Liverpool's season was summed up in one game at Anfield, while Manchester United's draw against West Ham came with positives and negatives...
Thursday 23 July 2020 11:44, UK
This summed Liverpool up. Ruthless, aggressive, risky, and, above all, entertaining.
The 5-3 victory over Chelsea was a variety show for Liverpool's coronation - five different goalscorers, a mix of craft, speed and cunning, and as they usually do, Jurgen Klopp's side gave the opposition a chance.
Chelsea took three of them, and could have grabbed more, but Liverpool too could have hit double figures. They do not strangle, constrict or pass teams to death. They break the speed limit and it is an utter joy to watch.
They are a team with infinite routes to goal, but a team who can improve with increased concentration at the back. That is a scary thought.
Wednesday night was a case in point: Naby Keita was told he needed to add goals to his game, so he wrapped his foot around a 20-yard screamer.
Their No 9 - yes, their No 9 (Roberto Firmino) - scored his first Anfield goal of the Premier League season. The room for improvement is there.
"This won't be the last title win I see," said Graeme Souness after the game. "You cannot guarantee anything, but the make-up of the team, the age of the team, the manager and the people above him are geared up to be a very successful football club. This is Liverpool back to where they were 30, 40 years ago. They will be challenging for the Premier League and Champions League for the next decade."
A few tweaks here and there, and Souness could be right.
Gerard Brand
The future is extremely bright for Chelsea. They have Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech arriving, Kai Havertz wants to join, and Champions League football is within their grasp.
But whatever the options for Frank Lampard's front-line next season, Christian Pulisic must be near the front of the queue.
Since the restart, the American has arguably been the best forward player in the league, and has registered a goal or assist every 111 minutes for Chelsea this season. At Anfield, he completely changed the complexion of the game, entering as an early second-half sub.
Funnily enough, his run and assist for Tammy Abraham's goal was reminiscent of the man he replaced: Eden Hazard.
Eden who? Chelsea fans may ask, and rightly so; Pulisic has everything and more. His touch, turn and finish for Chelsea's third was breath-taking and impossible to defend.
At 21, he is arguably better than Hazard was at the same age. Another scary, scary thought.
Gerard Brand
Let's start with the positives for Manchester United. They have moved into the top four at just the right time with their final game of the season going down to a straight shootout with Leicester for a Champions League place, which you can watch unfold live on Sky Sports.
Their surge into the top four has been down to a superb unbeaten run from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side, who have not lost in the Premier League since late January - a run of 13 games. There was another strike for Mason Greenwood too, who scored his 10th Premier League goal of the season on his 50th Manchester United appearance - the youngest player to reach the milestone since Ryan Giggs in 1992.
Now on to the not so good. After Sunday's FA Cup semi-final defeat to Chelsea, Manchester United needed a reaction, but it was another lacklustre performance. The toll of a heavy fixture list is starting to show with Bruno Fernandes, having been a driving force behind United's resurgence, looking a yard off the pace. Marcus Rashford - who had scored in the previous two games - was also absent for much of the game.
Then there was a bizarre penalty incident too involving Paul Pogba, where his initial reaction to a Declan Rice shot appeared to indicate he had been hit in the face, when in fact he had raised his arms inside the area and given away a clear handball penalty.
Speaking about the performance on co-commentary, Gary Neville said: "Physically, they just don't look anywhere near it, Manchester United. They really have dropped off, and with that the quality has dropped."
While Leicester may have been watching on with a quiet interest, they have not been in the best form themselves. Both teams will need to be at their best on Sunday if they are to have a chance of securing that vital Champions League place which is up for grabs.
Charlotte Marsh
A few weeks ago, West Ham were facing a real battle to stay in the Premier League but credit to David Moyes and his players, they have found that extra fight to secure their status in the top flight for a ninth successive season.
After suffering defeats in their first two games after the restart, they have only lost one game since - a close 1-0 defeat against Burnley - with three wins and two draws, and a huge part of that has been the form of Michail Antonio.
The forward missed a good chunk of the season through injury but has answered West Ham's calls for a consistent centre-forward with the form of club-record signing Sebastian Haller less than inspiring. He scored his first career penalty to bring up 10 goals for the season, eight of which have come since the restart and six in the last three games.
Also against Manchester United, Ben Johnson was superb at right-back, while Mark Noble and Declan Rice looked assured in midfield.
For now, though, West Ham can face Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon with the pressure lifted off their shoulders. Here's hoping next season can bring more success and less worry for the Hammers.
Charlotte Marsh
"He's easy on the eye, he's silky on the eye, but I'm yet to be convinced by him," said Graeme Souness after Villa's 2-0 defeat by Liverpool earlier this month.
At the time, Villa fans too will have been underwhelmed by their talisman's performances since the restart - Grealish had been tepid, lacked bite and was dropping deeper and deeper in games in an attempt to be Villa's hero. But in Villa's last three games, when it really mattered, the forward may have convinced Souness otherwise.
And in their biggest win of the season on Tuesday night against Arsenal, the 24-year-old dragged his boyhood club through 90 minutes of torture to a vital three points.
Yes, he is silky. Yes, he is easy on the eye, and yes, he does go down when prompted. But Grealish is routinely Villa's top runner, is ice cold in the final third and tight areas, and is happy to throw himself into the physical battle rather than slalom around defenders. It is steel, not fragility, and he has showed all of this and more in recent games.
It culminated in his man-of-the-match performance on Tuesday, his eighth of the season. Only Kevin De Bruyne, Adama Traore and Sadio Mane have more.
And how does he feel with the hopes of Villa on his shoulders?
"I don't really mind pressure - pressure is a privilege, my old coach used to always say that to me," he told Sky Sports after the victory.
His future is anyone's guess, but whoever gets Grealish next season, if indeed he does leave Villa, they will be getting a player full of grit, not just technique.
Gerard Brand
Arsenal crashed back down to earth with a bump at Villa Park.
Mikel Arteta warned his Arsenal players ahead of the game to not get carried away with their wins over Liverpool and Manchester City, insisting they "haven't done anything" yet.
But his players did not heed his warning, putting in a lacklustre performance which ended their European qualification hopes via the Premier league.
Defeat to Villa means the Gunners can only finish as high as eighth this season. They will finish outside of the Premier League's top six for the first time in 25 years. They have also lost 10 league matches for a third consecutive season for the first time since a run of seven between 1981/82 and 1987/88. It is also a fourth successive season of finishing below north London rivals Tottenham after 21 successive seasons finishing above them. Not easy reading for the Gunners' faithful.
'Back Arteta Kroenke out' was the message that was flown over Villa Park early in the game on Tuesday and, while Arteta insists he has the full backing of the Arsenal hierarchy, Tuesday evening's defeat is further evidence that this squad still needs major investment.
Of course, there are positive signs under Arteta, and an FA Cup final to look forward to. Win that and qualify for Europe and Arteta's first eight or so months at the club are a success. But defeat to Villa is a timely reminder that there is still plenty of work to be done at Arsenal, starting this summer.
Oliver Yew
After the disappointment of the 2-0 defeat to Arsenal in the FA Cup on Saturday, the wounded beast that was Manchester City were after a morale-boosting performance and produced just that when taking on Watford.
It was an easy 4-0 win against a side deep in the relegation mire, with 76.6 per cent of possession, a massive 26 shots on target and 15 open-play crosses - City had rediscovered their groove.
There were some pretty impressive individual performances as well, with Raheem Sterling scoring twice the first half and Kevin De Bruyne his silky-smooth best.
Sterling's opening goal came with an astonishing finish - hammering home into the top, far corner - before netting a rebounded penalty after his initial effort forced an incredible save from Ben Foster. The two goals took him to 19 for the season - the most he has scored in a Premier League season.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, he said: "As a winger, to score 20 goals in the Premier League is a great achievement, but we have one game left and hopefully I can do it then."
As for De Bruyne, he also notched up his best tally in the league for assists, also taking him to 19. The most made in the Premier League was Thierry Henry - his former Belgium coach - who registered 20 in the 2002/03 season and with Man City's final game against already-relegated Norwich, the record is there for the taking.
Charlotte Marsh
The relegation race is going down to the wire. With Aston Villa beating Arsenal, Watford have sunk into the bottom three and another thrashing from Man City does not spell good news for their goal difference, which could prove vital.
Since Pep Guardiola arrived at the club, Watford have never managed to beat Man City and scored just three times in that period. They had already conceded eight goals to them at the Etihad in September's reverse fixture.
Add another four on to the tally and that is a total of 12 goals scored against them by one team - admittedly a very good team - to give them an incredibly precarious goal difference heading into Sunday's finale against Arsenal.
Their current goal difference is one behind Villa and level with Bournemouth, with fewer goals scored, which could also play a deciding factor should the goal difference remain level.
They could have fallen further behind too if it was not for some acrobatic goalkeeping from Ben Foster. He made a number of vital saves that could have seen City rack up another 8-0 result and has arguably been the factor that has kept Watford in the frame for survival for so long.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, caretaker-manager Hayden Mullins said of Foster: "He's done that most weeks, he's been fantastic and he's a great character inside the dressing room."
'Must win' is an often-used phrase in football but in Watford's case against Arsenal, it could not be truer. They were dealt a blow on Tuesday but must keep going until the final whistle on Sunday with football always hard to predict.
Charlotte Marsh
Sheffield United's Europa League hopes are all but gone and there is an air of disappointment around Bramall Lane following their latest defeat to Everton. However, Chris Wilder's words after the game will lift the gloom.
"Top six should never have been in the equation from the minute we set foot into the division," he said. "What you try and do in a season is try and get your players and club to overachieve and we have ridiculously overachieved. We have overachieved and there are quite a lot of clubs that would want to swap places with us."
Overachieved is probably an understatement. Sheffield United had absolutely no right to be challenging for the top six heading into the penultimate game of the season, but game after game, time after time, they have proved the doubters wrong.
Attention will soon turn to next season and how they can over achieve again. They failed to record a single shot on target against Everton so maybe new recruits at the top of the pitch might be in Wilder's mind.
But first, it's time for everyone associated with Sheffield United to reflect on what has been a remarkable, successful season, which they will hope to finish on a high at Southampton.
Oliver Yew
Talk has already started as to what business Carlo Ancelotti and Everton will do in the next transfer window, but their most important business this summer will be keeping hold of Richarlison.
Alongside, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, the 23-year-old was at the heart of all that was good for Everton against Sheffield United and his pace, trickery and determination caused the Blades problems all evening.
The Brazilian proved to be Everton's match-winner once again as his powerful header beat Sheffield United goalkeeper Dean Henderson to seal all three points at Bramall Lane.
And now, over the last two seasons, only Neymar (28) has scored more goals in the top five European leagues among Brazilians than Richarlison (26).
They are impressive numbers which have no doubt been noted around Europe. Barcelona and Manchester United have previously been linked with the former Watford forward, but it is imperative Ancelotti keeps him at Goodison Park and builds around him as the Italian attempts to make Everton a force once again.
Oliver Yew
"We're at the start of that process," Graham Potter told Sky Sports in mid-June as he reflected on the style shift he has overseen at Brighton - and the road he and the club have ahead of them to achieve the success they are after.
The first major objective was secured on Monday night, when a drab 0-0 draw with Newcastle guaranteed their place in the Premier League next season. Now it is time for Potter's project to kick on.
There has been a dramatic change in approach since Chris Hughton's reign - Brighton have traded direct football for a passing game statistically similar to Manchester United and Tottenham - but they have only picked up a couple more points than their total for 2018/19.
Brighton have at times struggled to carve out openings, while they have also been on the end of heavy defeats. Speaking on Sky Sports, Kieron Dyer said the club must now add quality to their squad if they are to profit from the passing-heavy style of Potter and the upcoming transfer window could be a key moment in how Brighton's journey progresses.
The foundations have been laid. Now the hard work of developing Brighton into a team competing further up the table begins.
Peter Smith
Wolves are still on course for a fabulous season after Monday night's 2-0 win over Crystal Palace at Molineux, a result that saw Nuno Espirito Santo's side move back above Tottenham and into sixth in the Premier League ahead of the final round of fixtures.
In fact, victory against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon would see Wolves end the campaign with an impressive 62 points, a haul that would not only better last season's total of 57, but would also represent the club's best return in a top-flight campaign since 1979-80.
And a win in west London would also guarantee Wolves a place in next season's Europa League for the second year in a row, a competition they are still in with a chance of winning of course with next month's second-leg last-16 clash with Olympiakos finely balanced at 1-1.
Richard Morgan
Arsenal vs Watford - 4pm kick-off, Live on Sky Sports Premier League
Burnley vs Brighton - 4pm kick-off, Live on Sky Sports Arena
Chelsea vs Wolves - 4pm kick-off, Live on Sky Sports Football
Crystal Palace vs Tottenham - 4pm kick-off, Live on Sky Sports Action
Everton vs Bournemouth - 4pm kick-off, Live on Sky Sports Golf
Leicester vs Man Utd - 4pm kick-off, Live on Sky Sports Main Event
Man City vs Norwich - 4pm kick-off, Live on Sky Sports Pick and Sky One
Newcastle vs Liverpool - 4pm kick-off, Full Time highlights live on Sky Sports Digital
Southampton vs Sheffield United - 4pm kick-off, Live on Sky Sports Mix
West Ham vs Aston Villa - 4pm kick-off, Full Time highlights live on Sky Sports Digital
