Football writer Alex Keble highlights the hot topics and tactical lessons from Matchweek 20, including:
- Moving Savinho to left wing has revitalised Man City
- Maresca’s un-inverted full-backs cause issues
- Wissa and Mbeumo exploit Juric’s difficult start
- Fulham & Ipswich enduring frustrating seasons
- Injury-hit Spurs need better luck to save their season
- Mainoo & Ugarte get Amorim era up and running
- Odegaard & Saka absences denting Arsenal's title hopes
- Maatsen & Barkley offering Villa hope
- Bournemouth’s subs are helping Iraola set club records
- Forest's defence lays foundation as incredible form continues
Moving Savinho to left wing has revitalised Man City
There are a couple of important caveats to Manchester City’s return to form. First, West Ham United and Leicester City are hardly formidable opponents on current form, and second, both sides created good chances when the score was 0-0.
In fact, Man City conceded an Expected Goals (xG) of 1.4 on Saturday, which is exactly in line with their season average, but would rank as the 10th highest in their 2023/24 campaign. Leicester’s xG was 1.3 back in Matchweek 19.
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However, you can only beat what’s in front of you and Man City need a few results to rebuild confidence before defensive solidity can return.
That is well on the way to happening now, thanks predominantly to what, by Pep Guardiola standards, is a very simple tactical change: move Savinho over to the left wing.
The Brazilian was superb, forcing the early own goal before assisting the second and third with brilliant pieces of play off the left.
Savinho's performance maps v West Ham
After scoring and assisting against Leicester, Savinho now has four goal involvements in two matches from the left wing, having managed just two from his previous 10 Premier League starts, all from the right.
His switch to the left has significantly helped Erling Haaland, too. Four of Savinho’s five Premier League assists have been for Haaland, the joint-most from one player to another in the competition this season.
Savinho's first assist for Haaland v West Ham
Silky, Savio 🇧🇷💫 pic.twitter.com/45CQCKDjTl
— Manchester City (@ManCity) January 5, 2025
Maresca’s un-inverted full-backs cause an issue in transition
Chelsea’s mini-slump is looking more and more like a regression to the mean for the simple reason that performances have become eerily reminiscent of Mauricio Pochettino’s 2023/24: tactically expert between the boxes, but wasteful at one end and leaky at the other.
They had 15 shots at Crystal Palace but only one was on target, with Nicolas Jackson missing chances as he did last season, while Oliver Glasner’s side scored from the sort of quick transition that often undermined the Pochettino era.
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But not even Pochettino oversaw four consecutive Premier League matches without a win, which last occurred at Chelsea in May 2023 under Frank Lampard.
Perhaps in an attempt to stop that winless run, Enzo Maresca instructed neither full-back to invert at Selhurst Park. It proved to be Chelsea’s downfall.
With one fewer body in central midfield, there were gaps in the Chelsea shape when they lost possession.
Palace capitalised on this several times before finally scoring the equaliser by moving through the space that would normally be blocked off by Marc Cucurella.
Palace's equaliser v Chelsea
Booooom 🇫🇷🫡
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) January 4, 2025
Eze x Mateta.#CPFC // #CRYCHE pic.twitter.com/CmiO0A2hvS
With fast-transitioning AFC Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge in Chelsea’s next Premier League match, Maresca is likely to switch back to inverting Cucurella or Malo Gusto.
Wissa and Mbeumo exploit Juric’s difficult start
There has been no honeymoon period, no new-manager bounce, for Ivan Juric.
The football has changed – Southampton are more direct, press harder and don’t pass out from the back as riskily – but the end result, for now, has been the same, and a big defeat at home to Brentford has put Saints in a very difficult position.
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Juric did not mince his words after the match.
“An extremely bad day, a really bad game,” Juric said. “There was such a difference between the two teams and I’m disappointed with everything; the team, myself, everybody.”
Southampton have the joint-worst points tally after 20 Premier League matches in history, their six points the same as Sunderland managed at this stage in 2005/06.
Brentford hadn’t won a single away league match this season before Saturday, but with Southampton’s confidence so low and defence so vulnerable, perhaps we should have anticipated Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo running riot.
Another two goals for Mbeumo and one for Wissa took their season totals to 13 and 10 respectively.
Only Mohamed Salah and Haaland, with 18 and 16 respectively, have scored more Premier League goals than Mbeumo this season, while Wissa has been directly involved in 18 goals in his last 22 league matches – and became the club’s joint-record Premier League goalscorer on Saturday, with 36.
See: Premier League 2024/25 top scorers
Mbeumo, unsurprisingly, is right behind him on 35.
Brentford's top Premier League goalscorers
Fulham & Ipswich fans both enduring frustrating seasons
It was a strange 90 minutes at Craven Cottage defined by three of the four goals being scored by spot-kicks, with two separated by a mere two minutes and 44 seconds, the shortest such gap between two penalties in a single half of a Premier League match.
Both managers will be frustrated by the penalty concessions and both will be frustrated by dropping two points. It’s the story of their respective seasons.
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Fulham have now drawn six of their last eight matches, going infuriatingly close to a run of form that could put them in European contention, but falling just short.
In keeping with the irritation, Fulham have dropped more points from winning positions than any other team this season, with 19.
Third on that list are Ipswich Town, with 17 points, and Kieran McKenna will be deeply frustrated by how often they have drawn matches with late concessions.
And how about this for annoying: Ipswich fans have watched their team concede five penalties, the joint-most in the division. Their opponents have converted every single one.
Injury-hit Spurs need better luck to save their season
Ange Postecoglou said he was “really, really angry”, and the “angriest I think I have ever been in my career” after his side fell to a 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United, because he felt refereeing decisions went against his team.
You can forgive Postecoglou for being emotional considering the rotten luck Spurs have had with injuries and illness. A bug that swept through the camp last week left them with just 11 players fit to train on Thursday, according to the head coach.
Radu Dragusin and Archie Gray is not a centre-back partnership Spurs would ideally like to play, yet even these two were staggering through the weekend after being “bed-ridden all week”, in Postecoglou’s words.
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Those are strong extenuating circumstances for Spurs now going six league matches without a home win (D2 L4) for the first time since October 2008, and for them going closer to the bottom three (eight points) than the top seven (nine points).
They will need much better luck with injuries to recover their season from here, because Newcastle’s victory opened up an 11-point gap between the two clubs.
Curiously, Spurs have scored and conceded almost exactly the same number of goals as they had at the same stage last season, yet they are a massive 15 points worse off.
Spurs after 20 Premier League matches
| Statistic | 2023/24 | 2024/25 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goals scored | 42 | 42 | 0 |
| Goals conceded | 29 | 30 | +1 |
| Points | 39 | 24 | -15 |
They will have to finish above the Magpies – at the very least - to qualify for the UEFA Champions League.
Mainoo & Ugarte get Amorim era up and running
By far the best performance under Ruben Amorim almost ended in a victory for Manchester United, who looked considerably improved in all areas, both tactically and mentally against Liverpool.
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Man Utd’s directness and their targeting of Trent Alexander-Arnold led to both goals at Anfield, but more important than the tactical details was the way Kobbie Mainoo and Manuel Ugarte dominated central midfield.
They made four tackles each, the joint-most of any player on the pitch, and were constantly nipping at the heels of Liverpool's midfielders.
It was a huge improvement on Casemiro and Christian Eriksen against Newcastle from the previous match, with Mainoo and Ugarte possessing the speed and fitness to cover the gaps that can emerge in a flat two-man central midfield.
There is no doubt that Mainoo and Ugarte should be the anchors moving forward and no exaggeration to suggest Amorim, for the rest of 2024/25 at least, should build the team around these two.
While there is limited time in the classroom or the gym, the United head coach needs to prioritise playing his most energetic and intelligent footballers, and right now Mainoo and Ugarte seem to understand the Amorim vision better than anyone else at the club.
Odegaard & Saka absence puts title challenge almost out of reach
The focus after this match has been on the penalty decision that went against Arsenal, but Gary Neville was among those who argued that to catch Liverpool, a title contender needs to recover from controversial moments and win regardless.
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“I was disappointed a little bit by Arsenal, in the sense that at the end of the game, [there was] this feeling that what cost them was the penalty decision,” he said on The Gary Neville Podcast.
“No, what cost you was you’ve not gone grabbing the name by the scruff of the neck and seen it out.”
But it was always going to be a challenge for Arsenal without Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard, who was only fit to come off the bench.
Ethan Nwaneri opened the scoring, but it would be unfair to expect a 17-year-old to carry the creative burden, and his team-mates could not add to the youngster’s early strike.
Incidentally, he became just the sixth player to score more than one Premier League goal before turning 18 years old, after Wayne Rooney (seven goals), Michael Owen (five), Danny Cadamarteri (three), James Milner (three) and Federico Macheda (two).
The future is bright for Arsenal, then, although perhaps not in the short term. A record of 40 points from 20 matches – two per match – is nowhere near the average required to challenge for the title.
Maatsen & Barkley offer Villa hope of refreshing their attack
This one was not a classic, but Aston Villa did enough to scrape over the line and ensure 2025 began with a bang after a perhaps surprisingly poor end to 2024.
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Villa won 15 of their 37 Premier League matches in the calendar year, well under half, and will need to improve on that average if they are to again qualify for the Champions League.
But their chances have increased as more and more attacking players start find form.
Leon Bailey, sharp against Brighton & Hove Albion too, ended a run of 19 Premier League matches without a goal, while Ross Barkley scored from outside the box and the forgotten man Ian Maatsen expertly set up Bailey’s winner.
“We are feeling the confidence again,” Unai Emery told Match of the Day.
That much is clearly true, although with John McGinn now joining Pau Torres on the sidelines, Villa need their fringe players to continue stepping up over the coming weeks.
Bournemouth’s super subs are helping Iraola set club records
A hard-fought win at Vitality Stadium extended Bournemouth’s unbeaten run to eight in the Premier League, their longest ever in the top flight, and moved the Cherries to within just three points of Chelsea in fourth.
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Victory, once again, was secured by a super sub: David Brooks came off the bench to score for the second time this season, taking Bournemouth’s tally of substitute goals to 10 in 2024/25, more than any other side.
Meanwhile, Everton cannot buy a goal.
For the second time this season, Everton failed to register a single shot on target. They have now failed to score in a league-high 11 Premier League matches this campaign.
Forest's defence lays foundation as incredible form continues
Taiwo Awoniyi's smart finish in the fourth minute of stoppage time within six minutes of coming off the bench put the seal on another impressive win for Nottingham Forest.
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Monday night's 3-0 victory at Wolverhampton Wanderers - Forest's sixth win in succession - underlined the progress made since Nuno Espirito Santo took charge in December 2023.
After finishing 17th last season, Nuno has transformed the side from back to front.
A team who conceded 67 goals in 2023/24, the fifth-worst record in the league, now boast the joint second-best defensive record, letting in only 19 goals. They also have the most clean sheets this season, with nine.
Their shutout at Molineux prevented Wolves from scoring at home for the first time in 12 Premier League games.
Leading the way in @PremierLeague clean sheets. 🧤 pic.twitter.com/MLi1W001NS
— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) January 7, 2025
Forest are next in league action on Tuesday 14 January when they host Liverpool, looking for a win that could take them just three points behind the leaders.
Nuno's side have already inflicted the Reds' only Premier League defeat of the season with a 1-0 win at Anfield in September, and are currently the competition's in-form team, taking all 18 points available from their last six matches and keeping clean sheets in each of their last four.
The dream of UEFA Champions League football at the City Ground next season is very much alive.
