The title race experienced an unexpected development with the slips of Arsenal and Liverpool, beaten respectively 2-0 against Aston Villa and 1-0 against Crystal Palace on Sunday, to the delight of Manchester City, leader after six days of the end.
Pep Guardiola’s armada did the job on Saturday against Luton (5-1) and was able to witness with relish the poor performances of its two rivals, now two points behind it and facing a tougher schedule.
The “Citizens” can openly dream of a fourth title in a row in the Premier League, which no team has yet managed to accomplish.
On paper, Manchester City has the most affordable schedule between now and the end of the season, with Tottenham the toughest opponent.
His competitors will also have to face the Spurs. But Arsenal will also have to contend with Chelsea and Manchester United, while Liverpool will have a derby against Everton and a trip to Aston Villa (4th), among others, to negotiate.
First defeat in 2024 for Arsenal
On Sunday, the “Villans” of Unai Emery, former Arsenal coach, played an ugly trick on the “Gunners”, blown away by two goals in the last ten minutes.
Leon Bailey, left alone at the far post, exploited a strong cross from Lucas Digne which the defense let slip away (84th). Then Ollie Watkins doubled the lead three minutes later by getting the better of David Raya (87th).
The Spanish goalkeeper had been saved earlier in the game by his uprights, first on a shot from Watkins repelled by a post (39th), then on a curling shot from Youri Tielemans thwarted by the crossbar then a post (62nd) .
This is Arsenal’s fifth defeat this season in the league, the first since that conceded on December 31 at Fulham (2-1).
Liverpool, for their part, had their third of the year, the first since October 2022 at home in the Premier League. And this comes at the worst time.
“When there are only six games left, it is not an ideal position. We will continue to fight, to push until the end and we will see where it takes us,” commented defender Andy Robertson on Sky Sports.
In the space of a week, the “Reds” conceded a draw to Manchester United (2-2), took a 3-0 slap against Atalanta Bergamo in the quarter-final first leg of the Europa League, and suffered the law of Palace, victorious on a goal from Eberechi Eze (14th, 0-1).
Stung, the “Reds” as usual put the turbo to turn the game around, but this strategy of chaos almost turned into a knockout. Without a miraculous intervention from Andy Robertson, with a tackle on the goal line, Jean-Philippe Mateta would have doubled the lead (18th).
Wasted opportunities
Liverpool defender Andy Robertson, disappointed after the defeat against Crystal Palace, April 14, 2024 at Anfield / Paul ELLIS / AFP
Crystal Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson stood out with decisive saves on an acrobatic scissor from Luis Diaz (29th) and a close-range strike from Darwin Nunez (55th).
He was also saved by the crossbar on an attempt by Wataru Endo (27th), by his defender Nathaniel Clyne in front of Diogo Jota (73rd) and by the clumsiness of Curtis Jones, alone in front of him but whose shot went wide (75th). ).
Mohamed Salah had the equalizer at his feet in added time but a defender countered (90th + 1).
“In another day, we could have seen the same balls coming in and we would be talking about a 4-1 victory, but football doesn’t work like that,” Jürgen Klopp summed up to the BBC, acknowledging that his team did not was “not totally convinced on the ground”.
In the other meeting of the afternoon, Fulham (12th, 42 pts) hurt the European ambitions of West Ham (8th, 48 pts), beaten 2-0 in their London Stadium.
The “Hammers” are relegated two points behind Newcastle and Manchester United who, moreover, have played a game less than them.
