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The Score: Chelsea’s bad boys, Man Utd’s big winner and a sour mood at Newcastle

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A very fun Premier League weekend indeed, despite everybody involved in the title race winning and everybody still in the relegation battle losing. Arsenal and Manchester City were forced to go through it during narrow wins, but the goals flowed elsewhere.

Liverpool and Manchester United were the big winners, given Chelsea and Aston Villa lost. Everton and Brentford won away to fuel unlikely European pushes while Igor Tudor and Vitor Pereira both lost their second matches in charge of haunted clubs.

And here’s to Wolverhampton Wanderers, for moving past Derby County’s record low points total and finally enjoying a night at Molineux that supporters have waited all season for.

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

  • Wolves 2-0 Aston Villa
  • Bournemouth 1-1 Sunderland
  • Burnley 3-4 Brentford
  • Liverpool 5-2 West Ham
  • Newcastle 2-3 Everton
  • Leeds 0-1 Man City
  • Brighton 2-1 Nott’m Forest
  • Fulham 2-1 Tottenham
  • Man Utd 2-1 Crystal Palace
  • Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea

Wolves’ points record nightmare is over

It seems strange to describe a home win in February as a breakout night, but that was definitely the mood at Molineux on Friday. Wolves were excellent throughout, took their chance and then defended manfully until the late breakaway added gloss.

This matters because of the mood, obviously: retaining an ability to beat higher-end Premier League teams should make everybody feel far more confident about next season in the Championship. But it also took Wolves beyond Derby County’s 11-point record low total for any English team in a three-points-for-a-win season.

Sheffield Wednesday will eclipse that, but Wolves can no longer be described as the worst team in Premier League history. For the first third of the season, they seemed unlikely to escape the moniker. Since then, they haven’t even been the worst team this season.

Burnley dealt a hammer blow to survival hopes

At 4-3 up, which Burnley were for around five minutes of VAR faffery, Burnley had a shot at staying up and Turf Moor could feel it: five points behind Nottingham Forest and a sensational comeback completed.

Ultimately, both decisions were correct. The VAR intrusion annoys me as much as it does you, but Jaidon Anthony was just offside and the ball hit the arm of a goalscorer. It does not feel fair because of the circumstances and because the original “minimum interference” mantra of VAR has been badly lost. But still: both decisions were correct.

That wounds Burnley even more than losing 3-1 would have. They had a sliver of salvation and now they have nothing. It is the story of their season again: defensive lapses, fight and resilience but ultimately falling short.

West Ham’s corner issues are becoming farcical again

Nuno Espirito Santo accepted that it sounded silly to describe West Ham’s performance as positive despite losing 5-2, but he is also right. His side had the better chances in open play and the scoreline flattered Liverpool.

The problem? West Ham are dreadful again at defending corners; each of Liverpool’s first three goals came from them. They also completed a sorry hat-trick: conceding from the first, second and third phases of a corner move.

At the end of Saturday’s action, Bournemouth had conceded the second most goals from corners in the Premier League this season with nine. West Ham have now conceded 15. It does not matter how bright you are in open play if you are playing catch-up in every game because you cannot get the basics right.

Another weekend of Nottingham Forest’s insipid nothingness

It has been Nottingham Forest’s problem all season: an inability to create clear chances and an inability to finish the ones they occasionally do create. Vitor Pereira is here because Sean Dyche lost the players, but at least then there was some degree of defensive organisation.

Suddenly Forest do not look like they have anything at all. Neco Williams and Murillo were both very poor for Brighton’s goals; if that’s a hangover from Thursday night football then Forest are in huge trouble. Without defensive solidity they have nothing at all.

And the last problem: teams can sit back against Forest and challenge them to create chances, fully confident that they will hold them at bay. When even the midfield isn’t functioning, being passed through at will, the only conclusion is that it will take West Ham or Spurs continuing to collapse between now and May for Forest to avoid the Championship.

Tudor’s team selections make no sense at Tottenham

For the second game in a row, I cannot even work out what Igor Tudor was aiming for with his team selection and shape. For the second game in a row, Spurs could have lost more heavily than the eventual end result. For the second game in a row, they should be mightily relieved that nobody else below them can win a game.

Tudor picked Solanke and Kolo Muani as a strike partnership, which made some sense, but then Solanke dropped so deep that he was ostensibly a midfielder with Kolo Muani isolated and frustrated. He picked Gallagher and Simons on the right and left of midfield, a niche strategy that gets the best out of neither.

It also left Spurs very open in central midfield; like Arsenal, Fulham were able to create clear chances simply by making one or two sensible forward passes. And if that wasn’t enough, they left Gray exposed at left-back because Simons tended to stay high up the pitch while offering nothing. That is just a mess.

Read more: The six damning signs that Tottenham look doomed to relegation

Good on Riemer for calling out Leeds’ grim boos

The only saving grace from Saturday was assistant manager Eddie Riemer choosing not to shy away from the incident, voicing his own displeasure in his post-match media interview.

After a fortnight in which Jose Mourinho committed a disgraceful dismissal of responsibility and victim-blaming over the alleged racist abuse of Vinicius Jr, good on Riemer for not taking a similar approach. Loyalty to a shirt must be overshadowed on issues greater than the importance of that shirt.

To read the full column on the booing of the Ramadan break at Elland Road, click here.

Crystal Palace suffer the misfortune of the fixture schedule

Crystal Palace knew that they would be stretched by their qualification for European competition. After all, that has been the theme of Oliver Glasner’s public rants over the last few months.

But Palace have also been done dirty by the Premier League fixture computer this season. Since 27 August, Palace have played nine league games directly after European matches. Their opponents in those nine games: Aston Villa (h), Everton (a), Arsenal (a), Brighton (h), Man Utd (h), Man City (a), Leeds (a), Wolves (h) and Man Utd (a).

Six of those nine games were against teams currently in the top eight, plus also one of the harder away trips (Leeds) and their most important home game of the season (Brighton). Only the Wolves game could be labelled a comparatively gentle fixture. That can shape a season.

Read more: The moment VAR ruined yet another Crystal Palace game

The mood is turning at Newcastle

We know that Newcastle’s summer of transfer activity was an abject failure. Nick Woltemade isn’t scoring goals. Anthony Elanga isn’t beating a man because he is a counter-attacking winger. Jacob Ramsey is improving but then he offered next to nothing in the first half of the season.

The wider issue is whether Eddie Howe can turn around a run of form that he believes can be fought by attitude and application. A dreadful run away from home has now been complimented horribly by three straight home league defeats and the defending of the manager’s position beyond the end of this season is now rightly an open-ended question.

This club wants to go to the next level. Newcastle are now closer to the bottom three than the top five. These two statements are not compatible. Howe has been let down by the club’s recruitment, but his nephew was in charge of it and that paints him with the same failure.

Xhaka back and making a difference for Sunderland

No surprise that Sunderland ended a run of four defeats in five Premier League matches as soon as Granit Xhaka returned from injury.

Regis Le Bris has spoken about managing Xhaka’s minutes – understandable with little to play for in the league bar finishing above Newcastle – but he makes such a difference that the temptation will be to start him every time.

Sunderland have played 24 games in all competitions with Xhaka starting this season; they have lost five of them. They have played seven matches without him, lost four of them and beaten only Burnley (at home) and Oxford United in the FA Cup. He does the job of two players and leads the team through example.

Welbeck hits double figures for Brighton

The last striker aged 33 or over to score double figures in consecutive Premier League seasons was Jamie Vardy. Their two careers may have started as opposites, the non-league rise vs the Manchester United academy and fall, but Vardy and Danny Welbeck are both proof that talent will always find a way.

Welbeck now needs one more goal in the final 10 games of the season to reach his highest ever Premier League return. The key lies in the management of his minutes: Welbeck has only started 18 of Brighton’s 28 games but has appeared in all but one.

Fabian Hurzeler has maintained Welbeck’s fitness and energy and in doing so refined a good striker into one that can lead the line and win games every time he is needed.

Jimenez growing into his own at Bournemouth

We have written a lot about Bournemouth’s attacking work this season, not least Rayan and Eli Junior Kroupi hitting the ground running with little experience. Far less has been said about Bournemouth’s new defenders.

So it is only right to give some love to Alex Jimenez, who had started only 14 league games in his career, mostly as a midfielder, before joining Bournemouth last summer. Andoni Iraola has used him as an attacking right-back and we are now seeing signs that he might be the next big Bournemouth player to arrive as a novice and quickly increase his value.

Against Sunderland, Jimenez made tackles and defended the right flank admirably. But it is the way he is forging a partnership with Rayan that is most exciting. Jimenez also created two chances and had three shots. The pair are aged 19 and 20; Bournemouth are at it again.

Diop epitomises the defensive depth at Fulham

Issa Diop had started two Premier League matches since October but was required due to the absence of Joachim Andersen. There have been doubts about Fulham’s squad depth in some positions – central midfield and full-back in particular – but in central defence they are sorted.

Diop was magnificent given his lack of minutes. Like Calvin Bassey – also brilliant on Sunday – they are “action” central defenders who like to be involved and enjoy stepping out to make tackles and interceptions but can also mop up behind.

Bassey is the more adventurous with the ball, which helps, while Diop stays put and acts as the protection against counter attacks. This Fulham team under this manager just makes so much sense.

Everton’s Premier League great

Last week, Jamie Carragher picked his top 10 Premier League goalkeepers of all time on Monday Night Football and Alisson was the only current Premier League player included on the list.

I would have Jordan Pickford in there for his consistency and elite shot-stopping. Pickford probably suffers from playing at Sunderland and Everton and thus has played only six matches in European competition. But he is 31, already has almost 350 Premier League appearances and has so rarely let down his clubs or country that any criticism always appears deeply misguided.

The late save against Newcastle on Saturday, flinging himself to his right and touching the ball onto the crossbar, was absolutely extraordinary. Pickford is about to go second behind Peter Shilton for the longest spell as England’s undisputed No 1 and his last 18 months have been almost faultless.

Brentford’s best hope of qualifying for Europe

Mikkel Damsgaard was excellent for large portions of last season, but he has been the one disappointment of Keith Andrews’ first season in charge, at least compared to pre-season expectations.

On Saturday, in chaotic circumstances, Damsgaard was the game’s best player. He scored more than once in a league game for the first time since June 2020 (Nordsjaelland vs Aalborg).

He had more than three shots in a game for the first time since November 2024 (Brentford vs Leicester) and provided only his third assist since October. Getting a partnership between him and Igor Thiago is Brentford’s best hope of qualifying for Europe.

What do you think I’m going to say about Chelsea?

You will never guess, but Chelsea played quite well on Sunday. Joao Pedro was as involved as any Premier League centre-forward tends to get, a young defence did its job under huge pressure, although it is hot madness that the club spent a billion pounds to have that centre-back pairing and left-back. Reece James was magnificent – he might be the best crosser of the ball in the league right now.

And then Chelsea were undone because Robert Sanchez did something stupid and because someone lost their head to get sent off. The manner in which Sanchez and Pedro Neto complained so vociferously was genuinely hilarious, but Chelsea will not deserve to get Champions League football if they cannot keep hold of their emotions.

It is now nine different Chelsea players sent off this season, two missing from a complete bad boy XI. One more – which seems fairly inevitable – and they will break the record by any Premier League team in a single campaign. It is embarrassing.

All hail Liverpool’s new set-piece kings

According to Sky Sports, Alexis Mac Allister’s goal before half-time meant that Liverpool had scored seven consecutive league goals from set pieces. Not only is that the longest run of any side this season; it is the longest since Premier League data has been collected.

That is fascinating because Liverpool were terrible at attacking set-pieces in the first half of the season. It caused coach Aaron Briggs to leave the club and Arne Slot to overhaul how his team trained for those situations. That work is now paying dividends.

“In some games, when the game is stuck and you know you can score from a set piece – which we lacked in other moments – it’s very important,” Cody Gakpo said after the game, and he is right. It is not just that Arsenal have scored so many set-piece goals this season, but that so often that has been their method to crack open a game at 0-0. This is how you get cheap points and they are often the most valuable.

Without the long-range goals, what is Aston Villa’s attack?

It did not matter much that Aston Villa were creating fewer chances closer to goal than most of the teams around them when they were scoring from outside the penalty area in almost every game. But it sure feels like it matters now.

Ollie Watkins still doesn’t look sharp enough and the full-backs still aren’t able to get high enough up the pitch often enough to be the elite chance creators Villa need. When those two things combine, Villa are far too narrow and opposition managers now understand the need to crowd them out in the centre of the pitch.

The entire attack then centres around whether Morgan Rogers can find enough space on the edge of the box to shoot or play the perfect pass. On Friday, Rogers was sloppy and thus Villa were toothless. There is pressure coming from below.

The biggest winner of Carrick’s Man Utd revolution

Another weekend during which Michael Carrick didn’t do anything special but took steps forward because Ruben Amorim made this team look so desperately poor and uninventive that the bar was pushed down to floor level.

But Benjamin Sesko – and probably Harry Maguire too – has been the big winner of the Carrick regime. He was finally trusted to start after his super-sub role, and there were periods of the first half when he did get frustrated and starved of service.

Sesko is also a target man if United need that. While Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha prefer to dribble and play one-twos, there is clear benefit to Bruno Fernandes putting expert crosses into the box for a tall striker to challenge for. That is how United won the game. That might be why they get Champions League football.

Semenyo has become the leader of Man City’s attack

This has been an odd season for the Player of the Year award. If Arsenal win the title then Declan Rice probably deserves it. Erling Haaland has apparently had an off year by his standards yet is the league’s top goalscorer and has the second most assists.

But what about Antoine Semenyo? The supposition was that it may take him time to transition from being the biggest fish at Bournemouth to being part of a different system in Manchester. Instead, Semenyo has become the leader of City’s attack.

Semenyo has scored six goals in 11 games, including three times getting the first goal in the match. He is nominally starting off the left, but there is a growing penalty box element to his game that came to the fore on Saturday evening and reminds of how Pep Guardiola curated Raheem Sterling’s game.

Raya is in the form of his life for Arsenal

I do not think it is true to say that many Arsenal starters are playing at their highest level right now. Title races do funny things to minds and bodies and the Gunners are too on edge for anything to be comfortable.

But David Raya is in the form of his life and he was the best player against Chelsea on Sunday. The save from the corner before Chelsea’s equaliser, diving backwards, was phenomenal. The one from Joao Pedro (that would have been disallowed) before Liam Delap tucked the ball away was ludicrous. Last week Raya made another disgustingly good on-the-line save too. His last few weeks have been a highlights package and he is doing so despite the defenders creaking slightly.

Raya is in a weird situation whereby he might just be the best goalkeeper in the world on current form and yet is not even first choice for his country in a World Cup year. Surely Luis de la Fuente might consider a switch?

Read more: Football needs a radical rethink if Arsenal keep winning like this

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March 01, 2026
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