The Premier League just continues to deliver, doesn’t it? We had part two of Matchday 21 this weekend and it was just as exciting as part one, with goals galore, statement victories and eye-catching performances. So, here’s a breakdown of the biggest talking points from across all five of the fixtures.
By Sam McGuire, Premier League expert
The Eagles have their wings clipped
Arsenal won for the first time in 2024 and they did so in style, romping to a 5-0 win over Crystal Palace at the Emirates.
At times, the scoreline doesn’t tell the whole story. This wasn’t one of those times. The Gunners, in dire need of a performance, dominated from start to finish in what could’ve easily been a tricky game.
Mikel Arteta’s men had over 60% possession and finished the game with an Expected Goals haul of 3.21 having created six big chances. The victory moved them to level on points with both Manchester City and Aston Villa, though the former have a game in hand, while the gap to the top remains at five points.
After yet another defeat, Crystal Palace find themselves in a precarious situation. They are just five points clear of the relegation zone and in poor form having won just two matches since the start of November.
The return of Ivan Toney
The game between Brentford and Nottingham Forest was billed as a potential defining moment of the campaign for the Bees with Ivan Toney returning from his eight-month suspension.
The Bees had been in freefall too, losing five successive Premier League matches on the spin. A defeat to Forest on Saturday night would’ve left them just three points outside of the drop zone. It is safe to say the pressure was on Toney to be the spark Thomas Frank’s men so desperately needed to get their season back on track.
He delivered. The in-demand forward curled home an equaliser with his only effort of the game. The No. 17 also created two chances in a 3-2 win. To be perfectly honest, you wouldn’t have known that Toney hadn’t been playing regularly. He looked to be the best player on the pitch and it will be intriguing to see what Brentford can do now their talisman is back.
Drama at the death
The Sunday afternoon game at Bramall Lane between Sheffield United and West Ham United had a bit of everything. There was a debut goal for Ben Brereton Díaz and Maxwel Cornet scored his first-ever goal for the Hammers. We also had two penalties and both teams went down to 10 men in stoppage time.
It was a result that didn’t really do anything for either side. West Ham stay fifth while Sheffield United are still rooted to the bottom of the table. But both managers will no doubt have positives to take away from the game.
Sheffield United showed great resilience to keep on going deep into stoppage time. Their equaliser arrived in the 13th minute of added time, with Oli McBurnie converting from the spot.
David Moyes will no doubt be impressed that his injury-hit side managed to twice take the lead. Obviously, he will be disappointed that they couldn’t hold on to all three points, but you take the small positives at this stage of the season.
A statement showing from Liverpool
Liverpool travelled to the Vitality Stadium to face an in-form Bournemouth team on Sunday afternoon without Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dominik Szoboszlai and Andrew Robertson, to name but a few absentees.
On paper, this had the potential to be one of the trickiest games of the season so far for the Reds. A mistake here would’ve opened the door for Manchester City to claim top spot if they won their game in hand.
It was a cagey first half with the hosts having the better of the opportunities too. And then the Reds just flipped a switch at half-time and came out as a completely different team after the break. Within five minutes, the away side had the lead with Darwin Núñez passing the ball into the bottom corner. A quickfire Diogo Jota double killed the game before Liverpool’s No. 9 added his second of the afternoon.
The win ensured Liverpool kept their advantage at the top to five points. It was one of their best performances of the season given the circumstances.
The Seagulls nullify Wolves
There was always going to be one game that fell a little flat but few would’ve envisaged it being this one.
Wolves have been one of the surprise packages of the season, scoring in all but one of their previous 15 games across all competitions, while Brighton have continued to impress.
Yet the Monday night game ended up being the only 0-0 of the weekend. And it wasn’t an end-to-end sort of 0-0 game either, with both teams struggling to really create anything of any real note.
Still, it could well be an important point come the end of the season!
(Images from IMAGO)
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