Thursday, September 24, 2026

Premier Table Match Week 5: Seagulls Defeat Arsenal; Manchester City Fires Five Past Sunderland; Brentford Dispenses With Chelsea; Everton Run Continues; Iraola Wins In Return To Bournemouth; Pressure Mounts On Michael Carrick

Hopes for a battle at the top of the Premier League table increased last weekend as Brighton inflicted the first loss of the season upon defending champion Arsenal 3-0 in the weekend’s headline. The Gunners vaunted defense seemed to take the day off against the high voltage Brighton attack which has now scored a league leading 16 goals this season. Arsenal seemed unprepared for the attacking mindset of high scoring Brighton as shots went unchallenged and normally composed Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya quickly seemed rattled by the ensuing shooting gallery. The defeat marked the first non-winning effort in 10 Premier League matches dating to last season for the Gunners.

Manchester City, meanwhile, moved three points ahead of Arsenal at the top of the table with a 5-3 victory in a goal fest at Sunderland. Antonio Semenyo’s brace led the scoring outburst for Manchester City which overcame a hat trick by Sunderland’s Bryan Brobbey. And, of course, Erling Haaland scored once again for the Citizens as he found the net for the fifth time this season.

Brighton moved into third place with its victory over Arsenal, followed by a group of four clubs which all trail the Seagulls by a point. Brentford is fourth on goal differential after a convincing 3-0 west London derby victory over Chelsea. Star striker Igor Thiago found the net for the first time this season as the undefeated Bees exploited a Chelsea side which seemingly has questions across the midfield and its back line. The Blues have conceded more goals than any other Premier League side. Half of those, including Thiago’s opener on Friday, have come on set pieces, a failure which must count as an indictment against new manager Xabi Alonso and his staff. Brentford supporters are more than happy with Manager Keith Andrews, who has only improved on the solid foundation left by longtime Brentford manager Thomas Frank.

Everton Manager David Moyes was left little in the way of a solid foundation when his ownership stripped his roster down to the bone this past transfer window. Ownership’s selling spree left Moyes with just a single player at no less than three different positions, including striker. Moyes, however, has made do with his patchwork squad to keep the Toffees undefeated in five matches after Saturday’s 1-0 victory over Ipswich. The scrappy way Everon has managed to score this season was highlighted by a winner which saw a hopeful long distance shot by James Tarkowski deflect off teammate Thierno Barry and into the Ipswich goal for a 1-0 Everton win at Hill Dickinson Stadium. The Toffees kept a clean sheet for a third time in five matches.

Liverpool, meanwhile, notched a third consecutive league clean sheet in Andoni Iraola’s triumphant return to Bournemouth where only last season he qualified the Cherries for Europe. Standing now on the visitor’s touchline, Iraola watched Alexander Isaak claim victory for Liverpool with his 57th minute goal in the Reds’ 1-0 victory.

Like Iraola, Oliver Glasner jumped ship to a perceived better career stop when he bolted Crystal Palace after a Conference League winning season. The Austrian manager took up the reins at Nottingham Forest, and the transition has been a bit bumpier than that of Iraola with Glasner’s only victory to date coming at beleaguered Aston Villa. On Saturday, the Tricky Trees became the first side to lose to newly promoted Coventry when Glasner and his new charges fell 1-0 to the Sky Blues in front of the faithful at the City Gound. It was the first league goal for Coventry this season.

Things have not been great for Glasner’s former side either. New manager Pierre Sage has not impressed at Crystal Palace though the Eagles were able to hold Leeds from scoring in a goalless outcome at Elland Road on Sunday. Undefeated Leeds has conceded the joint (Everton) fewest goals in the league, but Manager Daniel Farke will lament not being able to penetrate a Crystal Palace defense which has shipped 11 goals this season, just one less than the league’s most porous defense in Chelsea.

Newcastle returned from a far more unfortunate visit to Elland Road last week to show its resiliency under new manager Matthias Jaissle. The Magpies were pummeled 4-1 by Leeds last week but responded with a 2-1 win over previously undefeated Hull at St. James’s Park on Saturday.

Tottenham Hotspur got no lift from the home crowd as the league’s bottom side turned in a poor performance in a 3-2 loss to Aston Villa, another struggling side. The final score was misleading as Spurs scored two goals after the 85th minute once Aston Villa began prematurely celebrating a walkover win.

No one had reason to celebrate the goalless draw at Craven Cottage between Fulham and Manchester United. Manchester United was dreadful as early pressure is mounting on Manager Michael Carrick after just one win in five tries so far. Fulham, meanwhile, threw away the chance for new manager Alvaro Arbeloa’s first win by conceding an 89th minute goal to the Red Devils’ Matheus Cunha. The Premier League now goes on extended international break with no matches until October 10th.

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Wednesday, September 16, 2026

Premier Table: Match Week 5 Preview

Arsenal faces its second major test of the young season this coming Saturday. Two weeks ago, the undefeated and untied Gunners edged Chelsea in front of home supporters at the Emirates. This week, the Gunners must travel to Brighton and face a Seagulls squad which not only leads the league in goals scored but by a wide three goal margin over the second most prolific side in Chelsea. Brighton have found the net 13 times in their four matches. Only Leeds has held Brighton to fewer than three goals over the first four league matches for the Seagulls. Defending Premier League champion Arsenal, meanwhile, has allowed only one league goal all season.

Fresh off its controversial, referee enabled, Manchester derby win over cross-town rival Manchester United, Manchester City returns to the Etihad to host Sunderland, 2-0 losers to Arsenal last week. In one of the more classless exercises of the new season, Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta refuses to just take last week’s win and focus on Brighton. The fiery manager is driving his club to protest a referee decision which went against the poor Gunners early in their 2-0 defeat of the Black Cats.

Manchester United heads down to London to face Fulham, which grabbed an unexpected point at Liverpool last week. Liverpool Manager Andoni Iraola, meanwhile, takes his club on the road this week to a venue well known to him. The Reds visit Vitality Stadium to face Iraola’s former club, Bournemouth, on Sunday. The Cherries are yet to win a Premier League match since their former manager left for Merseyside.

The other club in Merseyside remains undefeated and in the top half of the table despite gaping holes in the squad. Everton Manager David Moyes will try to get more blood from his stone of a team when the Toffees host Ipswich Town on Saturday. Unlike Everton, whose ownership held tight to the purse strings this past transfer window, Ipswich invested heavily to try to ensure promotion season survival. So far, so good as the Tractor Boys are level on points with Everton following a win over Crystal Palace last week.

Things should be even more difficult for Crystal Palace this week when the Eagles take on an energized Leeds side at Elland Road. The Whites sit third in the table after firing four goals past Newcastle on Monday.

Newcastle returns home this week to face another surprising top four side in the newly promoted and undefeated Hull Tigers. The Tigers conceded their first goals of the season in a draw at Chelsea last week and have yet to lose in their return to the Premier League. It remains to be seen, however, how well and how long the squad depth of this promoted side can hold up.

Another promoted side already seems doomed to relegation and a quick U-turn back to the second tier. Coventry City has conceded 10 goals in losing all four of their matches this season. The Sky Blues travel to the City Ground on Saturday where new Nottingham Forest Manager Oliver Glasner will be looking for his first home win of the young season.

Tottenham Hotspur, home to Aston Villa this weekend, is the only other club besides Coventry not to have found the net this season. Villa, meanwhile, has only scored once in four matches and has earned only a solitary point, one less than dreadful Spurs. This match at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium could be hard on the eyes.

Match Week 5 begins on Friday with a west London derby between Brentford and Chelsea. The Blues travel to Brentford hoping to change their current trajectory where they were held to a draw at home versus Hull one week after losing at Arsenal. It’s been almost five years, however, since Chelsea last won a Premier League match at Gtech Community Stadium.

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Tuesday, September 15, 2026

Premier Table Match Week 4 Results: Haaland Goal Gives City Victory At Old Trafford; Arsenal Wins At Sunderland; Leeds Climbs Table With Dominant Win Over Magpies; Hull leaves Stamford Bridge With Another Point; Liverpool Attack Fizzles In Goalless Draw With Fulham; Spurs And Coventry Still Chasing A First Goal

Manchester City played 70 minutes with ten men but came away with all three points in a 1-0 Manchester derby at Old Trafford. Phil Foden fell victim the dark arts of Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes and got himself kicked out of the game in the 23rd minute. Fernandes surreptitiously kicked a prone Foden. The referees saw Foden’s retaliatory kick and City were down a man. Manchester United, however, couldn’t capitalize on their advantage and fell victim to Haaland’s fourth goal of the season. The 60th minute winner was controversial as Enzo Fernandez influenced the game winning play while in an offside position. The referee’s association issued an apology hours later for blowing the call, and the two VAR officials have been removed from their upcoming weekend assignments, but that obviously does Michael Carrick and his Red Devils little good. Carrick’s men, however, did not do themselves much good with a catatonic attack which could be the greater issue moving forward.

The Citizens, meanwhile, stayed level on points with Arsenal, which had its own referee issue in a 2-0 win at Sunderland. Mikel Arteta was livid after the match at the Stadium of Light over a penalty call which could have put Sunderland in the lead in the 55th minute of a scoreless struggle. Fortunately, Gunner goalkeeper David Raya saved the penalty try and Bruno Guimaraes put Arsenal ahead three minutes later for his first league goal as part of Arteta’s squad. Bukayo Saka’s 96th minute goal was icing on the cake.

Right behind the two top clubs are two surprises. Leeds poured in four goals against Newcastle on Monday after scoring just five in its three earlier matches. The 4-1 victory, Leeds’s second of the season, launched the West Yorkshire side into third position in the table. Manager Daniel Farke is working under an expiring contract and must feel good at the moment regarding his negotiating leverage.

Newly promoted Hull, meanwhile, went into Stamford Bridge and emerged with a point to stay in the top four. Hull conceded its first two goals of the season, but Mohamed Belloumi scored twice for the Tigers. Chelsea flirted with a more painful home until Joao Pedro scored the equalizer in the 66th minute.

While Hull has made itself right at home in the Premier League, former Chelsea player and Manager Frank Lampard is going through hell with his newly promoted side. Coventry was blasted at home 5-0 by Brighton to become only the second club in Premier League history to lose their first four matches without scoring a goal. The first club to do so, in 2017/18, was Crystal Palace which has a different problem this season.

The Eagles are the only club to have conceded more goals than Coventry City this season after a dispiriting 3-2 loss at Selhurst Park against newly promoted Ipswich Town. Ziann Flemming scored the 90th minute winner for Ipswich Town against a Palace side whose defensive struggles were compounded by Axel Disasi’s 34th minute red card. The Eagles have now conceded two or more goals in every game this season.

The sole Crystal Palace win this season was against a struggling Fulham side last week, so it was a bit surprising to see the Cottagers, who conceded three to the Eagles, hold Liverpool to a scoreless draw at Anfield on Saturday. Things had seemed to be coming together for a reconstituted Liverpool attack before Saturday proved much, much more work is needed.

Liverpool’s issues, however, pale in comparison to goal starved Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa. Spurs have now gone over 400 minutes without a goal in their winless season to date after a scoreless home draw versus Everton Saturday. Aston Villa’s first goal of the season was wasted in a 2-1 home defeat to Nottingham Forest. Everton, with its own problems in attack, will happily take Saturday’s away point which keeps them undefeated on the season, albeit with just a single win.

Nottingham Forest Manager Oliver Glasner has his first win in charge of the Tricky Trees after Igor Jesus deposited the winner in the 88th minute to keep Villa winless on the season.

Brentford and Bournemouth, meanwhile, remain two of the four teams to have drawn three out of their four league matches after the Bees and Cherries played to a 2-2 deadlock at Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium. Kevin Schade equalized matters for the visiting Bees with his second goal of the game in the 56th minute.

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Friday, September 11, 2026

Premier Table: Match Week 4 Preview


The Manchester Derby on Sunday highlights the weekend Premier League schedule. Manchester United performances have been all over the board this season, ranging from dominant to sad in three matches which has produced four points from nine on the table. Manchester City, meanwhile, seems primed for another title race despite the departure of Manager Pep Guardiola. New man Enzo Maresca has started with three league wins.

Newly promoted Hull City is undefeated as the Tigers visit Stamford Bridge on Saturday for a match of irresistible force versus immovable object. Chelsea has found the net eight times this season, to share league high honors with Brighton. The Tigers are yet to concede a goal this season.

Tottenham Hotspur is one of only two clubs, along with Aston Villa, which hasn’t scored a goal this season. Once again, the “top six” north London side is in the relegation end of the table despite major spending in the offseason. Everton, Spurs opponent on Saturday, has appeared to rely on smoke and mirrors to capture its five points early into the season. The club’s ownership has left David Moyes with a threadbare roster. Rumor has it that the club is once again up for sale with the Friedkin Group looking to make a quick profit by selling the club it acquired less than two years ago.

The other goalless team, Aston Villa, will host Nottingham Forest on Saturday. Winless Forest has found the net twice under former Crystal Palace Manager Oliver Glasner. Glasner’s replacement in south London, Pierre Sage, has already notched his first Premier League win, the Eagles winning a London derby with Fulham last weekend. Sage will be looking for a second win when newly promoted Ipswich visits Selhurst Park on Saturday.

Fulham Manager Alvaro Arbeloa is already feeling the pressure as his winless Cottagers prepare to play Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday. Only twice before have the Cottagers lost the first four matches of a topflight season and both times, they were relegated.

Sunderland knocked off the Cottagers to open the season and will be trying to make it three consecutive home wins against London clubs on Saturday. The only problem is that it is defending champion, and currently unbeaten and untied, Arsenal that is visiting the Stadium of Light. The Black Cats have won only one of their last 29 league meetings with the Gunners.

While winning but once, both Leeds and Newcastle remain unbeaten as they face off at Elland Road on Monday. Newcastle have lost just once in their last eight visits to the historic venue where the Whites have played for more than 100 years. Newcastle has been remarkably efficient this season, scoring six goals from just eight shots on target.

Other Week 4 matches will see Frank Lampard and Coventry City try to get their first win of the season as they host the high-flying attack of the Seagulls visiting from Brighton while Brentford will try to remain undefeated when the Bees visit winless Bournemouth .

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Tuesday, September 8, 2026

Premier Table: Match Week 3 Results

Arsenal made it three for three with a 3-2 victory in their London derby with Chelsea. The Gunners won their third straight outing with a comeback win featuring goals by former Chelsea man Kai Havertz and Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard who swept in the winner in the 54th minute. Morgan Rogers woke up the Emirates crowd with a fifth-minute goal which gave Chelsea the lead in the 5th minute. Arsenal’s response to this early wakeup call against a quality opponent demonstrated the tenacity of the defending Premier League champions who have their eyes set on a second league title under Manager Mikel Arteta.

Manchester City also won a close match at home, but against a far more surprising opponent. Newly promoted and winless Coventry City gave the Citizens all they could handle but fell victim to Erling Haaland’s third goal of the season in a 1-0 final at the Etihad.

Another newly promoted side is undefeated after Hull played to a goalless draw at Aston Villa. The Tigers don’t pack much of a wallop, but their defense has so far stood the test to make them an interesting story to date in their promotion season.

The weekend’s other goalless draw occurred at the City Ground where host Nottingham Forest kept Tottenham Hotspur ”0 for the season,” no goals and no wins. Nottingham Forest hasn’t been much better under new manager Oliver Glasner. The Tricky Trees have scored only twice in managing two draws and a loss in their three contests.

A high-flying Brighton attack, meanwhile, was mostly grounded versus Leeds. The Seagulls still lead the league (along with Chelsea) in goals scored but were held to a 1-1 draw on Saturday by visiting Leeds which remains one of seven remaining undefeated clubs after three matches. Only Arsenal and Hull have now conceded less than the two goals allowed by the stingy Whites after three matches.

Liverpool showed a little more defensive stability, although the competition must be considered in a 2-0 win over Ipswich Town, the Reds’ first victory of the season. Liverpool has scored two goals in all three of its matches but this time, the opposing side didn’t score two as well, the Tractor Boys clearly lacking the cutting edge to threaten Andoni Iraola’s Liverpool side. The former Bournemouth manager will be rubbing his hands though over an attack which appears to be coming together in the wake of several departures up top, including longtime star Mohamed Salah. Alexander Isaak scored both goals in his first double since his rampaging day at Newcastle. Both Isaak’s goals were assisted by Cody Gakpo who was expected to be gone this transfer window but is seeming quite at home. Bradly Barcola, another attacker snatched up in the recent transfer window from PSG, made a late debut in the match and adds further threat to Andoni’s rejuvenated front line.

Isaak’s former mates in the northeast are playing better than expected after the departure of longtime manager Eddie Howe and stars such as Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali. New Magpie manager Matthias Jaissle is getting improved production from some of the club’s returnees. Anthony Malaga and Yoane Wissa have suddenly looked dangerous after being largely ineffective last season. On Saturday it was Harvey Barnes and Jacob Ramsey who provided the goals in a 2-2 draw with Bournemouth which kept Newcastle undefeated. Even more impressive is that the Magpies clawed back from a two-goal deficit with Barnes finding the net in the 88th minute to salvage the point versus the visiting Cherries.

Brentford remains undefeated but there are warning signs as the Bees conceded a late goal for a second consecutive week in a 1-1 draw with Sunderland. That’s four points left on the table after only three matches for Brentford.

Everton, meanwhile, came back to capture a point for a second straight week when unlikely hero Ainsley Maitland-Niles stunned Manchester United in the 96th minute of play at Hill Dickinson Stadium. The former Arsenal fullback joined Everton on transfer deadline day from Lyon and paid immediate dividends for the Toffees with his first Premier League goal since 2019. The excitement that accompanied a 5-2 pasting of Ipswich Town is now in the past for Manchester United supporters who must consider the fact that the Red Devil defense has conceded two goals in each of the first three matches with none of those matches having been played against goalscoring powerhouses.

Crystal Palace fans, meanwhile, are breathing a sigh of relief after the Eagles made the quick trip across town to Fulham and came away with their first victory of the season, a 3-2 win at Craven Cottage. Ben Chillwell had the 77th minute winner for Palace, just days after his Tuesday free transfer from Strasbourg. Chilwell had come into the game just three minutes earlier in relief of wing back Tyrick Mitchell who scored the first two Eagle goals. As new Crystal Palace Manager Pierre Sage celebrated his first Premier League win, former Real Madrid Manager Alvaro Arbeloa may already be on the hot seat with Fulham. The Cottagers are one of two clubs to have lost all three of their Premier League matches this season, conceding seven goals in the process. Only Saturday’s opponent Crystal Palace and newly promoted Ipswich Town have conceded more. Not only are supporters growing anxious, but an unhappy locker room is showing early signs of the player discontent which tainted Arbeloa’s short stint at Real Madrid. 

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Friday, September 4, 2026

Premier Table: Match Week 3 Preview

Arsenal faces its stiffest test of the young season when high rolling Chelsea pays a visit to the Emirates on Sunday. After swatting Coventry in the league’s opener two weeks ago, Arsenal was businesslike, if less than impressive, against an Aston Villa side reeling from transfer window departures. Now undefeated Chelsea under new manager Xabi Alonso arrives for a London derby against the Gunners.

Chelsea has been living dangerously, bagging two wins despite allowing five goals over the first two matches. Only Ipswich Town and Crystal Palace have conceded more goals than Chelsea. Meanwhile, there is still some question as to whether Arsenal has enough firepower to successfully defend its title after winning the Premier League last season on the strength of its defense and set piece proficiency. Deals for Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior and Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez failed to reach the finish line. Leonardo Trossard, Gabriel Jesus and Ethan Nwaneri left the club while Christos Tzolis, formerly of Belgian side Brugge is the only addition of note. Chelsea midfielder Morgan Rogers was another player that Arsenal was rumored to covet but the attacking midfielder instead departed Aston Villa for the Blues. Rogers and best mate Cole Palmer will need to be at their best to deliver a first win for Chelsea over Arsenal in twelve meetings.

While Arsenal and Chelsea have both won their two matches to date so far, Liverpool is yet to edge into the win column, drawing both league matches under new manager Andoni Iraola. The former Bournemouth manager should have a good chance at that elusive first league win when his Reds visit Ipswich Town to begin the Premier League match weekend schedule on Friday.

Frank Lampard is also looking for his first win this season but is far less likely to find it when Coventry City, which was hammered by Arsenal in the league opener and then tripped up by fellow newcomer Hull last week, must now travel to the Etihad to face Manchester City and its galaxy of stars led by striker Erling Haaland.

Unbeaten and untied Hull, meanwhile, will try to keep the party going in front of its home fans versus Aston Villa on Saturday. A high scoring match should not be expected. Hull has yet to allow a goal this season. Aston Villa is yet to land a shot on target.

Nottingham Forest Manager Oliver Glasner gets a second chance to deliver a first win in front of the Tricky Trees home supporters when Forest welcomes Tottenham Hotspur. Like Coventry and Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur is yet to put a ball past an opposing goalkeeper this season, noteworthy in that Spurs had never before failed to score in the opening two matches of a Premier League season. This weekend Spurs could make more history as the north London club has never before lost the first three matches of a Premier League campaign.

Fulham and Crystal Palace are two other struggling London sides. The good news is that one of them is guaranteed their first point of the season when the two clash on Saturday.

No club, meanwhile, has been involved in matches with more aggregate scoring than the twelve goals recorded during Brighton’s first two matches. Interestingly, the Seagulls now host Leeds on Saturday with the Whites having scored just twice while conceding just once in their two prior outings.

Everton, despite a seemingly thin squad, are unbeaten after two weeks. The collapse of the deal to bring USMNT and Monaco striker Folarin Balogun to Merseyside leaves the Toffees seriously short of attacking quality. Everton was one of only three clubs last season to have a leading goal scorer with fewer than ten goals. That leading scorer for the Toffees, Beto, is now playing for Serie A side Fiorentina while Balogun was supposed to be the medicine for the Toffees’ ailing attack. Everton has failed to score in five of its last eight matches versus Manchester United which visits Hill Dickinson Stadium on Sunday.

Other Premier League matches this weekend include Newcastle United trying to snap an eight-match winless run in Premier League matches versus Bournemouth while their northeast neighbor Sunderland heads to Brentford where the Black Cats have failed to win in their last four visits to Gtech Community Stadium.

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Wednesday, September 2, 2026

Premier Table Match Week 2 Results: What the Hull Is Going On ?; Manchester United Roars Back From Opening Week Setback; High Scoring Chelsea Survives Another Goal Fest And Says Goodbye To High Priced Star; Spurs Suffer Another Goalless Defeat; Manchester City Rolls Over Crystal Palace

Hull sits in the top four after a perfect two weeks for the Tigers. The newly promoted side won 1-0 at Coventry over the weekend after shocking Manchester United in Week 1. The feisty newcomers to the league join Arsenal as the only clubs yet to concede a goal. Visiting Hull supporters were in a euphoric state in the Coventry stands, chanting “We’re going to win the league,” as the Tigers clawed to another victory.

The Tigers’ stinginess stands in stark contrast to Chelsea which is playing little defense but also has two wins now after scoring a combined seven goals in its two matches. The Blues sprinted to a 3-0 advantage on Sunday but were then forced to sweat out the three points as Brighton came roaring back in a 4-3 pinballing contest. Cole Palmer scored an insurance goal in the 74th minute to restore Chelsea’s margin to two goals, good enough to withstand a late injury time score by the Seagulls. New Chelsea goalkeeper Emi Martinez must be feeling shellshocked. The new man between the sticks made several key stops to help salvage the win despite Chelsea’s leaky defense. Chelsea scored another win when it scored a record fee for dishing disgruntled midfielder Enzo Fernandez to Manchester City at the transfer deadline on Tuesday.

The Brighton comeback at Stamford Bridge was not all that surprising as the Seagulls are level with Manchester City for the most goals scored after two matches. The Citizens sit atop the table, ahead of Arsenal due to their goals scored advantage over the Gunners. Erling Haaland scored a brace in Manchester City’s 4-1 humiliation of Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park and now add Chelsea’s Fernandez to their constellation of stars. The winless Eagles, meanwhile, are in a bad way after saying goodbye to their top-notch manager Oliver Glasner over the offseason and suffering a transfer window so dismal that Ben Chillwell, of all people, was a headline deadline day addition.

Aston Villa also suffered a rough transfer window but looked better in a 1-0 defeat to Arsenal. The Villans, however, still haven’t put a shot on target after two matches.

All is well again for Manchester United supporters after the club put an embarrassing opening week loss to Hull behind it and ran amok at Old Trafford versus the plodding Tractor Boys of Ipswich Town. Last year’s Premier League Player of the Season, Bruno Fenrandes, scored a hat trick in the 5 -2 win over the visitors.

Tottenham Hotspur, meanwhile, laid an egg for a second consecutive week in a 2-0 home loss to Newcastle. The north London side still looks a bottom of the table club despite heavy offseason investment. Manager Roberto De Zerbi is yet to see his club find the net after two matches. Things are so dismal in north London that the club has rolled the dice on Chelsea bust Mykhailo Mudryk in a loan deal.

The jury remains out on Liverpool after a second consecutive 2-2 draw under new Manager Andoni Iraola. A 99th minute penalty was required to salvage the point in Sunday’s match at Newcastle.

Everton also required a stoppage time goal in a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth. James Tarkowski delivered the point saving header from amidst a forest of ineffective Bournemouth defenders. Goals could be scarce this season for the Toffees as a deal for USMNT striker Folarin Balogun fell through at the last minute on Tuesday. Everton said goodbye to Beto and now look even worse up front than last season when no player scored in double digits for David Moyes’ side.

A 79th minute goal by Dominic Calvert Lewin gave Leeds a point in a 1-1 draw with Brentford at Elland Road.

Sunderland, meanwhile, notched its first win of the season in a 1-0 victory at the Stadium of Light over Fulham. New Fulham manager Alvaro Arbeloa is showing the stress of two opening league losses as he exploded in post-match comments about “the attitude of my team.” The Cottagers failed to put a shot on target against the Black Cats and Alvaro deplored his side’s lack of effort.

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Friday, August 28, 2026

Premier Table: Match Week 2 Preview

As if Aston Villa doesn’t have enough problems, Villa Park will be invaded on Monday by marauding Premier League champion Arsenal which slapped around poor Coventry City in its 3-0 opening win. The Villans, meanwhile, were frightful in a 4-0 loss to Brighton. Now comes the news that goalkeeper Emi Martinez is the next to fly the coop at Villa, the Argentine heading to Chelsea where he will reunite with Morgan Rogers, yet another Villa refugee.

Chelsea edged past Fulham 3-2 on Monday, but both Cottager goals were preventable, and Xabi Alonso apparently means business as he brings in Argentina’s starting keeper to make the Blues a bit stingier. Alonso and the boys host Brighton on Sunday in a matchup of winners from Week 1.

Former Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca also notched a victory in his first appearance on the touchline for Manchester City last week. On Friday the Citizens head to Selhurst Park to face a Crystal Palace side trying to find its footing under its own new manager, Pierre Sage. Erling Haaland will be trying to net his first goal since his recent haircut.

Former Palace Manager Oliver Glasner was unsuccessful in his debut last week for his new employers at Nottingham Forest. The Trees now uproot this week for a tilt at Anfield where Liverpool is trying to find a winning formula under new manager Andoni Iraola, one of nine new managers in the Premier League this season. Iraola’s teams usually take some time to adjust to his style of play, but Reds supporters may not be patient should things take too long. Arne Slot after all got the sack just one season after winning the Prem for the Reds.

Coventry City Manager Frank Lampard is trying to establish his cred as a Premier League manager after false starts in earlier stints on the touchline for Chelsea, where Lampard starred as a player, and Everton. Things started poorly last week for the Sky Blues in a shellacking by Arsenal, but Coventry returns home to face Hull on Saturday for the first Premier League match in Coventry in 25 years.

While that match will take place at the Sky Blues’ less than excitingly named venue Coventry Building Society Arena, Ipswich Town heads to a more famous venue this week when the Tractor Boys visit Old Trafford for a match with Manchester United, surprising losers to Hull last week. Ipswich won their opening match after an offseason where they invested heavily. The Red Devils, meanwhile, stumbled in their opener and supporters are anxious about a lack of spending by their historic club to support Michael Carrick in his first season as “permanent” manager.

Like Carrick, Roberto De Zerbi entered the season in the high regard of supporters after saving Spurs from relegation. Those same supporters were somewhat shocked when De Zerbi’s crew laid an egg in a 3-0 opening loss to Brentford. Spurs will try to get back in the saddle this weekend when facing Newcastle at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Brentford will try to build on the momentum of last week’s dominant win when the Bees travel to Leeds. Brentford is winless in its last eight visits to Elland Road.

Sunderland will be relying on its Stadium of Light supporters to help the club shake off its opening week’s defeat to Ipswich Town. Bournemouth will likewise be trying to avoid a second defeat when the Cherries welcome Everton to Vitality Stadium on Saturday. Everton have won just once in their last nine trips to Bournemouth.

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Tuesday, August 25, 2026

Premier Table Match Week 1: Arsenal Is Dominant; New Managers Score Wins For Chelsea And Manchester City; Liverpool Lucky To Steal A Point; Two Newcomers Win; Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur Flop On Opening Weekend

Arsenal kicked off the Premier League season with a clear message that it will not be easy to knock the Gunners off their title perch. The champions were dominant in a 3-0 spanking of Coventry City. Newly promoted Coventry, meanwhile, was so outclassed that one must wonder if Manager Frank Lampard is in store for a brutal season in his return to the league. The Sky Blues managed only a single shot on target versus the Gunners and could be facing a short stay in the league.

Manchester United seemed to be on the right track with an impressive third place finish under interim manager Michael Carrick last season. Red Devil supporters are now scratching their heads after a confusing 2-0 failure at Hull, one of two promoted teams to win this weekend. United fell victim to a promoted club on opening day for the first time in 13 such matchups in its club history. New signings Youri Tielemans and Andry Santos, and the return of Marcus Rashford had no positive impact for a club which looked unready under Manager Carrick.

A similar disaster was experienced by Tottenham Hotspur Manager Roberto De Zerbi. The manager was a hero when he saved the club from an embarrassing relegation in the final weeks of the 25/26 season. Momentum was expected to continue after offseason player additions like Newcastle’s Sandro Tonali. Didn’t happen. Spurs still looked like a bottom of the table club and were no match for Brentford in a 3-0 loss where De Zerbi’s team looked unprepared and even disinterested in contrast to a well-organized and energized Bees club managed by Keith Andrews.

Unlike Spurs supporters, bad things were already feared entering this season by fans of Aston Villa which suffered a massive talent drain during this transfer window even as striker Ollie Watkins awaits his own ticket out of Birmingham. Villa was spanked 4-0 at Brighton, a shocking result even for pessimistic supporters.

One of the Aston Villa escapees, star midfielder Morgan Rogers, made the scoresheet in his Chelsea debut, a 3-2 Blues victory at Craven Cottage over Fulham. Rogers, Palmer and Joao Pedro scored for a Chelsea attack which looked worlds better under new Manager Xavi Alonso. Palmer and Pedro never clicked last season, but each assisted on the other’s goal on Monday.

The man who began last season as Chelsea’s manager has a massive challenge ahead of him as Enzo Maresca attempts to maintain the winning culture which predecessor Pep Guardiola established at Manchester City. Maresca is off to a good start after a comeback 2-1 victory over Bournemouth and its own new manager, Marco Rose. Rayan Cherki assisted on each of the Manchester City goals, both of which were scored after the 80th minute to erase the Bournemouth lead. There must be worries, however, after Erling Haaland failed to score shortly after shearing his flowing locks, raising concerns of a “Samson” effect.

As was the case at the Etihad, there were new managers on both touchlines as Newcastle and Liverpool battled to a 2-2 draw at St. James’s Park. The draw should be a moral victory for the Magpies who lost not just a manager but many of their key players this offseason. Satisfaction has to be muted, however, after new manager Matthias Jaissle saw his club concede a penalty in the ninth minute of stoppage time to squander what would have been an additional two points on opening night. Liverpool Manager Andoni Iraola escaped with a point in his debut for the Reds but can’t be impressed with what was a generally rocky performance masked by the late game gift.

Crystal Palace and Manager Oliver Glasner parted ways after the Eagles scored a European title in the Conference League last season. Eyebrows were raised when Glasner took the helm a Nottingham Forest, not a clear step up in class and a dangerous partnership with an equally volatile personality in Nottingham Forest Owner Evangelos Marinakis. Forest and Palace were both losers on opening weekend, Crystal Palace falling 2-0 at Everton while Glasner and Forest were 1-0 losers at home to Leeds.

A late goal by substitute Jack Clark made Ipswich Town one of two promoted sides to grab three points on Saturday. The Tractor Boys, who were relegated two seasons ago, announced their return with a thrilling 2-1 win over last season’s Premier League darling Sunderland when Clark scored in the final minute of regulation time. With Hull and Ipswich Town both winning, could we possibly see a second season in which two promoted sides secure a second season? 

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Thursday, August 20, 2026

Premier League Returns!

The world’s strongest and deepest domestic league begins play on Friday when the English Premier League commences its 35th season. A relatively quiet transfer window has done little to identify major changes of fortune for those clubs hoping to wrest the title from Arsenal. The defending champions strengthened by adding midfielder Bruno Guimaraes from Newcastle, a skillful player who will help to unlock the type of packed in defenses which the Gunners will surely face this season. Arsenal opens the season at home on Friday against newly promoted Coventry City and its familiar manager, Frank Lampard.

Manchester City meanwhile will have a new manager for the fist time in a decade as Enzo Maresca takes the reins from legend Pep Guardiola when City plays Bournemouth Sunday at the Etihad. The Citizens, who finished seven points behind Arsenal last season, have also said goodbye to Rodri and Bernardo Silva, while being rebuffed so far in attempts to bolster the roster. The club received a stern no from Crystal Palace this week for Adam Wharton. Expectations, however, are that Maresca will have some new weapons before the window closes on September 1st.

Former Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola will be on the touchline for Liverpool when the Reds play at Newcastle on Sunday. Iraola’s high pressing style may remind supporters of the Jurgen Klopp days, but this is a lesser squad that Iraola inherits. Mohamed Salah is gone. Hugo Ekitike is still recovering from a devastating injury, and Iraola will hope to resurrect the failing fortunes of last season’s transfer bust Florian Wirtz. A return to form by striker Alexander Isak after a lost 2025/26 season would also help Iraola make hay with a roster lacking in star power.


Isak will face former club Newcastle on Saturday though he may not recognize many familiar faces. The Magpies are no longer managed by Eddie Howe. Anthony Gordon is off to Barcelona, Sandro Tonali is at Tottenham Hotspur and Bruno Guimaraes is now an Arsenal player. Kieran Trippier, Matt Targett and Aaron Ramsdale have also left as part of Newcastle’s massive housecleaning.

Things are more stable at Manchester United where Michael Carrick returns as manager after the club’s former player led the Red Devils to a surprising third place finish as an interim manager. Carrick will be without the departed Casemiro, but Youri Tielemans has come abord in a somewhat pleasant surprise. The real story, however, could focus on the return of Marcus Rashford from his loan to Barcelona and assuming he stays in Manchester for this season. At his best, Rashford provides an exciting attacking option for the Red Devils who begin their season at newly promoted Hull on Saturday.

Aston Villa has had a tough transfer window. In addition to Tielemans, Villa lost perhaps its best player in attacking midfielder Morgan Rogers to Chelsea. Little has been done to date to repair the bereft Villa midfield as the team prepares to travel to Brighton for a Sunday match.

Chelsea, which plays a London derby at Fulham on Monday, will hope Rogers can build a connection with Cole Palmer who was largely ineffective last season after a breakout 24/25 season. A young and undisciplined Chelsea side has added not just Rogers but also graybeard veterans Jordan Hendersen and Danny Welbeck as new manager Xavi Alonso hopes to bring order to chaotic Chelsea. Alonso will have plenty of time to work with his squad as the Blues play no European football this season as a result of last season’s misadventures.

Crystal Palace, which is a reining European champion after capturing the Conference League title, are under new management after Oliver Glasner walked out to take the job at Nottingham Forest in a seemingly strange career move for the fiery Austrian. Glasner’s temperament and past clashes with the ownership of his clubs is an odd pairing with Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis who has had his own battles with managers in the past. Palace is at Everton while Glasner and Nottingham Forest will host Leeds on Saturday.

Tottenham Hotspur, chastened by two consecutive relegation fights, will hope to battle with the likes of Palace and Forest in the middle of the table this season. Perhaps a modest objective for Spurs but Manager Roberto De Zerbi has his hands full to establish a winning culture after he narrowly rescued the club from demotion last season. Towards that end, headlines this week have reported Spurs to be hotly pursuing Manchester City players Savinho and Omar Marmoush. De Zerbi and his charges visit Brentford on Saturday. The Bees created buzz during the window with the signing of Mamadou Sangare, a versatile midfielder who helped French club RC Lens secure Champions League football.

Ipswich Town returns to the Premier League and can only hope to experience the success that Saturday’s opponent Sunderland enjoyed last season. The Black Cats, however, will now need to balance a European slate in addition to domestic challenges after Manager Regis Le Bris led promoted side Sunderland last season to their first European qualification since the 1970”s. Which team will surprise us this season?

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Tuesday, June 2, 2026

Arsenal Loses and Slot is Sacked

Champions League Final

Arsenal tested defending champion PSG but ultimately lost in penalty kicks after regulation and extra time left the two sides deadlocked at a goal apiece. Arsenal was determined to play its own pragmatic, defensive, even what some might characterize as ugly style against the more attack minded Parisians. The Gunners commitment to shortening the match and making life difficult for PSG increased when they were practically “handed” the early lead in the championship match.

An errant pass by PSG defender PSG Marquinos ricocheted off the arm of Arsenal’s Leonardo Trossard and fell kindly to the feet of Arsenal striker Kai Havertz who broke down the left flank ahead of PSG defenders who were unable to reverse their forward momentum quickly enough. Havertz, who scored the winner for Chelsea in the 2022 Champions League final, beat PSG goaltender Matvey Safonov by lofting the ball into the upper far corner of the net over a helpless Safonov who was protecting against an anticipated lower trajectory shot to the near side of the goal. Advantage Arsenal after six minutes of play.

The next fifty-nine minutes saw wave after wave of PSG attacks repulsed by the elite Arsenal defense led by center backs Gabriel and William Saliba. The match turned, however, when Arsenal fullback Cristhian Mosquera was late on a challenge to stop PSG’s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia as he bore in on Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya. Ousmane Dembele put the ensuing penalty kick past Raya to equalize the match in the 65th minute at 1-1.

That score remained until the clubs went to penalty kicks after an extra period failed to decide the match. PSG would miss one of their allotted kicks but unfortunately for Gunner fans, the English side missed on two of their attempts. First, it was a miss by Eberechi Eze and then Gabriel missed the climactic fifth and final kick for the Gunners. Gabriel was taking his first penalty kick for Arsenal in the most pressurized of moments.

Manager Mikel Arteta will live with questions as to the wisdom and fairness in Gabriel taking that fifth Arsenal kick. There were others who could have taken the final chance at Safonov including Noni Madueke, a more technical striker of the ball who once infamously fought with Chelsea teammate Cole Palmer over a far less important penalty kick. As it was, Gabriel skied the kick and PSG were UCL champions for a second consecutive season.

Liverpool Sacks Arne Slot

Liverpool sacked Manager Arne Slot after a season in which the Reds lost 19 matches across all competitions just a year after Slot led Liverpool to a Premier League championship in his first season with the club. The title winning side was often thought to have been a parting gift from predecessor Jurgen Klopp with few changes made to the squad Slot inherited. Conversely, this season’s disappointment is all Slot’s.

Problems for Liverpool began during a turbulent offseason which saw the off-pitch death of Liverpool player Diogo Jota, a cloud over the season which never parted, and extensive retooling of the squad by Slot and Liverpool ownership and administration. The biggest summer outlay, Alexander Isaak, was unfit all season and contributed nothing while Hugo Ekitike, a rare bright spot this season ultimately ruptured an Achilles tendon. Fair or not, failed additions based on their performances to date such as Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez are clearly identified with Slot.

There also seemed a marked change to a slower pace with which Slot had his team play, a far cry from the heavy metal style of his predecessor. Meanwhile, a schism developed between Slot and underperforming Liverpool legend Mo Salah which the Egyptian superstar was all too happy to take public. Salah condemned Liverpool’s slower style and other tactical adjustments made by Slot as the now also departed Salah’s production fell off a cliff during the 2025/26 season with his goal involvements falling from 47 to 14.

Other veterans such as center back Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate also regressed in Slot’s second season which started poorly from the outset for the Reds. Liverpool seemed to be sleepwalking while losing nine of 12 matches across all competitions from September through November. Despite some mid-season improvement, results slid once again toward season’s end with Liverpool securing only two of its last 12 points in the critical Premier League run-in which saw the Reds just barely hold onto the Champions League berth available this season to the league’s fifth place finisher.

Beyond league play, a trophyless season began with a Community Shield loss to Crystal Palace, another loss to the Eagles in the EFL Cup, an embarrassing 4-0 thumping by Manchester City in the FA Cup and a rather predictable loss to PSG in Champions League where the Reds failed to score a goal across two legs against the ultimate UCL winner. The club’s play in both league and cup competitions was criticized not just by Salah but by supporters and pundits as well as being too slow.

Slot, who never connected even in a small way with Liverpool supporters accustomed to Klopp’s more gregarious style, unhelpfully tried to deflect criticism to opponents’ use of a low block (unsportsmanlike ?) against the Reds and uncharitable officiating. In the end, Liverpool decided Slot was not the man to turn things around next season.

The challenge will be enormous as supporters will look for instant improvement from a club which lost 20 times this past season, allowing the most goals ever by a Liverpool team in the Premier League and scoring the fewest goals in more than a decade. An interesting summer needs to begin with a new face on the touchline. The betting seems to be on Andoni Iraola as Slot’s successor. Iraola left Bournemouth at season’s end after a successful three season run where he put the Cherries into Europe for the first time.

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Thursday, May 28, 2026

Crystal Palace Wins Conference League

Crystal Palace won its first European trophy in the club’s 120-year history on Wednesday. The Eagles defeated Rayo Vallecano 1-0 in Leipzig Germany to win silverware in Manager Oliver Glasner’s final match in charge of the Premier League Club. Midfielder Adam Wharton, reportedly coveted by bigger clubs, dominated play for the Eagles in a seemingly direct response to his recent omission from England’s World Cup squad.

A shot by Wharton was parried by the Raya Vallecano goalkeeper into the path of the Eagles’ JP Mateta who proceeded to score the most meaningful goal in Crystal Palace history with a fortuitous, awkward but effective deflection off his upper leg. Mateta was not always as happy as he was during the post-match celebrations. The Frenchman went public with his desire to leave the Eagles’ nest during a dire midseason period for Palace which saw an extended winless run, the loss of club captain and star center back Marc Guehi in the January transfer window and the announcement that Glasner would leave at the end of this season.

Glasner, the disaffected manager, now leaves a historic legacy behind him in south London. In the last 375 days, Glasner has delivered An FA Cup win (over Manchester City in the final), a Community Shield (over Liverpool) and Wednesday’s Conference League championship. The European title caps a tumultuous season in which Glasner fell out with management in January when Marc Guehi was just the latest Crystal Palace star to move onto greener pastures.

Financial conservatism remains in vogue at Crystal Palace which has previously found itself in administration before being rescued by current Chairman Steve Parish. Parish has come under criticism, not just from Glasner but supporters who bemoan the stream of talents such as Michael Olise, Eberechi Eze and Guehi who have moved on form the club in recent years. Parish, however, has kept the Eagles in the Premier League for what will be a 14th consecutive season, a club record, and now has reached heights with Glasner that many Premier League observers never thought the mid to lower table club would ever reach.

Some credit needs to go to both men for persevering through their personal differences through the back half of this season to ultimately lift the trophy in Leipzig on Wednesday. The joy of Crystal Palace’s first European silverware far outweighed the angst experienced during a tumultuous season that saw Crystal Palace experience a winless run of 12 matches over December and January and their prized manager announce in January that he was leaving after the season, nastily indicting Parish for the club’s transfer policies. It seemed untenable that the two could co-exist for the balance of the season but a credit to both men that they did that very thing.

Glasner, for his part, is probably best suited to a richer club with higher ambitions. The Austrian, who once qualified the now relegated Bundesliga side Wolfsburg to the Champions League, also fell out with Eintracht Frankfurt ownership over ambition and transfer spending after winning a Europa League title for that German club. Glasner reportedly had a chance to move onto Bayern Munich at one point during his London stay but was contractually blocked by Crystal Palace.

The Crystal Palace victory marks the third time in five seasons that the Premier League has won the Conference League title; fellow London side Chelsea having claimed the silverware last season. The Premier League has also won the Europa Cup the last two years. Arsenal now has the chance on Sunday to win the Champions League and deliver a European treble to Europe’s strongest top to bottom league.

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Tuesday, May 26, 2026

Premier League Final: It’s A Wrap As Arsenal Hoists Trophy; Hammers Depart; Five Champions League Places; Sunderland Crashes The Europe Party; Chelsea Misses Out; Farewells At The Etihad

The Premier League title was decided a week earlier but Arsenal finished the job in style on Sunday with a 2-1 season ending victory over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. The game was meaningless for a Crystal Palace club focused on its own potential trophy when the Eagles take on Rayo Vallecano for the Conference League title this Wednesday. Sunday was Arsenal’s time to celebrate and hoist the trophy which had proved so elusive after three consecutive second place finishes. The Gunners earned this title by being the more composed club down the stretch and getting the better of one-time tormentor Manchester City.

Like Crystal Palace, but on a grander stage, Arsenal will play one more time this season. The Gunners can double their trophy haul with a win against PSG in this coming weekend’s Champions League final.With both contestants focused on future matches, the game at Selhurst Sunday featured heavily rotated sides. Reflecting that approach, Arteta made 16-year-old Max Dowman the youngest starter in Premier League history.

The real on-pitch drama in Week 38 surrounded the fight for league survival between West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur. West Ham finally scored some goals in a 3-0 win over a Leeds side which was already on the beach after a fine promotion season.

Unfortunately, it was too little, too late as Tottenham Hotspur also won, defeating Everton 1-0 and sealing Premier League relegation for West Ham. Joao Paulinha was the hero at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as the loanee from Bayern Munich swept in the rebound of his own header which had hit the post in the 42nd minute.It was to be the only score of the game as Everton’s one shot on target was consistent with their season-long struggle to find the net. Only five clubs, including the three relegated sides, have scored fewer goals than the Toffees.

Tottenham Hotspur survives but the celebration is muted by an abysmal league performance for a second consecutive year just as its fiercest rival Arsenal wins the Premier League title. West Ham, meanwhile, could draw no satisfaction from its own final day victory as players remained on the pitch until the Spurs result went final and confirmed the Hammers’ fate.West Ham Manager Nuno Espirito Santo is expected to be gone, his contract evidencing the club’s early forecast of potential demotion. The agreement, signed last September, allowed Santo to walk or West Ham to sack him without compensation in the event of relegation.

Unlike Tottenham Hotspur ownership or players, Spurs Manager Roberto De Zerbi can take credit for his fireman like role in salvaging Spurs’ continued Premier League existence. The former Brighton and Marseilles manager rescued the sinking ship of interim manager Igor Tudor by winning twice and drawing twice in De Zerbi’s seven league matches in charge, earning just enough points for his club to eke out survival from the relegation rumble with West Ham.The Hammers go down after accumulating 39 points, just three points short of West Ham’s own dubious Premier League record for most points by a relegated team in a 38-match season.

Beyond relegation, the European picture was finalized on Sunday. Aston Villa came from behind to defeat Manchester City 2-1 at the Etihad in Pep Guardiola’s final match in charge.City was understandably distracted by the enormity of saying farewell to not just Guardiola but two other club legends in Bernardo Silva and John Stones. Guardiola even admitted to the farewell celebration taking priority over the match itself, with normal starters such as Erling Haaland taking a bench seat for the match.Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins took advantage by taking target practice in advance of his upcoming England World Cup role. Watkins’ brace enabled Villa to retain fourth place in the Premier League standings.

Good for Aston Villa, but bad for the Premier League and Bournemouth. If Villa had dropped to fifth in the table, a sixth Champions League spot would have gone to Bournemouth, which drew 1-1 with Nottingham Forest on Sunday.As it is, the Cherries are headed to the Europa League, sans their departing manager Andoni Iraola, to compete alongside another surprising Premier League club.

Sunderland, in its first season back in the Premier League after a meandering journey though the lower tiers of English football, will also be playing in the Europa League next season. The Black Cats defeated Chelsea 2-1 at the Stadium of Light to cap a remarkable promotion season which no one could possibly have expected. Expected to be a contender for a quick return to the second tier, the Black Cats made themselves comfortable in the top half of the table and finished the season in style, capping a four match unbeaten run with a Europe clinching home win over Chelsea. The Blues contributed to their own demise with an own goal and a red card.Chelsea will have additional time on the training pitch next season for new Manager Xabi Alonso to straighten out the mess at Stamford Bridge as Sunday’s result ensured that Chelsea will not have any European matches.Sunderland Manager Regis Le Bris deserves Manager of the Season consideration after leading the Black Cats to 54 points, 15 points above the drop line and sending the Cats to Europe for the first time in more than 50 years.

Brentford Manager Keith Andrews has also been mentioned for the Manager of the Season award, but the Bees agonizingly finished outside the European places on goal differential after a 1-1 draw at Liverpool. Mohamed Salah had an assist in his final match in a Liverpool shirt as he said goodbye to supporters along with long time teammate Andy Robertson.Liverpool joins Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and Aston Villa in qualifying for the Champions League.

Brighton, finishing the season level on points with Brentford, qualified for the Europa Conference League by virtue of a superior goal differential to the Bees despite the Seagulls finishing the season with back-to-back losses.

Brighton were 2-0 losers at home to Manchester United as the Red Devils’ Bruno Fernandes broke the Premier League record with his 21st assist of the season and then capped his historic day by scoring his club’s final goal of the season. The Manchester United victory capped an impressive season for the club as interim Manager Micheal Carrick earned a full-time gig which was also announced on the weekend.

Mediocre seasons for Fulham and Newcastle ended with a 2-0 Cottager victory over the Magpies at Craven Cottage.

Burnley and Wolves, the two worst teams in the Premier League whose relegation has long been certain, ended their mutually repugnant seasons in fitting fashion by drawing with each other 1-1 at Turf Moor as they said goodbye to the Premier League.


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Friday, May 22, 2026

Premier League Championship Sunday

While the Premier League champion is already determined, there is much to be decided on Championship Sunday. Battles for Europe and the battle for Premier League survival will play out simultaneously on Sunday.

Four clubs are already assured of Champions League football. There is one more Champions League berth assured with the prospect that a sixth spot could be available. The European iterations include a potential sixth Champions League spot because Aston Villa is the Europa League champion, which comes with a Champions League ticket, after defeating Freiburg 3-0 on Wednesday.

The trick is that, under the convoluted voodoo of the UEFA qualification system, Villa must finish fifth for the Premier League to receive a sixth Champions League bid. The fifth “coefficient” based “bonus” slot, based on table position, would then pass to the sixth-place team in the Premier League while Aston Villa uses its Europa League Champion card for admission to Europe’s top competition next season.

Aston Villa would need to lose at Manchester City in Pep Guardiola’s final game as manager of the Citizens, and Liverpool defeat Brentford at Anfield for the Premier League to secure a sixth Champions League place. If those dominoes were to fall, either Bournemouth or Brighton would win the spot based on the results of their games on Sunday.

Bournemouth is currently sixth in the league as it travels to Nottingham Forest. The Cherries are three points ahead of seventh place Brighton, though they have an inferior goal disadvantage which could play into a tiebreaker should the Seagulls win at home versus Manchester United while Bournemouth loses at the City Ground. At worst, Bournemouth has already secured a Europa League spot at minimum and will play in Europe for the first time in the club’s 127-year history.

If Bournemouth wins by a wide margin against the Red Devils on Sunday, the Cherries could even finish fifth with a Liverpool loss should they be able to overcome an imposing six goal deficit in goal differential versus that of Liverpool.

Brighton, meanwhile, faces an enormously high-stakes match against Manchester United as the Seagulls could conceivably qualify for any of the three European competitions or be restricted to domestic play next season. A sixth-place finish and a possible Champions League berth is clearly a remote possibility for Brighton. However, the Seagulls could also lose out on the Europa League and Conference League competitions with a loss at home Sunday as Chelsea, Brentford and even tenth place Sunderland are in position to overtake the currently seventh place Seagulls. Essentially, absent an unlikely Champions League qualification, Brighton is in a four-team scramble for two European spots, one in the Europa League and one in the Conference League.

Currently, Brighton is two points ahead of tenth place Sunderland which has a must-win match at the Stadium of Light with Chelsea on Sunday. Chelsea currently occupies the eighth-place position which would receive a Conference League invitation. Brentford is level on points with Chelsea but has a four-goal deficit versus Chelsea in the goal differential tiebreaker entering the final day when the Bees visit Liverpool.

Crystal Palace may qualify for Europe for a second consecutive season, but it will have nothing to do with its currently poor Premier League table position and certainly nothing to do with Sunday’s game versus champion Arsenal. The Eagles will lock down a Europa League place should the Eagles win their Conference League title match next Wednesday versus Rayo Vallecano. A Crystal Palace victory would earn a Europa League place for next season and make the Eagles a ninth Premier League club to qualify for Europe.

Two other English clubs, meanwhile, are competing not for Europe but for their very Premier League survival. Tottenham Hotspur is clinging to a two-point advantage over West Ham in the tight race for Premier League survival near the bottom of the table. Both clubs have been awful this season and West Ham particularly has wilted under the pressure in recent weeks, failing to score a goal in three consecutive losses. The Hammers get one last chance when they host Leeds at London Stadium but will need Spurs to stumble versus Everton. A draw should be enough for Spurs to clinch survival even should West Ham win, based on a massive goal differential advantage.

Even further down the table is the most meaningless game of the final weekend as Burnley and Wolves will square off in what will mercifully be the final Premier League match for a while for the two already relegated sides. In a game of better clubs but still inconsequential consequences, Fulham will close out the season at Craven Cottage versus Newcastle. 

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Wednesday, May 20, 2026

Premier League Match Week 37 – Part 2 Arsenal Claims Premier League Title; Pep Says Farewell; Chelsea Downs Spurs To Extend Relegation Race To Final Weekend

Arsenal is the Premier League Champion! On Monday, the Gunners triumphed over Burnley 1-0 with a trademark goal from a Bukayo Saka corner kick which Kai Havertz deposited for the winner. On Tuesday, the Gunners clinched their first Premier League title in 22 years when Manchester City mathematically eliminated themselves from the race with a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth.

A stoppage time goal by Erling Haaland damaged Bournemouth’s European hopes but was not enough to keep hope alive for another week in Manchester. The title deciding match came just hours after news broke that Manager Pep Gardiola will be leaving Manchester City after ten years and 20 trophies won with the club, a run which saw the Spaniard win six Premier League titles, a Champions League, three FA Cups, five League (Carabao) Cups, three Community Shields, a UEFA Super Cup and a FIFA Club World Cup. Guardiola is widely expected to be replaced by Enzo Maresca who left Chelsea after falling out with the club’s ownership in January Guardiola was said to be furious with the leak of his pending departure before he even had a chance to speak with his players.

The announcement also crowds a news cycle which should be about the success of Arsenal and Manager Mikel Arteta who has delivered a Premier League title to north London for the first time since the departure of Arsenal’s own legendary manager, Arsene Wenger. The Gunners are also pursuing a double with a Champions League final looming later this month. A celebratory final league weekend, where the football itself will now be no more than a finality, provides opportunity to rest players for that next challenge.

Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola is coincidentally a childhood friend of Arteta’s and conveyed a parting gift to his friend with the result versus Manchester City. Iraola is leaving Bournemouth after the season in a curious decision made weeks ago. The Cherries are having their best season ever and, despite the late dropped points in Tuesday’s match, are still mathematically alive for a Champions League spot. Bournemouth will enter the final weekend three points behind Liverpool though at a significant goal differential disadvantage.

The man who will lead Bournemouth into Europe for the first time, likely in the Europa or Conference League, will be Marco Rose, a former Bundesliga manager from the Jurgen Klopp school of “heavy metal” play. Iraola’s next stop is unknown, the highly regarded Portuguese having recently been passed over for the Chelsea job in favor of Xabi Alonso.

Chelsea has little positive to take away from its current season but the infliction of pain on hated rival Tottenham Hotspur provided Chelsea supporters with at least something to smile about on Tuesday. Chelsea defeated Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 at Stamford Bridge to leave Spurs just two points clear of West Ham in the relegation battle entering the league ‘s final weekend. Enzo Fernandes and Andrey Santos gave Chelsea a two-goal advantage before some nervous moments ensued for home supporters when Richarlison drew Spurs to within a goal at the 73-minute mark.

A miracle comeback by Spurs to cement their Premier League survival, however, was not in the cards. Tottenham Hotspur will be home to Everton on Sunday while West Ham hosts Leeds. While there will be only one winner and one loser at the bottom of the table this coming weekend, seven clubs including 10th place Sunderland will be jockeying for the remaining places in the European competitions on Championship Sunday.

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Monday, May 18, 2026

Premier League Match Week 37 – Part 1 Hammers Just About Nail Their Relegation

West Ham took another major step toward the second tier by laying an egg at Newcastle in a 3-1 loss. The Hammers were both sloppy and uninspired, looking every bit the sort of team that should not be in the Premier League. With their season on the line, Nuno Espirito Santo’s men conceded the first two goals in a four-minute span of the first half which might well have ended their survival hopes.

Goalkeeper Mads Hermansen gave away the first goal of the match, lazily knocking a ball while trying to play the ball out of the back. Newcastle’s Harvey Barnes seemed to be the only player to pay attention and pounced on the ball. The former Leicester man, starting in place of the out of favor Anthony Gordon, quickly fed the ball to teammate Nick Woltemade who swept it past the flustered Hermansen to give the Magpies an early lead.

After William Osula scored on an impressive individual effort four minutes later, the young Newcastle striker later added his second goal of the match when the Hammers erred yet again, this time losing possession on their own throw in. Woltemade, normally a striker who had not scored since December for the Magpies, played a Number 10 role for Manager Eddie Howe on Sunday and connected well with installed striker Osula, pumping some new life into a Newcastle attack which has been less than prolific this season.

West Ham, meanwhile, will have well earned a demotion after failing to score for a third straight Premier League loss, disgraceful results for a club which should be battling to maintain its Premier League status. The shine has long left Nuno Espirito Santo who had seemed to bring hope after his September appointment. Much must fall on the players, however, if the team goes down. Mistakes at the back have been accompanied by futility up front. Jarrod Bowen, captain and supposed star of the club, has been goalless for West Ham’s last 13 Premier League matches.

Having squandered the opportunity to help save itself at Newcastle, West Ham remains two points south of Tottenham Hotspur in the table. Spurs has two matches to play and an insurmountable goal differential advantage over the Hammers. A point from either of Tottenham Hotspur’s last two matches against Chelsea and Everton, respectively, will doom the Hammers. Given Spurs are a hot mess themselves, there is of course a glimmer of hope should West Ham itself be able to win its last match against an in-form Leeds which is undefeated in eight matches.

Leeds delivered a gut punch to Brighton’s European creds in a 1-0 win over the Seagulls at Elland Road. Dominic Calvert Lewin had the winner in a 1-0 Leeds victory which leaves the Seagulls in seventh position. Brighton’s current placement would be good for a Europa League berth if the season ended with Sunday. There is, however, more to come and the Seagulls are vulnerable.

Eighth place Brentford is just a point behind the Seagulls, but more threatening is the prospect of ninth and tenth place Chelsea and Sunderland respectively, two clubs which could knock Brighton, Brentford, or both out of the European places. A Chelsea win on Tuesday would bring the Blues level on points with Brentford with Chelsea holding a goal differential advantage over the Bees. Brentford struggled against Crystal Palace at GTech Community Stadium on Sunday in a 2-2 draw. Crystal Palace twice took the lead and, while the Bees responded twice to equalize, it was an underwhelming performance considering there was much on the line for the homestanding Bees with little in it for the Eagles.

Sunderland already knows it will be just two points behind the Seagulls, one below the Bees, entering the final weekend after the Black Cats thrashed Everton 3-1 at the Toffees’ Hill Dickinson Stadium. The home defeat essentially ended Everton’s European hopes. Twelfth place Everton needs to climb over four clubs in the unlikeliest of circumstances on the Premier League’s final day. Sunderland, meanwhile, will face Chelsea on the final weekend for what could be European spot should Brighton and Brentford falter.

Champions League qualification could be decided on Tuesday. Aston Villa clinched its place with a 4-2 defeat of Liverpool on Friday. Ollie Watkins had a brace for Villa while center back Virgil van Dijks scored twice in a losing effort for the visitors. Van Dijk’s attacking threat is outpacing his defensive performance at the center of a leaky Liverpool defense which has conceded the most ever goals by the club in a 38 match Premier League season. The defensive area was much overlooked in last summer’s futile transfer endeavors to refresh an attack which has also not delivered this season.

Mohamed Salah, the Liverpool legend leaving after next weekend’s finale, delivered a scathing indictment of Liverpool’s management on social media after the club’s Friday defeat, its 12th of the season. Despite its poor season, Liverpool still holds a four-point advantage over Bournemouth with the Cherries playing their game in hand against Manchester City on Tuesday. Liverpool’s goal differential advantage dictates that the Cherries must win at Manchester City, an unlikely event, to have a chance of overtaking the Reds on the final Sunday.

Manchester United, meanwhile, has already locked down third place in the league and Champions League football for next season. Much of the club’s success, in addition to the guidance of interim Manager Michael Crrick, can be attributed to the record season of midfielder Bruno Fernandes. The Portuguese internation tied the Premier League season record of 20 assists in the Red Devils’ 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest. Casemiro also delivered the best season of his Manchester United career in his final season with the club.

Long time club servant Luke Shaw scored against the Trees Sunday in what was his 37th league appearance this season. The veteran left back, who has battled injuries in the past, is the only player to have been active for all of Manchester United’s Premier League games entering the final weekend. As for Carrick himself, there is no official announcement on his status for next year though reports are running rampant that a deal has been reached between the parties.

Rob Edwards, whose status should be in question to accompany relegated Wolves to the second-tier next season, still seems to have ownership support which will not be hurt by a 1-1 draw with higher up the table Fulham over the weekend. Wolves supporters do not necessarily share ownership’s positive opinion on Edwards, who controversially left Middlesbrough in-season to jump on Wolves’ sinking ship.

Meanwhile, unanimous support should be at least temporarily accorded Xabi Alonso’s appointment as Chelsea manager. The former Liverpool player won the Bundesliga two years ago with Bayer Leverkusen before a troubled stint with Real Madrid whose problems run deeper than a managerial issue. In a nod to the influence Alonso will have within the Chelsea organization, he was named “manager” which is a departure from BlueCo ownership’s previous characterization of the role as “coach.”

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