This midweek round of fixtures has changed the landscape of the Premier League. We’re at this stage when one result can alter the entire narrative of a campaign, and that is exactly what happened for a number of teams. Here’s your midweek review.
By Sam McGuire, Premier League expert
The Gunners are firing again
Arsenal had a bit of a blip earlier this month. A defeat against Aston Villa was sandwiched between a draw and a loss against Bayern Munich as Mikel Arteta’s side were knocked out of the Champions League. Their reaction to this setback was going to be telling.
With momentum lost, they could’ve crumbled. That isn’t what happened though. Instead, the Gunners put together back-to-back wins in the Premier League to heap pressure onto Manchester City.
Arteta and his team welcomed Chelsea to the Emirates on Tuesday evening knowing a win would extend their lead at the top of the table to four points, at least in the short term. Before the FA Cup loss to Manchester City, Chelsea had been in good form. This could’ve been a tricky game for the hosts. It wasn’t though.
They ran riot, romping to a 5-0 win with former Chelsea player Kai Havertz helping himself to a double. It was a dominant display but it was closer than the scoreline suggested. For example, the away side racked up an xG haul of 1.68 but just failed to make the most of their big chances while Arsenal looked razor-sharp in the final third.
Manchester United eventually blunt the Blades
On two occasions on Wednesday night, Sheffield United held a lead over Manchester United at Old Trafford. However, in the end, the hosts had too much quality and eventually ran out 4-2 winners.
Many expected a reaction from the Red Devils after their FA Cup semi-final implosion against Coventry City. Yes, they reached the final but it went all the way to the lottery of a penalty shootout after United let a 3-0 lead slip against the Championship side.
They didn’t deserve to fall behind at Old Trafford. The hosts dominated the first half, averaging 83% possession and attempting 17 shots to 3. But Jayden Bogle put the visitors in front for all of seven minutes before Harry Maguire notched in his second successive game.
Ben Brereton Díaz put Chris Wilder’s side ahead again with 50 minutes on the clock and they managed to hold this lead a little longer. Bruno Fernandes eventually levelled things up just after the hour mark before scoring his second in the 81st minute. Rasmus Højlund wrapped up the win four minutes later.
Interestingly, this was the eighth successive game that Sheffield United have conceded a minimum of two goals and the fourth successive game in which Manchester United have scored a minimum of two goals.
The Eagles are soaring
Crystal Palace made it three wins on the spin with a 2-0 victory over an in-form Newcastle United side. Oliver Glasner’s side have found their groove over recent weeks, beating Liverpool, West Ham United, and now the Magpies to climb up the table and away from a relegation battle. It wasn’t that long ago that people thought the Eagles might be dragged into a scrap to survive. The South London side are now 14 points clear of the relegation zone.
Jean-Philippe Mateta continued his impressive form for Palace netting a double for the second time in the space of a week. The forward is now on 11 for the season having scored seven goals in his last seven appearances.
The hosts controlled the game completely, limiting Eddie Howe’s men to a total of just seven shots and an xG haul of just 0.36. The loss damaged Newcastle’s hopes of a finish in the Europa Conference League places.
Merseyside is blue
Everton won their first Merseyside derby at Goodison Park in well over a decade. The Blues last defeated the Reds in front of home fans in October 2010. Tim Cahill and Mikel Arteta scored in a 2-0 win for the Toffees and it was a repeat scoreline on Wednesday evening as Sean Dyche’s side all but secured their place in the Premier League with the win.
They now find themselves eight points clever of the drop zone with just four games left to play after Jarrad Branthwaite and Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored either side of half-time to condemn Liverpool to their second defeat in three Premier League matches. It was a deserved win for the hosts and a humbling loss for Jürgen Klopp in his final Merseyside derby.
Liverpool’s title challenge is hanging by a thread, they are three points off the top and could be five off the pace if City win their remaining game in hand. They still have tricky games against Aston Villa and Spurs to come. The focus now is ensuring they don’t slip out of the top four.
The champions click into gear
Manchester City were without Erling Haaland for their trip to the Amex to face Brighton on Thursday night.
Pep Guardiola’s side had the opportunity to cut Arsenal’s lead at the top to a single point if they managed to beat an out of form Seagulls side.
In the end, it was fairly one-sided as the champions cantered to a 4-0 win. Kevin De Bruyne opened the scoring, Phil Foden added another two goals to his haul for the campaign and Julian Alvarez, leading the line in place of Haaland, added a fourth to round off a convincing win.
It wasn’t a 4-0 game, with City carving out chances with an xG value of just 1.29, but the away side were just ruthless in the final third.
(Cover Image from IMAGO)
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