Five talking points ahead of the Premier League’s midweek action, featuring the race for Europe, Ineos’ need for a scalpel at Manchester United, and a Merseyside Derby with high stakes. European race heating up The title race might be the overriding narrative of the run-in but the chase for continental competition is becoming equally as tight. The top five are all but confirmed, though behind that is a fascinatingly close pack. Newcastle currently sit sixth, ahead of facing Crystal Palace this week, a position that at present will secure Europa Conference League football. However, should Manc ..read more

Five things we learned from the Premier League weekend, featuring Arsenal’s defensive record, Crystal Palace’s future, and Nottingham Forest opening a can of worms. Arsenal defence keeping title dream alive Arsenal moved back to the top of the Premier League table with a 2-0 win at Wolves, a fixture that saw the Gunners keep a sixth successive clean sheet on the road. Only two teams have ever had a longer sequence of clean sheets in away games in the Premier League, while their latest shutout was the 15th of the campaign for Arsenal – five more than any other side in the division. William Sali ..read more

Our weekly Premier League awards honour the best – and worst – of the football action from the weekend. Moment of the Week It just has to be that social media post. Nottingham Forest were pushed closer to the Premier League’s trap door after losing a relegation six-pointer at Everton, though it’s the aftermath that has caused the biggest controversy of the weekend. Forest saw three, credible, penalty appeals turned down at Goodison Park and can quite rightly feel aggrieved at those decisions, but the social media post aimed in the direction of the PGMOL is truly terrible. The club’s official a ..read more

Trent Alexander-Arnold has insisted Liverpool must win each of their final five games to have any chance of winning the Premier League this season. The Reds bounced back from last weekend’s setback against Crystal Palace to reignite their title challenge at Fulham, with Alexander-Arnold opening the scoring with a fabulous free-kick. Having allowed Harvey Elliott to take a tame set-piece moments earlier, the right-back pulled rank and executed a wonderful effort into the top corner.   Timothy Castagne levelled for Fulham in first-half stoppage time, but the Reds regrouped after the break ..read more

Jurgen Klopp was pleased as Liverpool got back to winning ways with an impressive 3-1 victory at Fulham on Sunday.  The Reds bounced back from their Europa League exit to Atalanta to win in west London, a result that moves Liverpool level on points with Premier League leaders Arsenal. Trent Alexander-Arnold opened the scoring with a fantastic free-kick, though Fulham fought back to level through Timothy Castagne on the stroke of half-time.   Ryan Gravenberch’s first Premier League goal put Liverpool back ahead, as the Dutchman bent in a brilliant effort off the post, before Diogo Jo ..read more

Real Madrid have joined Barcelona in expressing interest in signing Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva this summer. Silva is keen to leave the Premier League champions in search of a new challenge, with the Portugal international having been keen to join a club closer to his family ties in recent transfer windows.   Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona have been heavily linked with signing Silva, who has won five Premier League titles and the Champions League among his honours since arriving at the Etihad from AS Monaco in 2017. Barcelona forward Joao Felix revealed earlier this mont ..read more

Here are the best tweets of the week from Football Twitter over the past seven days.  The Premier League title race in a nutshell.  I can't believe it's happened again. pic.twitter.com/CfTxmg5qE6 — Joe Gilmore (@Gilology) April 16, 2024 I can’t stand this propaganda. Everyone with a football brain knows Princess Diana was nothing more than a YouTube highlight reel player.  You forget how good she really was https://t.co/ncTfV1zKlL — David Preece (@davidpreece12) April 20, 2024 Too soon? Such a promising career ended with a scrap in the tunnel. https://t.co/bqX6TUCOYq — Tea ..read more

Cole Palmer received high praise from Premier League legends Frank Lampard and Alan Shearer amid a breakout season for Chelsea.  The attacking midfielder has proved himself to be the signing of the season, scoring 20 goals in the top flight after leaving Manchester City in the summer for £40 million. Palmer was on the losing side on Saturday as his former club reached the FA Cup final for a second successive year following a late Bernardo Silva goal at Wembley.   Despite the defeat, Lampard felt the 21-year-old showed his worth in the semi-final, backing the player to enjoy a great ..read more

Mikel Arteta picked out the Arsenal defence for praise after their win over Wolves sent them to the top of the Premier League.  Leandro Trossard scored on the stroke of halftime before captain Martin Odegaard sealed all three points deep into stoppage time in the second half of Saturday’s encounter. The 2-1 victory at Molineux came off the back of last week’s defeat to Aston Villa and their midweek elimination from the Champions League at the hands of Bayern Munich.   “It was a very good response, so proud of them,” Arteta told BBC Match of the Day. “We reacted in the right way. “We ..read more

Chelsea missed out on a place in the FA Cup final as Mauricio Pochettino was left to rue his side’s lack of a clinical edge against Manchester City on Saturday.  The Blues failed to convert any of their ten chances against the holders at Wembley as they fell to a late Bernardo Silva goal. The Portuguese midfielder scored Man City‘s one big chance of the game, while Nicolas Jackson missed Chelsea‘s best opportunity to score just after the interval.   “It is so easy to explain,” Pochettino told BBC One. “We conceded in a moment you should not concede. We were not capable of being clin ..read more