Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action

Wolves’ revival continues, Jadon Sancho needs to show more consistency and Fabian Hürzeler backs his captain

Among several excellent individual performances, it was Newcastle’s collective endeavour that was most impressive against Manchester United, the home side’s press rarely giving their opponents a chance to settle on the ball. As a result the visitors kept coughing it up in dangerous positions, and this was where the game was won. None of the home side’s goals involved them crossing the halfway line, and the amount of time they spent in possession in the buildup to each of them was, in order of them being scored, eight seconds (with four players touching the ball), nine seconds (also four players), five seconds (one player) and three seconds (two players). More than a fifth of their total ball recoveries, 12 of them in all, took place in their attacking third, four of which led to goals; the equivalent figures for the visitors were two, and 4.3%. Simon Burnton

Match report: Newcastle 4-1 Manchester United

Match report: Liverpool 2-1 West Ham

Match report: Wolves 4-2 Tottenham

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Newcastle 4-1 Manchester United: Premier League – as it happened

Harvey Barnes’ double set up a convincing win and moved Newcastle up to fourth in the Premier League

Hey Jude rings out around St James’ Park. KEEGAN, says a tifo in the stands. “He saved us in 82,” adds a banner, “he entertained us in 92.”

In a dramatic development, I have received an email. “G’Day Tim,” says Chris Paraskevas. “Hope you’re well!” I am, thanks, hope you are too. “And seriously, sending best wishes to Toon Legend® Eddie Howe, who also seems like a top bloke!

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Barnes’ double inspires Newcastle to emphatic win over Manchester United

Eddie Howe was missing, watching on television from a hospital bed and too ill to activate a telephone line to the home dugout, yet his absence proved irrelevant.

Newcastle’s players were so determined to send their manager a meaning­ful get-well message that they ultimately put on the sort of show that not merely proved Howe’s hard work on Tyneside is yielding rich rewards but blew Manchester United away.

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Liverpool 2-1 West Ham: Premier League – as it happened

A shocking second half did not quite derail Liverpool as Virgil van Dijk’s late headers secured three points against West Ham

4 mins: Good work from Todibo to hold up Luis Diaz on the Liverpool left, and then to toe-poke the ball away from Jota as it ran towards him in the area.

3 mins: The home fans sing Mo Salah’s name. He’s done little of interest so far, but he’s signed a new contract and everyone’s happy about it.

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Arsenal v Brentford: Premier League – as it happened

Yoane Wissa cancelled out Thomas Partey’s second-half opener to earn Brentford a share of the spoils at the Emirates Stadium

Arsenal: Mikel Arteta has praised Declan Rice for his initiative after the midfielder ignored the instructions of Arsenal’s set-piece coach before scoring the first of his two free-kicks against Real Madrid. Ed Aarons reports …

Manchester City 5-2 Crystal Palace

Brighton 2-2 Leicester City

Nottingham Forest 0-1 Everton

Southampton 0-3 Aston Villa

View the Premier League table

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De Bruyne leads Manchester City to comeback thrashing of Crystal Palace

A goal and an assist and a captain’s display that wrenched the contest from Crystal Palace: here was an opportunity to revel in the sublime talent of Kevin De Bruyne.

On a sun-dappled east Manchester afternoon, De Bruyne illustrated, again, his peerlessness. The truism that the best have a crucial extra moment to work with runs through his decade in a Manchester City shirt and was displayed in the strike crafted for Mateo Kovacic.

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Manchester City 5-2 Crystal Palace: Premier League – as it happened

Kevin De Bruyne was imperious as his side survived an early scare to come from two goals down, win easily and move back into the Champions League qualification places

Ahead of this game, the Crystal Palace manager could not lavish enough praise on Manchester City striker Omar Marmoush, who he previously worked with at Wolfsburg. “He has the skills and what I loved was he was two and a half years in Germany and he spoken German perfectly and this is quite unusual,” he said of the Egyptian.

“He is a great guy, has all the skills and in the football career you may not have to make a straight direction to come to the top but he had a loan at St Pauli, Stuttgart, then performing for Wolfsburg, then an outstanding season for Frankfurt. Immediately he shows Manchester [City] what kind of striker he is. I’m really pleased for him but not tomorrow.”

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Top-five tussle: how Premier League battle for Champions League spots is shaping up

With Liverpool and Arsenal in line for two of five guaranteed spots in the tournament we assess other contenders

The important thing for Forest is that they sit third and have an FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City to look forward to. Everyone below would like to be in their position. Injuries will be a cause for concern for Nuno Espírito Santo, who has been without his top scorer, Chris Wood, since the international break and then lost Wood’s replacement, Taiwo Awoniyi, leaving Forest without a recognised striker for the loss to Aston Villa, a game also missed by Ola Aina. Their final seven matches include four at home, where they have lost only twice, but three tricky away clashes in London mean the path to a historic return to Europe’s top table is unlikely to be straightforward for a team who have not been in this situation before. Forest have more experienced squads snapping at their heels as they seek to accomplish the most significant Premier League achievement since Leicester won the title. Will Unwin

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Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend

Lewis Dunk is running out of time, Jakub Kiwior rises to the challenge for Arsenal and Liam Delap has an audition

Manchester City’s tame outing at Manchester United on Sunday showed how they have flatlined this term, the goalless draw also damaging their prospects of Champions League qualification – after beating Leicester the following night, Newcastle vaulted them and went into fifth place. Without Erling Haaland, unavailable until mid-May at the earliest, City were toothless at Old Trafford, and with Crystal Palace arriving at the Etihad on a run of six wins in seven matches – the other was a draw – it is time for Pep Guardiola to earn his salary by ensuring his side are far better, or Europa League football may be on the cards next season. Jamie Jackson

Manchester City v Crystal Palace, Saturday 12.30pm (all times BST)

Southampton v Aston Villa, Saturday 3pm

Nottingham Forest v Everton, Saturday 3pm

Brighton v Leicester, Saturday 3pm

Arsenal v Brentford, Saturday 5.30pm

Chelsea v Ipswich, Sunday 2pm

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Premier League guaranteed five teams in Champions League after Arsenal win

  • League gets one of two extra berths on offer from Uefa
  • England could have seven clubs in 2025-26 tournament

The Premier League will be guaranteed at least five teams in the 2025-26 Champions League after Arsenal’s stunning 3-0 win over Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday.

The English top flight needed one win from its clubs in any of the three European competitions to secure one of two extra berths – on top of the four granted to the top four in the table – awarded to the highest-ranked countries in the Uefa coefficient table.

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The race for Europe gifts the Premier League run-in a quiet chaos

With the title and relegation all but decided, fourth and fifth are the main spots of intrigue as the end of the season approaches

Southampton’s relegation from the Premier League was confirmed on Sunday, with a record seven games remaining. Wolves beat Ipswich, so there is now a 12-point gap between the bottom three and the rest: Ipswich and Leicester look doomed.

The gap at the top, meanwhile, remains a seemingly unassailable 11 points. Leaders Liverpool lost at Fulham but, with Arsenal only drawing at Everton, it didn’t really matter.

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Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action

United and City play out a deeply forgettable Manchester derby and Unai Emery gets his Aston Villa team right

This was a deeply forgettable derby, but it was Manchester United who looked the more likely to get a winner as time ticked down. Ruben Amorim spoke afterwards of using pace in transitions to try and carve out chances – and with a little more composure in the penalty area, it might have worked. Bruno Fernandes was the game’s standout player but Patrick Dorgu also caught the eye in just his fifth Premier League start. Signed from Lecce in January, the Danish wing-back is the first player Amorim has brought in that fits his system. Freed up by City’s narrow formation, Dorgu was able to get forward and test City’s backline at will. The 20-year-old’s red card at Ipswich sparked fears that, like some other young United recruits, he was too raw for regular Premier League football. Sunday’s performance should ensure he holds down the left-sided spot in Amorim’s 3-4-3 setup for the rest of this season, even with Luke Shaw nearing a return to fitness. Niall McVeigh

Match report: Manchester United 0-0 Manchester City

Match report: Fulham 3-2 Liverpool

Match report: Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 Southampton

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Pep Guardiola left to rue dropped points as Manchester derby ends in bore draw

Blunt and tame, this 196th ­Manchester derby was a curio that failed to ignite despite the cross-town rivalry. Towards the close, Joshua Zirkzee had the contest’s clearest opening: the No 11 swung a boot at Patrick Dorgu’s cross and connected cleanly but ­Ederson saved, cat-like, and ­Manchester City escaped; as they did, also, when a later penalty shout for Mateo ­Kovacic’s challenge on Casemiro was correctly waved away.

So this finished as a non-event in the sun, with scant incident and only marginally more goalmouth action.

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