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.