Arne Slot’s Liverpool went 11 points clear at the top of the Premier League on Sunday as goals from Mo Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai saw off sorry Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
The SBOTOP clash of the weekend, Manchester City vs Liverpool, rounded off a stunning weekend of action which saw second placed Arsenal lose at home to West Ham, some big results in the race for European places and a damning verdict on the bottom three.
And the away end at the Etihad rang with the sound of ‘We’re gonna win the League’ as the Liverpool fans sang what we all pretty much know.
In 1998 Arsenal overcame a gap of 13 points to beat Manchester United to the title so it can be done. But this was a huge win which has put Liverpool into an incredible position as Salah starred yet again with a goal and an assist. The Reds were better all round, well organised and with more energy and the Sky Blues simply had no answer.
Arsenal had a chance to close the gap to five points on Saturday but, without a recognised striker the Gunners misfired and fell to a hugely damaging 1-0 defeat at home to West Ham United. Mikel Merino, who scored a double in the win over Leicester City last week, started up front for Arsenal but he failed to replicate that success and the hosts had no reply to Jarrod Bowen’s header late in the first half. There was more bad news for Mikel Arteta as midfielder Miles Lewis-Skelly was red carded after his yellow for a foul on Mohammed Kudus was upgraded to a red by VAR. The 18 year old had a red card against Wolves rescinded recently but this one will stick.
In other Premier League 2025 news, Fulham went down to a surprise home defeat to Crystal Palace to drop to tenth. Meanwhile, in the battle for 14th place, Manchester United came back from a two goal deficit away to Everton so the Toffees stay ahead of the Red Devils by a point, while the 16th placed Hammers move alongside Manchester United on 30 points.
Asensio makes his mark
Aston Villa and Chelsea are in the European scramble and the Villains climbed to within a point of the seventh placed Blues, fighting back at Villa Park to run out 2-1 winners, thanks to a brace from January recruit Marco Asensio. Chelsea took an early lead through Enzo Fernandez but substitute Marcus Rashford, another new Villa signing, stretched to tee up Asensio for an equaliser on the hour. And the Manchester United man put the Spaniard through for the 89th minute winner, which must be quite galling for the long suffering Red Devils fans.
Elsewhere in the race for Europe Newcastle United had a statement win over Nottingham Forest, beating Nuno’s surprise package in a seven goal thriller. In a remarkable turnaround the Geordies responded to an earl Callum Hudson-Odoi goal to hit Forest for four in the first half, with goals from Lewis Miley, Jacob Murphy and a two minute brace from Alexander Isak. But Eddie Howe’s team was oddly lacklustre in the second half, and the resurgent visitors pulled a goal back through Nikola Milenkovic. And then there was, from the Magpies’ point of view, a rather unnecessary nervy finish, when Ryan Yates scored on 90 minutes and Newcastle were hanging on.
The gap between the Premier League and the Championship has become a chasm
With almost a third of the campaign still to play the Premier League 2025 betting odds have pretty much consigned the three teams which were promoted to the top flight last May to a quick return to the second tier. Last season, Burnley, Sheffield United and Luton Town were relegated in their first season back in the top flight. And, as we speak, both Burnley and Sheffield United are in good shape to get promoted back to the Premier League, while Southampton, Leicester City and Ipswich Town look destined for the drop.
Southampton have been as good as relegated for months and the gap between them and Brighton and Hove Albion was painfully clear as the Seagulls coasted to a 4-0 win at St Mary’s Stadium. The Saints lost the shot count by 18 to six and 12 to one on target…they are miles off the pace. Leicester City are eight points ahead on 17, and have gone backwards since the club sacked head coach Steve Cooper and replaced him with Ruud van Nistelrooy. The Foxes were slapped 4-0 at home by Brentford on Friday night to spark more protests from fans. At least Ipswich Town scored a goal as Tottenham Hotspur continued their revival with a 4-1 win at Portman Road.
For all three teams to concede four at home speaks volumes and, with 17th placed Wolverhampton Wanderers picking up a 1-0 win away to high-flying Bournemouth I suspect the bottom three are about to be cut adrift.
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