Saturday, 5 April 2025

Reds go marching on

 

With only 8 match days remaining, Liverpool seem destined for glory while at the other end Southampton are hanging onto the Premier Leage by a thread.

Week 21 – In midweek matches Brentford came from 2 down at home to Manchester City to cancel out Phil Foden’s double with a leveller in stoppage time and Chelsea needed a goal in added-on time to draw 2-2 with their visitors from Bournemouth while Liverpool drew 1-1 at Nottingham Forest. Alex Iwobi scored twice for Fulham who lost 3-2 at West Ham while a double from Alexander Isak netted twice in front of his home crowd as Newcastle defeated Wolves 3-0 and Crystal Palace returned from Leicester with a 2-0 win. Tottenham took the lead but lost 2-1 at Arsenal and Aston Villa were 1-0 winners at Everton while on Thursday evening Brighton struck twice at Ipswich and Amad Diallo bagged a late hat-trick as Manchester United came from behind to send Southampton home 3-1 losers.

Week 22 – Justin Kluivert scored a hat-trick as Bournemouth shocked their hosts Newcastle 4-1 while Aston Villa came from 2 down to earn a draw at Arsenal and there were 2-0 away wins for Liverpool for whom Darwin Nunez scored twice in stoppage time at Brentford, Crystal Palace with a double for Jean-Philippe Mateta at 10-man West ham and for Fulham at West Ham. On Sunday, Brighton triumphed 3-1 at Manchester United while Southampton and Tottenham both conceded 3 times before the break but clawed their ways back to 3-2 defeats away at Nottingham Forest and Everton respectively and Ipswich were thrashed 6-0 at home to Manchester City for whom Phil Foden netted a brace. On Monday evening, Chelsea beat Wolves 3-1 at Stamford Bridge.

Week 23 – Dango Ouattara scored a hat-trick at home as Bournemouth battered high-flying Nottingham Forest 5-0 while a double from Alexander Isak helped Newcastle come from behind to win 3-1 at Southampton and Ipswich lost 4-1 at Liverpool with Cody Gakpo scoring twice for the Reds. With both teams reduced to 10 players a single gave gave Arsenal a win at Wolves and Everton enjoyed the same result at Brighton while Chelsea took an early lead but lost 3-1 at Manchester City. On Sunday Tottenham scored first but lost 2-1 at home to lowly Leicester City and Brentford were 2-1 winners at Crystal Palace while West Ham drew 1-1 at Aston Villa and one goal gave Manchester United 3 points at Fulham.

Week 24 – Brighton were demolished 7-0 at Nottingham Forest with Chris Wood claiming a hat-trick while a Beto brace embarrassed Leicester 4-0 at Everton and Mohamed Salah scored both goals for Liverpool at Bournemouth. Newcastle took the lead but suffered a 2-1 loss at home to Fulham while Southampton were 2-1 winners at Ipswich and Aston Villa lost 2-0 at Wolves. On Sunday Arsenal took champions Manchester City apart 5-1 at the Emirates while Manchester United lost 2-0 to Crystal Palace at Old Trafford with Jean Philippe Mateta scoring both goals for the Eagles and Tottenham won 2-0 at Brentford. Chelsea came from behind to beat West Ham 2-1 at Stamford Bridge on Monday evening.

Week 25 – In a rearranged match on Wednesday evening Everton played their last ever Merseyside derby at Goodison park where they scored with virtually the last kick of the match to draw 2-2 with Liverpool in a match that saw a player form each side plus the Liverpool manager shown red after the final whistle. On Friday Chelsea were soundly beaten 3-0 at Brighton for whom Yankuba Minteh scored a brace while on Saturday Omar Marmoush scored a quick hat-trick in the first half as Newcastle were taken apart 4-0 at Manchester City and Mikel Merino came off the bench to score both goals for Arsenal at Leicester. Ten-man Ipswich earned a 1-1 draw at Aston Villa while Nottingham Forest lost 2-1 at Fulham and Southampton were defeated 3-1 at home to Bournemouth. An early goal gave Brentford a victory at West Ham and Everton rallied to a 2-1 win at Crystal Palace while on Sunday Liverpool held on to a 2-1 win at home to Wolves and Manchester United lost to a single goal at Tottenham. In a rearranged match on Wednesday, Liverpool drew 2-2 at Aston Villa.

Week 26 – Leicester City were demolished 4-0 at home to Brentford on Friday evening while on Saturday Southampton suffered the same fate against their visitors from Brighton and Manchester United bounced back from 2 down to draw 2-2 at Everton. Ten-man Arsenal lost 1-0 at home to West Ham while Bournemouth, who were also reduced to 10 players, lost by the same scoreline to Wolves and Crystal Palace were 2-0 winners at Fulham. Brennan Johnson netted twice as Tottenham eased past their hosts Ipswich 4-1 and after taking an early lead, Chelsea lost 2-1 to a Marco Asensio double at Aston Villa while on Sunday Newcastle stormed into a 4-1 lead before the break, with a brace from Alexander Isac, to defeat Nottingham Forest 4-3 at St James’ Park and Liverpool scored twice to win at Manchester City.

Week 27 – In midweek matches Crystal Palace took Aston Villa apart 4-1 with a double from Ismaila Sarr and Southampton were battered 4-0 at Chelsea while there were 2-1 wins for Fulham at Wolves and for Brighton at home to Bournemouth. Jaden Philogene scored twice for Ipswich who lost 3-2 at Manchester United while Liverpool defeated Newcastle 2-0 at Anfield and Manchester City returned from Tottenham with a 1-0 victory. Nottingham Forest and Arsenal drew blank while Everton drew 1-1 at Brentford and on Thursday Leicester lost 2-0 at West Ham.

Week 28 – Nottingham Forest sent Manchester City home 1-0 losers and Crystal Palace did the same to Ipswich while Mohamad Salah converted 2 spot kicks to give Liverpool a 3-1 home win over Southampton and one goal was the difference in Aston Villa’s favour at Brentford. Brighton came from behind to beat Fulham 2-1 with a goal late into stoppage time and Everton drew 1-1 at Wolverhampton while on Sunday Tottenham came from 2 down to earn a 2-2 draw at home to Bournemouth and Arsenal drew 1-1 at Manchester United. Leicester lost 1-0 at Chelsea and on Monday, Newcastle United were 1-0 winners at West Ham.

Week 29 – Brighton and Hove Albion drew 2-2 at Manchester City while Anthony Elanga scored a brace in Nottingham Forest’s 4-2 win at Ipswich and Jorgen Strand Larsen also netted twice as Wolves won 2-1 at Southampton. Everton earned a 1-1 draw at home to West Ham in stoppage time and Brentford came from behind to win 2-1 at Bournemouth while on Sunday, while Newcastle United were winning the Carabao Cup with a victory over Liverpool at Wembley, Tottenham lost 2-0 at Fulham and Arsenal were 1-0 winners over Chelsea. Manchester United scored 3 times without reply at Leicester.

Week 30 – In midweek, after an international break, Arsenal beat Fulham 2-1 at the Emirates and there were 1-0 home wins for Wolves against West Ham and for Nottingham Forest over Manchester United. Ipswich Town won 2-1 at Bournemouth and Leicester lost 2-0 at Manchester City while Aston Villa put 3 past Brighton at the coast and a single goal gave Liverpool a win over Everton. Parading the Carabao Cup, Newcastle beat Brentford 2-1 while Southampton were denied a win in front of their home crowd when Crystal Palace made it 1-1 in stoppage time and on Thursday Tottenham fell to a single goal at Chelsea.  

Wednesday, 8 January 2025

Red dominance

 

After 20 weeks, Liverpool lead the pack with a game in hand, followed by Arsenal and Nottingham Forest with champions Manchester City dropping to sixth place, below Chelsea and Newcastle United. Southampton are rooted to the bottom of the table.

 Week 11 – Manchester City took the lead but lost 2-1 at Brighton while Liverpool put 2 past Aston Villa at Anfield and Wolves struck twice at home to Southampton. Brentford were 3-2 winners against Bournemouth with Yoane Wissa netting a double for the hosts while Fulham won 2-0 at 10-man Crystal Palace and Everton played a goalless match at West Ham. On Sunday Tottenham suffered a 2-1 loss at home to Ipswich while Newcastle came from behind to win 3-1 at Nottingham Forest and Manchester United scored 3 times against their visitors from Leicester. Arsenal drew 1-1 at Chelsea.

Week 12 – Manchester City were taken apart 4-0 at home to Tottenham for whom James Maddison scored twice on his birthday while Arsenal put 3 past Nottingham Forest at the Emirates and Crystal Palace drew 2-2 at Aston Villa. Ten-man Brighton defeated their hosts Bournemouth 2-1 while Matheus Cunha scored twice as Wolves came from behind to tear Fulham apart 4-1 at Craven Cottage and Chelsea were 2-1 winners at Leicester who parted company with manager Steve Cooper while 10-man Brentford drew 0-0 at Everton. On Sunday Liverpool came from 2-1 down to win 3-2 at Southampton with a double from Mohamed Salah and in Ruben Amorin’s first match in charge, Manchester United drew 1-1 at Ipswich while on Monday evening Newcastle were silenced 2-0 by their visitors from West Ham.

Week 13 – On Friday evening Southampton drew 1-1 at Brighton while on Saturday Kevin Schade scored a hat-trick as Leicester City were battered 4-1 at Brentford and Arsenal ran riot at West Ham, winning 5-2 with all the goals coming before the break. Justin Kluivert became the first player to score a hat-trick of penalties in the same Premier League match as Bournemouth won 4-2 at Wolves for whom Strand Larsen scored both goals while a single penalty conversion gave Nottingham Forest 3 points at home to Ipswich and Crystal Palace scored in added-on time at Selhurst Park to draw 1-1 with Newcastle United. On Sunday Marcus Rashford and Joshua Zirkzee scored 2 apiece as Everton were swept aside 4-0 at Manchester United and Aston Villa lost 3-0 at Chelsea while Liverpool defeated Manchester City 2-0 at Anfield and Fulham, who finished the match with 10 players, drew 1-1 at Tottenham.

Week 14 – In Midweek matches, 10-man Southampton were thumped 5-1 at home to Chelsea and Arsenal put 2 past Manchester United at the Emirates while Mo Salah netted a brace for Liverpool who drew 3-3 at Newcastle and Wolves scored 2 own-goals as they went down 4-0 at Everton. Leicester triumphed 3-1 at home to West Ham and Crystal Palace scored once to win at Ipswich while Manchester City enjoyed a 3-0 home win against Nottingham Forest. Alex Iwobi scored a double as Fulham sent Brighton back 3-1 losers and Aston Villa did the same to Brentford while Tottenham lost 1-0 at Bournemouth.

Week 15 – Brentford celebrated a 4-2 home win over Newcastle while Manchester City, who finished the match a man down drew 2-2 at Crystal Palace and Manchester United lost 3-2 at home to Nottingham Forest. Southampton lost 1-0 at Aston Villa and Liverpool’s match at Everton was postponed due to a storm while on Sunday Cole Palmer scored twice from the penalty spot as Chelsea fought back from 2 early goals down to win 4-3 at Tottenham and Arsenal drew 1-1 at Fulham. Leicester scored 2 late goals to drew 2-2 with their visitors from Brighton and Bournemouth also score 2 late goals to turn the match around and win 2-1 at Ipswich Twon while on Monday Wolves lost 2-1 at West Ham.

Week 16 – Ten-man Liverpool twice came from behind to draw 2-2 at home to Fulham while Everton held Arsenal to a goalless draw at the Emirates and Newcastle powered past their visitors from Leicester 4-0 with a brace from Jacob Murphy. Ipswich scored in stoppage time to win 2-1 at Wolves who had a player sent off after the match and parted with manager Gary O’Neil and Nottingham Forest came from behind to beat guests Aston Villa 2-1 with 2 late goals while on Sunday Ismaila Sarr scored twice as Crystal Palace enjoyed a 3-1 victory at Brighton and Chelsea, who had a player dismissed after the match, defeated Brentford 2-1 at Stamford Bridge. Manchester United came from a goal down to win with 2 late goals at Manchester City while James Maddison claimed a double as Tottenham humiliated hosts Southampton 5-0 with all the goals coming in the first half of a match that resulted in the sacking of manager Russell Martin and on Monday evening Bournemouth and West Ham shared 2 late goals for a point each.     

Week 17 – Manchester City lost 2-1 at Aston Villa while Gabriel Jesus scored twice as Arsenal swept Crystal Palace aside 5-1 at Selhurst Park and a hat-trick from Alexander Isak helped Newcastle to a 4-0 victory at Ipswich. Nottingham Forest picked up another 3 points with 2 goals at Brentford while Brighton drew 1-1 at West Ham and on Sunday Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah scored a brace each as Liverpool ran out 6-3 winners at Tottenham while there were goalless matches for Chelsea at Everton and for Southampton at Fulham. Manchester United were humiliated 3-0 at home to Bournemouth and Leicester suffered the same result at the hands of their visitors from Wolverhampton.

Week 18 – On Boxing Day Manchester City could only manage a 1-1 draw at home to Everton while Fulham came from behind to score a 2-1 stoppage-time winner at Chelsea and Leicester scored an early goal but lost 3-1 at Liverpool. The 10 men of Aston Villa and Manchester United lost 3-0 and 2-0 at Newcastle and Wolves respectively while Tottenham, who also ended the match with 10 players lost to a single goal at Nottingham Forest and West Ham were 1-0 winners at Southampton. Bournemouth and Crystal Palace didn’t manage a goal between them and the following day Brighton and Brentford drew blanks while one goal gave Arsenal a narrow win at home to Ipswich.

Week 19 – The last matches of 2024 were played on Sunday and Monday. Nottingham Forest and Manchester City were 2-0 winners away to Everton and Leicester respectively while West Ham were hammered at home 5-0 by Liverpool and Southampton lost 2-1 at Crystal Palace after having taken the lead. There were 2-2 draws for Wolves at Tottenham and for Fulham at home to Bournemouth while on Monday Chelsea suffered a 2-0 loss at Ipswich and Manchester United were beaten by the same scoreline at home to Newcastle. Brighton drew 2-2 at Aston Villa and in the first match of the year, Arsenal came from a goal down to win 3-1 at Brentford.   

Week 20 – Newcastle United hit back after an early goal to win 2-1 at Tottenham while Chelsea drew 1-1 at Crystal Place and Arsenal dropped points in a 1-1 draw at Brighton. Erling Haaland scored twice at home as Manchester City eased 4-1 past West Ham and Bryan Mbeumo also netted twice in Brentford’s 5-0 demolition of hosts Southampton while Everton lost 1-0 at Bournemouth and Aston Villa were 2-1 winners at home to Leicester. On Sunday in a game of 3 penalties, Fulham converted their second spot kick in stoppage time to earn a 2-2 home draw against Ipswich town and Masnchester United earned a 2-2 draw at Liverpool while on Monday evening Nottingham Forest moved into third place behind Arsenal only on goal difference after a 3-0 win at Wolves.

Tuesday, 5 November 2024

A change at the top

 

Ten weeks into the season, Liverpool have overtaken Manchester City with an impressive Nottingham Forest sneaking into 3rd place one point ahead of Chelsea, Arsenal and Aston Villa.

Week 1 – A late goal gave Manchester United a win on the opening night of the 2024-25 Premier League season at home to Fulham on Friday and on Saturday Arsenal and Liverpool were 2-0 winners at home to Wolves and away to Ipswich respectively while Brighton embarrassed 10-man Everton 3-0 at Goodison and Aston Villa won 2-1 at West Ham. Southampton lost 1-0 to 10 men at Newcastle and Bournemouth scored late to draw 1-1 at Nottingham Forest while on Sunday Crystal Palace were 2-1 losers at Brentford and Manchester City defeated Chelsea 2-0 at Stamford Bridge. On Monday evening, Tottenham drew 1-1 at Leicester.

Week 2 – Manchester Unites lost 2-1 to a goal in stoppage time at Brighton while Erling Haaland scored a hat-trick as Manchester City came from behind to win 4-1 at home to Ipswich and Everton were taken apart 4-0 at Tottenham for whom Heung-min Son netted a brace. Arsenal were 2-0 winners at Aston Villa and West Ham enjoyed the same result at Crystal Palace while Southampton lost 1-0 at home to Nottingham Forest and Leicester City were 2-1 losers at Fulham. On Sunday, Noni Madueke scored a hat-trick as Chelsea demolished Wolves 6-2 at Molineux while Bournemouth and Newcastle drew 1-1 and Liverpool put 2 past Brentford at Anfield.

Week 3 – Brighton drew 1-1 at 10-man Arsenal while Bournemouth, who were trailing 2-0 at Everton until the 87th minute, hit back to win 3-2 with 2 goals in stoppages time and there were 1-1 draws for Wolves at Nottingham Forest and for Ipswich at home to Fulham. Bryan Mbeumo struck twice as Brentford defeated their visitors from Southampton 3-1 while Erlind Haaland scored all 3 goals in Manchester City’s 3-1 win at West Ham and Aston Villa were 2-1 winners at Leicester. On Sunday Luis Diaz scored twice as Liverpool embarrassed Manchester United 3-0 at Old Trafford while Tottenham lost 2-1 at Newcastle and Crystal Palace picked up a 1-1 draw away to Chelsea.

Week 4 – Everton took a 2-goal lead at Aston Villa but ended up losing 3-2 with Ollie Watkins claiming a brace for the home side while Nottingham Forest stunned Liverpool 1-0 at Anfield and Manchester United were victorious 3-0 at 10-man Southampton. Manchester City recovered from an early setback with 2 goals from Erling Haaland to win at home to Brentford and Jean Philippe Mateta completed his brace in stoppage time as Crystal Palace came from 2 down to earn a 2-2 draw at home to Leicester City while Chelsea broke the deadlock with a late goal to win at Bournemouth where 15 yellow cards were brandished and West Ham scored late in added-on time to salvage a 1-1 draw at Fulham. Brighton and Ipswich played out a goalless match while on Sunday a single goal gave Arsenal the upper hand at Tottenham and Newcastle came from behind to win 2-1 at Wolves.

Week 5 – Nicolas Jackson netted a brace as Chelsea won 3-0 at West Ham and a double from Luis Diaz helped Liverpool achieve the same result at home to Bournemouth while Brentford scored after one minute but lost 3-1 at Tottenham. Newcastle’s unbeaten run came to an end when they were defeated 3-1 at Fulham and Aston Villa bounced back with late goals to win 3-1 at home to Wolves while Everton drew 1-1 at Leicester City and Ipswich Town scored deep into stoppage time to earn a 1-1 draw at Southampton. It was goalkeepers’ day at Crystal Palace who drew 0-0 with Manchester United in a match remembered for a miraculous double save by United’s André Onana, while on Sunday 10-man Arsenal were denied victory at champions Manchester City who made it 2-2 deep into added-on time with virtually the last kick of the match and Nottingham Forest who also finished the match with 10 players drew 2-2 at Brighton.

Week 6 – Manchester City drew 1-1 at Newcastle while Arsenal scored twice late in stoppage time to overcome their visitors from Leicester 4-2 for whom James Justin had levelled with a double and Chelsea achieved the same result at home to Brighton with Cole Palmer scoring 4 times before the break. A double from Dwight McNeil gave Everton a 2-1 home win against Crystal Palace and Liverpool registered the same result at Wolves while Brentford scored another goal in the first minute but drew 1-1 at home to West Ham and a penalty conversion gave Fulham 3 points at Nottingham Forest. On Sunday Tottenham enjoyed a 3-0 win at 10-man Manchester United and Ipswich earned a 2-2 draw at home to Aston Villa with Liam Delap scoring both goals for the hosts and on Monday evening Southampton lost 3-1 at Bournemouth.

Week 7 – A brace from Mateo Kovacic helped Manchester City to a 3-2 home win over Fulham while Arsenal fell behind but hit back with 3 goals to win at home to Southampton and Brentford, who opened the scoring in just over a minute, enjoyed a 5-3 victory over Wolves in front of their home crowd. Ipswich were hammered 4-1 at West Ham and there were 1-0 wins for Liverpool at Crystal Palace and for Leicester at home to Bournemouth while Newcastle played a goalless match at Everton. On Sunday Tottenham took a 2-goal lead but lost 3-2 at Brighton while 10 men from Nottingham Forest drew 1-1 at Chelsea and Manchester United drew 0-0 at Aston Villa.

Week 8 – Ten-man Arsenal were beaten 2-0 at Bournemouth while West Ham United, who ended the match with 10 players lost 4-1 at Tottenham and Aston Villa came from behind to win 3-1 at Fulham with both teams ending the match reduced to 10 players. Leicester came from 2 down to win 3-2 at 10-man Southampton with virtually the last kick of the match and Everton scored twice at Ipswich while a single goal gave Brighton a win at Newcastle and Manchester United bounced back to beat Brentford 2-1 at Old Trafford. On Sunday, Manchester City needed a goal deep in stoppage time to come from behind and claim a 2-1 victory at Wolves while Liverpool picked up a 2-1 win at home to Chelsea and on Monday one goal at Nottingham gave Forest a win over Crystal Palace.

Week 9 – On Friday a double from Chris Wood helped Nottingham Forest to a 3-1 win at Leicester and on Saturday Yoane Wissa netted twice as Brentford came from 2 down win 4-3 against 10-man Ipswich with Bryan Mbeumo completing his brace in stoppage time while Wolves scored 2 late goals to earn a 2-2 draw at Brighton and Southampton fell to an early goal at Manchester City. Bournemouth scored in added-on time to draw 1-1 at Aston Villa as did Everton in their 1-1 draw at home to Fulham while on Sunday Manchester United lost 2-1 to a stoppage-time penalty at West Ham and Chelsea sent Newcastle home 2-1 losers. Tottenham lost 1-0 at Crystal Palace and Liverpool twice levelled the score to draw 2-2 at Arsenal.  

Week 10 – Arsenal fell to an early goal at Newcastle and Manchester City lost 2-1 at Bournemouth while Liverpool bounced back from an early setback with 2 second-half goals in quick succession at home to Brighton to go to the top of the table. Ten men from West Ham lost 3-0 at Nottingham Forest while Crystal Palace drew 2-2 at Wolves and a late goal gave Southampton all 3 points at home to Everton. Leicester City scored in added-on time to earn a 1-1 draw at 10-man Ipswich while on Sunday Aston Villa were thumped 4-1 at Tottenham for whom Dominic Solanke netted twice and Chelsea drew 1-1 at Manchester United. On Monday evening, Brentford led 1-0 at Fulham until Harry Wilson struck twice in stoppage time to give the Cottagers a 2-1 victory.