Another round of Premier League action is done and dusted, and we had some very interesting results in Week 31. There were eight games played (City and AFC didn’t feature because of the League Cup final)
Toffees dream of Europe
After surviving relegation by the skin of their teeth over the last few seasons, even the most die-hard Everton fans wouldn’t have expected their team to push for Europe this campaign. However manager David Moyes has engineered quite the turnaround at the club and striker Beto’s brace saw them convincingly beat Chelsea 3-0 at home.
The Toffees are only three points behind arch-rivals Liverpool (who are 5th in the table), and there’s still a Merseyside derby to be played this season!
More trouble for Tottenham Hotspur
Knocked out of the Champions League on Wednesday by Atletico Madrid, Spurs’ week went from bad to worse as they slumped to a 3-0 defeat at home against fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest. Igor Tudor’s side mustered just two shots on target as goals from Igor Jesus, Taiwo Awoniyi and Morgan Gibbs-White saw Forest run out 3-0 winners.
The current odds on Premier League relegation suggest that both Spurs and Forest are still very much at risk of dropping down, especially with West Ham’s recent improvement in form. The international break could perhaps not have come at a better time for the struggling Lilywhites- they will need to take stock of things and show significant improvement when the season resumes.
LFC and United falter
Both Liverpool and Manchester United dropped points in this round. The Reds, fresh from a 4-0 CL win over Galatasaray, surprisingly lost 2-1 on the South Coast to Brighton, with Danny Welbeck scoring a double for the Seagulls.
United let slip a one-goal lead twice at the Vitality Stadium as they drew 2-2 with Bournemouth, a fixture in which Red Devils defender Harry Maguire was sent off.
Emery’s Aston Villa, also in the running for a CL spot, had no such issues as they saw off West Ham 2-0 at Villa Park.
Elsewhere, Burnley slipped closer to the drop as Fulham beat them 3-1. Leeds and Brentford played out the only 0-0 of the round. Sunderland completed a league double over fierce North-East rivals Newcastle as they prevailed 2-1 at St.James Park, with Brian Brobbey scoring a late winner for the Wearsiders.
Two players were red-carded in this round- Maguire, as mentioned earlier, was one. The other was Fulham’s Josh Laurent, who was sent off in the dying minutes of their clash at Craven Cottage against Fulham.
Both Arsenal and Man City weren’t involved in league action due to their Carabao Cup final commitments, and City laid down a marker as they handed Mikel Arteta’s men a rare defeat this season. Arsenal still lead City by six in the league, but the Citizens have a game in hand, and Pep Guardiola’s men will also have home advantage when they host the Gunners next month.