Chelsea and Manchester City may well rue their dropped points this past weekend as their pursuers for expected Champions League berths gained ground. Newcastle jumped over Manchester City and came level on points with fourth-place Chelsea with a 3-0 win over Leicester on Monday. Jacob Murphy had a brace by the 12-minute mark as Newcastle easily rolled over a toothless Foxes side which has scored only 25 times in 31 matches. The only one of the top six sides to win in Match Week 31, the Magpies notched their third consecutive win in league play. During that most recent winning run, the Magpies have also captured the Carabao Cup title, their first domestic silverware in 56 years. That Cup title plus Champions League qualification would be more than Toon army could have hoped for entering the season.
The perfect start! ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/kBkhQxDmqx
— Newcastle United (@NUFC) April 8, 2025
A bad weekend for blue jerseys, meanwhile, saw both Chelsea and Manchester City held to goalless draws. The scoring difficulties of Chelsea have been quite severe since the turn of the year. Marc Cucurella’s three Premier League goals since January lead the impotent Chelsea attack in 2025 which, in fairness, has been marked by injuries to key attackers. Manager Enzo Maresca held Nicolas Jackson and Cole Palmer out of his starting lineup on Sunday as the two are regaining fitness after injury spells. Their late insertion into the match changed little from the frustratingly poor efforts of Christopher Nkunku who started up top for the Blues. The away fans were unmerciful in their criticism of Nkunku who appears to be one of many busts resulting from the wild spending of Chelsea ownership.
Manchester City, meanwhile, was equally awful in front of the net in a sleepy Manchester derby at Old Trafford. Goal nets in Manchester were safe from disturbance as the two clubs, each in the midst of disappointing seasons relative to their expectations, posed little threat to each other.
Poor play by top clubs was nothing unusual this weekend as none of the top five clubs entering the weekend recorded a win. League leading Liverpool surprisingly lost 3-2 at Fulham but second place Arsenal could only manage a 1-1 draw at Everton. Liverpool sustained its first Premier League loss since mid-September, a run of 26 matches, as Fulham shrugged off an early opening goal by the Reds to score three successive times enroute to a win which kept their European hopes alive. The resilient Cottagers won for a third straight time following a loss as they won for the fifth time in their last ten matches to earn their current eighth place table standing.
The loss meant little for Liverpool, particularly when Arsenal failed to capitalize the next day in a 1-1 draw at Goodison Park. A 49th minute penalty conversion by Iliman Ndiaye was all that was needed for a point by Everton against an Arsenal side which has become boring in attack and overly reliant on set pieces. Arsenal has scored more than a goal in just one of its last six league matches as its title chase has petered out. The Gunners’ season is down to its Champions League quest which begins with Tuesday’s quarterfinal match with Real Madrid.
Aston Villa plays PSG on Wednesday in Champions League in a much better frame of mind than Arsenal. Villa continues to reap the benefits of an aggressive January transfer window as Donyell Malen, a January signing from Borussia Dortmund, scored what proved to be the winner in a 2-1 victory over Nottingham Forest. Manager Unai Emery’s squad has now won three straight and four out of five in Premier League play. The Villans are just two points south of deadlocked Chelsea and Newcastle in the Premier League table, Chelsea claiming fourth on goal differential. Manchester City is one point outside the top five, a point ahead of Aston Villa in the ever-tightening chase for the chance to compete in next year’s Champions League.
In the far gloomier southern end of the table, meanwhile, cellar dwelling Southampton made history with a 3-1 loss to Spurs on Sunday, making the Saints the earliest club to be mathematically relegated, with seven matches yet to play, in Premier League history. The sad Saints, who never had a prayer this season, sit on 10 points and could set another infamous record if they fail to surpass the 11 points accumulated by Derby in 2007/08, the lowest point total in Premier League history.
Leicester and Ipswich town are certain to follow Southampton back to the second tier. A 2-1 loss to Wolverhampton all but ended any faint survival hopes that Ipswich Town might still have harbored. Wolves are 12 points above Ipswich Town for the final safe spot with the fumbling Foxes a further three points behind the terrible Tractor Boys.
Brighton and Bournemouth have no relegation worries, but once promising seasons are at risk of disappointing finishes. Brighton was a top four club as of the 13th week of the season but a 2-1 defeat at Selhurst Park over the weekend leaves the Seagulls ninth in the table and European qualification very much at risk.
Crystal Palace, meanwhile, won for the fourth time in a five match Premier League unbeaten run as Daniel Munoz netted the 55th minute winner. The Eagles have taken more points in 2025 than any clubs not named Liverpool or Arsenal. The uptick in form this calendar year has seen the Eagles, who were in the relegation zone as late as November 23rd, rise to11th in the table, two points behind flagging Bournemouth. The Cherries failed to win for a sixth consecutive league match in a 2-2 draw on Saturday with West Ham, the dropped points spoiling an impressive outing for Bournemouth striker Evanilson who scored both goals for the Cherries.
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