Arsenal took the Premier League’s thrilling title fight to another level with a crushing victory, while Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs have a massive clash with top-four rival Aston Villa ahead this weekend.
Here are the biggest Premier League talking points from another wild weekend!
Stream Over 50 Sports Live & On-Demand with Kayo. New to Kayo? Start Your Free Trial Today >
EPL Wrap: Foden unleashes hell on United | 02:37
TITLE RACE HEATING UP
If Arsenal are feeling the pressure of a Premier League title race, they sure aren’t showing it.
In the last two rounds, they have played their matches after rivals Liverpool and Manchester City had both played – and won – their matches.
Last week it was a 4-1 win over Newcastle, this time a 6-0 rout of dismal Sheffield United. Indeed, since beating Liverpool 3-1 in early February, they have won 6-0, 5-0, 4-1, and 6-0. It’s a terrifying run of form and has rocketed them into having the best attacking and defensive record in the league.
‘That was a disgrace’: Arsenal enter record books after stunning PL demolition job
In Brentford this weekend they face a team severely undermanned and looking ill-equipped to handle the threat posed by the Gunners.
A slip-up from Arsenal appears unlikely. But they certainly can’t afford one.
Midfielder Declan Rice said: “I think if you look at the two other teams at the top, they don’t look like they are going to slip up anytime soon.
“It is the Premier League, you need to be on it every single game. You can’t have any slip-ups.
“Obviously we were the last to play this time, so it is always on our mind that we have to win if we want to stay in it. There is such a long way to go, anything can happen.
“Eleven games of football is a really long way. Hopefully we can keep winning matches, but it is one game at a time.
“We have been in this position before and I think it is just stay humble. Wait for the games to come and attack them when the day arrives.”
They have been in this position before. Last year they led by as many as eight points over City before three straight draws, a loss to City, and a couple of losses ended the title race with three games to spare.
Arsenal have the hunger, but their rivals have the experience of closing out the season and bringing home the silverware.
So far, they’ve held their nerve. Will they be able to keep it up until the end of the season? Against their relentless rivals, they might just need to win all 11 games.
‘The cover-up is a disgrace’: Kerr under fire as Matildas coach, FA blindsided by allegation
Haaland fumbles shocking sitter in derby | 00:44
WORST-EVER PREMIER LEAGUE SIDE?
“They were in a different league to us,” Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder said after his team’s brutal 6-0 thrashing at the hands of Arsenal.
That is figuratively already the case, but by next season it appears certain to be reality. The Blades are going down to the Championship – and they’ll do it as one of the worst teams ever to feature in the Premier League.
Sure, they’ve surpassed Derby County’s 2007-08 record of one win and 11 points in total – the Premier League record-worst season – but they’re truly fighting in the wrong weight class this campaign.
That Derby team conceded 89 goals, the record for a 38-game PL season. Swindon Town in 1993/94 conceded a whopping 100 goals, which is the all-time record (but in 42 games).
Sheffield have shipped 72 goals so far this season at a rate of 2.67 per game. That puts them on track to concede over 100 this season, and you wouldn’t bet against it.
Three times in the last five games they’ve conceded five goals or more. It happened three times earlier in the season, including that horror 8-0 to Newcastle.
It’s been a disastrous season from Sheffield.Source: Getty Images
“That first half from Sheffield United was a disgrace,” Liverpool great Jamie Carragher said on Sky Sports. “It’s one of the most one-sided games of football I’ve ever seen.
“To consider you come into this game on the back of losing two Premier League home games 5-0, that’s shocking – it really is. It’s probably one of the worst performances I’ve ever seen.
“I can’t think of anything worse I’ve ever seen in a half of football than that.”
Fans started leaving after just a quarter of an hour – of course, the team were already down three goals by that point.
In a staggering statistic, Sheffield had 19 per cent possession – less than the number of shots (22) that Arsenal took.
In the second half, Wilder turned to the kids. 20-year-old trio Oliver Luke Arblaster, William Osula, and Andre Brooks all came off the bench. Wilder is already preparing for the team’s future in the second tier. Now it’s just a matter of time, and how bad things will get before then.
EPL Wrap: Reds clinch last-gasp winner! | 02:53
‘SEASON OF HIS LIFE’ FROM VILLA STAR DRIVING CHARGE
The race for top spot is still firmly a three-way tussle. But sitting pretty in fourth spot, for now at least, is Aston Villa. They are five points clear of fifth-placed Tottenham, though Ange Postecoglou’s men have a game in hand.
Driving the success of the Villans is Ollie Watkins, who has 21 goals and 10 assists in all competitions this season (16 and 10 in the PL). He’s the only player to hit double-digits in both categories. It puts him top of the charts for goal involvements, and equal-first for assists (alongside Newcastle’s Kieran Trippier and Brighton’s Pascal Gross).
Iconic England striker Alan Shearer said: “He’s having the season of his life. With the form he is in, he is not hoping to score, but expecting to score.”
Darren Bent told TalkSport that he believes Watkins is the player of the season so far.
“He’d certainly be mine, I think he’s been outstanding,” he said.
“I think the goals that he’s got, the assists as well. I think he’s been dangerous. He’s getting better and better … He’d be my player of the year.”
Is Ollie Watkins the player of the season?Source: Getty Images
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery deserves plenty of praise for getting his striker to already deliver his best-ever league goal tally for a season.
But Emery lavished praise on his star man for his commitment and mentality.
“He’s fantastic. But he needs his teammates as well to help him. We are a team. We have to try to get our performances through the team. With the commitment he’s showing, for everyone he is an example.
“For mentality, it’s difficult to find a player better than him. But his skill is also a high level.”
Villa, meanwhile, announced a £119.6 million loss for the period covering last season. While they’re still within the league’s strict Profit and Sustainability (PSR) regulations, it means qualifying for next season’s Champions League will be vital to funding any big splash in the off-season transfer window.
If Watkins keeps his current rich vein of form, you’d back them in.
Spurs score 3 late to pump Palace! | 00:53
‘NO CEILING’ FOR SPURS STAR AHEAD OF MASSIVE CLASH
Ange Postecoglou bet 40 million pounds on Micky van de Ven being a superstar. So far, the 22-year-old is quickly repaying the faith shown in him. And when we say quickly, we mean at 37.38 km/h – the top speed he reached against Brentford a month ago, which is the fastest recorded since the data started being collected in the Premier League 2020/21.
The young centre-back has been a standout for Spurs this season – not just their best signing but arguably their best player overall.
He was outstanding in Spurs’ 3-1 comeback win Crystal Palace on the weekend, completing 95 out of a whopping 101 attempted passes and stifling Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta.
Afterwards, Postecoglou said (per Spurs’ website): “Micky has been outstanding all year, and he’s growing all the time, we see it in training. The growth in him, his maturity, his physical capacity, there is just no ceiling for that guy.
“He was important today. We didn’t have to defend deep, they were going to try to play on the counter attack and there was going to be a lot of space, and that suits him because of his speed and ability to track people down. I thought he was really important today.”
Micky van de Ven of Tottenham Hotspur holds off Jean-Philippe Mateta.Source: Getty Images
Van de Ven has started and played 16 full matches – the only time he didn’t was when he suffered a hamstring injury and was taken off at halftime against Chelsea in early November.
Including that match, Spurs have lost just twice in van de Ven’s 17 league appearances. When he was sidelined with the injury, they lost four out of nine matches. Sure, other injuries were a key factor in that poor run, but there’s no doubting his impressive performances all season long.
They face fourth-placed Aston Villa on Sunday night, and van de Ven will face one of the toughest tests of the season against in-form Ollie Watkins. The outcome of that battle could go a long way to deciding the match – and fourth place in the league.
2024-03-07 03:22:21
#Premier #League #scores #fixtures #results #news #analysis #Ollie #Watkins #Ange #Postecoglou #Spurs #Sheffield #United #thrashed #Arsenal
