Football writer Alex Keble highlights the hot topics and tactical lessons from Matchweek 30, including:
- Man Utd miss exactly what Elanga gives Forest
- Gabriel and Timber injuries take sheen off Saka return
- Wolves' vital win ahead of Ipswich six-pointer
- Liverpool’s professionalism answers their critics
- Ipswich keep safety hopes alive
- Villa’s clean sheets and counter-attacking goals bode well for busy spring
- Franca’s comeback goal a devastating blow for Southampton
- No EFL Cup hangover for Newcastle
- Seventh straight loss without a goal for Leicester
- Palmer back in the groove for Chelsea
Man Utd miss exactly what Elanga gives Forest
There is no doubt Manchester United are tentatively making progress under Ruben Amorim, whose tactical demands are slowly being absorbed by a team that no longer appears porous through midfield or quite as haphazard in the press.
But there remains one enormous issue he won’t be able to solve until the summer window, an issue that was painfully exposed by the performance of a Man Utd academy product on Tuesday against Nottingham Forest.
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United just couldn’t get the ball in the net. They amassed 24 shots but failed to score, their most without doing so in a Premier League match since September 2021 and their joint-most on record (since 2003/04) in an away match in the competition.
Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund, who between them have scored 68 career league goals in 273 matches (that’s one in four), didn’t look confident and were rarely in the right place to take a shot.
In fact, the United pair were so disappointing Amorim threw Harry Maguire up front for the final five minutes.
Meanwhile, in the second half especially, Amorim’s side were remarkably one-sided in shuffling everything through Alejandro Garnacho, making it easier for Nottingham Forest to predict the attacking lines and defend their box.
Man Utd attacking areas second half v Nottingham Forest
*Arrows show direction of attack
What Man Utd missed was urgency and directness; a forward able to drive past a player and be willing to take a shot; a lethal touch; and a right flank.
In other words, what they missed was Anthony Elanga, whom they allowed to leave in July 2023.
Elanga’s winner encapsulated United’s ongoing concerns in the transfer market. Yet it is only by again buying and selling this summer that Man Utd can find a way to score more goals.
They have netted just 37 in the Premier League, the sixth-fewest (along with Crystal Palace) in the division, and at the current rate are on track to set a new club-record low in the competition with 47.
Gabriel and Timber injuries take sheen off Saka return
The whack-a-mole that is Arsenal’s season continued at Emirates Stadium on yet another day of good news and bad news.
Bukayo Saka’s goal within six minutes of his first Arsenal appearance since 21 December should have been a moment of joy, relief, and optimism for supporters looking forward to next week’s UEFA Champions League quarter-final with Real Madrid on Tuesday.
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But it was undercut by injuries to Gabriel Maghalaes and Jurrien Timber that bookended Saka’s match-winning moment.
“If there are two players in this team who never want to come off, it’s those two probably,” Mikel Arteta said after the match.
“[Gabriel] felt something in his hamstring, we don’t know how big that is.
“And with Jurrien as well. He already was struggling very early in the game. He managed to continue and at some point he couldn’t. That’s the downside. Jurrien was a knee.”
They’re both big losses, especially with Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo, and Jude Bellingham visiting six days from now, but there’s no doubt which one is more significant.
Arsenal’s Premier League record with and without Gabriel is stark.
How Arsenal fare with/without Gabriel since 2020/21
| With Gabriel | Without Gabriel | |
| 160 | Matches | 22 |
|---|---|---|
| 102 | Wins | 9 |
| 25 | Draws | 6 |
| 33 | Losses | 7 |
| 1 | Average goals against | 1.2 |
| 2 | Average goals for | 1.6 |
| 63.7% | Win percentage | 40.9% |
| 2.1 | Points per match | 1.5 |
That doesn’t bode well for the run-in, yet the problems don’t end there.
“[Riccardo] Calafiori, Ben White, Jurrien and Gabriel Magalhaes – you can imagine [how I feel] with those four players in the defensive line in one week.”
Wolves' vital win ahead of Ipswich six-pointer
It was a nervous final few minutes followed by an ecstatic explosion of celebration in the stands, on the pitch, and in the dugout.
The feeling inside Molineux – as Vitor Pereira demanded noise from the fans to see the game out, as players collapsed with emotion at the final whistle – was that Wolves were safe.
It certainly sounded like Pereira believed the job was effectively done.
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“This is a fantastic feeling,” he said after the game. “I am a very simple guy, I like to be with them [the fans], I like to feel part of the family. Feeling the happiness of the supporters is, for me, the most important thing.
“Football is not all about tactics, it is about connection and team spirit. At this moment, when I look at my team, I see a team that celebrates together and suffers together.”
But 24 hours later, the mood had changed.
The gap is back down to nine points after Ipswich Town's 2-1 victory at AFC Bournemouth on Wednesday, and with the two sides going head-to-head this weekend, it could be as little as six points by Saturday evening.
If that happens, then Wolves supporters will look back on the 1-0 win against West Ham United with a feeling of huge and unexpected relief.
Had they not taken three points on Tuesday, the build-up to this weekend would have been very nervous.
Liverpool’s professionalism answers their critics
A full 25 days had passed since Liverpool last played a Premier League match and in the intervening weeks strange and unwarranted murmurings had started growing in the background.
The idea that Liverpool aren’t particularly good champions is flatly wrong, as Arne Slot’s team proved on Tuesday night with a professional performance and deserved victory over Everton.
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Slot’s first Merseyside derby win was an emphatic response to any critics who think this year has been too easy, or that somehow going out of the Champions League and losing the EFL Cup final makes a first league title in five years a little underwhelming. It does not.
At their current rate, Liverpool are on track to win 97 points, which would be the joint-fourth highest total in Premier League history, behind only four of the Liverpool and Manchester City totals in the peak Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp years.
Liverpool might lift the Premier League trophy before the end of the month, and when they do, they ought to be celebrated as one of the greatest teams in the competition’s history.
Ipswich keep safety hopes alive
A first win of 2025 saw the end of a 10-match winless run in the Premier League for Ipswich, but after Wolverhampton Wanderers win the day before, it’s probably too little too late for Kieran McKenna’s side.
Nevertheless victory against Wolves this weekend would reduce the gap to six points and open up the possibility of an unprecedented great escape.
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They are just about alive, but the kind of long winning streak that Ipswich need depends upon one thing McKenna has not been able to provide: consistency.
Ipswich have made 90 changes to their starting XI in the Premier League this season, more than any other side, and they are one of just two teams yet to name the same starting line-up for back-to-back matches.
Without a consistent line-up players cannot forge relationships on the field or get into any sort of rhythm. And although on paper it didn’t look like Ipswich’s best team, the formula for the win at Bournemouth is worth sticking with.
Nathan Broadhead scored a goal on just his fifth start of the season and Julio Enciso excelled in just his second start as a left winger.
Kalvin Phillips and Jaden Philogene – neither of whom have shone since joining in January – were left on the bench, while Conor Townsend looked more secure at left-back than Leif Davis has done.
Ipswich team v Bournemouth
Forget the big names, forget the tactical tweaks. McKenna needs to stick with this line-up for a few games and give the winners at Bournemouth a chance to build momentum together.
Villa clean sheets and counter-attacks bode well for busy spring
The most significant win of the midweek round was arguably Aston Villa’s comfortable 3-0 win at Brighton, a result that took them above Fabian Hurzeler’s side into seventh.
Villa, who are now on a six-match winning streak in all competitions, are suddenly among the favourites to get into the top five despite still going strong in both the FA Cup and Champions League.
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Theirs is a very busy end to the season and success in all three seems unlikely. But what we can say with increasing confidence after Wednesday’s win is that Villa have the tactical and technical ability to go deep in the cup competitions.
Another clean sheet – their fourth on the bounce – and three sharp counter-attacking goals at the Amex Stadium bodes well for the future.
Villa will sit deeper, keep things tight, and spring forward on the break against Paris Saint-Germain, and – if they get there - against Real Madrid or Arsenal in the semi-final and (potentially) Manchester City in the FA Cup final.
Unai Emery’s defence looks back to its best now the injuries have cleared up, and with Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio in superb form, there is every reason to believe Villa can keep grinding out results – even against Europe’s best teams.
Franca goal a devastating blow for Southampton
In the grand scheme of things it meant almost nothing to either team, but was there a more devastating goal scored in the Premier League this week than Matheus Franca’s 91st-minute equaliser at St Mary’s for Palace?
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Southampton fans deserve something for their loyal support this season, and on Wednesday they came agonisingly close to a first home win since 2 November.
It wasn’t to be, and a miserable season suffered another crushing blow. But a word for Franca: the 21-year-old Brazilian who has barely featured, due to a long-term injury, since signing for a reported £26million back in August 2023.
Franca, out for 10 months following surgery, scored his first goal for Palace; a heart-warming moment no doubt lost on the Saints fans who thought their team had finally overtaken Derby County’s unwanted 11-point record from 2007/08, only to see victory snatched away.
No EFL Cup hangover for Newcastle
Just when Newcastle United needed a bit of luck, they got it.
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One of the strangest goals of the season – a drilled Sandro Tonali cross from the right that went straight in at the near post – and a huge miss from Ethan Pinnock when the scores were level gave the hosts the points at St James' Park.
There was always the danger that Newcastle would struggle to come back from the high of winning the EFL Cup and the trophy parade.
That could easily have been the case had Brentford been a little luckier here, but instead Newcastle now hold a commanding position in the race for Champions League football.
Better yet, it’s struggling Leicester City up next for Eddie Howe’s side.
Seventh straight loss without a goal for Leicester
And the chances of Newcastle dropping points at Leicester feel very slim.
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Defeat at Manchester City was perhaps inevitable, yet Ruud van Nistelrooy will be disappointed to have fallen behind after just 109 seconds.
Leicester have now conceded the first goal in 25 of their 30 matches.
They have lost their last seven matches in a row, doing so twice separately under Van Nistelrooy, a feat nobody has achieved in a single top-flight season since Freddie Cox in 1958/59 with Portsmouth.
If that wasn’t bad enough, wins for Wolves and Ipswich means Leicester are now 12 points adrift.
Their supporters probably cannot wait for the season to end.
Palmer back in the groove for Chelsea
Enzo Fernandez scored the winning goal as Chelsea moved back up to fourth spot in the table, and the fact it was assisted by Cole Palmer was also hugely significant.
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When Palmer is firing on all cylinders, Chelsea are a force to be reckoned with. Their most creative player marking his return to the starting XI following illness with a sublime cross to set up the match-winner spells good news for Enzo Maresca.
Palmer's second-half assist ended a run of 15 Premier League appearances without an assist, dating back to 1 December when he also set up Fernandez for a goal against Aston Villa.
Meanwhile, Thursday night was one to forget for Spurs, who have now failed to win in their last four Premier League matches. The last time they had a longer winless streak was from 22 December to 26 January, a run of seven matches.
With a home contest against bottom club Southampton on Sunday, Ange Postecoglou will be hoping his shot-shy side, who have failed to score in three of those four matches, can take advantage against the division's leakiest defence.