Premier League Review – Gameweek 35
The game between Liverpool and Newcastle at St. James’ Park looked to be of little consequence, with Liverpool pretty much guaranteed to finish in their current seventh position, and Newcastle seemingly pretty much safe from relegation, despite a lingering threat still enduring. Few could have predicted, particularly after the ten game suspension of Luis Suarez, that Liverpool would batter Newcastle on their home turf by six goals to nil. Philippe Coutinho gave a highly encouraging man of the match performance, and Daniel Sturridge proved a more than able deputy for Suarez, as the Reds ran riot against a dismal defensive performance from the home side. Newcastle now cannot automatically assume that they will retain their Premier League status, but the odds still look in their favour, and they could feasibly remain in the Premier League without picking up another point.
This is largely the case due to an injury time own goal at Wigan, which saw Tottenham sneak a late 2-2 draw. Whether or not this will prove to be a critical point or an irrelevance for Spurs remains to be seen, but it already looks a crushing blow for the Latics, who would have climbed out of the drop zone had they hung on to their 2-1 lead. It looks increasingly like Wigan will go down, while the race for the top four remains wide open.
The result at Villa Park in the huge relegation six-pointer between Aston Villa and Sunderland was a bad one for the Latics. Villa battered the Black Cats 6-1, with the increasingly instrumental Christian Benteke scoring a hat-trick. By thrashing Sunderland, Villa drew level on points with Sunderland and their north east neighbours Newcastle. Wigan now desperately need to win their game in hand if they are to stand any realistic chance of escaping the relegation zone.
With regard to the race for the top four, Arsenal versus Manchester United wasn’t a game without consequence, but it certainly meant a lot less than in previous seasons. The Gunners began with great intensity and hunger, as befitting of their greater need for points, and scored through Theo Walcott. But, inevitably, Robin van Persie earned and scored a penalty, and the teams ultimately drew 1-1. Arsenal are reliant on Tottenham slipping up now, but Spurs have a much harder run in than the Gunners.
Meanwhile, Chelsea are now very strongly placed in third, and look likely to retain their Champions League berth for next season. However, with fixtures still to come against Manchester United, Tottenham and Everton, it is far from possible for the Blues to rest on their laurels just yet, and it remains incredibly difficult to predict which two teams will join the two Manchester clubs as England’s entrants to next season’s Champions League.
We now know for certain that there is only one relegation place to be played for at the bottom of the table, as Reading and QPR played out a drab draw on Saturday, meaning both are relegated to the Championship. The Royals were always likely to struggle in the top flight, but the season has been a disastrous one for big spending QPR, and there will be a severe inquest into the mistakes that the club made in the near future.
Norwich, however, still cannot consider themselves clear of relegation worries, although the victory that they picked up over Reading last week looks to have been decisive. The Canaries lost 1-0 at Stoke, who now looked to have hauled themselves definitively clear of the drop zone. Having tipped Norwich for relegation all season, I must say that it now looks unlikely that they will finish in the bottom three, but they still need one more win in order to feel truly safe.
Manchester City look to have clinched second place in the league as they beat West Ham United at home, more comfortably than the 2-1 scoreline would suggest. It would take an incredible series of results for either Chelsea or Arsenal to finish ahead of City, and attention will already be turning towards the FA Cup final and a summer assault on the transfer market.
Everton seem likely to finish in a highly creditable sixth position, as they beat Fulham thanks to a solitary Stephen Pienaar strike. David Moyes’ side have achieved the absolute maximum that could reasonably be expected of them in the Premier League, and the club will now desperately hope to retain Moyes’ services for the foreseeable future.
Finally, West Brom picked up an excellent three goal victory at Southampton, as their excellent season continues. A likely eighth place finish for the Baggies would be a tremendous achievement, and manager Steve Clarke has certainly proved his managerial credentials in his first season at the club.
Premier League Results
Saturday 27th April, 2025
Newcastle 0-6 Liverpool
Everton 1-0 Fulham
Southampton 0-3 West Brom
Stoke 1-0 Norwich
Wigan 2-2 Tottenham
Man City 2-1 West Ham
Sunday 28th April, 2025
Arsenal 1-1 Man Utd
Chelsea 2-0 Swansea
Reading 0-0 QPR
Monday 29th April, 2025
Aston Villa 6-1 Sunderland
Premier League Table
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