Faltering followers

At the end of 2021, Manchester City are running towards another league title as Chelsea and Liverpool have begun to drop points in a season where postponed matches have started to stack up.

Week 11- The weekend’s fixtures began on Friday evening with an early goal that gave Southampton a home win over Aston Villa while on Saturday Manchester City put 2 past Manchester United at Old Trafford and Burnley earned a 1-1 draw at league leaders Chelsea. Norwich City picked up their first win of the season with a 2-1 victory at Brentford while Wolves lost 2-0 at Crystal Palace and Newcastle drew 1-1 at Brighton who finished the match with 10 players on the field. On Sunday, West Ham United defeated Liverpool 3-2 at the London Stadium and Arsenal were 1-0 winners at home to Watford who ended the match with 10 players while Tottenham drew 0-0 at Everton who also suffered a late dismissal and Leicester City drew 1-1 at Leeds United.

Week 12 – Chelsea powered past their hosts Leicester in the early kick-off while Manchester United, who were reduced to 10 players, were thumped 4-1 at Watford resulting in the termination of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s managerial contract and Arsenal were swept aside 4-0 at Liverpool. Brentford drew 3-3 at Newcastle and there was a 3-3 draw at Burnley with Christian Benteke scoring a double for Crystal Palace while Brighton fell to 2 late goals at Aston Villa with Steven Gerrard at their helm. Under the leadership of Dean Smith, Norwich City picked up a 2-1 home win against Southampton and West Ham United lost 1-0 at Wolves while on Sunday Manchester City put 3 unanswered goals past Everton at the Etihad and Leeds United, who had taken a first-half lead, lost 2-1 at Tottenham.

Week 13 – Two goals after the break gave Arsenal a home win over Newcastle United and Liverpool eased 4-0 past Southampton with a double from Diogo Jota at Anfield while Aston Villa were 2-1 winners at Crystal Palace and there were goalless draws for Norwich at home to Wolves and for Leeds United at Brighton and Hove Albion. Jamie Vardy scored twice in Leicester’s 4-2 home win over Watford and West Ham lost 2-1 at Manchester City while Manchester United drew 1-1 at league leaders Chelsea and a single goal gave Brentford all 3 points at home to Everton. Tottenham’s match at Burley was postponed due to heavy snow.

Week 14 – In midweek matches Mohamad Salah netted a brace as Liverpool battered Everton 4-1 at Goodison Park while Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in Manchester United’s 3-2 defeat of Arsenal at Old Trafford and Manchester City were 2-1 winners at Aston Villa. Brighton scored a last-minute goal to draw 1-1 at West Ham while Southampton twice took the lead but drew 2-2 at home to Leicester and Chelsea won 2-1 at Watford. Newcastle United, who played most of the match with 10 players in front of their home crowd, drew 1-1 with Norwich City and Leeds United broke the deadlock with a last-minute penalty at home to Crystal Palace while Brentford lost 2-0 at Tottenham and Burnley drew 0-0 at Wolves.

Week 15 – Chelsea twice took the lead but lost 3-2 at West Ham and their top spot as a Bernardo Silva double helped Manchester City to a 3-1 win at Watford and Liverpool broke the deadlock deep into stoppage time to take all 3 points at Wolverhampton while Burnley lost 1-0 at Newcastle and Brighton salvaged a 1-1 draw with a last gasp goal at Southampton.On Sunday, Leeds scored late to draw 2-2 at home to Brentford and Crystal Palace lost to a single goal at Manchester United while Ezri Konsa scored both goals as Aston Villa were victorious 2-1 at home to Leicester and Tottenham scored 3 unanswered goals against their visitors from Norwich. On Monday evening Everton came from behind to beat Arsenal 2-1 with 2 late goals at Goodison Park.

Week 16 – Brentford converted a stoppage-time penalty to win 2-1 after falling behind at home to Watford on Friday evening while on Saturday the penalty theme continued as Jorginho scored his second penalty in added-on time to give Chelsea a 3-2 home victory over Leeds United and there were 1-0 home wins thanks to penalties for Manchester City against 10-man Wolves and Liverpool against Aston Villa while a spot-kick at Norwich settled the match in Manchester United’s favour. Arsenal eased past Southampton 3-0 at the Emirates and on Sunday, with Tottenham’s match at Brighton being postponed due to covid, Leicester City swept their visitors from Newcastle aside 4-0 with the help of a Youri Tielemans double while Conor Gallagher scored a brace as Everton were beaten 3-1 at Crystal Palace and West Ham United were held to a goalless draw at Burnley.  

Week 17 – In midweek Kevin de Bruyne scored twice as Manchester City demolished Leeds United 7-0 at the Etihad and Aston Villa scored twice at Norwich without reply while Southampton scored twice in quick succession to turn an early setback at Crystal Palace around but drew 2-2 and Wolves were 1-0 winners at Brighton. Arsenal defeated 10-man West Ham 2-0 at the Emirates to overtake them in the table while Liverpool came from behind to win 3-1 at home to Newcastle and Everton drew 1-1 at Chelsea. The matches between Brentford and Manchester United, Burnley and Watford and Leicester against Tottenham were all postponed due to positive covid tests.

Week 18 – Arsenal outclassed Leeds United 4-1 at Elland Road with Gabriel Martinelli netting a brace in the only match of the day on Saturday as the matches at Manchester United, Aston Villa, Southampton, West Ham and Watford against Brighton, Burnley, Brentford, Norwich and Crystal Place respectively were all postponed due to covid. With Leicester’s match at Everton being postponed on Sunday, Manchester City banged in 4 goals without reply at Newcastle while 10-man Liverpool drew 2-2 at Tottenham and Chelsea played in a goalless match at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Week 19 – On a Boxing Day bonanza Leicester City were blown away with 4 goals in the first 25 minutes at Manchester City but hit back with 3 goals in quick succession after the break only to lose 6-3 with a double from Raheem Sterling while Bukayo Saka also scored twice as Arsenal thumped Norwich 5-0 at Carrow Road and 10-man Crystal Palace lost 3-0 at Tottenham. Southampton were 3-2 winners at West Ham while Chelsea came from behind to win 3-1 at Aston Villa with 2 penalties from Jorginho and Brentford lost 2-0 at Brighton. The matches between Liverpool and Leeds, Wolves and Watford and Everton’s match at Burnley were all postponed. On Monday evening Manchester United salvaged a 1-1 draw at Newcastle.

Week 20 – In the last matches of 2021, played in midweek, Liverpool lost 10 at Leicester while Tottenham drew 1-1 at 10-man Southampton and Crystal Palace put 3 past Norwich without reply. Watford took an early home lead but were beaten 4-1 by West Ham while on Wednesday Brighton and Hove Albion earned a last gasp 1-1 draw at Chelsea and a single goal gave Manchester City a win at Brentford. With the matches between Arsenal and Wolves, Leeds and Aston Villa and also Newcastle’s trip to Everton all being postponed, the final match of the calendar year was played at Manchester where United enjoyed a 3-1 victory over Burnley.

Fans singing the Blues

 

Football supporters poured into stadiums across the country after a lengthy absence due to covid restrictions. Chelsea have been steadily gathering momentum and are sitting at top after 10 weeks of action, followed by Liverpool, Manchester City and West Ham United.

Week 1 – Brentford began life in the Premier League in the opening match of the season on Friday evening with a 2-0 home win over Arsenal while on Saturday in the early kick-off, Bruno Fernandes scored a hat-trick as Manchester United battered Leeds United 5-1 at Old Trafford. Chelsea defeated Crystal Palace 3-0 at Stamford Bridge and Liverpool enjoyed the same result at Norwich while Everton came from behind to win 3-1 at home to Southampton. Aston Villa pulled 2 goals back but lost 3-2 at Watford while Brighton put an early setback behind them to win 2-1 at Burnley and Wolves fell to a single goal at Leicester. On Sunday, West Ham United turned a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 victory at Newcastle and champions Manchester City lost 1-0 at Tottenham.

Week 2 – Manchester City got back to winning ways in front of their home crowd with a 5-0 thumping of Norwich City while there were 2-0 home wins for Liverpool, Aston Villa and Brighton against Burnley, Newcastle and Watford respectively. Everton twice took the lead but drew 2-2 at Leeds while Brentford played a goalless match at Crystal Palace and on Sunday Arsenal suffered a 2-0 loss at home to Chelsea while Tottenham were 1-0 winners at Wolves and Manchester United drew 1-1 at Southampton. On Monday evening Michail Antonio netted a brace as 10-man Leicester were pummelled 4-1 at West Ham.

Week 3 – Ten-man Arsenal were humiliated 5-0 at Manchester City with Ferran Torres netting twice for the champions while Chelsea, who were also reduced to 10 players, drew 1-1 at Liverpool and there was a 1-1draw between Aston Villa and Brentford with both goals coming in the first 15 minutes. Conor Gallagher struck twice for Crystal Palace who drew 2-2 at West Ham while Southampton Converted a penalty deep into stoppage time to draw 2-2 at Newcastle and Leicester were 2-1 winners at Norwich. Brighton lost 2-0 at home to Everton while on Sunday Leeds drew 1-1 at Burnley and there were 1-0 wins for Manchester United at Wolves and Tottenham at home to Watford.

Week 4 - Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice on his return to Manchester United as the Red Devils swept Newcastle aside 4-1 at Old Trafford while 10-man Tottenham lost 3-0 at Crystal Palace and Arsenal scored their first goal of the season to win at home to Norwich. Manchester City were 1-0 winners at Leicester and Brighton achieved the same result with a last-minute winner at Brentford while West Ham, who ended the match with 10 players, drew 0-0 at Southampton. A double from Romelu Lukaku helped Chelsea to a 3-0 home win over Aston Villa while on Sunday 10-man Leeds lost 3-0 at home to Liverpool and on Monday evening Everton fell behind but struck back with 3 goals in quick succession to win 3-1 at home to Burnley.

Week 5 – On Friday evening Newcastle and Leeds drew 1-1 while on Saturday 10-man Brentford held onto a 2-0 win at Wolves and Liverpool were 3-0 winners at home to Crystal Palace. A double from Ismaila Sarr helped Watford to a 3-1 win at Norwich while a single goal gave Arsenal 3 points at Burnley and Manchester City drew blanks at home to Southampton.           Everton lost 3-0 at Aston Villa while on Sunday Tottenham were 3-0 losers at home to Chelsea and Leicester lost 2-1 at Brighton. Manchester United scored a last-minute 2-1 winner as hosts West Ham United missed the chance to level from the spot in stoppage time.

Week 6 – Manchester City defeated Chelsea 1-0 at Stamford Bridge while Manchester United lost 1-0 at home to Aston Villa with a last-minute penalty miss denying them a draw and in a thrilling match at Griffin Park Liverpool drew 3-3 with Brentford. West Ham came from behind to win 2-1 with a last-minute goal at Leeds while an own goal and brace from Jamie Vardy saw Leicester City draw 2-2 at home to Burnley and there was a 1-1 draw between Watford and Newcastle. Everton were the only home side to win on Saturday as they put 2 past Norwich while on Sunday Arsenal blitzed into a 3-0 lead on their way to beating Tottenham 3-1 at the Emirates to go above them in the table and Southampton lost 1-0 at home to Wolves. On Monday evening Brighton scored deep into stoppage time to draw 1-1 at Crystal Palace.

Week 7 – Everton drew 1-1 at Manchester United while Chelsea scored 2 late goals to win 3-1 at home to 10-man Southampton and Newcastle lost 2-1 at Wolves with Hee-Chan Hwang netting twice for the hosts. A single goal gave Leeds United a home win against Watford and there were goalless draws for Burnley and Brighton at home to Norwich and Arsenal respectively while in the big match on Sunday, Manchester City twice came from behind to draw 2-2 at Liverpool. Crystal Palace came from 2 down to draw 2-2 at home to Leicester and there were 2-1 wins for Tottenham at home to Aston Villa and Brentford at West Ham United with the winning goal coming deep into stoppage time.

Week 8 – Roberto Firmino claimed a hat-trick as Liverpool walloped Watford 5-0 at Vicarage Road while Wolverhampton Wanderers came from 2 down to win at Aston Villa with 3 goals in the last 10 minutes and in a thrilling match at Leicester City, Manchester United were beaten 4-2 while Manchester City were 2-0 winners at home to Burnley. There were 1-0 wins for Chelsea at Brentford and Southampton at home to Leeds United while Norwich and Brighton drew blanks at Carrow Road. On Sunday, in front of their new owners, Newcastle United got off to a flying start, but lost 3-2 to Tottenham and ended the match with 10 players while West Ham triumphed 1-0 at Everton and on Monday evening Arsenal, who took an early lead, made it 2-2 with the last kick of the match at home to Crystal Palace.

Week 9 – The weekend’s matches began on Friday evening with a 3-1 home win for Arsenal over Aston Villa. On Saturday Mason Mount netted a hat-trick as Chelsea ran riot at the Bridge putting 7 past Norwich while Joshua King also scored a hat-trick to help Watford bounce back from an early setback to win 5-2 at Everton and Phil Foden scored twice in Manchester City’s 4-1 win at Brighton. Maxwel Cornet scored both goals for Burnley who drew 2-2 at Southampton while Leeds United needed a last-minute penalty to draw 1-1 at home to Wolves and Newcastle earned the same result at Crystal Palace. On Sunday, Mohamed Salah claimed a hat-trick as Liverpool demolished Manchester United 5-0 at Old Trafford with the Red Devils being reduced to 10 players after the 5^th goal while West Ham were 1-0 winners at home to Tottenham and Leicester won 2-1 at Brentford.

Week 10 – Brighton & Hove Albion fought from 2 down to draw 2-2 at Liverpool while Crystal Palace took an early lead and went on to win 2-0 at Manchester City, who were reduced to 10 players for half the match, and 2 early goals gave Arsenal a win at Leicester. Reece James scored twice as Chelsea won 3-0 at Newcastle while Burnley picked up a 3-1 home win against Brentford and Southampton were 1-0 winners at Watford. Tottenham’s 3-0 loss at home to Manchester United led to the dismissal of manager Nuno Espirito Santo and on Sunday 3 second-half goals in the space of 4 minutes, resulted in a 2-1 win for Leeds at Norwich while 10-man Aston Villa were hammered 4-1 at home to West Ham United. On Monday evening, Everton lost 2-1 at Wolves.

City cream of the crop

 

Manchester City were crowned champions of England for the third time in four years with rivals Manchester United only threatening them mathematically while Liverpool’s late winning streak earned them third spot ahead of Chelsea.

Week 31 – The week’s fixtures began on Friday when Fulham fell to a last-gasp goal at home to Wolves. On Saturday a double from Stuart Dallas gave ten-man Leeds United a 2-1 win at league leaders Manchester City while a brace from Christian Pulisic helped Chelsea cruise past Crystal Palace 4-1 at Selhurst Park and Liverpool came from behind to beat Aston Villa 2-1 at Anfield with the winner coming in stoppage time. On Sunday Kelechi Iheanacho struck twice for Leicester at West Ham who had already scored 3 times with 2 from Jesse Lingard and Tottenham took the lead but were beaten 3-1 at home to Manchester United while Alexandre Lacazette netted twice for Arsenal who won 3-0 at Sheffield United and Newcastle came from behind to win 2-1 at Burnley. The Monday evening matches saw Southampton lose 3-0 at West Brom and Everton play a goalless match at Brighton.

Week 32 -Harry Kane and Gylfi Sigurdsson scored twice each for Tottenham and Everton as the points were shared at Goodison Park on Friday evening. With 1-0 semi-final wins for Chelsea against Manchester City and Leicester over Southampton at Wembley, there were fewer Premier League games at the weekend, but several matches were played in midweek. Ten-man West Ham pulled back a 2 goal deficit but lost 3-2 at Newcastle while Mason Greenwood netted a double for Manchester United in their 3-1 win at home to Burnley and while Norwich City were being promoted to the Premier League, Sheffield United were relegated after losing 1-0 at Wolves. Arsenal salvaged a 1-1 draw with the last kick of the match at home to Fulham while on Monday evening Liverpool drew 1-1 at Leeds United. On Tuesday Brighton ended the match with ten players in their goalless draw at Chelsea while on Wednesday, in their first match since the sacking of Jose Mourinho, Tottenham came from behind to win 2-1 at home to Southampton and Aston Villa scored after 22 seconds in their home match but lost 2-1 to Manchester City with both teams being reduced to ten players. On Thursday evening, Leicester City scored 3 first-half goals to defeat their visitors from West Brom.

Week 33 – Arsenal suffered another home defeat when they lost 1-0 to Everton on Friday evening. On Saturday, Newcastle scored a last-gasp equalizer to cancel out Liverpool’s early goal at Anfield while Chelsea were 1-0 winners at West Ham who finished the match with ten players and Brighton lost 1-0 at relegated Sheffield United on the day that Watford were promoted to the Premier League. On Sunday, Chris Wood netted a first-half hat-trick as Wolves were taken apart 4-0 at home to Burnley while Manchester United played a goalless match at Leeds and West Bromwich Albion drew 2-2 at Aston Villa. Manchester City lifted the League Cup with a goal against Tottenham at Wembley. On Monday evening, Crystal Palace took the lead but lost 2-1 at Leicester.

Week 34 – Ten-man Southampton drew 1-1 at home to Leicester on Friday evening. Manchester City scored 2 second-half goals in quick succession at Crystal Palace, which meant a defeat for Manchester United against Liverpool a day later would have given City the title, but the match was postponed due to heavy crowd protests at Old Trafford. Two goals from Kai Havertz gave Chelsea a win over Fulham at Stamford Bridge while Brighton enjoyed the same result against their visitors from Leeds and Aston Villa were 2-1 winners at Everton. Sheffield United were thumped 4-0 at Tottenham with a hat-trick from Gareth Bale and Arsenal won 2-0 at Newcastle who ended the match with ten players while on Monday West Brom drew 1-1 at home to Wolves and West Ham came from behind to win 2-1 at Burnley with a double from Michail Antonio.

Week 35 – Leicester City scored 2 late goals on Friday evening, but were thrashed 4-2 at home to Newcastle United, for whom Callum Wilson netted twice. Needing a win to secure the title, Manchester City took the lead at the Etihad, but Chelsea hit back with 2 goals in the second half while Liverpool put 2 past their visitors from Southampton and Tottenham were beaten 3-1 at Leeds. Goals 2 minutes from the start and end of the match gave Crystal Palace a 2-0 win at Sheffield United and a single goal gave Everton a victory at West Ham while Wolves came from a goal down to win 2-1 against 10-man Brighton, who had a further player red-carded after the match, at Molineux. Manchester United came from behind to win 3-1 at Aston Villa, who finished the match with ten players, while Arsenal won by the same scoreline at home to West Bromwich Albion.  On Monday, Fulham were relegated after losing 2-0 at home to Burnley.

Week 36 – Several matches were played in midweek with Manchester United conceding the tittle to Manchester City after losing 2-1 at home to Leicester City. Crystal Palace got off to a flying start but lost 3-1 at Southampton with a double from Danny Ings and Arsenal were 1-0 winners at Chelsea. On Thursday, Manchester United fell to their second home defeat in the space of two days when Liverpool came from a goal down to win 4-2 with a brace from Roberto Firmino and Everton played a goalless match at Aston Villa while in a thrilling match on Friday evening, Newcastle United twice took the lead at home to newly crowned champions Manchester City, but were defeated 4-3 with Ferran Torres scoring a hat-trick for the visitors. On Saturday while Leicester City were lifting the FA Cup with a single goal against Chelsea at Wembley, Rodrigo netted twice at Leeds battered Burnley 4-0 on their travels and Fulham lost 3-1 at Southampton while 2 late goals gave West Ham a 1-1 draw at Brighton. On Sunday, Crystal Palace twice fell behind but ran out 3-2 winners at home to Aston Villa while Wolves lost 2-0 at Tottenham and Everton lost to an early goal at home to relegated Sheffield United. Liverpool kept their hopes of a top-four finish alive when they came from behind at West Brom to win 2-1 with goalkeeper Alison scoring the winner in the last seconds of stoppage time.  

Week 37 – With a limited number of spectators finally allowed back into stadiums, 10-man Manchester City lost their 2-goal lead and saw their record 12 straight away wins come to an end as they were defeated 3-2 at Brighton while Chelsea avenged their FA Cup loss with a 2-1 home win over Leicester and Leeds United were 2-0 winners at Southampton. Fulham earned a 1-1 draw at Manchester United and there were 1-0 home wins for Everton and Newcastle over Wolves and Sheffield United respectively while WBA took the lead but lost 3-1 at home to West Ham.  Tottenham scored early but lost 2-1 at home to Aston Villa while Arsenal scored 2 goals in stoppage time to win 3-1 at Crystal Palace and Liverpool brushed Burnley aside 3-0 at Turf Moor

Week 38 – On the last day of action with only European places to be settled, Liverpool secured third place with a double from Sadio Mane at home to Crystal Palace as Chelsea, who ended the match with 10 players, lost 2-1 at Aston Villa while Jamie Vardy converted 2 penalties for Leicester City on their home ground, but Tottenham bounced back to win 4-2 with a late brace from Gareth Bale and deny Leicester a place in the Champions League. Sergio Aguero came off the bench in his last ever home match for Manchester City to score twice and break the record for the total goals scored by an individual for one club as the champions pummelled Everton 5-0 while Manchester United won 2-1 at Wolves and West Ham brushed their visitors from Southampton aside 3-0 with 2 goals from Pablo Fornals. Leeds United ended their season with a 3-1 victory against West Brom at Elland Road and a double from Nicolas Pepe gave Arsenal a home win against Brighton while Newcastle won 2-0 at relegated Fulham and Sheffield United bowed out with a 1-0 home win over Burnley.   

Brentford will join Norwich City and Watford in the Premier League next season after winning the play-off final.

The final Premier League table for 2020-21

 

Pos Team Points GD 1 Manchester City 86 +51 2 Manchester United 74 +29 3 Liverpool 69 +26 4 Chelsea 67 +22 5 Leicester City 66 +18 6 West Ham United 65 +15 7 Tottenham 62 +23 8 Arsenal 61 +16 9 Leeds United 59 +8 10 Everton 59 -1 11 Aston Villa 55 +9 12 Newcastle United 45 -16 13 Wolves 45 -16 14 Crystal Palace 44 -25 15 Southampton 43 -21 16 Brighton 41 -6 17 Burnley 39 -22 18 Fulham 28 -26 19 West Brom. 26 -41 20 Sheffield United 23 -43