Match Week 24 Preview

After a relatively few number of spotlight games last weekend, where Bournemouth’s rout of Nottingham Forest raised the most eyebrows, Match Week 24 provides a broader landscape of key matchups for Premier League fans. Bournemouth can put an exclamation point on last week’s victory by taking down the league leaders when Liverpool visits Vitality Stadium. The Cherries have not lost since November and, while still a massive 13 points from Liverpool’s lofty perch at the top of the table, the Cherries are but a single point removed from fourth place Manchester City in the scramble for European places.

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Our @premierleague unbeaten run continues 📈👊 pic.twitter.com/yTmeqJcARd

— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) January 25, 2025

Their opponent, however, has been in a different stratosphere. Liverpool has been dominant in Arne Slot’s first season as manager. The Reds’ only loss was an early season 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest, a blemish which makes more sense now that Forest has continued to contend for its own place in Europe. Liverpool has sliced up Premier League opponents and advanced in cup competitions despite many of its stars rumored to be spending their final season on Merseyside. Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil Van Dijk are all playing under the final year of their contract with their futures in Red subject to continued speculation. Those three have formed the core of Liverpool teams which have captured Premier League, Champions League and both domestic cup trophies during their stay. The Salah contract situation has captured the most attention. Liverpool’s fourth all-time leading goal scorer is 33 years old but leads the Premier League in both goals and assists to fuel his side’s success in Slot’s maiden year as manager.

Arsenal has lost just one more game than Liverpool but finds itself six points back of the Reds with Liverpool having played one less game than the Gunners. Despite much handwringing by Arsenal fans, Manager Mikel Arteta’s side has not lost since November 2nd, overcoming a series of injuries which includes the devastating long-term absence of star Bukayo Saka. While Liverpool is the team which Arsenal is chasing this season, the last two Premier League title chases saw the Gunners run second to Manchester City. The Citizens come to the Emirates on Sunday as they continue their comeback tour. Things looked dire earlier this season for the defending champions. In November and December, the club experienced a four-match losing run amid a stretch of six losses in eight Premier League games, unheard of during the Citizens’ multi-year run of excellence. The players looked old, the play seemed disjointed, and the futures of Manager Pep Guardiola and leading scorer Erling Haaland were uncertain. Since then, Guardiola and Haaland have signed extensions, and the club has put together an unbeaten run of six matches featuring four victories. While the possibility of a points deduction for financial irregularities still looms, the club has returned to the top four, six points behind second place Arsenal.

Manchester City thumped Chelsea 3-1 last week and Chelsea fans who have seen their heroes win just one of their last seven Premier League games, now brace for the return of a manager they discarded during the tumultuous early beginnings of the Todd Boehly regime at Stamford Bridge. West Ham visits for Monday’s London derby with Graham Potter at the helm for the Hammers. Potter, who enjoyed success and respect at Brighton and previous posts, lasted less than seven months as Boehly’s first managerial appointment at Chelsea. Potter has since expressed a bit of bitterness over his fall guy role amid the early (some would say continuing) chaos of the Boehly regime.

Another of Potter’s former clubs will look to rebound this weekend after Brighton lost for the first time in seven matches in a 1-0 shock at Everton last week. The Seagulls, however, could face an even more motivated opponent when they travel to Nottingham Forest. The Tricky Trees were smashed 5-0 at Bournemouth last week in an embarrassing end to an eight-match unbeaten run which had seen the Trees drop just two points since the first week of December. Both Brighton and Nottingham Forest will be out to prove that last weekend’s results were mere anomalies.

Speaking of anomalies, Leicester went into Tottenham Hotspur last week and emerged with a victory that ended the Foxes’ seven match losing run. That win lifted Leicester out of the relegation zone as they now turn their attention toward a trip to Goodison Park on Saturday. Everton snapped a three-match losing run with the Toffees’ own triumph over spiraling Spurs two weeks ago. Now after a winning effort at Brighton last week, Everton Manager David Moyes hopes to lead his charges to a third consecutive victory. The Toffees’ recent success has them positioned seven points clear of the drop zone, six points above the barely safe Foxes. Tottenham Hotspur’s recent incompetence in losses to Leicester and Everton have fueled the survival hopes of those clubs.

Tottenham Hotspur has been terrible as a cranky Ange Postecoglou has watched his club lose four in a row, six out of seven and eight out of ten Premier League matches.  The Londoners will try to get off the schneid in a derby at Brentford on Sunday. The Bees are currently seven points above Spurs in the standings after winning another London derby versus Crystal Palace last week.

The Eagles will be at Old Trafford to face Manchester United on Sunday where a victory would see the Eagles fly past Manchester United in the table. Manchester United surprised Fulham last week with the Red Devils capturing all three points with a deflected shot finding the net at Craven Cottage. The Cottagers now face a tough trip to Newcastle with the fifth place Magpies squarely in the fight for a top four berth in the league.

Aston Villa, meanwhile, is battling for European qualification with the Villans currently sitting eighth in the Premier League table as Manager Unai Emery takes his side to Molineux Stadium to face Wolverhampton this weekend. Wolves are one of three sides currently in the relegation zone. The other two doom patrols face off when Southampton visits Ipswich Town. Saturday’s match means little for an already doomed Southampton. Ipswich Town, however, still has hope for safety, a prospect which would be severely damaged by not taking all three points against the visiting Saints.