Football writer Ben Bloom analyses the Matchweek 31 action in the Premier League so far, including important victories for Aston Villa, Fulham and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
In a weekend when none of the top five teams managed to win, the bottom club Southampton became the earliest side to be relegated in Premier League history.
Ipswich Town look almost certain to follow them into the Championship after losing to Wolves, while the battle for European places remains as fierce as it is fascinating with Aston Villa and Fulham both securing crucial victories.
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Mikel Arteta’s priorities were evident for all to see as his much-changed Arsenal side failed to see off Everton in a largely lacklustre game.
With a UEFA Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid coming on Tuesday, Arteta made five alterations to his starting XI and Arsenal ended up with their 11th draw of the season. Seven of these - more than any other Premier League side - have come after taking the lead.
Two of the players brought into the line-up combined for the opener, with Raheem Sterling providing the assist for Leandro Trossard to score. It was the first time for more than four years that two Arsenal players aged 30 years or older had combined for a Premier League goal.
Despite dominating possession, with 70 per cent of the ball, Arsenal’s most creative player was Kieran Tierney, who only came off the bench after 75 minutes; he created three chances.
The hosts' equaliser came four minutes into the second half from an Iliman Ndiaye penalty, which made him Everton's top Premier League goalscorer this season with seven, one clear of Beto.
David Moyes’ side have now gone six games without victory, including five draws.
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Crystal Palace became the first team in Premier League history to win a home match despite receiving two red cards, after Eddie Nketiah and Marc Guehi were both sent off.
With Brighton & Hove Albion having Jan Paul van Hecke dismissed in stoppage time, this was the first top-flight match to feature three red cards since April 2013.
It was Palace who came out on top to record their first league double against rivals Brighton since 1932/33, with Jean-Philippe Mateta and Daniel Munoz firing them to victory.
Since Oliver Glasner’s first Premier League match in charge of Palace in February 2024, only Alexander Isak and Erling Haaland, with 26 and 25 respectively, have scored more non-penalty goals in the competition than Mateta’s 23.
Brighton had briefly been level courtesy of Danny Welbeck’s eighth Premier League strike of the season. With the addition of four assists, he is enjoying the second-most prolific season of his career for goal involvements (12), behind only his 2011/12 campaign with Manchester United (13).
Welbeck is also now Brighton’s all-time Premier League top scorer with 31 goals.
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Wolves came from behind to win a third successive Premier League match for the first time since December 2023 and all but seal Ipswich’s relegation fate in the process.
The hosts took the lead for the 15th time on their return to the top flight, but they have held on to win only four of those games, falling here to goals from Jorgen Strand Larsen and Pablo Sarabia.
Strand Larsen has now scored four times across his last three Premier League games, as many strikes as in his previous 18 appearances in the top flight.
Desperate for a win against the team immediately above them in the table, Ipswich named an unchanged line-up for the first time in the Premier League this season, having beaten AFC Bournemouth last time out.
Liam Delap scored his 12th Premier League goal of the season, with only Marcus Stewart netting more for the club in a single campaign when he hit 19 in 2000/01.
But, yet again, they were unable to hold on and now sit 12 points from safety with seven matches remaining.
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Having gone 12 matches unbeaten across all competitions between November and January, Bournemouth’s European qualification hopes suffered another blow when they could only draw at West Ham United, extending their current winless run to six Premier League games.
Niclas Fullkrug and Jarrod Bowen scored within seven minutes of each other to put the hosts ahead after Evanilson’s early goal.
The Brazilian then added another goal to take his tally to four in his last four Premier League starts since returning from injury.
It was the fourth consecutive meeting between the two sides that had ended in a draw, with West Ham unbeaten in their last eight Premier League matches against Bournemouth.
Andoni Iraola’s side are now down to 10th, where they sit eight points off the top four.
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Villa warmed up for their UEFA Champions League quarter-final against Paris Saint-Germain in perfect fashion by extending their winning run to seven consecutive matches in all competitions – their longest such streak as a top-flight side since 1981.
Despite making eight changes from the starting XI that beat Brighton in midweek, they saw off high-flying Nottingham Forest to move sixth, just two points off the top four.
There were just 138 seconds between Morgan Rogers scoring Villa’s opener and Donyell Malen adding a second, all within the first 15 minutes of the match.
Only Ollie Watkins, with 26, has more goal involvements across all competitions than Rogers’ 22 for Villa this season (13 goals, nine assists).
In the absence of the injured Chris Wood and Taiwo Awoniyi, Forest had to make do without a striker, but did threaten as the game wore on.
Jota Silva took his recent goalscoring tally to three in his last four appearances. All of those have come as a substitute, with no Premier League player netting more goals from the bench in 2025.
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A stalemate that statistics suggested was to be expected. This draw means Brentford have now gone eight Premier League home games without a victory – extending their longest-ever winless run in the competition – while Chelsea have failed to triumph in any of their last eight Premier League away matches.
Chelsea last endured a longer winless run on the road in the top flight in 2000/01.
After rarely looking like scoring in the first half, the visitors threatened more when Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson were introduced off the bench.
However, Chelsea’s 21 attempted shots without scoring was their most without a goal in a Premier League away match since December 2017.
Brentford have now lost just one of their last seven league games against Chelsea, but their slim European qualification hopes are fading, with Arsenal, Brighton and Forest to face in their next three fixtures.
This result did at least feature a first clean sheet at home since May 2024 for Thomas Frank’s side.
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Arne Slot will still expect to guide his side to the Premier League title, but Liverpool's unbeaten run of 26 Premier League matches came to an end at the hands of an inspired Fulham.
Alexis Mac Allister had put the visitors ahead, but Fulham then struck three times in 13 dramatic minutes through Ryan Sessegnon, Alex Iwobi and Rodrigo Muniz.
Sessegnon’s goal took his tally to three in his last five Premier League appearances – as many as in his previous 68 matches.
It was the first time Liverpool had conceded at least three goals in the opening half of a Premier League game since losing 7-2 to Aston Villa in October 2020, and the first time they had trailed by more than a single goal at any stage this season.
Before this match, they were the only side not to have been two or more goals behind in a Premier League match in 2024/25.
Despite Luis Diaz pulling one back, Fulham were able to hold on to win back-to-back Premier League home games for the first time this season.
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Southampton made unwanted history as the earliest side to be relegated from the Premier League.
Defeat confirmed Championship football next season, while Saints still require two points to pass Derby County’s tally of 11 from 2007/08 and avoid having the lowest-ever Premier League points haul.
This was just Tottenham Hotspur’s second win across their last 11 home league matches, with Brennan Johnson scoring twice in the first half.
They were his 15th and 16th goals of the campaign across all competitions, making him the first Spurs player other than Harry Kane or Son Heung-min to reach 15 in a season since Gareth Bale in 2020/21.
Southampton improved after the break, with Mateus Fernandes pulling a goal back in the 90th minute, but Mathys Tel converted a stoppage-time penalty to complete Spurs' win.
Tel, aged 19 years 344 days, became the first teenager to score for Spurs in the Premier League since Dele Alli (19y 365d) against Man Utd in April 2016.
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One of the more forgettable Manchester derbies of recent times resulted in the first goalless draw between United and City since December 2020.
There was a distinct lack of class and cutting edge near the end of a disappointing campaign for both teams, with a point apiece at Old Trafford.
Since Ruben Amorim’s first match in charge, only Leicester City, with 12, have failed to score in more Premier League games than Man Utd (eight).
While Bruno Fernandes was their most threatening player, Casemiro rolled back the years to produce a bruising performance, making 11 tackles – the most by a Man Utd player in a Premier League game since Patrice Evra against Portsmouth in August 2008.
However, Amorim’s side are now guaranteed to record their lowest-ever Premier League points total.
Manchester City have won only one of their last four Premier League away games and will slip to sixth if Newcastle United beat Leicester on Monday.
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Leicester set an unwanted record of becoming the first English team to lose eight successive home matches without scoring a goal as they lost 3-0 to Newcastle.
Jacob Murphy scored twice, one of his goals coming from a bizarre moment as Fabian Schar's shot from his own half came back off the crossbar and allowed Murphy an easy finish. Harvey Barnes scored Newcastle's other goal on his return to King Power Stadium, moving the Magpies up to fifth.
Leicester are now 15 points behind 17th-placed Wolves and looking unlikely to avoid relegation.
