The Premier League season is building towards a thrilling crescendo as the two leading protagonists hit their stride with the finish line hurtling into view.
However, gluts of good form are not reserved for the Premier League’s elite. While the title race naturally catches the eye, the relegation dogfight includes as many as nine clubs chiefly because sides at the foot of the table have scrambled some points together.
Here’s how the form of each team is shaping up as we enter the final quarter of an enthralling season.
|
Position |
Team |
Won |
Drawn |
Lost |
Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Arsenal |
6 |
0 |
0 |
18 |
|
2 |
Man City |
5 |
1 |
0 |
16 |
|
3 |
Aston Villa |
4 |
1 |
1 |
13 |
|
4 |
Man Utd |
3 |
2 |
1 |
11 |
|
5 |
Liverpool |
3 |
1 |
2 |
10 |
|
6 |
Tottenham |
3 |
1 |
2 |
10 |
|
7 |
Brighton |
2 |
3 |
1 |
9 |
|
8 |
Brentford |
2 |
3 |
1 |
9 |
|
9 |
Bournemouth |
3 |
0 |
3 |
9 |
|
10 |
Southampton |
2 |
2 |
2 |
8 |
|
11 |
Newcastle |
2 |
2 |
2 |
8 |
|
12 |
Everton |
2 |
2 |
2 |
8 |
|
13 |
Leeds |
2 |
1 |
3 |
7 |
|
14 |
Fulham |
2 |
1 |
3 |
7 |
|
15 |
Chelsea |
2 |
1 |
3 |
7 |
|
16 |
West Ham |
1 |
3 |
2 |
6 |
|
17 |
Wolves |
1 |
2 |
3 |
5 |
|
18 |
Crystal Palace |
1 |
1 |
4 |
4 |
|
19 |
Nottingham Forest |
0 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
|
20 |
Leicester |
0 |
1 |
5 |
1 |
Arsenal recorded their seventh Premier League victory on the spin with an ultimately comfortable 4-1 triumph at home to Leeds United on Saturday afternoon. Not only is it the longest winning run of any club in the division, this is Arsenal’s best spell of form during Mikel Arteta’s three-year reign. Leeds, conversely, had their tentative progress under Javi Gracia checked by an Arsenal side rediscovering the joys of Gabriel Jesus.
The pressure was on Arsenal after Manchester City annihilated Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium to start Saturday with a swagger. In a 4-1 victory which Pep Guardiola ranked as one of his best, City notched up as many as four consecutive league wins for the first time all season.
Jurgen Klopp was grateful to escape east Manchester with just the three-goal deficit. Across the previous four seasons, Liverpool and City were separated by just one Premier League point. This term, the gulf is a yawning 22 and it told on Saturday. Liverpool aren’t quite so far off City in the form table – taking ten points from their last six games – but ended the weekend in the depths of eighth place.
Brighton and Brentford found themselves above the illustrious name of Liverpool after a thrilling 3-3 draw on the south coast. The two admirably upwardly mobile outfits have both collected 43 points this season and boast the exact same record across their last three games. However, in the personal head-to-head between two clubs owned by professional gamblers, Tony Bloom’s Brighton may have the better cards with two games in hand on Brentford.
If the Seagulls and Bees are soaring upwards, Leicester City are heading the in the opposite direction at a treacherous pace. The Foxes have taken one point from their last six matches, comfortably the worst record in the division and finished the day inside the relegation zone.
Brendan Rodgers’ team even took the lead against Crystal Palace side on Saturday that hadn’t won a league game in 2023. Yet, the Eagles were rewarded for their first-half dominance in the first game of Roy Hodgson’s return as Jean-Philippe Mateta snatched all three points in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
A win for either side may have been a shock given the form table but they lived up to their reputation in this contest; Leicester have dropped a league-high 22 points from winning positions this season while Palace lead the division for points won from behind (17).
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Bournemouth launched a comeback of their own at home to an out-of-sorts Fulham. Gary O’Neil’s side have faced Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool in their last six matches but impressively find themselves in the top half of the form table in this period and out of the actual drop zone. The Cottagers have now lost three games on the bounce for the first time all season as a promotion campaign devoid of relegation peril threatens to fizzle out.
Nottingham Forest can hardly afford to switch off in closing stages of the season. Although, they have made a habit of winding down before the referee’s final whistle. Daniel Podence scored an 83rd-minute equaliser for Wolves, the 12th goal Forest have conceded in the final quarter-hour of matches – the most of any team in the division.
It was another ill-tempered edition of what has bubbled into a spiky rivalry initially stoked by some sharp-tongued social media departments ahead of the reverse fixture. With both teams out of form and labouring in the relegation mire, there were no choice posts after a 1-1 draw which didn’t do much to help either side.
In the evening fixture, Chelsea’s limp towards the end of the Premier League season continued as they were well beaten by Aston Villa. Ollie Watkins capitalised on a Marc Cucurella error early on before John McGinn fired in a rocket from distance to seal the points at Stamford Bridge.
Credit: 90min.com
