Premier League Matchweek 20-21 Review

Liverpool got back to winning ways with a domineering display at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, extending Spurs’ recent woe since they crashed and burned out of the title race in December. This may be the turning point Liverpool need as this result has spurred them on to beat West Ham 3-1 as well on Sunday, with a decisive man of the match performance from Mo Salah (a performance that brung his goal tally up 15, 3 clear of anyone else this season) proving the difference against a side who up until this game had won 5 in a row and looked to possibly threaten the finalised European spaces in May. Thomas Tuchel, taking over from Frank Lampard, stuttered his way to an underwhelming 0-0 result in his first game in charge of Chelsea, this before a dazzling display featuring a brilliant Marcos Alonso goal against Burnley securing three points at Stamford Bridge.

The ‘shock’ result was that Sheffield United, who have been rooted to the bottom of the league all season, went to Old Trafford and beat Man United 2-1. This proves further that they are by no means the complete article, yet they’re still second, and in any other season would be away from a title race, but under current circumstances it does seem that despite the improbability of it, this is their best chance at winning the league in 8 years, and probably will be their best chance for the foreseeable future. The loss against Sheffield United was followed up by a 0-0 at the Emirates, featuring horrendous misses from Cavani and Rashford. Best player in the league Bruno Fernandes went missing in yet another game against a top 6 side, after his match winning goal against Liverpool in the Fa Cup, meaning his record against the top 6 in the league this season remains at 0 assists and 1 goal (which was a penalty).

Man City, the favourites, proved once again why they should be treated as such by every team as a 1-0 victory against Sheffield United was once again followed up by a merciless and relentless 5-0 win against West Brom, featuring two goals from Ilkay Gundogan, who has recently been playing some exceptional football.

The title race and race for Europe is still wide open, Leicester and Everton look strong and likely to grab some of these places, but even teams like them can lose to Leeds and Newcastle. Wolves are out of the equation now, and Tottenham seem to be slipping further, and further down the table, so could this be the season in which Aston Villa reclaim their European place which for a period about ten years ago they owned with pride, or a season in which West Ham get another chance against a team out in Scandinavia or the Baltic states in the Europa league qualifiers? Only time will tell.