There may still be more than four months left to go in the Premier League this season, but come the end of May, we could be looking back at this week as one that proved to be very decisive in the top half of the table.
With four of the current top five playing each other between now and the end of Sunday, and two underachieving teams who are level on points also facing off in that time, this is arguably the most significant week of the season so far.
This follows two crucial derby matches that were played across the weekend, where Manchester United moved to just one point behind Manchester City by beating their rivals 2-1 at Old Trafford on Saturday and extending their winning streak to nine matches. That allowed Arsenal to move eight points clear at the top as they secured a comfortable 2-0 win at Tottenham Hotspur in the north London derby on Sunday; their first league win at Tottenham in almost nine years.
You can bet on the Premier League with Bet9ja, which offers more than 200 markets on every single match, and there are plenty of talking points surrounding this week.
Here, we discuss the four standout questions stemming from some vital matches.
Are Manchester United in the title race?
After the first two games of the season, very few observers would have predicted Man United to be in the position they now find themselves. Since losing 1-2 at home to Brighton and being humiliated 4-0 at Brentford in August, Erik ten Hag’s team have won 12, drawn two and lost two in the Premier League, and their current league winning streak stands at five matches. They are fourth in the table, but just one point behind second-placed Manchester City.
There can be little doubt they were somewhat fortunate in the Manchester derby on Saturday, as the VAR official controversially overturned an offside decision against Marcus Rashford to allow Bruno Fernandes’ equaliser to stand, but what is even more encouraging for the Red Devils is that they restricted City to just one attempt on target.
Wednesday night offers up a fantastic opportunity to take themselves into second place, as they travel to play a Crystal Palace team who have lost six of their last seven matches when including penalty shootout defeats, and have failed to score in five of those seven games.
Should that game produce a victory, United will be six points off the top, and come the end of the week they could find themselves within three points of the league’s summit. More on that below.
Can Arsenal put themselves almost out of sight?
United’s game at Palace will be followed by a second trip to London this week when they play away to Arsenal on Sunday. The importance of the match throws back memories of the late 1990s and early 2000s when the two clubs regularly battled it out in clashes that played a strong part in deciding the destination of the league title.
Arsenal have been in excellent form all season, and currently have the largest lead they have built at the top of the table since they last won the title in 2004. While they are yet to play their closest challengers Manchester City, they perfectly handled the pressure that came with the opportunity to move eight points clear after City’s defeat when they won at Tottenham. They controlled the play in the first half, with an own goal from Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and a strike from Martin Odegaard giving them a two-goal lead, which they never looked like relinquishing.
There is a strong feeling that should they avoid defeat on Sunday, it will be difficult to call United a strong contender for the title, given they won’t be able to play Arsenal again this season and will have played a game more. Should Arsenal stretch their lead at the top to more than eight points, they will have to become very strong favourites to lift the Premier League trophy in May.
Is it make or break for Manchester City and Tottenham?
While Arsenal’s match against Man United on Sunday offers opportunities for both teams, Thursday’s match between Man City and Tottenham at the Etihad Stadium feels like a game where significant ground can be lost.
City are not on their best form, having won two of their last five games and losing the last two away to Southampton in the EFL Cup and at Man United respectively. They also lost both games against Tottenham last season, with the visitors’ 3-2 win at the Etihad in particular being regarded as a counter-attacking masterclass from manager Antonio Conte. They also failed to win their last two home league games, and are reaching a point where they realistically can’t afford to fall any further behind Arsenal if they want to win a fifth title in six seasons.
Similar logic applies to Tottenham’s top four chances. While they recovered in the second half of last season to finish inside the top four, they are likely going to have to do the same again this season. They are fifth in the table and five points behind Man United in fourth. What is hugely concerning for Conte is that his team have conceded first in 11 of their last 13 matches and are becoming renowned for starting games on the back foot. If they fall behind early on Thursday, it is difficult to see them getting themselves back into the game.
Is there any hope for Liverpool or Chelsea?
The Premier League has thrown up some surprises this season, and at the start of the campaign, not many people would have had this down to be a battle between the league’s ninth and tenth-placed teams.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp described his team’s 3-0 defeat at Brighton on Saturday as the worst of his career, and that was just the latest in a string of poor performances on the road this season. They have lost three of their last four away games and have won just twice away from home in the league all season.
The Merseyside club ironically run into another of the league’s heavyweights who are also having a desperately disappointing season when they play Chelsea in the league’s early kick-off on Saturday. Manager Graham Potter is struggling, as his team have won just three of their last 11 games and have lost five of their last six away games, although they did potentially stop the rot by beating Crystal Palace 1-0 at home on Sunday.
What could give Liverpool more confidence going into this game is that they have still managed to win four of their last five home league games. Something has to give, with both teams level on 28 points and 10 points off the Champions League places; their current runs of form simply cannot continue.
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