
This gameweek was dominated by all the action around a North London Derby with both teams in dramatically different conditions. Arsenal fighting for the title at the top of the table, Tottenham fighting to escape relegation at the bottom. Elsewhere Manchester City faced a stern test as they sought to stay in the title race, Aston Villa tried to keep up with the leaders, and the relegation threathened clubs continued the fight to stay up. Here all the winners and losers from last gameweek's action.
Everyone on the South Coast affiliated with Brighton let out a sigh of relief and a roar of excitement simultaneously. I don't think anyone expected Brighton to end their 14-game streak without a win against a Brentford team that had just taken 7 points out of a possible 9 against Aston Villa, Newcastle, and Arsenal. But that's exactly what they went and did, not only did they score two well taken goals, they also kept a clean sheet, something they've been struggling to do for a while too. This win provides the perfect platform for Hurzeler to drag his team out of the area closer to the relegation battle and make a last minute dash for a mid-table finish.
It's bad enough that Tottenham have lost both North London Derbies this season in embarrassing fashion and that Eberechi Eze has dunked on them both times, but what's worse is that this loss against their bitter rivals has left them firmly in the relegation race. Tottenham sit 16th on the table with 29 points, a mere 4 points ahead of West Ham in 18th in the drop zone. All season, no matter how bad Tottenham have been, it's seemed like a foregone conclusion that Tottenham would stay up because the other teams below them are way worse. But now, given how injury stricken their squad is, it's a very real possibility that Tottenham might go down. Igor Tudor's job over the next 11 games is very simple: keep Tottenham up. It's terribly low stakes for a club that won the Europa League last year and are still in the Champions League.
Fulham is the ultimate unpredictable club in the Premier League. You never really know what you're going to get from them and they always end up in a contest of extremes. They've drawn only 4 games all season, the joint lowest (with Sunderland) in the league, it's either they win or lose. And after a run of 3 losses in the league, they really needed a win against Sunderland at the weekend to stay in the mid-table places and to keep one eye on the last European spot.
Sunderland, once in position for a surprise finish in the Champions League places, have now fallen to 12th position on 36 points. They've also amassed 4 defeats in the last 5 games, with the only win coming against fellow newcomers Burnley. Fulham beat them 3-1 at the weekend to compound their misery and climb above them in the table. The clash was telling because it represented the opposite directions the clubs were heading in. Fulham began the season in relegation places and have been steadily climbing upwards, Sunderland began in the top 4 and have been steadily climbing downwards. Make no mistake, Regis Le Bris has already done a fine job stabilising the club in the EPL and practically guaranteeing their safety already. But surely, with 11 games to go, they don't want to end the season losing 4 out of every 5. Especially when the tasty possibility of Europe is on offer if they can just string a few wins together and hope the sides above them remain inconsistent.
Although they ran out eventual 2-1 winners, Newcastle gave Manchester City a run for their money. It was a must win game for City if they were to keep pace with and keep pressure on Arsenal at the top of the table. However, Newcastle, even while missing midfield stalwarts in Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton had no intention of rolling over and handing City the points on a platter. Especially not when Newcastle are mounting a late push for Europe themselves. This game was the biggest test of Manchester City's title ambitions thus far, and while it wasn't always smooth sailing, Pep Guardiola will be heartened by the fact that his team was able to get the job done.
Chelsea are currently engaged in a battle for a 4th place finish and the name of the game is momentum. Manchester United and Liverpool, the other teams involved in this top 4 race seem to keep finding ways to put points on the board and Chelsea must too. That is why drawing against 19th place Burnley last weekend after drawing with Leeds the week before represents a possible loss of momentum for Chelsea's Champions League push. In their last three games Chelsea have played Wolves, Leeds United, and Burnley, a run of fixtures their fans would have expected maximum points from. But they've only taken 5 points from a possible 9 in those games. Indeed, if they'd taken all 9 points, they'd currently be in 4th position, ahead of Manchester United by a point. Liam Rosenior must now find ways to stem the tide and begin building momentum again. A big task as they play Arsenal at the Emirates next.

This gameweek was dominated by all the action around a North London Derby with both teams in dramatically different conditions. Arsenal fighting for the title at the top of the table, Tottenham fighting to escape relegation at the bottom. Elsewhere Manchester City faced a stern test as they sought to stay in the title race, Aston Villa tried to keep up with the leaders, and the relegation threathened clubs continued the fight to stay up. Here all the winners and losers from last gameweek's action.
Everyone on the South Coast affiliated with Brighton let out a sigh of relief and a roar of excitement simultaneously. I don't think anyone expected Brighton to end their 14-game streak without a win against a Brentford team that had just taken 7 points out of a possible 9 against Aston Villa, Newcastle, and Arsenal. But that's exactly what they went and did, not only did they score two well taken goals, they also kept a clean sheet, something they've been struggling to do for a while too. This win provides the perfect platform for Hurzeler to drag his team out of the area closer to the relegation battle and make a last minute dash for a mid-table finish.
It's bad enough that Tottenham have lost both North London Derbies this season in embarrassing fashion and that Eberechi Eze has dunked on them both times, but what's worse is that this loss against their bitter rivals has left them firmly in the relegation race. Tottenham sit 16th on the table with 29 points, a mere 4 points ahead of West Ham in 18th in the drop zone. All season, no matter how bad Tottenham have been, it's seemed like a foregone conclusion that Tottenham would stay up because the other teams below them are way worse. But now, given how injury stricken their squad is, it's a very real possibility that Tottenham might go down. Igor Tudor's job over the next 11 games is very simple: keep Tottenham up. It's terribly low stakes for a club that won the Europa League last year and are still in the Champions League.
Fulham is the ultimate unpredictable club in the Premier League. You never really know what you're going to get from them and they always end up in a contest of extremes. They've drawn only 4 games all season, the joint lowest (with Sunderland) in the league, it's either they win or lose. And after a run of 3 losses in the league, they really needed a win against Sunderland at the weekend to stay in the mid-table places and to keep one eye on the last European spot.
Sunderland, once in position for a surprise finish in the Champions League places, have now fallen to 12th position on 36 points. They've also amassed 4 defeats in the last 5 games, with the only win coming against fellow newcomers Burnley. Fulham beat them 3-1 at the weekend to compound their misery and climb above them in the table. The clash was telling because it represented the opposite directions the clubs were heading in. Fulham began the season in relegation places and have been steadily climbing upwards, Sunderland began in the top 4 and have been steadily climbing downwards. Make no mistake, Regis Le Bris has already done a fine job stabilising the club in the EPL and practically guaranteeing their safety already. But surely, with 11 games to go, they don't want to end the season losing 4 out of every 5. Especially when the tasty possibility of Europe is on offer if they can just string a few wins together and hope the sides above them remain inconsistent.
Although they ran out eventual 2-1 winners, Newcastle gave Manchester City a run for their money. It was a must win game for City if they were to keep pace with and keep pressure on Arsenal at the top of the table. However, Newcastle, even while missing midfield stalwarts in Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton had no intention of rolling over and handing City the points on a platter. Especially not when Newcastle are mounting a late push for Europe themselves. This game was the biggest test of Manchester City's title ambitions thus far, and while it wasn't always smooth sailing, Pep Guardiola will be heartened by the fact that his team was able to get the job done.
Chelsea are currently engaged in a battle for a 4th place finish and the name of the game is momentum. Manchester United and Liverpool, the other teams involved in this top 4 race seem to keep finding ways to put points on the board and Chelsea must too. That is why drawing against 19th place Burnley last weekend after drawing with Leeds the week before represents a possible loss of momentum for Chelsea's Champions League push. In their last three games Chelsea have played Wolves, Leeds United, and Burnley, a run of fixtures their fans would have expected maximum points from. But they've only taken 5 points from a possible 9 in those games. Indeed, if they'd taken all 9 points, they'd currently be in 4th position, ahead of Manchester United by a point. Liam Rosenior must now find ways to stem the tide and begin building momentum again. A big task as they play Arsenal at the Emirates next.

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