Winners: Andoni Iraola

When you consider what Bournemouth is on the verge of achieving, it makes it even stranger that Andoni Iraola is content to simply walk away at the end of the season. Their game against Fulham began with jeopardy. Ryan Christie was sent off at 41 minutes with the game still at 0-0 and Fulham in pursuit of Europe themselves. As if even the football gods want Bournemouth to make it to Europe next season, Fulham's Andersen got sent off 6 minutes later, restoring numerical parity, and Bournemouth would go on to win 1-0. They sit in 6th place (which might be a Champions League spot), 2 points ahead of Brighton in 7th, and 4 points behind Villa in 5th with 2 games to go. As I have done so often this season in this column, I want to highlight the magnitude of the job Iraola has done by recounting the key players they've lost as the season has gone on. Kepa Arrizabalaga, Dean Huijsen, Ilia Zabarnyi, Milos Kerkez, Antoine Semenyo, and Dango Ouattara. These are not bad players either, their destination clubs were Arsenal, Real Madrid, PSG, Liverpool, Manchester City, and Brentford.  And yet, having lost so much talent and juggled so many key injuries this season, Iraola is on the verge of sending the small South Coast club into Europe for the first time. Oh and did I mention that Bournemouth haven't lost a game in the league since 7th of January? What a story, what a manager!

Losers: West Ham F.C.

It was under raucous circumstances that West Ham narrowly lost to Arsenal. A lengthy VAR review, pushing and shoving from corners, how much is too much when it comes to heckling the goalkeeper? All the things that have been debated about fiercely all season might come to define West Ham's relegation battle. That loss means that they remain 2 points adrift of safety and that their fate is not entirely in their hands. They could win their next two games, and they'd still need  Tottenham to drop points in order to survive. The situation is dire in East London at the moment. It would take a miracle now, but all Nuno and his boys can do is focus on getting the maximum points from their games against Newcastle and Leeds, and then hope and pray that Spurs falter somewhere. 

Winners: Brighton And Hove Albion F.C.

Fabian Hurzeler deserves an award for "best late turnaround of the season," because Brighton left it really late to get going this season. But how does that old saying go? Better late than never! They beat Wolves 3-0 to move up to 7th, and with only two games to go, they seem poised to steal the last European spot from a Brentford side that has been impressive all season. Such is the magnitude of this turnaround in the last stretch of the season. Win their last two games against Leeds and Manchester United, and they are basically guaranteed a place in Europe next season, no matter what happens elsewhere. Not bad for a team that went 13 games without a win at some point this season. 

Losers: Aston Villa F.C.

Alright, look, you have to contextualise Villa's performance at the weekend by remembering that they pulled themselves from 1-0 down in the Europa League semis to blow Nottingham Forest away 4-0 in the 2nd leg in midweek. That being said, drawing with Burnley at a point in the season when every point is critical is not good. The plan for Villa was always to get back into the Champions League by finishing in the top 4 and trying to win the Europa League.  I'd argue that finishing in the top 4 is the more important task because it is easier to manage, as you have 38 games across which to pick up the necessary points. The Europa League is effectively a knockout competition, and we know how those can go, even if you've gotten to the final (as Villa have), all it takes is one moment to lose it. Given their current form and the fact that they play Liverpool and Manchester City in their final two games of the season, Villa might very well be out of the Champions League spots when the season is over and have all their hopes riding on the Europa League final. It's not the ideal situation at Villa Park right now.

Winners: Arsenal F.C.

It seems like Arsenal will make it over the line now. For most of that game against West Ham, it seemed like they would falter yet again in this unpredictable title race. They struggled to break West Ham down and looked tired from the effort it took them to get into the Champions League final during the week. They needed not one but two spells of magic to see the win over the line. A fantastic David Raya save to deny Mateus Fernandes, and a brilliant run and cut back from Odegaard to set up the goal by Trossard. And even after all that, they needed VAR to come to their rescue after West Ham scored a late equaliser. It's not champagne football, it's not the cleanest of title wins, but Arteta's Arsenal are almost there, and that is the fact.

Losers: Chelsea F.C.

I don't think any stat summarises the torrid run of form Chelsea is currently on than the fact that they've picked up only 1 point since gameweek 29. That's 7 full gameweeks of football and just the solitary point from 630 minutes of football. Their season is almost certainly over, and there will be no European football next season barring a miracle. The hope among the fanbase will be that the hierarchy has learned from their mistakes this season and can make a better go of things next season. 

Title race drama, fates swung in the relegation race, the midtable push for Europe continued, a former title challenger got eviscerated by a former relegation candidate, and gameweek 35 brought drama aplenty. So, without further ado, here are the winners and losers from this gameweek.

Winners: Arsenal F.C.

I think Arsenal have a pretty clear objective for the games they have left this season: win them all. That's it. No matter what is happening or not happening at City, Arsenal just need to find a way to keep winning and then see where they land on matchday 38. And so it was that they continued that mission with a 3-0 victory over Fulham this gameweek. The victory alone is great news for the Gunners, but even better than that is the fact that they looked brilliant. This wasn't just a stodgy, nervy game where they had to struggle to grind out a 1-0 win. It was a commanding, free-flowing, assured performance worthy of title challengers. Of course, much of it came down to having Bukayo Saka fit and on the pitch again. If nothing else, Arsenal have sent a message that, despite the stumbles of recent weeks, they have no intention of quietly backing out of the title race. Until the end. 

Losers: Manchester City F.C.

It seemed like Manchester City had recovered its cloak of inevitability and that they would once again roll over Arsenal on their way to a title, at least until the second half vs Everton. The game began with City 6 points behind Arsenal, but having played 2 games fewer, so they needed to win to put themselves back in pole position. The first half was all City as they probed and tried to penetrate, but struggling to find the goal they needed until Doku shifted the ball onto his left foot and put a stunning ball past Pickford just before halftime. It seemed like business as usual until the second half started. No one knows what Moyes said to those boys in the dressing room, but whatever it was really got them fired up; they came out with extra determination and a pep in their step and at 81 minutes, Everton were 3-1 up. Pep's team were lucky to escape with a point, but the damage has been done. Their fate is no longer in their hands as far as the title goes; they now need Arsenal to drop points and maintain a perfect record in order to win. Even worse, none of their 4 remaining fixtures is particularly easy on paper: Brentford, Palace, Bournemouth, and Aston Villa. Pep is rumoured to be leaving at the end of the season; this might be a sign that his era is indeed coming to an end.

Winners: Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

In perhaps the most surprising result of the weekend, Tottenham beat Aston Villa 2-1 to record back-to-back league wins and lift themselves out of the relegation places following West Ham's 3-0 loss to Brentford. De Zerbi has done it. He hasn't saved them from relegation, not just yet, but he's managed to breathe life into this club that seemed completely dead for so long. Spurs fans had begun to resign themselves to their cruel fate, even circulating pictures online of what their starting XI might look like in the Championship next season. Dire. West Ham fans had far more belief in their side staying up than the Lilywhites could muster, even when Tottenham was above them on points. Such was the depth of misery into which De Zerbi stepped with a few games to go, and he's been an instant hit at the London Stadium. Suddenly, there is belief, there is hope, there is maybe even a bit of excitement now at Tottenham. Certainly, their fate is now in their hands; win the last 3 games, and it won't matter what West Ham does, they will be staying up. COYS.

Losers: Aston Villa F.C.

Unai Emery does not love a run-in. There is nothing the Spaniard suffers from more than his team collapsing at the tail end of the season, often for no apparent reason. It happened to Villa last season, and it cost them a Champions League spot. It's happening to Villa again this season, and who knows what it might cost them this time? There's no reason why a Villa team in the hunt for a top-four finish should be losing to relegation-threatened Tottenham. Worse still, this loss comes on the heels of a 1-0 loss to Fulham last gameweek, another team you would expect them to beat. Luckily for Villa, 5th spot guarantees a Champions League place this season, and they are 6 points clear of Bournemouth in 6th. This means that a win and a draw from their last 3 games should secure them a place in next season's Champions League. It's not an impossible task by any stretch of the imagination, but Emery will have to sit up and get serious now because their last 3 games are: Burnley, Liverpool, and Manchester City.

Winners: Nottingham Forest F.C.

Nottingham Forest have quietly become one of the in-form teams in the league over the past two months. You have to go all the way back to the 1st of March for the last time they lost a Premier League game, a 2-1 defeat to Brighton. Since then, they've gone on a 7-game unbeaten run with 3 draws and 4 wins in that time, including this gameweek's 3-1 dismantling of Chelsea. As many pointed out, the victory over Chelsea was made more impressive by the fact that Vitor Pereira did not select a full-strength squad, with a Europa League semifinal 2nd leg later this week very much his biggest priority. And yet, such is the state of the wave Forest is on right now that they didn't need their A team to tear Chelsea apart. I'm sure this victory will give them a huge confidence boost, ahead of their semifinal on Thursday, especially since they have one leg in the final already after beating Aston Villa 1-0 in the first leg.

Losers: Chelsea F.C.

Monday's 3-1 loss to Nottingham Forest means it is now 6 Premier League losses in a row for Chelsea. 6 losses in a row, 1 goal scored during that run, down to 9th place in the league, and it is increasingly looking like there will be no European football for them at all next season. These are the life and times of Chelsea Football Club in 2026. Just to drive home how badly Chelsea's season is now going, with 48 points and 3 games left to go, they could mathematically finish in 17th place (currently occupied by Nottingham Forest). It's one of the great failure stories of the season, and it leaves the club in need of a serious rebuild in the summer after already spending close to 1 billion on the current rebuild. For the Chelsea fans, it will be a matter of just wanting this season to be over at this point and then seeing what the club hierarchy has planned in the summer.

Usually, by the time we get to gameweek 34, all attention tends to be focused on the two teams at the top of the table still vying for the title. And there is certainly a lot of focus on Arsenal and Manchester City at the moment, but there is also a lot of attention on pretty much every part of the table. The midtable teams remain locked in a fierce battle for the European places, and at the bottom of the table, high drama is unfolding as Tottenham has gone from playing in the Champions League to fighting relegation in the same season. Here are all the winners and losers from the last gameweek of football.

Winners: Brighton And Hove Albion F.C.

A few months ago, I would have highlighted Fabian Hurzeler as one of the managers whose head could be on the chopping block in the summer. In Gameweek 27, Brighton had gone an astonishing 14 games without a win in the league. That's almost half a season without a win on the board! However, the turnaround since that game, when they beat Brentford 2-0, has been remarkable. Since Gameweek 27, Brighton have only lost once in 8 games, a narrow 1-0 defeat to Arsenal. Of the other 7 games, they've won 6 and drawn 1, taking 19 points of a possible 21 in the process. Indeed, their midweek 3-0 thrashing of Chelsea saw them climb above the London club into 6th place, firmly placed in the European spots with 4 games to go in the season. Indeed, Brighton is the most in-form team in the league since that victory over Brentford. Sometimes, all it takes is one win for a struggling team to start finding its footing again. 

Losers: Aston Villa F.C.

Unai Emery's team is not yet mathematically guaranteed a Champions League spot for next season, but you would think they were, judging by their performance on Saturday. They lost 1-0 to Fulham in a game which saw them have 60% possession but only 1 shot on target (Fulham had 6) and 9 shots in total (Fulham had 13). Yes, it's understood that Emery is probably thinking about the Europa League more than the Premier League at the moment, but this season is beginning to end on a note remarkably similar to last season's, when they missed out on Champions League qualification by a single point because they collapsed at the end of the season. It'll be doubly catastrophic if they fail to qualify for the Champions League through the Premier League and then fail to gain automatic qualification via winning the Europa League. Emery would do well to take that into account as he ponders his team selection ahead of their next game against Tottenham.

Winners: West Ham United F.C.

Nuno is finding a way to do what he is best known for: getting the results that matter. West Ham are still just two points above Tottenham, who sit in 17th place, so things can change quickly, but I can imagine that there is a real sense of belief that they can stay up around West Ham right now. No one would have had them beating Everton last time out, especially given that Everton have been very good defensively and are in the hunt for European football. And yet West Ham scored first and led for half an hour before Drewsbury-Hall scored a late equaliser in the 88th minute. It seemed like the Englishman had snatched a point for his team, but Callum Wilson had something to say about that 10 minutes later, scoring in the 98th minute to give the Hammers all 3 points. It's wins like this that will help calm the nerves and steel the resolve of these players as they head into the final 4 games of the season. What a great escape it would be if Nuno pulled this off. THE great escape, perhaps?

Losers: Sunderland A.F.C.

Nottingham Forest hit 5 goals past Sunderland without reply on Friday, a result no one else saw coming. Nottingham Forest have struggled for form this season, which is why they are currently in a battle to escape the last relegation place. Nottingham Forest have also struggled to score goals this season, indeed only Burnley and Wolves, the bottom-placed teams, Crystal Palace, and Sunderland themselves have scored fewer goals than Nottingham Forest in the league this season. In other words, no one was expecting either side to score 5 goals, let alone 5 without reply. Regis Le Bris and his coaching staff have to go back to the drawing board and dissect that performance thoroughly before heading into the last 4 games of the season. They play Wolves, Manchester United, Everton, and Chelsea to close out the season. Except Wolves, all those teams still have a lot to play for in the league, and any of them would be happy for an opportunity to put 5 past Sunderland as well.

Winners: Liverpool F.C.

Liverpool have won their last three Premier League games on the bounce, they are up to 4th on the table, and they will almost certainly be playing in the Champions League next season. It's been a disappointing season for the Reds after the heights of last season, but it would definitely have been a lot worse if they had failed to get into the Champions League. And there are other reasons to be hopeful as well. For example, in their 3-1 victory over Crystal Palace this gameweek, Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz both scored. Liverpool's signings have struggled to get going this season, and one imagines that it's part of the reason why they've been so poor. In fact, Isak has barely played this season as he's been struggling with one injury or another. If those signings are now beginning to find their feet, then Liverpool fans can look forward to next season with a lot of hope, especially as they'll have the summer transfer window to address whatever holes exist in the squad.

Losers: Newcastle United F.C.

Surely there's no way that Eddie Howe doesn't get sacked after this season. When they got knocked out of the Champions League by Barcelona, you would assume that Eddie's attention would immediately turn to salvaging what's left of Newcastle's season in the league and making a late push for Europe. Instead, they've lost all 4 games since then, including last gameweek's 1-0 loss to Arsenal. FOUR LOSSES IN A ROW PLAYING ONE GAME A WEEK WHILE CHASING EUROPE! It's no wonder there are rumours they'll struggle to keep star players like Bruno G and Tonali in the summer. What makes this all worse is that all their games so far have been very winnable; they were not easy, certainly, but they were games you'd typically expect Newcastle to win. In fact, even if you take away the Arsenal game, they'd be 6th by now if they'd won the other 3 games. It's been an incredibly disappointing season for the Toon on all fronts, and Howe will probably pay the price for it in a bit.

Winners: Manchester City F.C.

It is not done yet, but Pep Guardiola's side took a big step towards claiming the Premier League title this gameweek, perhaps the biggest step they've taken since their unlikely title resurgence began. Beating Arsenal has put their destiny firmly in their hands for the first time in a while. Arsenal is still top of the table, with a 3-point gap separating them from City, but, of course, City have a game in hand. And perhaps most importantly, the goal difference between City and Arsenal is down to a single goal. In other words, City could be top of the table by the time they are finished playing Burnley on Wednesday if they win by two goals or more. It is a remarkable turnaround for a club that was written off from the title race just over a month ago. It's also a reminder that in this league, nothing is done until it is done. Celebrating before your team actually lifts the trophy is as bad as completely writing your team off before your rivals lift the trophy. Anything is possible until the very end.

Losers: Arsenal F.C.

First, we have to give some credit to Arsenal. They could have decided to play a low block and defend for 90 minutes, a draw would have been better for them than City after all. But they didn't, they came to play, to stamp their authority on the game and on the title race, and they didn't play badly at all, losing only by the slightest of margins. On a different day, Havertz finishes off his chances, and the game ends 3-1 to Arsenal. However, the very fact that Arsenal played better than they have most of the season is the problem to begin with. If they'd played like this over the past two months, they wouldn't be in this position to begin with.

The big problem facing Arsenal now and going forward is that they have a coach who seems incapable of doing what is necessary until it is too late. Arteta could have tried to improve the attacking dynamics earlier, he could have figured out how to get his best players on the pitch together long before now, but he waited for a title-deciding fixture with the wheels coming off and the season going up in flames to try and switch things up. Now the league is out of their hands, and all they can do is win their remaining games and hope that City slips up somewhere.

Winners: Aston Villa F.C.

Villa seemed to be in free fall for a couple of weeks and headed right out of the Champions League spots, but Emery seems to have found a way to stabilise them. They had to score a late goal to beat Sunderland 4-3 in a 7-goal thriller, but that win means they remain 4th on the table, only below United based on goal difference, and crucially, they are 10 points clear of the next team in a non-UCL spot. In other words, it's looking like Villa will be in the Champions League next season after all, and a top 4 finish is really quite an achievement for Emery with the squad at his disposal, especially when you factor in all the injuries to key players he's had to manage. It's also worth mentioning that Emery's priority right now is probably the Europa League, they are through to the semi-finals and play Nottingham Forest next week. A top-4 finish in the Premier League and a Europa League trophy at the end of the season will be quite the achievement for the Midlands club.

Losers: Chelsea F.C.

Chelsea were on a terrible run before they played Manchester United, they'd lost the last five games in all competitions (except for the Port Vale game in the FA Cup). They also hadn't scored a goal in the league since they beat Aston Villa 4-1 in the first week of March. Not only did they lose to Manchester United, but they also failed to score yet again. Typically, you want your club to have only one problem at a time if there must be problems at all. It's either you're good defensively but struggle with scoring goals, or you score goals a lot but struggle to keep them out. Chelsea, at the moment, has problems all over the pitch. They're completely incapable of scoring goals, even against teams like United, who have let in more goals than most clubs in the league this season. They also seem completely incapable of keeping goals out, even against teams like Everton, who are one of the lowest scoring sides in the league this season.

It's a truly awful position to be in, and with five games to go, one imagines that the club's priority has to be to just make it into the Champions League places and rebuild in the summer. However, they're 7 points behind Liverpool, who occupy the last Champions League spot, and it doesn't look like Chelsea have it in them to close the gap. They might end up in a scrap for a Conference League spot if they're not careful.

P.S. As at the time of final edit, Chelsea have lost 3-0 to Brighton. They have now lost their last five games in the league and failed to score in each of them.

Winners: A.F.C. Bournemouth

Andoni Iraola brought Bournemouth one step closer to a future with European football in it, even if that future doesn't have Iraola in it. Last week, the club announced that the Spaniard will step down at the end of the season after three highly successful years with the Cherries. The announcement doesn't seem to have affected the mood anywhere in the club, though, as they beat Newcastle 2-1 to remain in 8th place with the European spots in their sight. The win also meant that Bournemouth are now on a 13-game unbeaten run in the league, the longest unbeaten streak of any team in Europe's top 5 leagues at the moment. Should they win their game in midweek against Leeds, they will likely find themselves in 6th, at least before all the other clubs play their games at the weekend. Iraola has already delivered a record points season for Bournemouth in his tenure. Leaving them with a European campaign to look forward to would be a perfect parting gift.

Losers: Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

A late Brighton equaliser denied Tottenham 3 points that would have lifted them out of the relegation places at the weekend. It also took their current winless streak to an incredible 15 games in the league. As a matter of fact, Tottenham is the only club that has yet to win a single game in 2026. Abysmal doesn't do enough justice to the current situation of the club. At their current pace, Tottenham will probably be in the losers column in every edition of Winners And Losers unless Roberto De Zerbi can figure out a way to change things drastically with five games to go.

Losers: Arsenal F.C.

I don't think this one will come as any surprise to anybody at all. Arsenal's season is imploding, and a 2-1 loss to Bournemouth only contributed to the feeling of dread around the club right now.

Arsenal were in trouble before they ever kicked a ball on Saturday. They'd lost badly to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final, and then suffered a surprise defeat at the hands of Southampton in the FA Cup's quarter-finals. In a few short days, the narrative went from the best team around competing on all four fronts to just winning the Premier League.

It is against this terrible backdrop that they played Bournemouth in Saturday's early kickoff. They needed to beat Bournemouth to shore up their Premier League hopes, but more than beating Bournemouth, they also needed to put up a good performance. Their performances in the two domestic games before this one left a lot to be desired, but the Bournemouth game offered an opportunity for a great performance to assert themselves as title favourites. Instead, it turned into an embarrassment that left Arsenal's title hopes hanging by a very thin thread. Goals by Alex Scott and Eli Kroupi Jr. sealed all three points for the Cherries and left Arsenal just six points ahead of Manchester City, who have a game in hand and play Arsenal next gameweek. Pep Guardiola must be thanking his stars; a few weeks ago, it seemed like his last season at Manchester City would end without silverware. Now, he might be going out with a domestic treble, and he has his former student Mikel Arteta to thank for it all.

Winners: Manchester City F.C.

While Arteta and Arsenal stumbled yet again, his former boss cut down a serious opponent to draw closer to Arsenal and assert himself as a serious contender for the Premier League title. April is the month when Guardiola does not play around, and he's showing once again why he has dominated the last decade of English football. Everyone expected Chelsea to be a stern test of City's title hopes, especially because Arsenal was expected to beat Bournemouth, and so City would need a win to keep Arsenal in their sights. No doubt City would have been boosted by news of the Arsenal defeat before they even kicked a ball, but they still needed to go out and win, and boy did they win. Three second-half goals without reply against the team that was supposed to be their sternest test is about as serious a statement of intent as they could have made. Over to Arteta and his team to try and stop City from snatching the title at the last minute again.

Losers: Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

It seems like for the longest time, Tottenham has been hanging around the relegation places without finding themselves in an actual relegation position. Well, the old days are over, Tottenham are now in 18th firmly, and not just on goal difference, West Ham in 17th have got two more points than Spurs.

In other words, for the first time this season, Tottenham's destiny is not entirely in their hands, they can win all their remaining games and still need another team to drop enough points to replace them in the relegation zone.

De Zerbi's first game in charge was marked by a 1-0 loss to Sunderland, who continued their hunt for European football while dragging Tottenham one step closer to the Championship, the very competition Sunderland had just escaped from. In a sense, it's fitting. Sunderland, a former Premier League mainstay that had to get relegated and spend a long time finding its way back to the big stage, might be the team that sends Tottenham packing, and who knows when they'll be back if that happens?

Winners: Leeds United F.C.

The Daniel Farke renaissance continued last weekend as Leeds held on for a famous 2-1 victory over Manchester United, their first in 23 years. The win was exactly what the doctor ordered for a Leeds side that was beginning to slip back into the relegation battle. Their last six games produced four draws and two defeats, and their last league win dates back to the first week of February, a 2-1 win over fellow relegation candidates Nottingham Forest.

Don't get me wrong, when you're in a relegation scrap, you need every point you can get. Without the four points from those draws, they would be below Nottingham Forest at the moment, every point is important. However, there is something especially revitalising about winning games, you need a win now and again to keep spirits buoyed up for the fight, and what a win this one was. With six games to go and a possible FA Cup to play for, this win came at just the right time to set the Leeds players, fans, and management on fire for the last stretch of the season.

Losers: Newcastle United F.C.

To say Newcastle's season is collapsing is to understate what is happening at Saint James Park. Sunday's 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace left them in 14th place with 42 points after 32 games. The defeat also marked their third loss in the last five games, for a team that is supposed to be in Champions League conversations; their current state is underwhelming, especially when you consider that they might not even be playing in Europe at all next year.

Perhaps a club you could look at to get a sense of what Newcastle hope to be at the moment is Aston Villa. Villa have had ups and downs, just like Newcastle have, but Emery keeps finding ways to get them into the European competitions. As it stands, they seem well placed to be this season's Europa League champions. Newcastle fans, and frankly, management as well, should expect nothing less from Eddie Howe, given the investments that have been made. A big worry they will have, unless Howe has a miracle in store, is keeping their star players in the summer. The likes of Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes, Anthony Gordon, and so on might very well decide to move on if there is no European football in the cards next year.

Winners: West Ham United F.C.

Nuno has done it, at least for now. For the first time since November last year, West Ham are out of the relegation zone, and they have their destiny in their own hands. They played the first game after the break on Friday and knew that a win would lift them out of relegation, at least until Tottenham played their game against Sunderland. West Ham took their chance with incredible gusto, tearing Wolves apart 4-0, and this is a Wolves team that has looked better and better after the winter break. I don't think there has been a bigger testament to West Ham's desire to stay up under Nuno than this game, they needed to step up and make no mistakes, and they did just that. Their final six games are not easy, but I don't think anyone can count Nuno's team out of any game, given how well they're playing right now.

Losers: Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

Yeah, so here is the thing: Tottenham might be the worst-run club in the world. I don't know if there is any other club of Tottenham's size and ambitions being run as terribly as they are. The manager they hired to help them fight off relegation threats hasn't won a single game so far. You could argue that the games they've had to play so far have been tough, but last gameweek, they faced Nottingham Forest. NOTTINGHAM FOREST. Fellow relegation stragglers, a club that is also being run into the ground by bad management. The least Tottenham and their new manager could do in this game was give a good account of themselves. So maybe you don't expect them to blow Forest out of the way, but you would expect a disciplined, tight, determined, and organised performance, and a point at the very least. Instead, Tottenham got blown away 3-0 by Forest, and Forest have now moved to 16th place on 32 points, with Tottenham replacing them in 17th with 30 points, just 1 point above West Ham in the drop zone.

Winners: Everton F.C.

David Moyes is performing a miracle at Hill Dickinson stadium (yes, I typed Goodison Park before I deleted it, sue me). At the beginning of the season, West Ham fans expected Everton to be dealing with relegation under Moyes. The consensus among the West Ham fanbase, at least, was that Moyes has run out of ideas at the top level of football and needs to call it quits. After beating Chelsea 3-0 in a very convincing display, Everton currently sit 8th on the table with 46 points and dreams of Europe in their eyes. As for West Ham, well, anyone leading this knows how West Ham's season is going. What is even more impressive is that Moyes has kept the momentum going after losing Jack Grealish to injury about halfway through the season, given that he had been arguably their most important player in the first half of the season (along with Kiernan Drewsbury-Hall and Jordan Pickford, of course). One thing I think is abundantly clear, regardless of whether Everton makes it into Europe: Moyes is not yet finished at this level.

Losers: Liverpool F.C.

Liverpool is having a see-saw end to the season, with great performances that seem like they are heralding a turnaround at the club, followed by incredibly subpar performances. This gameweek was one such week for Liverpool. They came from 1-0 down to blow Galatasaray away 4-0 in the second leg of the UCL Round of 16, a brilliant result. And then at the weekend they lost 2-1 to (an admittedly seemingly rejuvenated) Brighton, a disappointing result. See-Saw. This defeat has serious implications for Liverpool's push for a top 4 finish. With Aston Villa picking up a win to end their own rotten streak, they put a bit of distance between themselves and Liverpool and gave Arne Slot more headaches than he'd have liked going into the last 7 games of the season.

Winners: Fulham F.C.

Marco Silva at Fulham, like David Moyes at Everton has done wonders at Craven Cottage with a small budget, a group of players most would consider just about midtable quality, and while juggling losing several players at several points this season. Their 3-1 victory over Burnley saw them move up to 9th place in the league, just below Moyes's Everton in 8th, and both clubs able to go into the rest provided by the international break with dreams of Europe on their mind. For Silva and Fulham in particular, it's quite the turnaround given hoow much time Fulham spent in and around the relegation places in the early days of the season. Whatever happends, Marco Silva and his team deserve a lot of praise for orchestrating such a wonderful season against all odds with the resources available to them.

Losers: Newcastle United F.C.

I like to think that, given the kind of season they've been having, Newcastle had only one objective coming into this game: do not lose two Tyne-Wear derbies to a club that only gained promotion to the Premier League again this year. And they started well enough, too. Anthony Gordon scored in the 10th minute, and the opening periods of the game were dominated by a Newcastle side that seemed determined to exact revenge for the loss to Sunderland earlier in the season. However, as the game wore on, Newcastle began to fade away. Sunderland equalised in the 57th minute and stole a late winner in the 90th minute to heap even more despair on Newcastle fans in the same week that they were dumped out of the Champions League by Barcelona unceremoniously. Questions about Eddie Howe's future are swirling already, and given how disappointing the season has been, one of the possible answers to the question of Howe's future is "moving on from the Newcastle job."

Winners: Brighton And Hove Albion F.C.

After beating Liverpool 2-1, Brighton has now won 4 and lost just 1 of their last 5 games, And that singular loss came against league leaders Arsenal in a tightly fought contest. In other words, Brighton has turned a corner under Fabian Hurzeler. As the season draws to a close, they currently sit in 10th place on 43 points, just 6 points behind Liverpool in 5th with 7 games to go. For a long time this season it seemed like Fabian Hurzeler had lost the plot and the only reason he was still in a job was that the Brighton hierarchy dislike sacking managers midway through the season prefering regime changes at the end of the season so the new manager can start on a clean slate. However, given the recent turnaround, and with 7 games left to go, Hurzeler might be making a last ditch effort to prove that he deserves to stay on and be given more time. Also can we talk about Danny Welbeck rolling back the years at the age of 35. Not only is he scoring more goals than before, he's also doing it in the really important games like the one against United and now this brace against Liverpool. This is not a statpadding session against weaker opponents. I think Tuchel should have him on the plane for the World Cup.

Winners: Max Dowman

16 years and 73 days, that's how long it took Max Dowman to score his first goal for Arsenal Football Club. Whenever I see stats like this one, I wonder what I was doing at the ripe old age of 16. I certainly wasn't banging in crucial goals for one of the best football teams in the world in the middle of a title charge.

However, as those who watched the Arsenal game might remember, the goal was just one event in what was a beautiful cameo for the teenager. At 74 minutes, when he came on, Arsenal looked lost for ideas and seemed to be heading for a draw with Everton. And then Arteta threw the teenager on, perhaps in a move borne out of desperation more than anything else, but it worked because the game completely changed from then on.

To put it simply: the young man made things happen. Just look at his delivery into the box for the Gyokeres goal. To play this kind of cross and leave Jordan Pickford in no man's land on a night when Pickford had been imperious until then is incredibly impressive. To do all that at the age of 16 in such a high-pressure environment is not just incredibly impressive, it's magical. Let the comparisons begin, then, Messi, Kaka, Ozil, throw whatever name you like into the mix.

🥤𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬

@_Afcbanks

That was a good delivery from Max Dowman to meet Hincapié Woow

6,617

8:24 PM • Mar 14, 2026

Losers: Manchester City F.C.

Pep Guardiola served a touchline ban as Manchester City took on West Ham. Before the game, Guardiola had said, and rightly so, that City could not afford to drop any more points in the title race. It's the kind of quote a veteran of several successful title pursuits makes before his team blows one of the lesser teams in the league out of the water to keep the pressure on the team they are chasing.

However, there are really no lesser teams in the Premier League these days. Manchester City did not blow West Ham out of the water. Pep's team did indeed drop 2 more points in the title race. And the characteristically expressive Spaniard had to watch this all from the stands, unable to react to the events unfolding below him in his usual fashion.

The final score was uninspiring: Manchester City 1 - West Ham. A lot of people have declared Arsenal title winners following the result. I would be a lot more cautious with that claim; stranger things have happened with fewer games left in an English Premier League title race. That notwithstanding, City are certainly not making it as difficult for Arsenal as possible.

Winners: West Ham United F.C.

Go tell it on the mountain, Nuno Espirito Santo is orchestrating one of the great relegation escapes of all time.

One man's food, they say, is another man's poison. And indeed, a 1-1 draw to the 18th-placed team on the table in the middle of a title race must have tasted poisonous to Pep Guardiola, perhaps even venomous enough to finish off any title hopes this season. However, to Nuno, that draw would have tasted like glory.

You have to understand, with 8 games left to go, West Ham have pulled themselves level on points with Nottingham Forest, and one point beneath Tottenham. The destiny of the Hammers is in their own hands now, and unlike Forest, they don't have to play in Europe, so there are no distractions. At the moment, London Stadium is a machine concerned with only one thing: the salvation of the Hammers. With Nuno leading the charge and calling the plays, I wouldn't count them out until the very last kick.

Losers: Aston Villa F.C.

Three defeats on the bounce for the Villans. Unai Emery is quietly going from cult hero to, if not the main villain, a secondary antagonist in the story of Aston Villa's 25/26 English Premier League campaign. Like the gameweek before this one, this gameweek presented Villa with another opponent jockeying for a top-four finish, and they promptly crumbled as Manchester United ran out 3-1 winners on the day. Villa now sit in 4th place with 51 points; had Liverpool and Chelsea capitalised on Villa's shakiness and won their games, Emery's team might be as far down as 6th at the moment. It's a brutal fall from grace for a club that was in conversations for unlikely Premier League winners just two months ago.

However, as we all know, two months is a lifetime in football. And look, yes, I know that Villa has so many injuries to deal with at the moment, with key personnel like Tielemans and Kamara on the sidelines. But the club invested quite a bit in new players in January, with the likes of Douglas Luiz and Tammy Abraham joining. If Emery can't find a way to make his squad work even with key players missing, it might be another year playing in the Europa League or the UEFA Conference League for Villa instead of the Champions League.

Winners: Brighton And Hove Albion F.C.

The seagulls now have 3 wins in their last 5 games in the league, and they might be well on their way to flying again. Against Sunderland, Brighton displayed a sturdiness that has seemed to come out of nowhere lately. This is not a club you typically associate with great defensive performances and grinding out wins with narrow margins. 2 of their 8 clean sheets this season have come in the last five games as a club (and manager) that prides itself on verticality and attacking football, learn that not letting in goals is essential to winning football games.

Against Sunderland, they were at their dogged best; the game was mostly even between two roughly equal teams. In fact, both teams scored on the day, but Sunderland had a goal ruled out for offside. Even Yankuba Minteh's goal, which decided the game, was most likely a miscued strike from the young winger that snuck past Roefs in the Sunderland goal. However, Brighton got the goal, Brighton dug in, Brighton held on, and Brighton won; that's all that matters. With 8 games to go, if Brighton is to find a way back to Europe, they will need a lot more dogged, sturdy performances like these.

Losers: Liverpool F.C.

The memes circulated online before the kickoff at Anfield, and Liverpool went out and played exactly as the memes predicted. The stage was well set: Tottenham, on a 12-game winless run in the league, and Liverpool, needing to pick up every point possible to keep their dreams of Champions League football next season alive. Naturally, Liverpool went out and played a 1-1 draw with the team in the worst form in the league at the moment. Had Liverpool beaten Tottenham, they would be 4th right now with 52 points.

It's certainly not too late to make it into the UCL next season, and indeed, finishing 5th might be enough to make it happen. Nonetheless, if Liverpool doesn't make it after all, they might very well look back on this result with sadness as the point at which their pursuit of UCL football started coming off the rails. Up next, Liverpool play a Brighton team who are beginning to find their feet again; nothing less than a perfect performance on Saturday will do for keeping your dreams alive.

Winners: Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. 

Wolves are in a strange position. Their relegation has been all but confirmed for a while now, and yet things are looking up at the Molineux. Their performances have been steadily improving since January, and now the results are beginning to follow. Last gameweek they beat Aston Villa 2-0 in what was certainly the most shocking result of the weekend. No one was expecting them to repeat the feat against Liverpool but that is exactly what they did. They beat Liverpool 2-1 on Tuesday with a fantastic last minute goal by André sealing the victory. I'm sure no one is dreaming of a magical escape from relegation at the Molineux (a shame in my opinion), but Rob Edwards can finish the club's season on a real high and set them up for a good Championship campaign if they keep pulling off upsets. Up next: Brentford. 

Losers: Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

Midweek brought more misery for Spurs. They lost to Crystal Palace 3-1, remain in 16th position with 29 points, and are now just 1 point aboveWest Ham and Nottingham Forest in 18th and 17th place respectively. To make matters worse for Tottenham, both teams are in better form than Spurs — West Ham picked up a crucial win against Fulham, and Forest took a hard earned point off Manchester City this gameweek. So, in summary: there are now three teams in the battle for survival at the bottom of the table, and of those teams the one in the worst run of form is Tottenham. They are the only team in the league that have not picked up a single point in their last five games. Although it has seemed like a remote possibility for a while, I don't think most people really expected Tottenham to get relegated. This is the very first week where it suddenly seems like it could very well happen.

Winners: West Ham United F.C.

Most of the most important wins came at the bottom of the table this gameweek and few were more important than West Ham's 1-0 victory over Fulham. When Nuno took over, it seemed like it might be too late for West Ham to launch a survival bid as Leeds and Nottingham Forest looked like they were finding stability. But this week's victory coupled with Nottingham Forest's draw means that both sides are now level on points with nine games to go. To put it in clear terms: West Ham have their destiny in their hands as far as survival is concerned. Nottingham Forest sit above them only on goal difference and West Ham are almost certainly the better defensive outfit which is likely to help their goal difference as the season rounds out. Over the last five games, Forest have collected 2 points out of a possible 15, West Ham have collected 8/15. Surviving will not be easy — they still have to play Manchester City, Aston Villa, and Arsenal in the nine games left — but it is certainly possible. Nuno may have orchestrated the great escape after all.  

Losers: Manchester City F.C.

There used to be a time when having Manchester City chasing you in a title race was more fearsome than chasing Manchester City. City used to be capable of going on ridiculous winning runs in the title run-in to break the spirit of their pursuers or strike fear into the heart of the team they were pursuing. But not anymore. Despite the January reinforcements of Semenyo and Guehi, City haven't always looked convincing even as they've scraped wins together. With Arsenal suffering self inflicted wounds, it seemed like City would have a window to sneak in and steal the title again. However, against Nottingham Forest, the familiar problems this season appeared for Eliott Anderson's goal to drag Forest level. Some would say it was a lucky strike, but the point is this, in the years gone by City would probably have been too defensively organised to allow Anderson the space and time to let off that strike. Whatever the source of the goal, City dropped two points, lost ground on Arsenal, and then Arsenal ground out a 1-0 victory over Brighton to capitalise on their misstep. With nine games to go, the story is certainly not over, but it's a steeper climb now for City, and they don't look as menacing as usual.

Winners: Everton F.C.

A clean and clinical 2-0 victory over Burnley saw Everton claim back-to-back wins and get back in the hunt for Europe. Everton have had to show serious versatility and doggedness to get to where they are right now, especially with key players like Grealish, Ndiaye, Gueye, and Kiernan Drewsbury-Hall missing for periods this season. Their last two games have shown the kind of different games Everton are capable of playing at the moment. Last weekend they played out a 3-2 scrap against Newcastle in a game where Newcastle were the better side but Everton found a way to hang in there and eventually run away with the victory. In midweek they played a controlled game against Burnley where they dominated, allowed their opponents very little and walked away with a victory and a clean sheet. If Everton do make it into Europe this year it'll be down to Moyes finding a way to keep his team going no matter the missing or misfiring players or the nature of the game they are playing. It's very impressive stuff for a manager who seemed washed after West Ham. 

Losers: Aston Villa F.C.

The game against Chelsea represented an opportunity for Villa to do three things: 

1. Curb their bad run of form. 

2. Put a ridiculous loss to Wolves at the weekend behind them.

3. Assert their dominance in the top 4 battle by beating a fellow challenger. 

They failed to do any of those things. Instead, they gave Chelsea a platform to put the thoughts of their London Derby loss behind them as they ran out 4-1 winners at Villa Park. Villa still sit 4th, 3 points ahead of Chelsea in 5th, but it definitely feels like Chelsea are better poised to finish 4th right now. Villa look out of sorts against bottom of the table (literally) opposition as well as against opposition roughly on their level. This suggests that their issues are all internal, and not some statistical anomaly that can be explained away. Whatever the problems may be, whether the personnel missing due to injury, or the adaptation difficulties of the January signings, Emery needs to find solutions real fast before things go even further south. And there are only nine games left in the season.

Winners: Arsenal F.C.

There are no margins for error left in the EPL title race for Mikel Arteta and his team, especially as Manchester City have continued to win when they play before Arsenal, putting them under more pressure. Last week's North London Derby was a walk in the park compared to the prospect Arsenal faced this gameweek against a Chelsea side that needed to recover some of their honour after losing to Arsenal twice in their three meetings so far this season. But it was not to be. Arsenal found a way to rise to the occasion with their defenders and set pieces playing the biggest part in the drama that unfolded as Arsenal beat Chelsea 2-1. Saliba scored from a Gabriel assist off a corner, Hincapie scored an own goal off a corner by Reece James, and Jurrien Timber scored from yet another corner to make it 2-1 and hand all three points to Arsenal. Over to you, Manchester City.

Losers: Aston Villa F.C.

Aston Villa's title charge is well and truly over; it has been for a few weeks. However, what is really surprising is how they've gone from being nailed on for third place to being dragged right back into the top four race. After losing 2-0 to Wolves this gameweek, they now sit in 4th place with 51 points, level with Manchester United in 3rd and only three points ahead of Liverpool in 5th. Aston Villa also have the tougher set of fixtures coming up; their next two games see them face Chelsea and Manchester United, fellow Champions League spot seekers. Villa have struggled with injuries to key personnel, with the likes of Kamara and McGinn out for a while, and they've also struggled with integrating the January signings into the team. With only one win in their last five games, they need something to change real soon before all the good work that has gone into what has been a splendid season up until this point gets undone.

Winners: Brighton And Hove Albion F.C.

Two wins on the bounce for Brighton sees them end a dreadful run of results and move up to 11th on the table. As in their last game against Brentford, Diego Gomez and Danny Welbeck scored the goals that provided the win against Nottingham Forest. But this time, they were unable to hold on for a clean sheet as Morgan Gibbs-White scored for his team, even though it wasn't enough ultimately. Fabian Hurzeler and co won't mind so much about the clean sheet; the mood around the Amex is beginning to change, and that's what's important. With 10 games to go and just 14 points between Brighton and 4th place, there is still time for them to make a late push for Europe this season, but first, they face a stern test against Arsenal on Wednesday.

Losers: Newcastle United F.C.

Newcastle have been quietly dreadful for the last month in the Premier League. They've lost five of their last six games, with the only win in that period coming against a decidedly dreadful Tottenham side. After this gameweek's 3-2 loss to Everton, Newcastle sit in 13th place with 36 points. One suspects that the only reason fans aren't calling for Eddie Howe's head yet is their exciting run in the Champions League. And yet, unless they win the Champions League, that run must come to an end at some point, so the reality is this: their best chance of making it back into Europe next season is through winning the FA Cup. They face Manchester City in the 5th round of FA Cup fixtures, no easy task, especially as City have just knocked them out of the Carabao Cup. Should they exit both the Champions League and the FA Cup, then the fans and the club must come to terms with the nature of a domestic campaign that has been extremely poor, to say the least.

Winners: Manchester United F.C.

United's revival under interim boss Michael Carrick continues to reach new highs. When Ruben Amorim's team was playing tepid football, and United didn't seem capable of stringing more than two wins in a row, few fans would have imagined that they would be sitting third in the Premier League at this point. They had to come from behind to secure the points against Crystal Palace, with Bruno Fernandes scoring and providing an assist. Aston Villa's stumble against Wolves meant that the win saw them move up to 3rd, level on points with Villa but with a better goal difference. United have something going for them as the race for Champions League football continues to heat up: they're the only team involved in that race who don't have any other commitments. Villa still have to play Europa League football, Chelsea and Liverpool still have to play Champions League and FA Cup. United can capitalise on their single-mindedness to lay a strong hold on the 3rd spot and maybe even provide an upset in the title race. Who knows?

Losers: Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

Tottenham are having a season so bad it can only be properly described in biblical terms: misery upon misery and woe upon woe. This gameweek, they faced Fulham and lost 2-1 to their London rivals, a familiar tune among the Spurs faithful this season. Tottenham's record against London clubs has been abysmal this season, with the only wins coming against Brentford and Crystal Palace. Tottenham haven't even been afforded the grace of a new manager bounce as Igor Tudor has lost his first two games in charge. Things continue to look dire; Tottenham remain only 4 points above the drop zone, and the injuries continue to pile up. At this point, I imagine the club just wants to get to the end of the season safely and then think about how they can regroup.

Winners: Brighton And Hove Albion F.C.

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.

Losers: Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

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.

Winners: Fulham F.C.

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.

Losers: Sunderland A.F.C

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.

Winners: Manchester City FC

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.

Losers: Chelsea FC

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.

If you thought "Roberto Firmino," you're right. Congratulations, you're a football nerd.

But I want you to notice something, Bobby Firmino, although widely regarded (and rightfully so) as one of the most exciting strikers to play in the league, was never a prolific goalscorer. His highest tally was 15 in a season, and that happened only once. He had seasons with a total goal tally as low as 5.

Personally, I don't like stats like these because they lack so much nuance (minutes played? xG? goals per minute?). However, the reason I bring up Firmino's numbers without nuance is to make a point: something has changed about how we assess strikers in the Premier League.

We used to understand that different kinds of teams need different types of strikers. Some teams need a striker who scores lots of goals and is a threat in the box, others need a striker whose best attribute is associative play with the midfield, and so on. But now all we judge strikers on is their goal output. "How many goals has he scored?" is all we think about when deciding whether a particular striker is a good fit for our team or not.

And I suspect that the reason for this change is Erling Haaland.

Enter: Erling Haaland

Haaland joined Manchester City in the 22/23 season, the same season that would be Firmino's last season for Liverpool. In retrospect, that fact seems significant, Firmino's exit marking Haaland's arrival, as well as the arrival of a new standard for judging Premier League strikers.

Haaland joined the Premier League and started smashing goal-scoring records to pieces from the get-go, and in the four years that he has been around, he has successfully rewired how we judge strikers. Haaland is now the gold standard for strikers. Every striker must now be a prolific goal scorer or face the wrath of the mob.

It wasn't too long ago that Manchester City and Liverpool both deployed false 9's at the peak of their joint dominance over the EPL. Gabriel Jesus for City, Roberto Firmino for Liverpool. Both were Brazilian, beautiful players to watch, integral to title-winning squads, and both never scored more than 15 goals in a season.

But things have changed, and perhaps nowhere was this more obvious than last summer, as several big clubs were in the market for a striker. You could see the respective fanbases judging potential striker acquisitions on goalscoring pedigree alone and not on the broader needs of the team. There is no better example of this line of thinking than Victor Gyokeres.

The Victor Gyokeres Effect

In the summer, Arsenal needed to sign a striker. Naturally, the rumour mill linked them with everyone from Alexander Isak to Julian Alvarez and Victor Osimhen, but eventually two names rose to the top: Benjamin Sesko and Victor Gyokeres.

I remember being off social media for most of the transfer window and excited about the prospect of a Benjamin Sesko signing. I liked Gyokeres as a player, but I thought Sesko fit the Arsenal mould better. Then I came back online and realised that most people actually wanted Arsenal to sign Gyokeres. And their rationale was simple: Gyokeres was a prolific goal scorer, and Arsenal needed a prolific goal scorer.

Arsenal did end up signing Gyokeres, and he has struggled to replicate his prolific goal-scoring form at Arsenal, to no surprise. And the very same people who clamoured for his purchase have begun to turn on him.

So, the question is: what did Arsenal really need in the summer? A striker? Or a prolific goalscorer?

To understand Arsenal's real needs, let us consider two things.

First, Arsenal didn't have a goal-scoring problem. In the three seasons prior, they'd scored 88, 91, and 69 goals in the league. The drop-off from 91 to 69 in the 24/25 season is steep, but you must remember that they played most of that season with an injury-ridden squad (playing Merino at 9 famously), and still scored the third-highest number of goals in the league. Also, the 88 goals scored in the 22/23 season broke the club's previous record for most goals in a season. A record they would go on to break the following season again by scoring 91 in the 23/24 season. Arsenal wasn't just scoring a lot of goals; they were scoring goals at a historic pace.

Second, look at the players who competed for the striker position at Arsenal: Gabriel Jesus, Kai Havertz (and Mikel Merino). The very reason Arsenal was shopping for a striker was that Gabriel Jesus was too inconsistent due to recurring injuries, and Kai Havertz had picked up an injury as well. So, in essence, they needed a striker who offered the team a similar skillset to Jesus and Kai Havertz.

Now, put those two things together: a club with prolific goalscoring power as a team in need of a striker to provide competition and cover for the injured group of strikers they have, who are of a similar profile. What should they do to take the team to the next level?

Quite simple: sign a striker who brings the same kind of skillset as Havertz-Jesus-Merino, but either has those qualities at a higher level or has a higher ceiling than they do.

And what did they do? They signed Victor Gyokeres from Sporting Lisbon, a player who is just completely different from the Havertz-Jesus-Merino mould.

When signing a player, you have to consider not only his capabilities but his impact on the team as a whole. To give one example, Gyokeres doesn't offer as much of an opportunity for the wingers to come central by switching places with them as Havertz and Jesus do. This is bad because Arsenal have wingers (Martinelli, Trossard, and Saka) who offer a real threat when they step infield and affect the game centrally. But, with Gyokeres in the team, the wingers are shackled to the touchline.

I could go on about how Gyokeres's strengths turn into serious problems when you put him in the current Arsenal setup. However, this is not meant to be an essay condemning Gyokeres, far from it. If anything, I'm sympathetic to his plight and will continue to offer him support until things change one way or the other.

If anything, I want to slate those people who clamoured for Gyokeres so loudly in the summer and have turned on him as he has struggled to replicate his form at Sporting with Arsenal. You were the problem. You fell for the shiny player syndrome, misdiagnosed your team's problems, backed the acquisition of a sub-optimal solution, and now you want to turn around and blame the player, for what exactly?

Gyokeres is playing how Gyokeres has always played; he is playing as he did when he was bagging goals every week for Sporting Lisbon. The only problem is that if you take that same guy and put him in the Arsenal team, problems begin to appear as he tries to adjust to the team's patterns and his teammates try to adjust to his individual traits.

From now on, I will refer to fans clamouring for a bad solution to their team's needs because they are carried away by some shiny ability or statistic as "The Gyokeres Effect."

Epilogue

There is another example of this effect on the other side of London. When Chelsea bought Joao Pedro, he was expected to become the focal point of their attack and a threat in and around the box. I found that very curious. Anyone who watched Joao Pedro at Brighton knew that he was very much cut from the same cloth as your Bobby Firmino's, and that his biggest strength lies in connecting the midfield and the attack. It took Maresca only a few games to realise that his new shiny striker thrived best when playing off someone else.

I suppose my plea is this: the next time your team needs to fill a certain role, or they're linked with a shiny player, take a step back and try to do a bird's-eye view of the situation. How does this team play? What kind of player do we need for this role? What kind of player DON'T we need for this role? Good players can struggle when placed in systems that don't suit them.

With that general picture in mind, here are the winners and losers from the last round of action.

Losers: Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

Tottenham are now well and truly in a relegation scrap for the second season running. A 2-1 defeat to Newcastle left them in 16th with 29 points, just five points and two places ahead of West Ham in 18th. These are strange times for the London club. Last year, they won the Europa League while battling relegation in the Premier League. This year, they're battling relegation again, but they're doing very well in the Champions League, finishing 4th in the group stage. This is clearly a capable group of players, but somehow the form in Europe hasn't translated into England. And the injuries haven't helped at all.

Winners: Leeds United F.C.

There is no greater case for the difficulty of the Premier League at the moment than Leeds United suddenly turning into a nightmare to play against. They bought no new players, didn't need a new coach, Daniel Farke just made a few tactical tweaks, and they went from relegation fodder to potential mid-table contenders. Chelsea learnt the hard way as they blew a two-goal lead and allowed Leeds to come from behind and nick a draw in a 2-2 thriller. Leeds may not have done the double over Chelsea, but it will certainly feel like it among the Blues. Leeds beat them 3-2 in December after all, this was supposed to be payback for Chelsea, but Leeds and Noah Okafor had other plans.

Losers: Arsenal F.C.

Riddle me this: When does a draw against a very tricky team away from home feel like a loss?

Answer: When Arsenal is in a title race with Manchester City.

At most other points in the season, a draw away from home against a difficult side by Brentford would not have been a completely unwelcome result. However, with Manchester City breathing down their necks, every game is a must-win for Arsenal from now until the end of the season (or when the title is mathematically won). And that is why the atmosphere in the Arsenal fanbase after full-time at the G-tech was remarkably dull. Manchester City had blitzed their way to a 3-0 victory against Fulham earlier and cut Arsenal's lead down to 3 points. Arsenal needed a win to bring the gap back to 6 points and keep City at arm's length, but they failed. After periods where it looked like the title race was done and dusted despite Arsenal's slip-ups, the race is wide open again.

Winners: Burnley F.C.

When you are 19th on the table with 18 points after 26 games and relegation all but confirmed, there's not much to celebrate after every game. However, The Clarets do have something to celebrate this week, a stunning comeback against Crystal Palace saw them go from 2-0 down after 33 minutes to winning the game 3-2. Perhaps even more impressive is the fact that the comeback took all of seven minutes. After 40 minutes, it was 2-1, and 7 minutes later, it was 2-3, and the Burnley crowd at Selhurst Park erupted. It's been a difficult season for Burnley on their return to the Premier League, and their relegation is all but guaranteed but that result will lift the spirits of everyone at the club and make it easier for them to face the rest of their fixtures.

Losers: Brighton And Hove Albion F.C.

I'm sure many people on the Brighton side will be feeling hard done by after the 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa by way of a very late Jack Hinshelwood own goal. Brighton were the better team for most of the game, restricting their opponents to a grand total of 0 shots on target the entire game. They were also the team in greater need of a result. No one expects Brighton to get relegated, but that defeat left them only one point ahead of Leeds United, who currently lead the pack of teams striving for safety. With 31 points in 15th place, there is a possible future in which Brighton find themselves in 17th after two rounds of fixtures, slugging it out with West Ham directly for survival. For a club that was in Europe two years ago, it's an unfamiliar and uncomfortable territory they find themselves in right now.

Winners: Manchester City F.C.

Pep Guardiola finally laid down the gauntlet definitively this gameweek. From the first whistle at the Etihad, Manchester City came flying out, intent on suffocating Fulham into submission. And they did, by halftime they were 3-0 up, and it stayed like that till the end of the game. It wasn't exactly a flawless performance, Pep will be worried about the second-half drop-off in intensity that has become a pattern for his team, and grateful that Fulham couldn't capitalise on that in this game. However, the most important thing is that they needed to win this game in style to put pressure on Arsenal, and they did. With twelve games to go, and the lead now cut to 4 points after Arsenal stumbled against Brentford, Pep will be scheming, plotting, and quite possibly dreaming of one last English Premier League title before he bows out of the Manchester City role.

Losers: Liverpool F.C.

All the conversations leading up to the Liverpool vs Manchester City clash centred around what the result of the game would mean for the title aspirations of league leaders Arsenal. And yet, the fact of the matter is that Liverpool needed a win for their own sake more than anything else. Liverpool find themselves in a vicious three-way battle for the final Champions League qualification spot with United and Chelsea. Victory over City would have kept them within three points of United in 4th place. But that late defeat means that they now find themselves in 6th, four points behind Chelsea in 5th. It's not an insurmountable gap, but the competition will be tougher now as they are currently level on points with the likes of Brentford, who are making their own case for European qualification very strongly at the moment.

Winners: Manchester United F.C.

Four wins on the bounce for Michael Carrick, and it's looking likely that a certain United fan will be getting a haircut real soon. Carrick hasn't had the easiest of starts to life as United manager; his first three games came against really in-form teams: Manchester City, Arsenal, and Fulham. Oddly, the game against Tottenham on Saturday was the easiest of the lot so far, given Tottenham's struggles so far this season. Still, regardless of the league position and current form of both clubs, a Manchester United vs Tottenham game cannot be taken lightly by either manager, and it's clear Carrick did not take it lightly. Two goals and a clean sheet will please him a lot as United solidified their grasp on 4th place with Chelsea and Liverpool hot on their heels.

Losers: Brighton And Hove Albion F.C.

Brighton lost 1-0 to Crystal Palace to take their bad run of form to 1 win in the last 13 games. This was a game of particular importance because both Palace and Brighton haven't been great lately, this game offered a platform for a reset to the winner. Crystal Palace dug in and got the win through an Ismaila Sarr strike in the 61st minute. The result leaves Brighton adrift in 14th place with 31 points. It might have been unthinkable to the Brighton fans at the beginning of the season, but the fact of the matter is that if this poor run of form continues, they might very well be in a relegation scrap by the end of the season. Something needs to change, and fast.

Winners: Brentford

This weekend, Brentford asserted their intention to be in the mix for Europe firmly. Last week, they dug deep to pull off a 1-0 win over title challengers Aston Villa with ten men after Kevin Schade was sent off in the first half. This week, they had to both come back from behind and find a late winner against a Newcastle side determined to win at all costs in a 3-2 thriller. No game in the Premier League is exactly easy these days, but beating tough opponents like Aston Villa and Newcastle back-to-back is one way to send a clear message about your intent. Up next for Brentford: Arsenal.

Losers: Newcastle United

After the 3-2 defeat by Brentford, Newcastle find themselves in 12th place on 33 points with 13 games to go. As far as the near future of the club goes (and perhaps even Eddie Howe's future), these are the relevant numbers. There is now an 11-point gap between them and Manchester United in 4th, where I imagine they want to be. To make matters worse, the loss against Brentford was their third straight defeat, and they haven't picked up a Premier League win since the first week of January. Their form in the Champions League is, I imagine, why the fanbase isn't calling for Eddie Howe's head already. However, as we progress to the knockout stages of the UCL and Newcastle face tougher opposition, it's very likely that their UCL journey will come to an end soon. And if their domestic form doesn't improve, when the UCL football is gone, and fans have only the Premier League to look forward to, things could get really nasty very quickly.

Winners: Leeds United F.C.

Considering the brilliant results they've pulled off lately against the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea, it might surprise some to learn that I consider Leeds' 3-1 thrashing of Nottingham Forest to be their most important statement win so far. Nottingham Forest is, after all, their most direct competitor in the battle for safety. There is probably no better way to bolster your chances of survival than beating your opponent and keeping them below you. After getting battered 4-0 by Arsenal the previous week, many must have begun to wonder if the wheels were finally coming off for Daniel Farke and his boys. This win suggests that the answer to that is an emphatic no! Arsenal was a fluke, and Daniel Farke's boys are still firing on all cylinders, it must be music to the ears of the Elland Road crowd.

Winners: Ibrahima Konate

Liverpool had their foot on Newcastle's neck almost from the moment Anthony Gordon scored the first goal, and they eventually ran out 4-1 winners. It was a 5-star performance by Liverpool: Wirtz continued a run of good form, Salah got in on the goal-scoring action, and Ekitike continued building his case for leading the line when Isak returns with two beautifully taken goals. But no one was more impressive than Ibrahima Konate. The Frenchman has had a difficult season so far; he has been the culprit for some of Liverpool's defensive woes this season, and some fans had started to turn on him, especially given that he's likely to leave for free in the summer to Madrid. Add to that the fact that this is his first game of football since his father died and you can see why it was expected to be a difficult game for the Frenchman. However, he rose to the occasion splendidly. He barely put a foot wrong in 90 minutes, and then, very deservedly scored a goal to wrap it all up. Alisson running the length of the pitch to hug him was my favourite thing this weekend.

Losers: Brighton And Hove Albion F.C.

So many interesting things are going on in the Premier League at the moment, and even more is going on under the radar. For example, most people don't realise that Brighton is having a really bad season. They're currently 13th on the table with 31 points, just 5 points ahead of relegation threatened clubs like Leeds and Nottingham Forest. And to make matters worse, they've won only once in their last 12 games; that's at least three months of Premier League football without a win. For a club like Brighton, once expected to be a disruptive force to the "big 6", these are abysmal standards. It probably hurts even more knowing how close they were to winning a game for the first time in a while against Everton on Saturday until Beto scored a 97th minute equaliser to grab a point for Everton. Fabian Hurzeler is losing the fanbase with every game that extends the rotten winless run.

Winners: Arsenal F.C.

Arsenal and Arteta desperately needed a reset in the Premier League. On a three game winless run, goals drying up, tongues wagging, a once solid defence leaking goals, and then to make matters worse, Bukayo Saka got injured during warm up. Leeds were on a serious run of good form at home too, taking points off the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea at Elland Road in the weeks prior. However, the Gunners stepped up to the occasion in style. They scored 4 goals, kept a clean sheet, and players like Noni Madueke and Viktor Gyokeres got much needed goal contributions in the Premier League. Oh, and Gabriel Jesus scored as well for good measure. Mikel Arteta knows that his team needs to go on a run now, and this is a great platform for them to build on.

Losers: The Title Chasers

Every week that passes proves one thing: Premier League football is more difficult than it's ever been, just ask Manchester City and Aston Villa. For the past two months, every time they seem like they have an opportunity to close in on Arsenal, something comes up. This gameweek, Manchester City went to play Tottenham, their voodoo team, and even though they were comfortably 2-0 up at halftime, Tottenham came back to tie the game at 2-2. It's impossible to explain why Spurs are City's boogey team in footballing terms; it doesn't matter how bad Tottenham are, when it's time to face City, Dominic Solanke will find a Puskas-worthy goal in his locker. As for Aston Villa, they went off to face Brentford with a team that boasted names like Tammy Abraham and fell to a 1-0 defeat. I'm sure Emery is relieved to have so much-needed reinforcement, but I'm not sure throwing them straight into the fire was a good idea. Either way, my point stands: Premier League Football is difficult.

Winners: Bournemouth A.F.C.

Things seem to be turning around slowly but surely at Vitality. Victory over Wolves at the weekend meant back-to-back wins for The Cherries in the league since September. It also means that they've lost just once in the last five games, winning three games, and drawing the other. For a while there, it seemed like things had run away from Andoni Iraola, and losing Antoine Semenyo in January did not help. But the club has strengthened, signing Fraser Foster, Alex Toth, and Rayan to give Iraola a larger squad to pick from as he attempts to reverse the downward spiral and push the club back towards mid-table and even a possible late push for Europe. So far, things seem to be working out that way.

Losers: West Ham United F.C.

Who knows what might have happened if West Ham had held on after going 2-0 up against Chelsea? Perhaps it would have been the platform for them to build on and pull off one of the greatest relegation escapes of all time. Unfortunately, we'll never know, because Chelsea came back to win 3-2 thanks to a stoppage-time goal by Enzo Fernandes. That defeat will come as a heavy, bitter blow for West Ham as they now head into a very tricky run of fixtures while still 5 points adrift of safety. Nuno Espirito Santo has to find a way to rally the troops and keep morale high

Winners: Aston Villa F.C.

Unai Emery's team stumbled against Everton last gameweek, and a defeat to Newcastle would have probably had people writing them out of the title race altogether. It didn't help that they had to visit Saint James Park, a ground they haven't won at since 2005, and face a team in great form with four wins in their last five games. But winners find a way to win, and Villa found a way. Emi Buendia's outrageous strike and Ollie Watkins' header secured the goals, but it was really another remarkable performance by Emi Martinez that sealed the win. With Arsenal dropping points at the weekend, some people at Villa Park will be dreaming of an unlikely Villa title charge again, as they should.

Losers: Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

Tottenham's woes continued against Burnley as they failed to get maximum points from another encounter with a club in the bottom three. This, despite victory over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League in midweek providing some much needed relief at the London stadium. However, the issue remains, in the Premier League, against opponents who sit back and ask Spurs to break them down, Thomas Frank has no answer yet. Not good ones anyway. Needing a last-minute goal by a centre back to nick a draw against the 19th-placed team on the table is just embarrassing.

Winners: Chelsea F.C.

The new manager bounce continues at Stamford Bridge. Liam Rosenior knows that there were mixed reactions to his appointment as manager, and the only way to win over hearts and minds is to keep putting points on the board. So far, he's been doing a great job at doing just that. On Sunday, Chelsea beat Crystal Palace 3-1 to keep themselves very well in contention for a top 4 finish. Granted, the win came against a depleted Crystal Palace side still regrouping after the loss of their best player, but no one at the Bridge will care about all that too much. It's another 3 points in the bag, and there is a kind run of fixtures coming up with West Ham, Wolves, Leeds, and Burnley. In a month, Chelsea might have pulled ahead of the other two teams battling for a 4th place finish.

Losers: Arsenal F.C.

The cracks had been showing in the Premier League for a while before Arsenal's 3-2 defeat to Manchester United. Two draws in the league preceded this result, one against an uninspiring Liverpool and the other against a struggling Nottingham Forest. The nature of those games suggested that something needed to change in Arsenal's attacking dynamic, but the urgency of that need was tempered by Arsenal's strong performances in other competitions during that period. A 3-2 defeat of Chelsea in the Carabao Cup and a 3-1 victory over Inter Milan in the Champions League seemed to suggest that Arsenal are doing just fine. But the fact is that most Premier League teams don't play Arsenal the way Chelsea and Inter Milan did. Liverpool sat back and defended compactly, asking the Gunners to break them down, and so did Nottingham Forest, but neither team was capable of creating much goal threat. Manchester United sat back, struck on the break, and dealt the Gunners a really bad blow at a crucial point in the season. Mikel Arteta has to change something now before it's too late.

Winners: Manchester United F.C.

The dream start to life as a manager for Michael Carrick continues. He's gone from beating United's rivals from across town last gameweek to putting the best team in the league so far this season to the sword in the space of a week. In football, some wins are statement wins. In some games, it doesn't matter how you win; all that matters is that you win. This was one such game for United as they renewed an old rivalry with Arsenal at the most difficult ground to visit in all of Europe this season. And Carrick's boys found a way to win. It's more than likely that this win will propel United higher as they compete with Chelsea and Liverpool for the final Champions League spot.

Losers: Liverpool F.C.

The attention has shifted away from Arne Slot and Liverpool's downturn in recent times, thanks to managerial upheavals at Chelsea and Manchester United, but make no mistake, they are still in a downward spiral. They've stopped losing games, but they've not been winning them either. They'd drawn their last four games coming into the week, and the consensus seemed to be that at least Slot had plugged the defensive holes and could now focus on improving the attack. Bournemouth shattered all such illusions by beating Liverpool 3-2. Whatever happens next, one thing is abundantly clear: the defence is still very shaky. If this Bournemouth side can put three past it, then it's not great.

Losers: Crystal Palace F.C.

Sunderland beat Crystal Palace 2-1 on Saturday, which means that the last time Crystal Palace won a Premier League game was on December 7. After the game against Sunderland, you could hear the frustration as Oliver Glasner complained about the way the club have gone about selling players. Losing Marc Guehi a day before a game must have been difficult for the management team to deal with, especially given the already thin squad Glasner has to work with. Jean Philippe-Mateta might be on his way out as well, if Palace are to get back to winning ways, they need some reinforcements in the January market, and fast.

Winners: Manchester United F.C.

Michael Carrick walked out to his first game as United manager against Manchester City with a completely different look from Amorim. Mainoo was back in the squad, Amad was freed of wingback duties and allowed to focus on the attacking side of the game, and Bruno was allowed to play further forward. United were in dire need of a reset to wash away the bad taste of Amorim's tenure, and what better way to get it than to put their rivals from across town to the sword? Not only did they beat City 2-0, but they dominated proceedings and could have run out with a 5-0 or 6-0 scoreline. In one game, Carrick managed to both get United going and erase any memories of Amorim at Old Trafford. We'll see if he can sustain it going forward.

Losers: Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

West Ham rolled up to the Tottenham stadium after a string of subpar performances left them further adrift in the race to escape relegation. Nuno's boys needed a win for morale, and Thomas Frank's team handed it to them on a platter. This is the second game in a row where Tottenham have handed a win to a team in bad form with a long winless streak; last week, it was Bournemouth. The way Thomas Frank's team is playing at the moment is so bad I can't even find a justification for it. Whatever the extenuating circumstances may be, a team like Tottenham shouldn't be losing games like this. It's a wonder that Thomas Frank still has a job right now.

Winners: Chelsea F.C.

Like Manchester United, Chelsea has recently changed managers, albeit under less tumultuous circumstances. That notwithstanding, Liam Rosenior needed everything to go right in his first Premier League game, and everything did. Surely there'll be some complaints about aspects of the performance out there. However, a 2-0 win against a high-flying Brentford team is no easy feat, no matter the circumstance. A home win, a clean sheet, and a Cole Palmer goal, it's not a bad foundation for Liam Rosenior to build on for the rest of the season.

Losers: Manchester City F.C.

In case anyone needed even more proof that Manchester City is no longer the scary team they used to be, that battering by Manchester United provided it. And Pep didn't exactly field a weak team either. Rodri was back from injury, and Semenyo started fresh off his City debut in the FA Cup, and yet City never got a hold of the game. The loss was bad enough, but the nature of the loss made it worse. It doesn't seem like City have a title charge in them this season at all, as it is, they need to do all they can to remain the main contenders for the title, with Aston Villa breathing down their neck.

Winners: Leeds United F.C.

Leeds United's long unbeaten streak came to an end last gameweek as they fell to a 4-3 defeat at the hands of Newcastle, and they needed to bounce back against Fulham. And bounce back they did, the performance was tight, controlled and very much in keeping with the recent approach that has brought so much success for Daniel Farke's team. Fulham have been in good form of late, and they barely laid a glove on Leeds all game. And the icing on the cake was Lukas Nmecha grabbing a late winner in the 91st minute to give Leeds the win. Daniel Farke and Elland Road are one step closer to safety and securing a second season in the Premier League.

Winners: AFC Bournemouth

A win for the Cherries, finally. And, perhaps fittingly, it came in the very last game for the club by Antoine Semenyo, and he scored the winner as well. It was the perfect sendoff for the Ghanaian winger who has become the face of Andoni Iraola's Bournemouth team in the last two years. Bournemouth were on a rather embarrassing 11-game losing streak without a win as well before this result, so it must have come as such a relief to the fans and players alike to win a game of football after so long, finally. Whether this is a fluke or a genuine turnaround remains to be seen, but I'm sure nobody at Vitality cares too much for now.

AFC Bournemouth 🍒

@afcbournemouth

What a three years it's been, on and off the pitch

27.3K

10:18 AM • Jan 9, 2026

Losers: Everton F.C.

A threadbare squad that suddenly finds itself in a race for European spots cannot afford to lose players to stupid red cards. And yet, that's exactly what happened to Everton against Wolves. Not only did the Merseysiders squander a chance to keep up with the pack of Europe chasing teams, but they also lost Michael Keane and Jack Grealish to red cards, finishing the game with 9 men. Although they'd taken the lead in the 17th minute, Wolves came back to equalise in the 69th minute, and the game ended 1-1. The result itself is not great, but I'm sure that Moyes will be doubly annoyed by the unnecessary suspensions, especially seeing as the team is already missing key players through injury and AFCON. The next three games will be tricky for David Moyes to navigate.

Winners: Brentford F.C.

The push for Europe continues, as does the fairytale start Keith Andrews is having to his first managerial stint. Brentford beat Sunderland very convincingly, 3-0 at the GTech, to cement their position in 5th and keep dreams of Europe very much alive. Igor Thiago also scored twice as the Brazilian broke the record for the most goals by a Brazilian in the Premier League in a single season (with 17 games to go too). Some might say that Sunderland is missing players, and that's true, but Manchester City struggled against this Sunderland side a few weeks ago. This was a very convincing win, and the Bees sting on.

Losers: Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

The abysmal run continues. I'll be honest with you, I like Thomas Frank. Watching his Brentford side was such a joy, and I hoped he'd be a cracking success at Tottenham. However, after 21 games, I have to admit that if I were a Spurs fan, I'd be calling for his head. His record after 21 games is 8 losses, 6 draws, and 7 wins. Only one of those wins has come in the last five games. And to add insult to injury, they lost to Bournemouth this gameweek, a Bournemouth team without a win in 11 games. That loss to Bournemouth leaves them in 14th place with 27 points, for context they are 5 points and 7 places behind Manchester United, and United are having a difficult season. For a club like Tottenham, these are unacceptable standards.

Winners Fulham F.C.

Fulham haven't lost a game since they lost arguably 3/4 of their best players to AFCON. Marco Silva's miracle-working streak continued against Chelsea as the Lilywhites scored late to secure maximum points in a difficult London Derby. Chelsea were reduced to ten men in the first half, and Fulham scored ten minutes into the second half, capitalising on their numerical advantage. But Chelsea never went away and continued pushing, eventually equalising through Liam Delap. And who else to step up and secure all three points except the man who is currently in the form of his life — Harry Wilson. I'm sure Marco Silva is looking forward to having his whole team back after AFCON, but the players on hand have kept things going smoothly in the meantime.

Losers: Sunderland A.F.C.

Sunderland also lost a raft of players to AFCON. Although they hadn't really lost any game until this gameweek's defeat to Brentford, all their games have ended in draws in that time. Draws can be deceptive, technically you're not losing games, but you're also dropping 2 points for every point you take, you need to try and win some. And that's why being thoroughly beaten 3-0 by Brentford must have come as a shock to the system, the mask of draws has come off, and it's clear that things are not so great. I'm sure things will look better once the whole team is back together post-AFCON and Regis Le Bris has a chance to regroup. However, the job of making sure the wheels don't fall off totally before that happens is now harder.

Losers: Manchester City F.C.

The biggest problem Manchester City currently face is not that they are six points behind Arsenal; it's that they don't appear to be up for a title race. Sunday's fixture against Chelsea presented the perfect opportunity to bounce back from the disappointing draw against Sunderland. Chelsea had just sacked Enzo Maresca and was missing several key players, including Moises Caicedo, Robert Sanchez, and Wesley Fofana. They were there for the taking, but Manchester City couldn't capitalise. In the past, City used to be ruthless when chasing a title; they walked into every game intent on finding a way to win no matter what, this version of City doesn't seem to possess that ability.

Winners: Igor Thiago

In the 22/23 season, Gabriel Martinelli came close to breaking the record for most goals by a Brazilian in the Premier League. He ended up tying the record of 15 goals set by Roberto Firmino, but couldn't surpass that. In 24/25, Matheus Cunha came close but ended up finishing the season with 15 goals as well. For a while, it has seemed like that record would stand for a long time, no matter which talented Brazilian tries to break it. That is, until Igor Thiago showed up. The Brazilian is currently on 14 goals in the league after scoring a hat-trick as Brentford beat Everton 4-2 over the weekend, and people are finally beginning to take notice. When Brentford lost Bryan Mbuemo and Yoanne Wissa in one go during the summer, it seemed like they would struggle to replace the goal output of those players, but Thiago (and Kevin Schade) have stepped up and made sure The Bees haven't struggled for goals this season. With 18 games left to play and just 2 goals needed to break Firmino's record, it's all but certain that Igor Thiago will smash the record at some point this season.

Losers: West Ham United F.C.

West Ham had the perfect opportunity. Their relegation rivals, Nottingham Forest, had lost earlier in the day, and they went into their game against the worst team in the division with the chance to cut down the gap between them and Forest to 1 point with a win over Wolves. If they'd done that, they'd have put themselves in a great position to leap out of the relegation zone and over Nottingham Forest when they play them later this week. However, if wishes were horses. Wolves were up 3-0 after 41 minutes, and West Ham didn't have a reply to them for the rest of the game. It was a horrible match to lose. It was a horrible way to lose the match. The Hammers might be going down.

Winners: Newcastle United F.C.

It's back-to-back wins for Newcastle after beating Crystal Palace 2-0 on Sunday, thanks to late goals from Bruno G and Malick Thiaw. Newcastle have really struggled for consistency in the league this season, and it was absolutely necessary to build on the win over Burnley by beating Crystal Palace. That victory puts Newcastle 9th on the table, just 5 points behind Liverpool in 4th place, and the chance of finishing in the Champions League places is still alive. This change in fortune comes at a great time for Eddie Howe, injuries haven't been kind to his team this season, but most of the players out with major injuries are back. Newcastle can now compete on top four charge with a deep squad to draw from as they compete on other fronts as well.

Losers: Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

I think the entire footballing world is not having the appropriate reaction to Thomas Frank's first season at Tottenham. This is supposed to be a serious club with top four ambitions and Champions League football in view every year. After their rather lacklustre 0-0 draw with Sunderland, they are in 13th place on the table, 7 points adrift of the Champions League places and not even in any of the other European spots. In other words, if they keep going at this pace, there's a very real chance that Tottenham won't be in Europe at all next season. It's a bad start for a club that was supposed to go to the next level under the current management.

Winners: Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.

At full-time on Saturday, the faces of the coaching staff at Wolves told the whole story. Their first win of the season came against relegation rivals West Ham, a 3-0 thrashing, and yet the coaches looked somewhat forlorn. There is a sense in which it is too little too late; they're 12 points from safety, and it doesn't look like a closable gap. Nevertheless, we celebrate wins around here, and it cannot have been easy to go nineteen games without a single win. So, congratulations to everyone at Molineux, we hope they have a better second half of the season and put a few more wins on the board on their way out.

Losers: Chelsea F.C.

Chelsea had a torrid month in December, and that culminated in the club parting ways with head coach Enzo Maresca midway through the season. Failing to beat Bournemouth twice was perhaps the surest sign that things have gone wrong severely at Chelsea in the last month. Andoni Iraola's boys have not won a game of football in two months and should have been an easy festive season six-pointer for Chelsea on paper. However, Enzo Maresca's side struggled to impose themselves on the game on Tuesday; in fact, it wasn't just the draw that was such a disappointment, it was also the manner of the draw. For stretches of that game, Bournemouth and Chelsea looked evenly matched; you couldn't tell that one team had title aspirations four weeks ago while the other is flirting with a relegation scrap. Whoever takes over at Chelsea next has their work cut out for them.

Winners: Arsenal F.C.

On the other side of London, Arsenal exorcised their final demon in the form of a 4-1 thrashing of Unai Emery's Aston Villa. This season, Arsenal have beaten all the teams that have tripped them up in their title challenges over the last two seasons, except for one: Aston Villa. Unai Emery's boys nicked a late win when both sides met earlier in the month, with Emi Buendia's goal coming as just about the last kick of the game. It seemed like the psychological effect of having stumbled against Villa so often was still in place, and Villa — with a possible title charge of their own in view — seemed set to take maximum points from Arsenal and leave their title race in tatters again. But it was not to be. Arteta's boys stepped up and convincingly smashed their boogey team as true champions do, a win made even more remarkable by the fact that Arsenal were missing midfield power house — and arguably player of the season so far — Declan Rice, thanks to a knee problem. Arsenal will be heading into 2026 on the highest of notes and licking their lips against any opponent you put in front of them.

Losers: Nottingham Forest F.C.

Nottingham Forest under Sean Dyche now have 1 win and 4 defeats in their last five games. Two of those defeats came against Everton in the festive season, and the Merseyside club ran out comfortable 2-0 winners on Tuesday. The loss was made worse by the fact that Everton had four key players out for the clash due to either AFCON or injuries (Gueye, Ndiaye, Grealish, Drewsbury-Hall). With West Ham picking up a point away at Brighton to reduce what seemed like an insurmountable 5-point gap, Nottingham Forest fans will be well aware that they are now well and truly in a relegation battle heading into 2026. The performances need to improve, and fast.

Winners: Leeds United

Leeds wrapped up the first half of the season with a bang. 1 win, and 4 draws in their last five games have seen them move up to 16th on the table, 3 points clear of Nottingham Forest in 17th, and 7 points clear of West Ham in 18th. They've put real distance between themselves and the relegation battle. The draw against Liverpool on Thursday was just the icing on the cake of a brilliant festive season at Elland Road. It was also, perhaps, the first time Leeds supporters walked into a game of that magnitude this season thinking they could very well win it. Liverpool have been in good form of late, but such is the atmosphere at Elland Road that the Reds are well within their sights. Although they ended up playing out a 0-0 draw, it was a fairly even game that could have gone either way. Confidence will be high going into 2026 among Daniel Farke's team.

Losers: Manchester United F.C.

Manchester United is a strange club. They win games you don't expect them to and struggle against teams you expect them to wipe the floor with. Wolves have been the worst team in the division by far this season; they are yet to win a single game, and they had only 2 points coming into this game against Manchester United. Ruben Amorim and his team, the generous collective that they are, gave Wolves their 3rd point of the season in a torrid 1-1 draw at Old Trafford. It was a fitting way to bring the curtains down on the first half of a season that has been defined by an intransigent coach who has refused to change his mind about using a system even if his players are ill-suited for the system and the results are horrible. At the end of the day, Ruben Amorim will be fine; some other club will require his services when he leaves Manchester United, and he may very well go on to reinvent himself successfully elsewhere. The only loser in the battle of Amorim vs Manchester United in the long run is Manchester United.

Winners: Everton F.C.

8th on the table after 19 games, well within distance of Chelsea in 5th and maybe even Liverpool in 4th. No one at Hill Dickinson had expectations this lofty when Moyes was preparing for the season. A few days ago, when Ndiaye and Gueye departed for AFCON, and Grealish and Drewsbury-Hall were sidelined with injuries for a while, the faith of many on the blue side of Merseyside wavered. However, Moyes, in true pragmatic fashion, has carried on as if nothing changed. Everton beat Nottingham Forest in a game that saw them field four changes in the middle of the park. Dwight McNeil, Tyler Dibling, Merlin Rohl, and Tim Iroegbunam started in place of those missing through AFCON or injuries. The personnel were changed drastically from three weeks ago in the reverse fixture, but the result didn't change much. Three weeks ago, they beat Nottingham Forest 3-0; this time, after all the changes, they only managed to beat them 2-0. I know Moyes won't mind that one bit, I can almost picture him grinning in the dressing room and saying, "onwards."

Winners: Marco Silva

If there is a manager who doesn't care how the wins come as long as they come, it's Marco Silva. Fulham are missing one key player in attack, defence, and midfielder to the ongoing AFCON, but they keep marching on thanks to a lone Raul Jimenez goal, resulting in a 1-0 win against West Ham. For a team that seemed like they were headed for a relegation scrap, the difference in tenor between their last two fixtures and their next fixture shows the scale of the job Silva has done.

When they played Nottingham Forest two weeks ago, it felt like a must-win six-pointer in the race to avoid the relegation places. Saturday's game against West Ham was a chance to put more daylight between Fulham and those relegation spots. But all of a sudden, next Thursday's game against Crystal Palace seems like a mid-table clash where victory could take them above a Crystal Palace side that could take them above one of the most in-form teams in the Premier League this season. They're also currently just 3 points behind Chelsea in 5th. Fulham could go from relegation spots to European spots within the space of half a season. I don't know of a more remarkable transformation at a Premier League club this season. Give Marco Silva a medal just for that.

Losers: Chelsea F.C.

It seems like ages ago now that Chelsea held league leaders Arsenal to a 1-1 draw with ten men and seemed poised for a title challenge. Those title challenge dreams have now faded away. After the 2-1 loss to Aston Villa, Chelsea now sit 5th, outside the Champions League places, 3 points behind Liverpool, who have had a chaotic season, and level on points with Manchester United. The loss to Villa was more painful because Villa have now taken Chelsea's spot in the three-way title race, and they sealed that by beating Chelsea at their own ground. Enzo Maresca's team is slowly losing the plot, and given how congested the middle of the table is, any further slip ups might land them in a mid-table scrap with the likes of Brentford and Sunderland, not exactly the kind of company Chelsea want to keep this season.

Winners: Keith Andrews

A Kevin Schade hat-trick and an emphatic 4-1 victory over Bournemouth was Brentford's holiday present to the faithful at the GTech Community Stadium on Saturday. That win took them up to 8th place on the table with 26 points. A somewhat useful measure of the smoothness of the transition Keith Andrews has overseen is that Brentford currently have 2 more points than they did at this point last season under Thomas Frank (24 points after 18 games). Not bad for a former set-piece coach who was expected to lead the Bees into a relegation battle this season.

It's quite interesting how wrong the masses can be in their assessments of managers in the Premier League. Keith was expected to suffer while Bournemouth under Iraola was widely expected to be in the European conversations this season. After Saturday's result, Bournemouth are close to a relegation scrap, and Brentford will be eyeing the possibility of a European spot if they maintain their momentum for the second half of the season.

Losers: Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.

Brighton have no win in their last five games and after Saturday's 2-1 loss to Arsenal sit 13th on the table with 24 points after 18 games. For a club like Brighton, these are not the expected standards; they should be in the mix for European spots at the very least. What's even more interesting is that I can't quite tell what's going wrong at Brighton right now. They haven't had to deal with a raft of major injuries, and they're not competing on multiple fronts, so the Premier League is their main focus. There just seems to be a lack of application this season in the Brighton team. Fabian Hurzeler probably knows better than I do what the problem is exactly, but they need to find a solution fast before things go even further downhill.

Winners: Leeds United

Perhaps threatening to fire a manager is good sometimes. Five games ago, reports circulated that Leeds were considering sacking head coach Daniel Farke. We will probably never know how true those speculations were, but what we know is that Leeds have not lost a game since that report went around. Daniel Farke switched formation to 3-5-2, Dominic Calvert-Lewin decided to come alive, and the rest, they say, is history. Such is the form Leeds are in right now that they went into the game against Sunderland expected by some to win that game, if only on account of the Black Cats playing with a severely depleted squad thanks to AFCON. They came away from the game with a respectable point thanks to Calvert-Lewin's 47th-minute equaliser after Simon Adingra had taken the hosts ahead in the 28th minute. However, it's all credit to Daniel Farke and his team that this game will feel more like 2 points dropped than a point gained to the people at Elland Road. A lot can change in a month.

Losers: Nottingham Forest

Two losses in succession (and three losses in the last five games) means that Nottingham Forest is still very much in the relegation conversation. Granted, they are 5 points ahead of West Ham, who currently occupy the last relegation spot in 18th, but we know how quickly things can change in this league. Saturday's game against Manchester City offered Nottingham Forest the opportunity to nick some points off the league's in-form team and give themselves a confidence boost. It was no easy game, and City only ran out 2-1 winners thanks to a late Cherki goal. However, when you're in a relegation scrap, points matter more than anything else, and "giving Manchester City a run for their money" doesn't put points on the board.