Premier League: Match Week 34 Preview

Matheus Nunes

Manchester City moved back into third place in the Premier League table with a statement 2-1 win over surging Aston Villa on Tuesday. The Citizens captured all three points in dramatic fashion as Matheus Nunes struck a stoppage time winner for the difference in a match between two clubs vying for a top five finish and Champions League qualification. Villa had won five consecutive league matches before Nunez captured his first Premier League goal of the season on Tuesday. Manchester City moved to third in the table though having played one additional match than its three nearest pursuers.

Aston Villa now trails fifth place Newcastle by two points with the Magpies likely to extend that advantage with their Saturday match versus Ipswich Town. If the Tractor Boys lose as expected at St. James Park, their relegation will be confirmed and history made by all three relegated sides being mathematically eliminated with four matches still to be played.

Shortly after the Magpies and Tractor Boys play, Aston Villa will return to the pitch versus Crystal Palace in one of the two FA Cup semifinals this weekend. Palace came back twice on Wednesday to draw 2-2 with Arsenal. The dropped points by the Gunners means Liverpool needs only a draw at Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield on Sunday to clinch the Premier League title.

At the same time on Sunday, Manchester City will play the other FA Cup semifinal against Nottingham Forest, the club it passed in the league standings on Tuesday. Forest’s league game in hand will be played against Brentford at the City Ground on Thursday.

Chelsea could potentially push the Tricky Trees outside of the top five should the Blues defeat Everton on Saturday. Everton will be looking for its first Premier League victory at Stamford Bridge since 1994.

In the race for a possible Europa Conference League berth, eighth place Bournemouth will host a poor Manchester United side. The Cherries are seeking to become the sixth Premier League team this season to win both league matches against the Red Devils, the most “doubles” by Red Devil opponents in  a single campaign since the 1930’s.

Fulham and Brighton, each one point behind the Cherries, will play Southampton and West Ham, respectively. Southampton posted a clean sheet versus Fulham in the reverse fixture, one of only two whitewashings of opponents that the Saints have recorded in the league this season. Brighton will be looking for its first league victory since March 8th when it faces the Hammers on Saturday. West Ham’s drought, however, extends back to February. Having secured their Premier League survival last weekend, Wolverhampton will host one-time relegation flat mate Leicester at Molineux Stadium. The Foxes’ fate was also determined last weekend with their mathematical relegation.

Premier League Match Week 33 Results: Title Not Clinched But Another Straggler Goes Down - Liverpool and Arsenal Both Win; Chelsea Relegates Leicester; Aston Villa Stuns Newcastle; Wolves Clinch Safety; Nottingham Forest Retakes Third With Win At Spurs

The title “race” continues as both Liverpool and Arsenal won this weekend, preventing Liverpool from claiming its well-deserved title. While Liverpool’s eventual crowning is yet to officially happen due to Arsenal’s victory, it is all over for Leicester after their 1-0 loss to the league leaders. A well-earned relegation became official on a day that Leicester failed to score for a ninth consecutive home match at King Power Stadium. The Foxes could not even put a single shot off on target on Sunday. Yeesh.

Arsenal was also little troubled at Ipswich Town in a 4-1 victory. To his credit Arsenal Manger Mikel Arteta played a strong side to delay Liverpool’s clinching for another week. Ipswich Town, which has won but once this season at its Portman Road home, inched closer to officially joining Leicester and Southampton in the one and done club. Ironically, it was the already relegated Southampton side which kept Ipswich Town alive for now with a 1-1 draw with West Ham. The Hammers fell to 17th in the table as the Graham Potter experience continues to trend badly.

Wolverhampton leapt over the Hammers and ensured their own safety in a 1-0 win over Manchester United as the success of Wolves Manager Vitor Pereira stands in stark contrast to the futility of Potter. Pereira took over a team in the relegation zone in December and now has them 17 points clear of the drop after their fifth consecutive victory on Sunday. Wolverhampton is now level on points with  a Manchester United club which has long since given up on its own Premier League season. The Red Devils 15th Premier League loss on Sunday is the most in a season by Manchester United in 35 years. And yet that’s still three fewer losses than shambolic Tottenham Hotspur has posted in the Premier League this season. Only clubs in the relegation zone have more losses than a Spurs side which was once again booed off the pitch at halftime in a 2-1 home loss to Nottingham Forest. The victory by the Tricky Trees snapped a two-match losing run and launched the club back into third place in the Premier League table.

🤯 pic.twitter.com/5bzSCaGLYR

— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) April 21, 2025

Newcastle fell back to fourth after a 4-1 capitulation to Aston Villa which put a halt to a four-match winning run by the Magpies. Sunday’s match was important for Newcastle, but Aston Villa needed it more and played with a greater sense of urgency. Striker Ollie Watkins openly talked of his anger at being left out of the lineup for the midweek match with PSG which eliminated Aston Villa from Champions League. A motivated Watkins was back in the lineup on Saturday and announced himself with a goal one minute into the match. The Villans extended their own winning run to five matches to remain in the thick of the hunt for Champions League qualification.

Beyond Liverpool and Arsenal, there are five clubs now in the chase for the three remaining berths in Europe’s top competition. Villa and Chelsea are locked on 57 points, three points below third place Nottingham Forest. Before climbing to the Trees, however, those clubs first would need to get by Newcastle and Manchester City who are fourth and fifth in the table after the weekend’s action.

Manchester City struggled to overcome a determined Everton at Goodison Park but late goals in the 84th minute and in stoppage time delivered the needed 2-0 result which kept the Citizens in possession of the final Champions League berth for now. Manchester City and Aston Villa, both of whom will be playing in FA Cup semifinals this weekend, now face each other in a titanic clash on Tuesday.

Nottingham Forest, another FA semifinal participant, will then face Crystal Palace on Wednesday. The Eagles ended their staggering concession of ten consecutive goals to opponents in a goalless draw with Bournemouth on Saturday. Last week’s win over Fulham was the only victory for the Cherries in their last eight matches as they hold onto European hopes only due to the failures of other clubs. The draw leaves Bournemouth alone in eighth position, usually the final European qualification slot, one point ahead of Fulham and Brighton who both lost on the weekend. Fulham held a 1-0 halftime lead on Sunday over a Chelsea club which was booed off the pitch by away supporters at the interval. The Blues  were once again looking into the maws of defeat for a second straight week before responding late once again in a 2-1 win over the Cottagers. Chelsea had looked miserable for much of a 2-2 draw with lowly Ipswich Town the week before until two late goals salvaged a point. This week, all three points were claimed with Pedro Neto’s stoppage time match winner. Elsewhere in London, Brentford handled Brighton 4-2 to extend the Seagulls winless run to five matches as European hopes for the tenth-place club are fading quickly. Brentford is just two points south of the Seagulls in the table after the Bees’ Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa both scored in the same match for the seventh time this season.

Premier League Match Week 33 Preview

Newcastle United rolled over Crystal Palace by a 5-0 margin on Wednesday to overtake Nottingham Forest for third place in the Premier League table. Newcastle has won five straight and now faces another streaking side in Aston Villa, winners of four straight league matches, at Villa Park on Saturday. Aston Villa’s European quest for this year is over with this past week’s Champions League loss to PSG. A tasty clash is thus set up for two clubs now solely focused on competing in Europe’s top competition next season.

Nottingham Forest had seemed a lock to book its ticket to the Champions League just a short while back. Two losses in a row, however, have left the Tricky Trees not only inhaling Newcastle’s fumes but looking over their shoulder at three clubs who are now within three points of the fourth place Trees. Nottingham Forest could be sitting outside the top five by the time Manager Nuno Espirito Santo’s club takes to the pitch versus Tottenham Hotspur on Monday.

Beyond fifth place Manchester City, Villa and Chelsea both trail Nottingham Forest by just three points with Chelsea holding a superior goal differential to Forest. Chelsea faces a high stakes London derby at Fulham on Sunday. The Cottagers have their own European aspirations which were damaged by a one-goal loss to Bournemouth last week, leaving the Cottagers in a three-way deadlock for the final European place with the Cherries and Brighton, Bournemouth owning the best goal differential of those three Europa Conference League contenders. Chelsea, meanwhile, needed to come back last weekend from a two-goal deficit to nick a point off Ipswich Town, a sure relegation bet at this point. Chelsea’s form has declined in the latter half of the season after a bright start under Manager Enzo Maresca, a trend which was also exhibited by Maresca’s Leicester club last season. Chelsea supporters are left wondering whether the early season success was a carryover from the work of prior manager Maricio Pochettino, now receding as Maresca’s system has become fully implemented and serves to stymie some of the club’s young stars. Fulham Manager Marco Silva, meanwhile, is one of the current Premier League managers being rumored to replace beleaguered Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou. Bournemouth Manager Andoni Iraola, who defeated Silva in their direct matchup last week, is another rumored candidate for the north London job. Somewhat humiliating for Spurs is that neither manager, both enjoying the support of their current owners, appears interested in the managerial graveyard in north London. Although it is probably already too late, Postecoglou’s stock got a boost during the week with his club’s win over Eintracht Frankfurt to advance to the Europa League semifinals. One can only guess whether performance ticks down again in league play on Monday versus Nottingham Forest.

Bournemouth, meanwhile, is at Crystal Palace this weekend with Eagles manager Oliver Glasner also rumored to be in the mix for the Spurs job. That interest may have cooled off with the Eagles now having conceded 10 consecutive goals over their last two losses.

Selhurst 🔜#CPFC // #CRYBOU pic.twitter.com/iPAic1JLkl

— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) April 18, 2025

Manchester City scored five times to put Crystal Palace away last week. The going could be tougher for the Citizens this weekend when they visit Everton. The Toffees, having lost just one of their last eleven matches, have not allowed more than a goal to their last six opponents. Brighton has not won in its last four matches, dropping to tenth in the table as the Seagulls need a result at Brentford on Saturday to keep their European hopes alive.

Matches of little interest to anyone but the individual clubs’ supporters this weekend include a visit by West Ham to Southampton and a match up at Old Trafford between Manchester United and Wolverhampton. Like Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United advanced to the Europa League semifinals while it sleepwalks through the remainder of a best forgotten Premier League season.

Both Liverpool and Arsenal, meanwhile, will face relegation teams in Leicester and Ipswich Town, respectively. A win by Liverpool and loss by Arsenal would result in an anticlimactic title clinching at King Power by Liverpool. The title race has long been over. Arsenal’s thoughts are obviously elsewhere after advancing to the semifinals of the Champions League over Real Madrid during the week.