Hoo boy, we actually have a title race and it has bounced back into relevance because Arsenal are tensing up all the more while Manchester City are having such wonderful fun. “We fight ‘til the end,” they chanted at Stamford Bridge and you’d have to be stupid not to believe them.

Finally, we have a magnificent race for European football. Assuming it goes down to at least eighth place, there are eight clubs within five points of making it. Which is delicious fun.

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

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

Back to panic stations for Wolves

In the build-up to Friday evening, Rob Edwards promised that Wolves “would be competitive” and we believed him. Wolves had taken seven points from their previous three league games and not lost by more than a two-goal margin since 8 December.

So this was surprising and surprisingly rotten, Wolves collapsing almost as soon as West Ham had taken the lead. It was their joint-worst result of the season (0-4 vs Man City on the opening weekend) and one of their most dispiriting performances.

For all the improvements in 2026, Edwards’ task is to maintain a half-decent mood before next season. In that context, this last stretch matters more than any other. Terrible start.

Burnley have become lame ducks

Scott Parker blamed “computers and robots” for ruling that two offside situations were in fact offside. He also stressed that Burnley have plenty of energy and endeavour but lack a little quality in the final third. Which is both perfectly reasonable but also ignores some of the flaws that Burnley could have improved.

The home record has been appalling. Burnley have not won a league game at Turf Moor for 177 days and counting. Having taken seven points from their first three in 2025-26, it’s four points from 12 games since and supporters are allowed to expect more despite the quality gap to most teams.

Parker’s tactics may have played a part. He can bemoan tight offsides and missed chances, but Burnley have had 9.28 shots per game this season (the least in the league). Without the ability to count upon clean sheets, as they did last season, Burnley have simply become lame ducks.

Nothing has changed at Tottenham

In his pre-match press conference, Roberto De Zerbi conceded that he couldn’t change too much tactically in a short period of time. Instead he would focus on the personality and attitude of his players.

So… where was that? Tottenham could consider themselves slightly unfortunate to fall behind against Sunderland, given the huge deflection off a defender’s leg. But their response to the goal was entirely abject, unable to build up territorial momentum quickly enough and then extraordinarily wasteful when Sunderland sat back.

All is not lost yet – De Zerbi has presentable home fixtures beginning next weekend. But if the supposition was that this new manager would do far more than the last new manager, the differences between Tudor and De Zerbi’s Spurs were miniscule and the end result the same.

West Ham’s spine for survival

West Ham knew that Friday night left no room for maybes. This was their most gentle fixture remaining this season. After the FA Cup exit against Leeds, Nuno Espirito Santo needed to offer a reminder that there is plenty enough in this squad to stay up. To win 4-0, vastly improving the goal difference gap to those above them, was a significant statement.

But why should we be surprised; West Ham have a dependable spine now. Mads Hermansen is back in goal and far more comfortable than he seemed in early season. Axel Disasi’s loan signing in January has made an enormous difference because there is competition for places that doesn’t include struggling Max Kilman. Up front, Taty Castellanos is busy, bullish and is now adding goals.

But don’t underestimate the old guard. Since mid-January, Tomas Soucek has started 12 Premier League matches and West Ham have only lost three (Liverpool, Chelsea and Aston Villa – all away). Of the 17 games he missed before then, West Ham won only four.

Why Forest should try two up

The long-awaited return of Chris Wood from injury presents Vitor Pereira with an interesting option.

It’s especially salient given Nottingham Forest’s inability to create clear chances for their forwards at home. The last time a Forest striker scored at home in the Premier League was Wood on the opening weekend against Brentford. A bit has happened since then.

On 65 minutes against Villa, Pereira brought on Wood but kept Igor Jesus on the pitch. Given Jesus is busy but struggles to take chances and Wood was brutally efficient last season, it’s a combination that could work if Pereira chooses to tweak his formation, Forest have to beat Burnley at home next weekend.

Leeds

Play Manchester United on Monday night.

Same old Howe, same Newcastle result

Eddie Howe can talk up his own appetite for the job and the support he has received internally, but he knows that the next six weeks are a mini audition to keep his job. Newcastle United continue to make noises about bigger, better and dominance. Howe must prove he belongs in that picture.

Sunday was the worst possible start because it proved Howe’s weaknesses. Almost all of last summer’s expensive signings were left on the bench, proof of those serious mistakes.

And what do we know that Howe struggles with? Managing leads without sitting back and inviting pressure. Newcastle have now dropped 25 points from winning positions in the league. The manager declared himself bemused by the collapse at Selhurst Park. He must be the only one still surprised.

Palace fans should give Glasner his flowers

We are very quick to criticise managers when they make mistakes. That includes Oliver Glasner, whose public displays of mutiny and announcement of his summer departure left a bad taste in the mouths of most Palace fans.

But Glasner deserves credit for his handling of Jean-Philippe Mateta following the failed move to Milan in January.

Mateta was initially kept out of the limelight, not starting a game in February or March. He started – and scored – against Fiorentina on Thursday to build up match fitness and goodwill. Mateta then won the game for Palace on Sunday. That’s excellent management.

Is this the long goodbye for Fulham?

There has been much talk of Fulham “being able” to keep hold of Marco Silva when his contract expires this summer.

But Fulham podcast Fulhamish asked for three-word post-match reviews from supporters and their answers on Saturday night were revealing: “Silva going stale”, “Let’s part ways”, “Good bye [sic] Silva”, “Time for change”.

These may merely reflect the aftermath online anger of a defeat, but it’s still interesting. Fulham have failed to score in four of their last five matches, have dropped points against West Ham and Forest and tumbled out of the FA Cup to a Championship side at home. Silva has been magnificent here, but how this season ends really matters.

Bournemouth’s next attacking sensation

The focus understandably lingered long upon what Bournemouth’s victory at the Emirates meant for their opponents, but Andoni Iraola is creating magic again.

This win took Bournemouth to 12 games unbeaten in the Premier League, their longest ever streak. And this club sold its best attacking player in January.

Their next attacking sensation might well be Eli Junior Kroupi. His goal on Saturday means that Kroupi has scored 10 Premier League goals as a teenager from just 36 shots and – a ludicrous – 17 shots on target. He’s also the youngest player to reach 10 in a debut Premier League season for more than 25 years.

Sunderland’s bad boy absolutely deserves a ban

Sunderland striker Brian Brobbey can consider himself incredibly fortunate not to receive a second yellow card for his push on Tottenham defender Cristian Romero. It would be no surprise if the Football Association chose to charge him for dangerous, reckless play.

You can argue – with some logic – that this type of incident happens all the time. Players wrestle for the ball and push opponents while doing so. But Brobbey was never going to get there and must have seen the potential collision.

It’s an outcome-based scenario (on the vast majority of occasions nobody gets hurt), but so what?If you push a player away from the ball and they get hurt, that’s on you.

Hurzeler states Brighton’s European ambition

In a landscape where managers typically refuse to make any statement at all for fear of being tripped up, it was refreshing to hear Fabian Hurzeler say after the win at Burnley that the ambition had to be qualifying for Europe.

Hurzeler has also got a handle on his squad again. Players are no longer being routinely picked out of position, Brighton seem capable of absorbing opposition pressure without conceding and there is far less of the powderpuff attacking of the winter.

Fun fact: the Seagulls have more points in their last six matches than any other team in the division.

Comebacks define Moyes’ second era at Everton

If there is one thing to define Everton’s battle to qualify for European football way ahead of anyone’s expectation, it is their ability to squeeze points out of adversity. As Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall said at the end of Saturday’s game, if you aren’t going to win then make sure that you do not lose.

In 2023-24, the last full season before David Moyes came back, Everton took a frankly miserable four points from losing positions despite trailing in 19 of their 38 matches. In 2024-25, Everton took 12 points from losing positions but seven of those came from February onwards (after Moyes had taken over).

And this season, Everton have taken 16 points from losing positions. Whatever your criticisms of Moyes, he has always been able to produce teams that excel when required to reflect his own personality. Fire up the Moyesy in Europe dance again.

Brentford’s player of the year contender

He’s likely to miss out to the Arsenal and Manchester City cohort, but Igor Thiago should be in the conversation for the Premier League Player of the Year award. Since 2020, only six players had scored more than 20 goals in a Premier League season: Isak, Haaland, Salah, Palmer, Kane and Son.

Thiago has joined that club with six matches of his league season remaining. Last July, you could get 250-1 on him being the top scorer this season.

Now he’s competing alongside Haaland and he doesn’t even play for an elite club. That deserves serious recognition, given his injury history and his tireless work to get back to this position.

Chelsea have no defence for these standards

There are myriad ways to epitomise Chelsea’s mismanagement; Sunday offered a glaring snapshot into another. City’s second goal was created by Rayan Cherki, a magician by any measure, but it was scored by Marc Guehi. Guehi ran towards the away end at Stamford Bridge like a man not used to arrowing shots into the bottom corner. You can forgive that.

“Marc Guehi is a Blue; he hates Chelsea,” that away end sang to taunt those glum faces around them. Which probably isn’t true, but does allude to Guehi’s own history. He was sold by Chelsea for £18m in 2021, going to Crystal Palace to develop and become one of the best central defenders in the country.

Why is that so relevant? Because of the way Chelsea were cut open so easily as soon as City upped the tempo on Sunday. Because of the space Guehi found for himself for the second goal and how limp the marking was for the first.

So far this season, Chelsea have used nine different central defensive combinations: Acheampong and Chalobah. Chalobah and Tosin, Chalobah and Hato, Acheampong and Badiashile, Fofana and Chalobah, Tosin and Badiashile, Chalobah and Badiashile, Chalobah and Sarr, Hato and Fofana. It was the latest of those pairings on Sunday.

There are reasons to fear such change even if all the options are of peak age and good enough for a club that has spent a billion pounds and has supposed title ambitions now or soon. But when none of those players are as good as the one you sold on the cheap, it becomes a terrible look for everyone involved.

Liverpool’s fast starts have been the sorry exception

Although they took until the 36th minute to score their opening goal against Fulham, Liverpool finally showed some intent in the first throes of a match. Their five attempts in the opening 20 minutes equalled their league record in 2025-26.

It’s where Liverpool have fallen painfully short during their title defence. They have scored only four goals in the first 20 minutes of matches, a total higher than only Wolves and Sunderland. It’s particularly surprising given Liverpool’s successful 2024-25 strategy of taking the lead and then controlling matches.

This is the energy Liverpool need on Tuesday night. The only way they will overhaul Paris Saint-Germain is by starting furiously, scoring early and creating doubt. There is nothing to lose and it may well be Arne Slot’s last chance to keep his job beyond the summer.

Aston Villa’s starting XI shows the short-term need

Aston Villa have two chances to reach the Champions League and it would be no surprise if they assured it through both means. A decent point after Thursday exertions that would have been three had they taken one of three decent opportunities in the second half.

But I wanted to pick out something that shows why making the Champions League is so crucial here. We know that spending will be limited this summer and that Morgan Rogers may have to be sold. So it’s interesting that the starting XI against Forest was their oldest in a Premier League game since March 2001.

This is why everything must happen now. This squad is reaching the end of its peak – Watkins, McGinn, Mings, Martinez, Digne, Barkley, Torres. The money needs to come in for it to be rebuilt gradually.

Man Utd

Play Leeds United on Monday night.

Cherki helps Man City make a statement

It is 3-0 to the visitors at Stamford Bridge on an afternoon so sunny you could believe that it is late May. The celebrations in the away end could convince you of it too: Manchester City fans celebrating a statement victory like it’s a coronation.

“Are you watching Arsenal?” those from Manchester crow, and you’d have to imagine that they had probably switched off several minutes earlier when the contest ceased to exist. On the front row, one supporter had a plastic bottle with the Arsenal crest on the side, waving it towards the cameras. As visual metaphors go, it’s a little on the nose.

Anyone of Arsenal persuasion watching beforehand will have seen a team currently capable of doing what they are not; shifting through the gears with frightening ease. The first half was perfunctory and a little dull. Erling Haaland took no shots, had no touches in Chelsea’s box and had the fewest in total of any player on the pitch.

Cut to 30 minutes later and a chasm between one team quickly perfecting a new tactical identity and one that edges closer to its own ignominy under a manager who shouldn’t be here. Near Liam Rosenior, Pep Guardiola applauded two goals and looked astonished at the other. Him and us both.

Cherki was the architect because how could anyone not be with those dancing feet and that insouciant attitude towards pressure? It doesn’t always work because magic isn’t famed for its consistency, but there are few players in the world that you would be happier giving the ball to. There are even fewer who you would want to watch more when they get it.

City have now won 29 of their 32 league matches in April under Guardiola. They are the kings of fighting season because they know winning now means you win twice: once for yourselves and once for the pressure you put on the rest.

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Arsenal’s obvious problem

It’s something that I mentioned in this column on Arsenal last week, but almost all of Mikel Arteta’s discussion about his team’s response to adversity is to talk up emotional characteristics: “Fire in the belly”, “Look in the mirror”, “poison in the tummy”.

But does any of this actually help? Arsenal’s obvious problem is not that they have no concept of what is required, but that the strategy itself is flawed. And if you focus on the emotion rather than the tactics, you make it more likely for players to tense up than relax.

Arsenal created 0.19 open play xG against Bournemouth; that is the problem. They have become so good at – and so reliant upon – set pieces that opposition managers can prepare one-dimensionally: stop them and you have a decent chance of stopping Arsenal. Arteta might still win the league doing it, given the gap, but it’s going to be a tough watch.

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