Liverpool continue their title march, but it’s the race for Champions League football that will keep us transfixed until May. There are at least seven clubs vying for third, fourth and fifth and this was a weekend on which several made a giant step forward.
Nottingham Forest beat Manchester City in the early game to overcome a recent stutter and suggest that they are going nowhere. City themselves are in danger of being caught by the upstarts – Brighton and Bournemouth – after they both won this weekend.
Also back in the mix are Aston Villa, who won at Brentford, and Chelsea, who followed up an easy win against one of the bottom three with a laboured 1-0 victory over another. It’s not pretty from Enzo Maresca’s side, but they are now two points ahead of City.
You’re not going to believe this, but the bottom three all lost. Let’s meet again next week.
This weekend’s results
Saturday 8 March
- Nott’m Forest 1-0 Man City
- Brighton 2-1 Fulham
- Crystal Palace 1-0 Ipswich
- Liverpool 3-1 Southampton
- Brentford 0-1 Aston Villa
- Wolves 1-1 Everton
Sunday 9 March
- Chelsea 1-0 Leicester
- Tottenham 2-2 Bournemouth
- Man Utd 1-1 Arsenal
Liverpool
Another Liverpool win (albeit with more tension than expected), another step towards the league title, another day of Mohamed Salah making himself more statistically significant in Liverpool folklore.
Salah is now outright third in the list of Liverpool goalscorers with 243, having moved ahead of Gordon Hodgson. Only those two pillars remain, Ian Rush and Roger Hunt. A new contract would allow Salah to catch the latter. Does that seem more likely than three months ago?
More impressively in the current context, Salah also moved to 44 goal involvements for the league season (27 goals and 17 assists in 29 appearances). The two penalties against Southampton drew Salah level with Thierry Henry (2002-03) and Erling Haaland (2023-24) for the record in a 38-game Premier League season.
Andy Cole (1993-94) and Alan Shearer (1994-95), both with 47 and both for Newcastle United, hold the unqualified single season record in the Premier League. Even if Liverpool wrap up the title early and rest Salah for Champions League assignments, he is going to destroy that record. The first half-century is on.
League table
Arsenal
With Arne Slot disappearing over the horizon with the Premier League title in his hands, Arsenal had Manchester United right where they wanted them.
In this graveyard of lost souls, misery is the name of the game. Having conceded a poor equaliser with 16 minutes left, everyone in attendance at Old Trafford anticipated worse was to follow – it always does.
With Arsenal struggling to create any openings of note – a defensive midfielder leading the attack once more – Mikel Arteta had an 82-cap England forward on the bench to turn to.
As the tracksuit tops came off for his final roll of the dice, Raheem Sterling stayed put, watching on as a left-back, Kieran Tierney, was thrown on instead.
There is understood to be no fallout between manager and Sterling, just a lack of belief in the aging legs of one of England’s most successful homegrown stars.
But it remains utterly bizarre, to a wider audience, with Slot strolling off into the sunset whistling Queen’s classic celebration jingle, that any manager could make that call, no matter what stage of decline Sterling finds himself in.
Those who are put through the Arsenal wringer on a yearly basis, however, were not too surprised with Arteta’s decision. And it is that point that could well be the beginning of the end for Sterling as a Premier League force.
The more level-headed analysts out there know the fundamental flaw in Arsenal’s campaign has been their injuries to key attacking players, at a crucial juncture. No desperate January signing could have placated their peril.
Arsenal started the campaign with a strikeforce that had plundered 91 goals last term. Take out Manchester City’s usual majesty and they would have won a first league title in 21 years, easily.
Take out half of those hitmen and Arsenal never stood a chance. Sterling was brought to north London for such an eventuality.
To see him overlooked again should be of real concern. He would not be the first Premier League marquee name to see his career peter out prematurely – Wayne Rooney ages every time you blink – but to see Tierney head out onto the field, when Arsenal were beyond desperate for a winner at Old Trafford, cannot sit well.
The tiresome narrative will be that a lack of striker, or investing in one in January, has ensured Arsenal remain agonisingly the Premier League’s nearly men.
But they have one. The issue is the manager doesn’t trust him, even in his and his team’s hour of need. By Pete Hall
Nottingham Forest
Ola Aina was bent over understandably exhausted when Morgan Gibbs-White played a worldie of a ball over the top for Callum Hudson-Odoi.
It was the pass that led to the goal that solidified Nottingham Forest’s Champions League aspirations, and was rightly praised, but the vital interception beforehand deserves just as much credit, with Aina – a contender for their player of the season – racing back to dispossess Omar Marmoush 83 minutes deep into a game of football that Nuno said had turned into “basketball”.
At the end, it was end to end, while Aina’s fitness levels were seemingly endless too, the full-back having already pocketed Jeremy Doku to the point Pep Guardiola moved his winger to the opposite side for the second half.
This was a sign Aina is more than Champions League ready, having not only relished the battle against Doku but winning it significantly.
Beyond his evident quality, Aina appears to be an infectious character too. He delights fans with his Snapchat updates and speaks with a refreshing honesty that has been media trained out of so many Premier League players.
For this season, he was the darling of TNT Sports too, speaking to Rio Ferdinand on the pitch before the match and afterwards with Hudson-Odoi.
On both occasions his energy was clear to see – “we make sure [morale] is always high” – and when coupled with his ability to shut-out the liveliest of wingers, this evident chemistry that he works hard on fostering is what is also carrying Forest to the promised land.
Every club needs an Ola Aina. By Michael Hincks
Chelsea
Last season, this would have been a Cole Palmer game, an exhibition of his airy ruthlessness, like beating opponents to death with candy floss. Across five matches against promoted clubs last season, he scored or assisted 11 of Chelsea’s 13 goals.
Of course they were dependent on his maverick genius, but he didn’t mind. He enjoyed the adoration and veneration, the whiplash transition from bit-part prodigy-in-waiting to burgeoning deity in a club desperate to find their next god. This was Palmer’s Chelsea, and increasingly his world. Jamie Carragher called him the best player in the Premier League. There were days he might have been right.
He was supposed to be immune to the sheer Chelsea-ness of it all, but has not scored or assisted for nine games. Much of the talk in 2024 was of a man capable of ignoring the weight of the world, but now it is gradually crushing and restricting him. He occasionally has the strained look of a single father to 10 kids who just won’t do what he says.
But ultimately he looks bored of holding Chelsea together with the sheer force of extraordinary talent, being double-marked most weeks because he is so unquestionably the most dangerous player. A man who depends on invention and inspiration looks burned out.
For Chelsea, the short-term effects of this are damaging, but the long-term repercussions could be catastrophic. Unless he is provided a cast of equals, or even functional peers, this could be the period the club looks back on as the trigger for a grand and destructive exit. Whatever Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali might hope, an eight-year contract won’t stop someone who really doesn’t want to be here. By George Simms
Read more: Cole Palmer is straining under the weight of Chelsea’s directionless football
Man City
Despite the defeat, talk of City’s decline feels greatly exaggerated. They have the players, they have the depth, and in the shouting, gesturing, face-palming, hands-on-head, head-in-hands coach that is Guardiola, they have someone who still cares deeply.
And while they may be out of Europe, and may have finally relinquished their grip on the Premier League, that is something that should strike fear in City’s rivals. Despite this season to forget, despite the 130 charges hanging over them, they are being led by a coach who is still willing to give it his all and continue this project despite having won it all as well.
Guardiola’s extension was the biggest indication of that, but his demeanour in the big losses that have followed speaks as much about his determination – to the point where visible scratches have led to fears over his actual wellbeing.
He cares – so much so that visible marks have led many to the point of worry – and like the unwavering scientist of the sprot that he is, he continues to experiment too.
The fact therefore that one of the greatest-ever footballing minds has months to do so without the pressure of a title race or a Champions League to go after, well that could only serve to tee them up perfectly for the next season.
Not forgetting, also, that there’s still an FA Cup to win. What other clubs would give for a so-called failure of a season which could yet end with a trophy and a finish inside the top four. By Michael Hincks
Brighton
Brighton’s season is quickly being saved and supercharged and it’s being fuelled by their work in the opposition penalty area. We’re all well aware of Danny Welbeck’s glorious purple patch. But it’s worth noting that we have also seen the best of Joao Pedro in recent weeks. He has three goals and two assists in his last four games.
Pedro has slightly suffered this season. He’s clearly pretty versatile, which means he has been played behind the striker and even in central midfield. The form of Welbeck – and Fabian Hurzeler wanting to play a single central striker because he loves his wingers – has limited starts too.
I think there’s also something in Brighton not wanting to put too much pressure on Pedro. They have a history in the Premier League of strikers not really working out after bright starts. Forcing a new signing to carry the goal threat isn’t fair.
Over the last few weeks, Hurzeler seems to have found the right balance. Welbeck has been magnificent as a substitute, which helps. So too does Brighton’s progression in the FA Cup that makes using Welbeck as a sub in every game to protect him physically. Pedro can lead Brighton to Europe over the next two months.
Aston Villa
A 1-0 win that felt very significant to Aston Villa supporters and with good reason. Firstly, Villa’s form after Champions League matches had been so poor this season that extended progression in that competition looked like it might ruin any chance of qualifying for the Champions League or Europa League through their league position. The notion of Unai Emery focusing only on Europe and the FA Cup seemed perfectly reasonable.
That changed with the win at Brentford because, combined with City losing to Forest, it pushed Villa back into that top-five conversation. Six of their next seven league games – Forest, Brighton, Newcastle, Fulham, City, Bournemouth – are against teams around them. That’s what you want when you’re playing catch-up.
The method of the victory mattered too. Emery rested Emi Martinez and Marco Asensio – “muscle pain” – ahead of the Club Bruges second-leg in midweek. The sight of Robin Olsen in the side might have caused supporters to wince. In his previous eight appearances, Villa had conceded 24 goals.
Instead, Olsen was reliable and made some decent saves. Villa kept only their fourth clean sheet of this league season. This column has mentioned before that this failure had undermined their chances of a second consecutive top-four finish. This was a good time to find some defensive resilience.
Bournemouth
The decisive moment in the game was in the 73rd minute. From one of countless Bournemouth turnovers, Justin Kluivert, superb in and out of possession all afternoon, raced through on goal and smashed a low strike past Guglielmo Vicario.
It fizzed off the base of the post and kept Tottenham clinging on. Bournemouth were as brilliant as Spurs were mediocre and warranted a win. Greater accuracy and luck in that moment would have rewarded their efforts.
Both Postecoglou and Iraola have been employed in their current roles for the same amount of time, but Bournemouth looked far better coached than Tottenham did. Their press was unabating and coordinated; their interplay slick and quick. By Oliver Young-Myles
Newcastle
Play West Ham on Monday night.
Fulham
A defeat that pushed Fulham down the queue for European football (through league position, at least) and provokes two, interrelated, conclusions:
1) It is remarkable how important Sasa Lukic has become to the performance of this team, demonstrated best in his absence on Saturday. Marco Silva picked a central midfield pairing of Sander Berge and Andreas Pereira. Fulham instantly lost control of the midfield.
Pereira averages just over one tackle per 90 minutes played this season; Lukic averages more than anyone else in Fulham’s squad. Sometimes a match can be defined by a simple change that should be like-for-like and isn’t.
Silva went back to three at the back and tried to soak up pressure and then counter, but Fulham were wasteful on the break. Emile Smith Rowe has two goals and no assists in his last 13 league games and was the guiltiest party on Saturday.
2) Fulham are paying for the lack of investment in midfield since Joao Palhinha left. Lukic has been excellent, but even he doesn’t replicate the dual-purpose role of Palhinha. It was telling that Harrison Reed didn’t start on Saturday, perhaps evidence that Silva doesn’t fully trust him.
The arrival of Willian to provide competition for Smith Rowe, and his own stuttering form over the last few months, suggests that the most expensive signing of last summer should have been another central midfielder rather than an attacking wide player. Fulham fans would probably point out that, given the rising ticket prices, both might have been nice.
Crystal Palace
Dean Henderson certainly took his time to find his natural home. He turns 28 this week and, before this season, had only 84 Premier League starts. That was ludicrous for a goalkeeper of his ability. It also took him time to nail down a first-team place at Selhurst Park.
Henderson won Palace the game against Ipswich, just like he’s been doing all season. Post-shot expected goals is not a perfect measurement of a goalkeeper’s ability, but of those who have played 20 or more Premier League games this season, Henderson ranks highest for shots “saved” by that measure.
Henderson is also far ahead of any other English goalkeeper in that ranking. Jordan Pickford has hardly had a bad season, and deserves to keep his England place under Thomas Tuchel, but Henderson deserves to be second-choice (ahead of Aaron Ramsdale). If England start their qualifying campaign quickly, Henderson merits some competitive action before the end of this year.
Brentford
Probably the strangest season of any Premier League club. Between the start of the season and the end of November, Brentford played seven Premier League home games and took 19 points from a possible 21, more than any other club. They played six away games and took one point from a possible 18. No club took fewer.
Since the end of November, Brentford have played eight Premier League home games and taken five points from them; only the bottom three have taken fewer. Brentford have played seven away games and taken 13 points ; only a few clubs can beat that.
Everything that we learned about Brentford over the first half of the season has been debunked since. If it’s unfathomable to us, imagine how Thomas Frank feels as he desperately tries to fix one problem without causing another.
I’d also add – because I think Frank deserves criticism for it – that Brentford’s form in general has been patchy since they made significant changes for their Carabao Cup quarter-final and did exactly the same when tumbling out of the FA Cup. In their 12 league games since the Newcastle loss, West Ham and Palace are the only teams outside the bottom three Brentford have beaten.
There was no chance of Brentford being relegated then. They sacrificed a shot at a particularly open FA Cup draw for the sake of nothing.
Man Utd
Ruben Amorim is adamant he has one way to play. He has been a broken record on the subject since he arrived on our shores. Despite the results being so much worse than anyone anticipated, you can see what he is trying to do most weeks – to albeit limited success.
Yet, Manchester United’s best results in his short and tumultuous time in England have come about as a result of an anti-Amorim approach, the one he is at pains to insist goes against the very footballing principles that got him to United in the first place.
Frustrating better opposition – Liverpool at Anfield, Arsenal at the Emirates, Manchester City at the Etihad – has brought Amorim his most memorable moments so far.
On each occasion, United have been happy to sit in the low block – a dagger right through the heart of Amorim’s public persona. Then, when top quality adversaries have been frustrated, United have been able to break and create problems of their own, with limited possession.
To do so for such long periods of so many games, whatever Amorim doth protest in public, the players are sent out with a game plan to adhere to doing just that.
Siege mentality had very much taken over Old Trafford on Sunday. After protests against the Glazer family ownership, with numbers topping 5000 marching down Sir Matt Busby Way voicing their discontent, had died down, supporters had plenty more to grumble about inside the stadium, with United putting on a customary limp first half display against an Arsenal side struggling to create much of note.
But after Bruno Fernandes’s superb free-kick broke the deadlock on the stroke of half time, further dispelling the myth there is anyone even close to the Portuguese magnifico’s influence around these parts, Amorim’s secret system, the United boss’s very own last resort, came into play.
The hosts were the better team in the second half, even after Declan Rice had pegged the hosts back with a well-taken equaliser, having been content to sit deep and let the visitors have all of the ball.
Fernandes was beating his chest after winning tackles. Blocks were celebrated like World Cup triumphs, with supporters, back on side, lapping up a virile atmosphere. It was working.
Amorim has taken plenty of flack for his lack of willingness to adapt. But even though David Raya’s brilliance denied United all three points late on, Amorim, safe in the knowledge United cannot go toe-to-toe with the best the Premier League has to offer, still proved he can deviate from his high pressing 3-4-3 approach to reasonable success.
Just don’t tell anyone, OK? By Pete Hall
Tottenham
Tottenham are enduring the sort of regression that they were tipped to last season after Harry Kane’s move to Bayern Munich.
According to Opta, Spurs are more likely to finish in 13th place than anywhere else, which would represent their worst return since 2003-04.
Tottenham’s campaign – and by extension, Ange Postecoglou’s future – hinges on Europa League success, and the second leg against AZ Alkmaar on Thursday loomed large over this fixture. They will need to improve markedly even to beat the Eredivisie’s sixth-best team.
Fans are running out of patience with Angeball, and it seems like the man behind the idea is running out patience with them too.
“At 2-0 down it would have been very easy, particularly with the atmosphere as it was, for the boys to just let the game get away from us,” he said. “But credit to them they found a way to get back into the game and we got something out of it.” By Oliver Young-Myles
Everton
Nobody is going wild about a 1-1 draw against a Wolves side who were probably better than Everton on the balance of play, but on Saturday evening David Moyes made it eight games unbeaten. That’s a record no Everton manager since Ronald Koeman (in February 2017) has managed.
And that’s the point, right? This was a vitally important fixture for Wolves because they remain haunted by the prospect of Leicester or Ipswich finally getting their act together, but it wasn’t for Everton. It seemed unthinkable two months ago, when Sean Dyche was sacked, that league games in March could be perfunctory to the point of meaninglessness.
That is what Moyes has done. Everton are playing out the season. That is a privilege.
Moyes’s own position here, not universally commended at the time of his appointment, also feels entirely natural already. Why even were Everton persevering with Dyche when the results were so poor, the entertainment so lacking and the alternative so obvious and available?
This is not luck; that is important to point out. During this eight-game unbeaten run, Everton have played form teams (Brighton, Crystal Palace and Liverpool), big clubs who would have expected to beat them (Tottenham, Manchester United) and clubs fighting for their own survival (Wolves, Leicester). They have had a higher xG than their opponents in seven of those eight games (the exception being vs Palace, when Everton still won 2-1).
In their final five league games under Dyche, Everton “lost” on xG. They have picked up 16 points in their last eight under Moyes. They picked up one extra point in 19 league games under Dyche this season.
West Ham
Play Newcastle on Monday night.
Wolves
“He [Matheus Cunha] is very important for us, as he can do special things, in a moment he can decide a game, but the most important thing is the team,” Pereira said after the draw at Wolves. “We showed today we have a team. The team showed the confidence to try and win the game with this spirit.”
That’s lovely, but creativity is as important as spirit and Wolves badly lacked it against Everton. They would likely have won the game with Cunha and it is entirely his fault that he was not available. This was also one of Wolves’ more winnable home games.
If Cunha’s ban is extended, news that we are expecting after the Football Association charge, then he will miss Wolves’ away trips to Southampton and Ipswich and another winnable home game against West Ham.
They may not define Wolves’ season because I’m not convinced that either Leicester or Ipswich will collect enough points to put serious pressure on them. But a six-point cushion is clearly not comfortable when you have the clubs below you to play. Thank you Cunha – Saturday proved that you might have given us a relegation battle.
Ipswich
A match to tell the story of Ipswich’s season as a whole. They competed for long periods, matching an established Premier League opponent. They then fell short through an inability to finish their own chances and because they made an individual error of positioning, poor decision or both.
Of Ipswich’s last 13 league defeats, eight have been by a single goal. If half of those had been draws, they would have a very good chance of staying up. That is what is most galling for supporters: so near, so far. (It’s also worth pointing out that Crystal Palace had an xG of 3.4 on Saturday).
Finally, Ipswich conceded a late goal – nothing new there. Ipswich have had results defined – wins into draws, draws into defeats – by goals in the 82nd minute against Palace, the 87th minute against Southampton, the 87th minute and 90th minute against Bournemouth, the 90th minute against Leicester and the 90th minute against Brentford. This is how belief gets killed and only increases the sense of fine margins going against them.
It’s been a problem for each of the promoted clubs this season, perhaps evidence of just how strong the bench options are in the Premier League. Ipswich, Leicester and Southampton have conceded 34 goals between them in the final 10 minutes alone.
Leicester
If this is your turning point, you really have to worry. Ruud van Nistelrooy spoke positively after defeat to Chelsea about his side showing “a lot of heart, a lot of spirit” in a “really good” performance”. There was talk among fans of this showing their side are capable of Premier League survival and capable of going toe-to-toe with the top flight’s best.
To which I’d charitably reply: a nice idea, but no. This was at least a heartening defensive performance, albeit against a disjointed and blunt Chelsea, and still involved Victor Kristiansen giving away a mindless penalty, and also only making six passes all match from left wing-back.
Van Nistelrooy debuted a 3-4-2-1 formation, with Luke Thomas a makeshift centre-back and Patson Daka and Bilal El-Khannouss behind Jamie Vardy. He suggested post-match this could be a permanent change, so impressed was he with their three shots on target and fifth game without scoring. Leicester never looked close to actually breaking that streak but equally always seemed destined to concede, despite dedicating all their mental and physical resources to stopping goals.
This was a mild improvement framed as revolution, but still ended with a 12th loss in 13 league games against opposition who looked equally vulnerable. And unbelievably, somewhere within all this is the fact they do still have the fixtures to stay up. Southampton and Ipswich both have to visit the King Power, while Leicester have to visit Wolves, only currently six points ahead. Stranger things have happened.
But to take advantage of those games requires scoring goals, something they appear incapable of achieving. Van Nistelrooy is right to protect a shoddy and understaffed defence, but there is no point if Vardy remains destined to chase after balls he will never reach until his contract expires this summer. By George Simms
Southampton
There’s not a huge amount more to say about Southampton’s season (and yes, the writer of this weekly column is a little worried that there is still more than a quarter of that season left), so let’s instead pass comment on the desperate performance of the promoted clubs this season.
The worst record of any promoted clubs in Premier League history was set last season (you probably aren’t surprised to learn), when Burnley, Luton and Sheffield United took 66 combined points. As it stands, the current bottom three are on 43 points, putting them on course to fall comfortably short of that record. Ten of those 43 points have been earned in fixtures between each other.
This is a topic for a more lengthy examination (and I’m waiting for one of my Doing The 92 pieces for that), but this presents the Premier League with a serious problem. You need competition for your league to maintain peak interest and that must exist throughout the division.
It also, in the case of Southampton, demands that we must celebrate those supporters who made the trip from the south coast to Anfield on Saturday. When you know what the result will be, know how long it will take and know how much it will cost and still do it anyway, you prove your dedication. Or maybe just addiction.
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