Another weekend of the Premier League flew by and it didn’t disappoint. This weekend was highlighted by two manager sackings, a top four race match, an end to end match between the Bees and Seagulls, and a Man City vs Liverpool match we always enjoy. Match week 29 was awesome and it grabbed a lot of headlines.
The 1st match of the weekend was Manchester City vs Liverpool. My first reaction to the final score was just disbelief. These two teams have played thrillers in previous seasons and it’s incredible to see how much Liverpool has fallen. After the Reds took the lead early on, it’s like they fell asleep. They were stretched like pizza dough and at times it looked like they had 2 men at the back. We know Robertson and TAA like to go high up the pitch but they’re completely giving up their defensive duties. In the system that Klopp plays, they won’t win by doing this. If they change to a 3 centre-back and move the two fullbacks to midfielders, I think they’d have more success. On the 2nd goal, Liverpool were completely torn apart. The 1st thing I noticed right off the bat was Trent Alexander-Arnold’s positioning. He was where a right-winger should’ve been and was pressing Ake for the ball. Ake easily moved it up and TAA was caught out. While the England international jogged back, De Bruyne tapped the ball into the net to make it 2-1 City. TAA should’ve been back defending and City capitalized on the error. Overall, I didn’t see any competitiveness about the Reds and they were slow to every ball. City played great and it was another wonderful afternoon for the Etihad Stadium. Final score: 4-1 Man City wins.
Another game I’d like to highlight was the Chelsea vs Aston Villa match at Stamford Bridge. It was another poor display by the Blues and that was the breaking point for Todd Boehly as he sacked Graham Potter shortly after the match. When I watched the highlights for this game, all I saw were missed chances. They had a lot of chances but missed that end product. With the players Chelsea have, it’s really disappointing and I don’t think they ever really connected with each other. Aston Villa on the other hand were great and got a well deserved 3 points at the Bridge. Final score: 0-2 Aston Villa wins.
The last game that I’d like to touch on was Newcastle vs Manchester United. As expected, we saw a lot of energy for the Magpies but what surprised me was how slow the Red Devils looked. Newcastle played so freely and dominated United for most of the match. Ten Hag’s men never posed much of a threat and it seemed like Newcastle’s fans really got to them. Manchester’s wingers were completely taken out of the game and they never got to use their speed. From the 1st whistle to the very last, I feel that Newcastle were composed and never in doubt about themselves. Final score: 2-0 Newcastle United wins.
At the end of the weekend, we are left with a reshaped top four race, a relegation battle with some more twists, and two more managers sacked which makes it 13 on the season. It was a super weekend starting with a City rout and it ended with drama at Goodison Park on Monday. The league also has midweek matches so we won’t have to wait long to watch more Premier League games.
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