Football writer Alex Keble highlights the hot topics and tactical lessons from Matchweek 27 including:
- Liverpool look imperious after sweeping past Newcastle
- Arsenal know where to improve
- Brighton could be the surprise Champions League qualifiers
- Palmer’s form a big worry for Maresca
- Emery tactics backfire at Selhurst Park
- Man City might have Arsenal in their sights now
- Man Utd’s task simplified by a low block
- Brentford’s European hopes are almost over
- Tough fixtures make Europe unlikely for Fulham
Liverpool look imperious after sweeping past Newcastle
Never before in Premier League history has a side been 13 points clear at the top in February and failed to win the title.
This was surely the night that Liverpool supporters began to realise that - after being locked in their homes for the 2019/20 triumph - they will soon get to watch their team lift the trophy for the first time since 1990.
TV Info - Broadcasters
If and when that happens there will be no doubt it was richly deserved, and the manner of their 2-0 victory over Newcastle United on Wednesday night summed up the season: Liverpool were calm but aggressive, fast but composed, sweeping in attack but solid in defence.
Liverpool have scored two or more goals in 18 consecutive matches at Anfield in all competitions, which is the longest run of home fixtures with more than one goal scored in succession by an English top-flight club since Sunderland in 1935 (19).
At the other end, they have kept more clean sheets in the Premier League this season than any other side (12).
No wonder they are unbeaten in 24 matches, now the third-longest run in their top-flight history.
Reflecting upon the way Arne Slot’s team has played throughout the campaign, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the gap to second grows even wider over the coming months.
Arsenal know where to improve
If Liverpool’s victory over Newcastle was representative of their whole season then Arsenal’s draw at Nottingham Forest was their 2025 in microcosm.
Arsenal had one shot on target at the City Ground and amassed an Expected Goals (xG) of just 0.99. They have now failed to score in back-to-back Premier League matches for the first time since May 2023.
TV Info - Broadcasters
Injuries to Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus have understandably hurt them significantly, and indeed the way they laboured to a draw at Forest was symptomatic of their problems.
But we shouldn’t focus solely on the injuries. After Saka’s last match in late December, Arsenal were already seven points off the top having played one fixture more.
When Havertz sustained his injury earlier this month the gap was six points, again with Liverpool yet to play their game in hand.
Having to field Mikel Merino up front hasn’t helped, of course, but the issue goes deeper than that.
Arsenal are currently closer to Aston Villa in 10th than they are to Liverpool at the top.
Bar a miracle, the Gunners will rue their decision not to sign a striker last summer.
Brighton could be the surprise Champions League qualifiers
The way the narratives of their respective seasons have gone, it might be a shock to discover that Brighton & Hove Albion - floating along in midtable under Fabian Hurzeler - and AFC Bournemouth, media darlings under Andoni Iraola, are now level on points.
Brighton’s three consecutive Premier League victories and Bournemouth’s back-to-back defeats have triggered a remarkable switch around in the race for European places, and looking at the fixtures there is no reason why Brighton can’t sneak into the top five.
TV Info - Broadcasters
Six of their 11 remaining matches are at the Amex Stadium, and only one of their last five away fixtures is against a team currently in the top 10 (Man City).
Hurzeler really could get Brighton into the UEFA Champions League, thanks in no small part to the club’s huge summer expenditure finally bearing fruit.
Injuries and difficulties adjusting to the Premier League had made Brighton’s £230 million splurge look like a huge mistake – until now.
Georginio Rutter has eight goals or assists in his last nine matches in all competitions, Yankuba Minteh has five in his last seven, and Mats Wieffer is just returning from injury in time to boost Brighton’s run-in.
Out of nowhere, Brighton are the surprise package to keep an eye on.
Palmer’s form a big worry for Maresca
"Don’t worry, I will be back." Cole Palmer’s message on Instagram after Chelsea’s 4-0 victory over Southampton was a sign he is staying cool. But it was also an admission that things just aren’t going right at the moment.
Even a home match against the Premier League’s bottom club could not lift him out of a difficult period.
TV Info - Broadcasters
Palmer has now gone six Premier League matches without a goal or assist, and while he wasn’t getting into the right positions in matches gone by, he fluffed a few big moments on Tuesday evening.
Palmer had an xG of 1.3 against Southampton but could not score. Over the last six matches, he has accrued 2.43 expected goals and 1.23 expected assists, with nothing to show for it.
Palmer isn’t worried, but Enzo Maresca might be. Saints are usually reliable opponents for a forward in a slump, hence Christopher Nkunku’s two goals and two assists – 50 per cent of his season total – coming against them.
Still, there’s always next time. Chelsea have a weekend off and a welcome break before hosting Leicester City on 9 March. Palmer will expect to end the dry spell then.
Emery tactics backfire at Selhurst Park
Moving in the opposite direction are Aston Villa, now down in 10th place after a disastrous performance at Selhurst Park that could easily have ended in a more damaging scoreline.
Unai Emery simply got his tactical plan wrong on Tuesday evening. He switched to a 3-4-3 formation, presumably in the hope that mirroring Oliver Glasner’s system would negate its advantages in counter-attacking scenarios.
TV Info - Broadcasters
Instead, it left Villa looking confused when they attempted to pass out from the back while limiting the number of bodies they had in the final third.
Crystal Palace’s xG of 4.31 showed their tactical dominance of this match.
But on top of the initial mistake, Emery was seemingly too slow to change things. He perhaps could have switched back to the tried-and-tested 4-2-3-1 at half-time, but the new formation remained throughout the 90 minutes.
He should have instructed his players to stop playing out from the back, too.
Villa walked into Palace’s pressing trap again and again, eventually leading directly to Palace’s all-important second goal.
Rarely did Villa go long to counteract the Palace press, even though on the one occasion they did so, they managed to score the equaliser.
Instead, Emery stuck to his guns and watched on as Villa fell to 10th – and all-but out of the race for Champions League football.
Man City might have Arsenal in their sights now
For the first half in particular, Manchester City showed an energy, togetherness, and intent that has been missing from so many recent performances. They really ought to have put the game to bed before the break.
TV Info - Broadcasters
Pep Guardiola will take heart from that, and from another strong showing from Nico in central midfield. His composure in possession is helping to compress the space and give City the control they’ve been missing since Rodri’s injury.
Nico could even inspire Man City to a runners-up spot.
Victory at Tottenham Hotspur lifted City to within just a point of Forest, who look increasingly likely to finish below Guardiola’s side this season, but also just seven points short of Arsenal.
Here is something to aim for. If Arsenal feel the title is beyond them, their heads may drop, allowing Man City to quietly build momentum and recover some self-esteem by catching their old rivals.
Man Utd’s task simplified by a low block
For a while it looked like yet another home defeat was incoming.
"When everybody watched that ball, they thought 'here we go again'," Ruben Amorim said of the mistake that gave Ipswich Town an early lead.
TV Info - Broadcasters
Patrick Dorgu’s red card just before half-time must have conjured the same deflated feeling.
Manchester United did well to revive themselves and grind out the three points, although Amorim’s post-match comments suggest his mood didn’t much improve despite the goals.
"I think that is clear, which is hard for me," Amorim said, agreeing that his team looked better when defending with 10 men in a low block.
"So sometimes it's like you are fighting... when we are together, if we have players like Harry Maguire and Matthijs De Ligt defending the box, they are really strong, but when they have to cover a lot of space the game changes for them.
"I know that but I have to not just think about the now. Of course we have to survive, but it's really hard for me to play like we played in the second half. I feel like the players are more comfortable defending in a low block."
His team are more comfortable in a low block, more comfortable fighting as under-dogs, and more comfortable defending the box than the large spaces when sat higher: that’s a pretty damning assessment of United’s victory, considering where Amorim wants to take this team.
In it were echoes of Erik ten Hag’s decision – in both seasons in charge – to drop Man Utd’s defensive line and play a more reactive game than he would have liked.
We know Amorim is not for turning. He was not impressed, then, by a win built on just 28 per cent possession and two shots on goal following the Dorgu red card.
Brentford’s European hopes are almost over
Everton extended their unbeaten run to seven matches under David Moyes in the Premier League, courtesy of a late Jake O’Brien equaliser that does little to change the complexion of their season, but could have just ended Brentford’s.
TV Info - Broadcasters
Getting into Europe was always a tall order for Thomas Frank’s side. Failure to beat Everton on Wednesday left them 11th and four points behind Aston Villa in 10th.
It’s a fairly small gap but it feels like a significant one: Brentford are the team that bridge the sides chasing Europe and those floating around in mid-table.
When they look back on what might have been, Frank and his team will point to this surprising home run: six and counting without a win at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Had Brentford kept up their strong start on home turf they could have done something very special this year.
Tough fixtures make Europe unlikely for Fulham
Fulham are in a much stronger position than Brentford and yet they, too, are outsiders for a top-eight finish.
Rodrigo Muniz’s winner at Wolverhampton Wanderers lifted Fulham above Villa and into the top half, but it looks as though they are at the peak of a wave – and could crash back down before the campaign is over.
TV Info - Broadcasters
Marco Silva’s side are only four points behind Chelsea in fifth, suggesting a late push for Champions League football is open to them.
But with so many teams battling it out and Fulham being cursed with the toughest fixture list of them all – seven of their remaining 11 matches are against clubs currently in the top 10 – the target remains a top-half finish for the second year in a row.
