Monday, 26 May 2025

Streets ahead

Liverpool secured the Premier League title several weeks before the end of the season with Arsenal in not so hot pursuit followed by a bunch of teams vying for places in Europe.

Week 31 – Ten-man Brighton lost 2-1 at nine-man Crystal Palace while tittle chasers Arsenal dropped further points in a 1-1 draw at Everton and 2 early goals gave Aston Villa a 2-1 home win over Nottingham Forest. Evanilson scored both goals in Bournemouth’s 2-2 draw at West Ham while Ipswich lost 2-1 at home to Wolves, and on Sunday league leaders Liverpool were beaten 3-2 at Fulham. Southampton were relegated after losing 3-1 at Tottenham for whom Brennan Johnson netted a double and there were goalless draws for Chelsea at Brentford and in the Manchester derby at Old Trafford. On Monday evening Leicester lost 3-0 to Newcastle with Jacob Murphy scoring 2 early goals for the visitors.

Week 32 – Crystal Palace got off to a good start with 2 goals at Manchester City who stormed back to win 5-2 and Aston Villa scored 3 times at relegated Southampton while Arsenal could only draw 1-1 at home to Brentford. Everton upset host Nottingham Forest with a goal in stoppage time and Leicester City finally scored to earn a point as they cancelled out João Pedro’s 2 penalty goals at Brighton while on Sunday Liverpool took a step closer to the league title with a last-minute 2-1 winner at home to West Ham. Tottenham were ripped apart 4-2 at Wolves while Ipswich drew 2-2 at Chelsea, having taken a 2-goal lead, and Manchester United collapsed 4-1 at Newcastle for who Harvey Barnes scored twice. On Monday Fulham fell to a first-minute goal at Bournemouth and on Wednesday Crystal Palace were demolished 5-0 at Newcastle.

Week 33 – Ten-man Brighton were beaten 4-2 at Brentford for whom Bryan Mbeumo netted a brace while Aston Villa celebrated a 4-1 victory over their visitors from Newcastle and Manchester City scored 2 late goals to win at Everton. Relegated Southampton earned a 1-1 draw with a stoppage-time goal at West Ham and Bournemouth drew 0-0 at 10-man Crystal Palace while on Sunday Leandro Trossard scored twice as Arsenal eased to a 4-0 win at Ipswich. Chelsea came from behind with 2 late goals to win at Fulham while Wolves upset Manchester United with a single goal at Old Trafford and Liverpool picked up another 3 points with a goal at Leicester. On Monday evening, Tottenham lost 2-1 at home to Nottingham Forest.

Week 34 – Due to FA Cup semi-final matches scheduled for the weekend, the fixtures began in midweek. On Tuesday, Aston Villa fell 2-1 to a stoppage-time goal at Manchester City while on Wednesday Crystal Palace twice levelled to draw 2-2 at Arsenal. On Saturday Brighton got the better of visitors West Ham with 2 last-gasp goals while Everton lost 1-0 at Chelsea and Fulham came from behind to win 2-1 with a stoppage-time goal at Southampton. There were 3-0 home wins for Wolves against Leicester and for Newcastle over 10-man Ipswich Town while on Sunday Manchester United made it 1-1 deep into added-on time at 10-man Bournemouth and Liverpool came from behind to thrash Tottenham 5-1 and claim the Premier League title at Anfield. On Thursday Nottingham Forest suffered a 2-0 loss at home to Brentford.    

Week 35 – One goal on Friday evening gave Manchester City a home win over Wolves and on Saturday Aston Villa achieved the same against Fulham while Ipswich came from 2 down to draw at Everton and Bournemouth came from behind to embarrass Arsenal 2-1 at the Emirates. Leicester City scored a rare double in front of their home crowd to defeat Southampton while on Sunday a brace from Kevin Schade condemned Manchester United to a 4-3 defeat at Bournemouth and new champions Liverpool lost 3-1 at Chelsea. Newcastle scored late to draw 1-1 at Brighton while Tottenham drew 1-1 at West Ham and there was a 1-1 draw for Nottingham Forest at Crystal Palace on Monday evening.

Week 36 – Brighton scored twice to win at Wolves and a single goal for Brentford at Ipswich gave the Bees a buzz while Manchester City drew blanks at Southampton and Everton came from behind to win 3-1 at Fulham. Aston Villa held on with 10 players to win 1-0 at Bournemouth while on Sunday Arsenal came from 2 down to draw 2-2 at champions Liverpool and 10-man Chelsea lost 2-0 at Newcastle. Manchester United suffered a 2-0 loss at home to West Ham and Eberechi Eze scored both goals as Crystal Palace bewildered Tottenham on their home patch and Nottingham Forest dropped points in their 2-2 home draw against Leicester.

Week 37 – With Crystal Palace winning the FA Cup against Manchester City on Saturday, there were two matches on Friday evening in which Aston Villa put 2 past Tottenham and Manchester United lost 1-0 at Chelsea. On Sunday Iliman Ndiaye scored both goals against Southampton in the last ever match at Goodison Park while Leicester City were 2-0 winners at home to Ipswich and Nottingham Forest won 2-1 at West Ham. Arsenal all but secured second spot with a 1-0 win over their rivals from Newcastle while Fulham enjoyed a 3-2 victory at Brentford and on Monday Brighton beat champions Liverpool 3-2 at home while on Tuesday an Eddie Nketiah double helped Crystal Palace to a 4-2 win over Wolves and with both teams reduced to 10 players, Manchester City moved into third place with a 3-1 home victory over Bournemouth.

Week 38 – On the last day of the season, FA Cup winners Crystal Palace drew 1-1 at champions Liverpool while Arsenal needed a late goal to win 2-1 at Southampton and Manchester City put 2 past their host Fulham to finish third. Chelsea triumphed 1-0 at Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United also qualified for the Champions League despite losing 1-0 at home to Everton while in a controversial match 10-man Aston Villa failed to qualify after a 2-0 defeat at Manchester United. Jack Hinshelwood bagged a brace as Brighton cruised to a 4-1 victory at Tottenham who had qualified for the Champions League by winning the Europa League and Antoine Semenyo scored both goals for Bournemouth against their visitors from Leicester while Ipswich lost 3-1 at home to West Ham and Brentford drew 1-1 at Wolves. Sunderland will join Leeds United and Burnley in the Premier League next season after their play-off win against Sheffield United at Wembley.

 

The final Premier League table for 2024-2025

 

Pos

Club

Pts

GD

1

Liverpool

84

45

2

Arsenal

74

35

3

Man City

71

28

4

Chelsea

69

21

5

Newcastle

66

21

6

Aston Villa

66

7

7

Nott'm Forest

65

12

8

Brighton

61

7

9

Bournemouth

56

12

10

Brentford

56

9

11

Fulham

54

0

12

Crystal Palace

53

0

13

Everton

48

-2

14

West Ham

43

-16

15

Man Utd

42

-10

16

Wolves

42

-15

17

Spurs

38

-1

18

Leicester

25

-47

19

Ipswich

22

-46

20

Southampton

12

-60

 


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.