Premier League Match Week 30 Preview: Back To Work

The Premier League awakens from its two-week slumber with a flurry of mid-week matches beginning Tuesday. The league has been on pause to accommodate first the international break and then the FA Cup quarterfinals this past weekend.

Liverpool returns to action with surely still a bad taste in its mouth after being knocked out of two competitions in quick order right before the break. The league leaders go back to work with a Merseyside derby on Wednesday versus Everton. The Toffees have been tough to beat as Manager David Moyes has guided his club to a nine-match unbeaten run which includes a dramatic draw gained with just seconds left against Liverpool back in mid-February. The Reds, meanwhile, could be on track to be the unhappiest Premier League champion of all time because of the disappointments suffered in all their other competitions and the recent news that Trent Alexander-Arnold has agreed personal terms with Real Madrid. And, oh by the way, club great Mohamed Salah remains unsigned beyond this season.

Second place Arsenal, meanwhile, hosts a London derby on Tuesday versus Fulham. The Cottagers are smarting from a home loss to Crystal Palace in the FA Cup this past Saturday.

Bruno Fernandes

Nottingham Forest eliminated Brighton in FA Cup action and are home on Tuesday to Manchester United. Real Madrid is reportedly also interested in poaching Manchester United star Bruno Fernandes. The departure of the Portuguese international could well be inevitable as Manager Ruben Amorim seems willing to burn the whole thing down after declaring his squad the worst team in club history.

The Tricky Trees, meanwhile, have enjoyed nothing but good tidings. A year after being relegation fodder, the Trees are cruising along third in the table while still competing for FA Cup silverware. The thought of Nottingham Forest in Europe is becoming real after a multi-decade absence.

Who joins the current top three in the Champions League next season is very much in question. Chelsea are five points behind Forest in fourth position, but the Blues have lost four of their last seven league matches as they prepare to host rival Tottenham Hotspur in a Thursday derby. Spurs are well down the table in 14th as Manager Ange Postecoglou’s job hangs in the balance.

Manchester City has had a difficult league season, but the Citizens are only a point behind Chelsea as they host awful Leicester on Wednesday. Pep Guardiola’s side also advanced to the FA Cup semifinals by defeating Bournemouth over the weekend.

The Cherries have lost three of their last four league matches to fall from fifth to 10th in the table. Recovery should begin with Wednesday’s home match against relegation bound Ipswich Town. Despite their recent travails, Bournemouth is still only four points behind Manchester City, their FA Cup tormentor. Unfortunately for the Cherries, however, there are four other teams between them and fifth place Manchester City in the congested Premier League table.

Newcastle United is currently sixth by virtue of goal differential with the Magpies and Brighton both  level on 47 points, one behind fifth place Manchester City. Newcastle took advantage of its recent downtime to celebrate its Carabao Cup title with its supporters during the break and now looks for a late season push up the table for a Champions League berth. That charge will start with a visit from Brentford on Wednesday.

Brighton, meanwhile, was riding a five-match unbeaten run in the league before bowing out on penalties to Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup this past weekend. The Seagulls will try to gain altitude again when they host Aston Villa Wednesday. The Villans are locked on 45 points along with Fulham, one point above 10th place Bournemouth. Manager Unai Emery’s Villa squad advanced to the FA Cup semifinals with a win over Preston North End on Sunday. Their league form, however, has been spotty of late with just two victories in their last eight Premier League matches.

Crystal Palace, meanwhile, has been one of the hotter clubs in the Premier League going all the way back to early November. The Eagles have lost just three times since a loss to Fulham on November 9th. Nine victories and five draws over that span have lifted the Eagles from the relegation zone to their current 11th place perch in the table. For good measure, the Eagles knocked Fulham out of the FA Cup on Saturday. Palace eases back into league action with a Wednesday visit to relegation bound Southampton.

The relegation picture seems clear at this point as all three of the promoted teams appear headed for a quick U-turn to the second division. The last two safe positions in the table belong to Wolverhampton and West Ham who will square off at Molineux Stadium on Tuesday. All the sides have a quick turnaround as the Premier League will have another full round of matches this coming weekend. 

Premier League Match Week 29 And Carabao Cup Final Results: Horrible Week For Liverpool Ends in Carabao Cup Loss; Newcastle Ends Long Wait For Silverware: Arsenal Tops Chelsea; Brighton Takes Point At Etihad; Trees Prove Too Much For Tractor Boys; Wolves Take Another Step To Safety; Cottagers Sink Spurs

Liverpool was eliminated from a second competition in less than a week as Newcastle defeated the Premier League leaders 2-1 in the Carabao Cup final. Dan Burn and Alexander Isak scored either side of halftime to give Newcastle its first domestic cup since 1955 and its first major silverware of any sort in 56 years. Manager Eddie Howe needed to fight back tears in postgame interviews as the Newcastle manager silenced doubters who questioned whether the long time Bournemouth manager was the right man to lead Newcastle out of the wilderness. In doing so, Howe becomes the first English manager to win a domestic title in England since 2008. Long suffering Newcastle supporters blanketed Wembley with a wall of celebratory sound at match end while Liverpool fans could only shake their heads in shock.

Liverpool has boat raced the Premier League and entered last week with hopes of a treble of titles this season. A quadruple could even have been in sight if Manager Arne Slot had not chosen a heavily rotated side which failed to survive Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup. Then came elimination form the Champions League a week ago at Anfield after Liverpool had taken a one goal lead in the first leg of their tie with the French champions. The Reds failed to score during regular or extra time at Anfield during the week and only a stoppage time goal by Federico Chiesa avoided a similar fate at Wembley. Chiesa’s consolation goal was not enough for Liverpool to overcome a second straight match where Mohamed Salah and his forward linemates were kept at bay by a disciplined opponent. The loss and his individual performance were particularly disappointing for Salah. The Premier League’s goal and assist leader extended a string of disappointments in title matches for both club and country. The Egyptian international has not scored from open play in eleven cup finals played for Liverpool and Egypt. Salah and his mates now turn their full attention to finishing out the Premier League schedule with that title presumptively theirs.

Arsenal reduced Liverpool’s lead in the Premier League table to 12 points, a still overwhelming margin with but nine matches left, when the Gunners edged Chelsea 1-0 at the Emirates on Sunday. Converted midfielder Mikel Merino headed in Martin Odegaard’s corner kick for the only goal in a match of forward depleted rosters. Chelsea’s Cole Palmer missed the match after sustaining  a minor injury in training. Fourth place Chelsea is now just two points ahead of Carabao Cup champions Newcastle with the Magpies having a match in hand.

Manchester City and Brighton are a point on either side of Newcastle after the Citizens and Seagulls drew 2-2 on Saturday. An own goal by Manchester City’s Abdukodir Khusanov in the 48th minute extended a five-match unbeaten run for Brighton which had strung together four consecutive victories entering the match at the Etihad. Erling Haaland’s first half penalty kick for City made him the first Premier League player to record 100 combined goals and assists in fewer than 100 matches.

Nottingham Forest increased its lead over fourth place Chelsea to five points as the Tricky Trees stayed four points behind Arsenal with a 4-2 win over beleaguered Ipswich Town. The Trees were up 3-0 by halftime after a first half brace from former Manchester United winger Anthony Elanga.

Manchester United also waltzed to victory over a relegation zone opponent as the Red Devils swept by Leicester 3-0 at the Foxes’ King Power Stadium. A goal and two assists by Bruno Fernandes powered the Red Devils and sent Leicester and former Manchester United interim manager Rudd van Nistelrooy to the 13th loss in the Foxes’ last 14 league matches.

Wolverhampton added a further point of separation from both Ipswich and Leicester with a 2-1 win over Southampton. A brace by Jorgen Strand Larsen staked Wolverhampton to a two-goal lead before the Saints responded with a late match prayer which proved too little too late. Wolverhampton now has a nine-point advantage in the battle for the final safe Premier League spot for next season.

Directly above Wolverhampton in the table are three clubs currently level on 34 points but with wildly different stories to tell of their league seasons. Everton and West Ham drew 1-1 at Goodison Park as the Toffees extended their unbeaten run to nine matches under returning manager David Moyes. Moyes also spent two tours of duty at West Ham which parted ways with the Scottish manger after last season. A lack of success under his successor, Julen Lopetegui, led to Graham Potter becoming the Hammers’ third manager in a year’s time. Potter’s start has been mixed in east London but there is a sense of hope that the former Chelsea and Brighton manager can restore the club’s fortunes.

Such hope is dwindling, meanwhile, for Tottenham Hotspur Manager Ange Postecoglou. While better on goal differential than the Toffees and Hammers, Spurs’ 14th place position in the Premier League standings is deemed nothing less than a disaster by the club’s supporters. The north London side lost their derby with Fulham 2-0 on Sunday as Cottagers Rodrigo Muniz and Ryan Sessegnon, a former Spur, found the net for the home side. Spurs supporters cannot be happy with Postecoglou waving the white flag on this league season as the Australian manager rested numerous stars, including Son Heung-min and James Maddison against Fulham. Postecoglou apparently views prioritizing the Europa League and merely playing out the slate in the league as his best chance of returning to the Tottenham Hotspur touchline next season. Supporters accustomed to top six league finishes may feel different.

Meanwhile, a promising season has taken a recent downturn for Bournemouth manger Andoni Iraola who is often tagged as a possible replacement for Postecoglou. The Cherries lost for a third time in their last four matches, falling 2-1 at home to Brentford. Christian Norgaard scored the 71st minute winner for the Bees who drew within three points of the now 10th place Cherries.

Premier League Match Week 29 And Carabao Cup Final

Arne Slot

A humbled Liverpool side will take the pitch versus Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final this weekend. The Reds topped the “league” portion of the reconstituted Champions League format. They have cruised to a 15-point lead in the Premier League table. And yet the Reds were eliminated from the Champions League on Tuesday when Dawin Nunez and Curtis Jones missed their shootout penalty tries. PSG had knotted the two-leg tie earlier on an Ousmane Dembele goal in the first half of regular play at Anfield. The defeat was the second exit from a cup competition this season for Liverpool. Manager Arne Slot played a heavily rotated side in February against Plymouth Argyle and his club meekly withdrew from the FA Cup. A Premier League title seems assured but the last chance for multiple trophies in Slot’s maiden season is Sunday versus Newcastle. The Magpies have not won a trophy in 56 years and will be without the suspended Anthony Gordon at Wembley. The biggest question may be the Liverpool mindset. Will they be angry and eager to prove this is indeed a special season? Or will they be deflated by their disappointing midweek loss?

The rest of the league still has business to conduct even as the runaway league leaders are otherwise occupied. The Carabao Cup championship results in a reduced Premier League schedule with Crystal Palace and Aston Villa also sitting out his week’s dance. The feature match is a London derby involving two of the top four clubs as Arsenal plays host to Chelsea. Arsenal is a distant second in the Premier League and their attention may be quickly shifting to the Champions League where, unlike Liverpool, they eased to the next stage with a 2-2 draw versus PSV during the week after obliterating the Dutch side 7-1 in the first leg. Manager Mikel Arteta was able to rest starters during the week and his team should be fresh for the clash versus their rivals on Saturday. Arsenal have been dominant in recent league play versus Chelsea as the Gunners have won four and drawn two of the last six league meetings between the clubs. Chelsea comes into this match, however, in better form after back-to-back victories. The Blues are fighting to stay in the top four with three teams nipping at their heels only three points or less behind Manager Enzo Maresca’s squad. Cole Palmer is expected to be recovered from an illness which limited his participation in the Blues’ 1-0 win over Copenhagen in the Europa Conference League during the week.

Manchester City and Brighton are two and three points, respectively, behind Chelsea in the table. The Citizens and Seagulls meet at the Emirates for another match with huge European qualification implications. Brighton has won four matches on the trot under 32-year-old manager Fabian Hurzeler. Manchester City, meanwhile, has fared poorly against top clubs during a recent run of five matches in which the Citizens lost to Arsenal, Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. The Seagulls will try to snap a 10-match losing run for Brighton at the Etihad.

A glorious 5-0 win over Nottingham Forest at Vitality Stadium in January seems a long time ago for Bournemouth as the Cherries host Brentford at their home venue on Saturday. Bournemouth has been losing ground in its chase for Europe, winning but one of its last five league contests. Nottingham Forest, meanwhile, faces a “trap” game at relegation bound Ipswich Town after the Tricky Trees’ emotional win over Manchester City last week. The Tractor Boys are yet to win this calendar year. Their last two battles with Nottingham Forest, however, have been tight affairs. Ipswich lost 1-0 in a November league clash to the Trees and then lost on penalties to Nottingham Forest in the FA cup earlier this month. Ipswich is six points south of Wolverhampton and safety in the table. Wolves faces cellar dweller Southampton Saturday with a chance to widen that margin.

Everton no longer has to worry about relegation after the miraculous turnaround Manager David Moyes has delivered on his return to the club. The Toffees have not lost since the 15th of January. This match will have extra meaning for Moyes as he faces the club that he led to the Europa League title in 2023 before departing at the end of last season. Moyes might rightfully feel underappreciated by West Ham ownership and supporters who were fine with the results but less enamored with his pragmatic style of play. Graham Potter, West Ham’s second manager of this current season, has won three of his nine matches across all competitions for the Hammers.

Another former Moyes employer is also wondering whether it has the right man in charge. Manchester United Manager Ruben Amorim has only won five of his 17 Premier Legue matches. Last week’s draw with Arsenal was thus something of an unexpected surprise and now Amorim faces the former interim manager who preceded him at Old Trafford. Rudd van Nistelrooy and his Leicester Foxes will host Manchester United with the Foxes desperate for a result. Leicester have lost 12 of their last 13 matches as they sit six points below the relegation line. Manchester United is 14th in the table, level on points with an equally disappointing Tottenham Hotspur side.

Spurs Manager Ange Postecoglou takes his high risk, not so much reward playing approach to Craven Cottage this weekend to face Fulham. The Cottagers are on the fringe of the European places, sitting 10th in the Premier League table after losing a key battle to Brighton last weekend.