The FA Cup third round offered a reprieve from Premier League action last weekend. However, as a consequence, there’s a bumper round of fixtures in the English top-flight to make up for it this week. We have a midweek round of matches spread across Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday before a full schedule this weekend.
By Sam McGuire
Before the latter, though, let’s have a look at what we can look forward to across Matchday 21.
The battle for the Golden Boot
At the start of the season, few would’ve had Bryan Mbeumo in contention for the Golden Boot, yet here we are, 20 games on the board, and only Erling Haaland (16) and Mohamed Salah (18) have more goals than the Brentford forward.
This season, the 25-year-old has scored against Spurs, Newcastle United, Chelsea and Arsenal. He’ll be looking to add Manchester City to the list as the Bees welcome the reigning champions to the Gtech Community Stadium on Tuesday.
Thomas Frank’s side suffered a shock home loss to Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup over the weekend.
Not only was it a surprise because Plymouth are rooted to the bottom of the Championship, it caught a lot of people off guard because of how impressive Brentford have been at home this season.
The Bees have the second best home record in the English top-flight with seven wins and two draws from their 10 outings. They have scored the most home goals (27). You’d not call it a fortress but Brentford are impressive at home. They’ll be looking to bounce back against an out-of-sorts City side.
Pep Guardiola’s side haven’t travelled well this season. In fact, they haven’t done much well this season in fairness and that is why they find themselves in sixth position, 12 points off the top. On the road though, they’re struggling. They have the seventh best away record and have scored just 15 goals across their 10 outings.
Within their ranks, they have Haaland. After a drought, he’s found the back of the net three times in two outings and he’s well in the race for a third successive Golden Boot.
It is unlikely that many would have viewed a game between Brentford and Manchester City in mid-January as a potential key fixture in the race for the Golden Boot, but it could well be the case.
Revenge for Liverpool?
Liverpool have suffered just one defeat in the Premier League all season. It arrived back in September as Nottingham Forest travelled to Anfield and returned to the City Ground with all three points.
Arne Slot has mentioned it at every given opportunity. The loss to Nuno Espírito Santo’s side haunts him and he’ll be looking to right that wrong on Tuesday when he takes his league leaders to face the surprise package of the season.
Forest are third in the table, level on points with Arsenal and just six behind the Reds.
Believe it or not, this game could have huge ramifications on where the title ends up this season.
Despite their good form, Espírito Santo’s side aren’t the best at home this season. They’ve taken 17 points from their nine home games and have scored just 11 goals. Their strength is their defence though having conceded on just seven occasions.
This game feels like another battle between two attackers. Chris Wood has 12 goals in the Premier League this term and has been directly responsible for 41% of the goals scored by Forest. Mohamed Salah, meanwhile, has 18 goals and he accounts for 38% of the team haul.
The Reds aren’t as reliant on their No. 11 though. They travel well and have the best away record in the English top-flight despite playing fewer games than their rivals due to the Merseyside derby being postponed.
The return of David Moyes
Everton made the bold decision to part ways with Sean Dyche earlier in the week. In a bid to save themselves from a relegation battle, they drafted in former boss David Moyes.
The 61-year-old has been out of work since leaving West Ham at the end of last season. The Toffees are currently in 16th position, a point ahead of the dropzone and they’re without a win in the Premier League in over a month.
They host Aston Villa this week. On paper, this could be a tricky fixture with the Villans looking to finish in the European places again this season. However, Moyes has a deceptively good record against them
He’s only suffered seven losses in 34 matches against Villa and he’s won six of the last 10.
Meanwhile, Unai Emery has a decent enough record against the Toffees having won four of seven and three of the last five. This could be a fascinating, tactical battle with both teams needing points on the board for very different reasons.
Arsenal on the ropes
It hasn’t been a great start to 2025 for Arsenal.
The Gunners were held to a draw with Brighton in the Premier League before suffering a 2-0 loss to Newcastle United in the first-leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final. They were then knocked out of the FA Cup on Sunday evening with Manchester United beating them on penalties at the Emirates.
If the disappointing results weren’t enough, the injuries are piling up for the Gunners. Bukayo Saka is out for the foreseeable and the resurgent Gabriel Jesus is now sidelined after he sustained what looks to be an ACL injury in the loss to the Red Devils.
On Wednesday night, they welcome Spurs to the Emirates for the North London Derby.
Spurs have been erratic this term but did beat Liverpool in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final last week. They’ve also beaten Manchester City (twice) and Aston Villa this season, proving they can turn up when it matters. They’re also suffering with injuries but have enough in attack to cause problems. They could well dent Arsenal’s title bid and you wouldn’t be that shocked given how Tottenham’s season is going so far.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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