. We had assumed that was no longer possible.

Brentford’s classic long throw goal

This has been the season of set-piece goals and, on the penultimate weekend, Brentford produced the most aesthetically pleasing example of a supposedly ugly practice.

Michael Kayode was the architect, the man with the best long throw in the country given the power and flat delivery he is able to execute. Next comes a gorgeous flick-on header from Sepp van den Berg, who rises about a foot higher than everybody else because he’s absolutely massive.

Dango Ouattara gets his second late on! pic.twitter.com/fCBKK0n7Ow

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 17, 2026

Van den Berg cannot spot Dango Ouattara, but he knows where the ball must go and Ouattara knows where he’s meant to be. There’s an overload at the back post and Ouattara is able to head home. Three touches – hand, head, head – over 40 yards, all performed so well that stopping it felt like an impossibility.

Are Brighton too predictable?

One of Brighton supporters’ criticisms of Fabian Hurzeler is that his substitutions are a little predictable, particularly in matches that are tight and when his side are coming under some pressure.

“Gomez probably comes on for Veltman around the 65th minute, at which point Kadioglu shifts over to RB,” posted @FPL_Instinctive (a tactics account that focuses on Brighton) at 1.51pm on Sunday. After 64 minutes and 30 seconds, Hurzeler brought on Diego Gomez for Joel Veltman and Ferdi Kadioglu shifted over to right-back.

This isn’t always a problem, but when Brighton then lose the game late on you do wonder whether opposition analysts are able to plan for eventualities with some certainty. It might have cost Brighton their tiny chance of Champions League qualification.

Bournemouth

Play Manchester City on Tuesday night.

Liverpool’s massive gamble

I’m not saying that Xabi Alonso isn’t entirely happy to be Chelsea’s new manager, but the last few weeks have very much felt like he was waiting to see if Liverpool would give him a call. And Liverpool have clearly chosen not to.

That must mean that Arne Slot is staying, because you wouldn’t wait until Alonso – probably the best coach they could hope to get and a good fit for the club given his own history – was off the market and then make the move, would you? Would you?

But this can’t carry on if Slot carries on losing. Liverpool have taken 44 points from their last 32 league matches. In recent weeks they look entirely shambolic defensively and are offering little in attack. And now you have a departing hero intimating that the manager is betraying the club’s attacking ideals and having his post liked by teammates.

Opportunity beckons for Aston Villa

Unai Emery has done a magnificent job this season, foolishly omitted from the Manager of the Year shortlist. Whatever happens in Istanbul – and Villa are favourites to win the Europa League – Emery has taken them back into the Champions League.

That means everything for their future because Villa do need a rebuild. The average age of the starting XI against Liverpool on Friday was 29.9 – it was the oldest team they have picked in more than 30 years. Emery has been able to rely upon dependable, experienced players who have delivered spectacularly.

Champions League football will make greater demands of an ageing squad. This season was a snapshot in time. It was also a triumph of coaching and man management. Next must come the squad building. Villa have been less good at that.

Man Utd’s chief beneficiary

Luke Shaw has just had one of the best seasons of his career, and he owes Ruben Amorim a thank you for it. Had Manchester United qualified for Europe last season, or not been absolutely dreadful in the domestic cups this season, Shaw would likely have had to play 50 matches and the injury issues may well have returned.

Instead, Shaw has played 40 times, been one of United’s highest performers and scored a lovely goal on Sunday lunchtime. I don’t think it will be enough to squeeze into the England squad, because I think Tuchel wants more of an attacking option and Shaw wasn’t in the last squad.

Luke Shaw is on the scoresheet for the first time since January 2023! pic.twitter.com/sLhUictY6g

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 17, 2026

But if United buy Shaw a decent backup option for next season, he can continue to have a lovely old time in the biggest matches.

Man City

Play Bournemouth on Tuesday night.

Arsenal

Play Burnley on Monday night.

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Newcastle 3-1 West Ham (Woltemade 15′, Osula 19′, 65′ | Castellanos 69′)

ST JAMES’ PARK — At the final whistle, the truce between West Ham’s suffering supporters and the players responsible for their almost inevitable relegation finally cracked.

With the pretence of Premier League survival all but wiped away by this insipid defeat at St James’ Park, the reckoning that has hung over the Hammers arrived.

A vitriolic chorus of “You’re not fit to wear the shirt” from the visiting fans reflected feelings that had been supressed while West Ham clung on to their top flight status.

That is surely gone now.

Taty Castellanos that is UNBELIEVABLE! pic.twitter.com/BIcNDGBB6O

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 17, 2026

Tottenham Hotspur might have been hopeless for most of this season but their revival under Roberto De Zerbi means a point from Chelsea and Everton feels fairly straightforward.

It could be all over by Tuesday night – and then imagine what the London Stadium will feel like for the final game of the season against Leeds United on Sunday. Few will be spared.

Anger will be all the more acute because this feels almost entirely self-inflicted.

West Ham’s recruitment is regarded almost as a lesson in how not to do it by Premier League peers, hundreds of millions wasted on players not good enough or brave enough to influence this relegation battle.

And the less said about a string of hopeless mangerial appointments, the better.

"Let's try to finish the season with dignity, with respect for the club"

Nuno Espírito Santo reacts after West Ham's defeat to Newcastle. pic.twitter.com/uRo4gxGvfg

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 17, 2026

The latest hire, Nuno Espirito Santo, inherited a shambles and deserves more credit than his predecessors for making the team competitive, but he was definitely culpable here.

His starting XI was all wrong – corrected, belatedly, with a switch to 4-4-2 by the time West Ham were two down – but they were oddly conservative against a Newcastle team who have looked brittle on their own turf.

His players did not seem to get the message that this was a must-win.

They began tentatively and the state of their defending for Newcastle’s opening two goals was nothing short of pathetic.

Mads Hermansen has been a calamity for most of the season and his over-hit pass was not dealt with by Jean-Clair Todibo, one of the worst of their signings at £35m.

Harvey Barnes pounced and teed up Nick Woltemade, who was granted the freedom of Newcastle to steer his first league goal of the year into the net.

A second goal owed just as much to West Ham hesitancy as Willam Osula pounced on a Jacob Ramsey through ball before steering past Hermansen.

"He can do that in a nightclub tonight in Newcastle"

Roy Keane not the biggest fan of Will Osula's dancing pic.twitter.com/DP2DRvohEd

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 17, 2026

His celebration involved whipping out a silver glove before performing a Michael Jackson dance move – and it was pretty “Bad” for West Ham.

Nuno looked like a broken man on the touchline, head bowed.

He made tactical changes and West Ham looked better but by then the damage was done.

A second goal for Osula – teed up wonderfully by Joe Willock – put the game beyond them despite the improvement.

“I have regrets,” Nuno admitted afterwards in hushed tones.

His mea culpa included the confession that “the fans were right” to say his players didn’t deserve to wear the shirt.

“A bad performance, a bad day for us,” he said. “It’s going to be a tough week ahead but we owe the fans respect to deliver a better performance.”

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West Ham briefly threatened the most unlikely of comebacks after a brilliant Taty Castellanos goal but Newcastle had enough.

They are still – just about – in the hunt for a Conference League place and had paid tribute to departing Kieran Trippier before the game.

He has been a brilliant servant, helping Newcastle survive relegation before leading them into Europe and a trophy. Exactly the sort of player feckless West Ham could do with.

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