Manchester City look unstoppable as they hunt a fifth Premier League title in six years while Liverpool are refusing to give up the chase for a top-four berth.
Bottom-club Southampton appear doomed but the teams above them are braced for a nerve-racking survival fight in the final weeks of the season.
Here’s the big talking points from the Premier League this weekend:
Haaland scores 50th as City go top | 01:41
Man City survive title test
Manchester City survived a tricky test of their title defence with a vital 2-1 win against Fulham to return to the top of the table for the first time in two months.
After crushing Arsenal 4-1 in midweek, Pep Guardiola’s men knew a win at Craven Cottage on Sunday would take them above the Gunners into first place.
Erling Haaland converted an early penalty to become the first top-flight player to score 50 goals in all competitions in a single English season since 1931.
Haaland’s 34th Premier League goal of the season equals the competition record held by Andy Cole and Alan Shearer — set in the days of 42-game campaigns.
But that was not the trigger for a swaggering City display, with Carlos Vinicius punishing poor defending to equalise.
It was reminiscent of City’s 1-1 draw against Nottingham Forest, immediately after they beat Arsenal to go top of the table in February.
But there was to be no repeat of that stumble as Julian Alvarez’s superb long-range strike sealed City’s eighth successive league victory.
City are a point ahead of Arsenal with a game in hand and it would be a huge shock if they did not win the title now.
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94th min madness! Reds stun in rollercoaster as ‘shambolic’ Spurs savaged after collapse — PL Wrap
Klopp pulls hammy after Reds winner | 00:55
Big Liverpool risk in top four hunt
Newcastle beat Southampton 3-1 on Sunday to stay third in the Premier League while Manchester United edged past in-form Aston Villa 1-0.
The two teams are strong favourites to seal Champions League places for next season behind Manchester City and Arsenal.
But neither Newcastle boss Eddie Howe nor United manager Erik ten Hag will be comfortable about seeing Liverpool in their rear-view mirror.
Jurgen Klopp’s men beat Spurs 4-3 in a thriller at Anfield, with Diogo Jota scoring a last-gasp winner.
They have won their past four league games to climb to fifth in the table — seven points behind United, having played a game more.
Liverpool’s run-in does not look unduly taxing while Newcastle and United have some tricky
games still to play.
United manager Erik ten Hag remains confident ahead of a clash with Brighton. “We look from game to game and next we have Brighton so we need to work hard again,” Ten Hag told the BBC.
“We need to show passion again and not worry about the table. We are totally in control (in the race for the top four). It’s all about us and it’s in our hands.”
For Liverpool, defender Trent Alexander-Arnold embodies the club’s rebound in fortunes.
The Reds fullback became the first-ever Premier League player to twice go on a run of assisting a goal in five consecutive games, as he notched his 53rd league assist against Spurs.
The England right-back has been criticised brutally this season, but a tactical shift has driven the team’s recent run of form.
Alexander-Arnold has drifted into the midfield to overload defences and provide the Reds more attacking impetus, something which leaves them incredibly vulnerable on the counter.
The tactic requires the centre-backs (Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate in this case) as well as the centre-defensive midfielder (Fabinho today) to position themselves better to cover for the gap left by the right back.
They struggled deeply to do so against Spurs, and on another day they could easily have been punished more.
Liverpool’s high-risk approach gets the best out of their much-maligned right back, and helped the Reds win four in a row. But if they can’t fix the defensive frailties it exposes, they could soon slip away.
Brighton’s remarkable development
Brighton enjoyed the biggest win of their season with a 6-0 crushing of Wolves. Four goals in the first half for the first time since 2016, and two more to round things out in the second term. It was the most goals they’ve ever scored in a top flight match and their biggest win in league competition since 2000.
The Seagulls sit eighth, but have two games in hand on fifth-placed Liverpool to make up a four-point deficit. They have one game in hand on Man United, 11 points up the road – but those two teams face off next. Maybe the Champions League places are out of reach, but European qualification looks a very live possibility.
The win was the perfect response to a difficult week, beaten on penalties by Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-finals before a midweek defeat to Nottingham Forest.
“We suffered a lot in the last two games. This answer today was fantastic. I have no doubt about the level of the people inside the dressing room,” coach Roberto De Zerbi said. “The most important is not to lose our DNA and style. We deserve to achieve our target, Europe, but we shall see.”
EPL Wrap: Brighton grab biggest ever win | 01:31
Crucially, de Zerbi rested star trio Alexis Mac Allister, Kaoru Mitoma, and Moises Caicedo – and their replacements were absolutely outstanding. Pascal Gross scored a brace, while Billy Gilmour was labelled the player of the match by De Zerbi.
De Zerbi only took charge on September 18 after Graham Potter departed to Chelsea. Since then, he has guided the Seagulls to wins over Chelsea – twice – and over the likes of Liverpool.
Under Potter last season, Brighton played a wonderfully attractive brand of football – but often failed to find the goals to show for it. Under de Zerbi, they have become far more clinical in the final third, scoring 61 goals in 31 games – that’s as many goals as third-placed Newcastle, in two fewer games! It’s also blown away the number of goals they scored in the entirety of last season — 42 in 38 games. Only Arsenal have had more different goal scorers in the league this season, which indicates that de Zerbi’s fringe players continue to make their mark – and crucially, allowing him to rotate the squad in the testing final few weeks of the season. It could make all the difference in their race for Europe.
Luongo goals as Ipswich get promoted | 00:50
Relegation race hots up
There appears to be no escape for Southampton — six points from safety with just four games remaining — but the four teams above them are locked in a tense fight for survival.
Either Leicester or Everton, who meet on Tuesday morning AEST, will climb out of the bottom three, with Nottingham Forest dropping into the relegation zone.
Leeds are perilously placed, just one point above 18th-placed Leicester after their 4-1 defeat by Bournemouth — a fourth loss in their past five matches. And they have a tough run home, with Man City this weekend before Newcastle, West Ham, and Tottenham.
Bournemouth, 10 points clear of Leicester, appear safe and Wolves look likely to survive despite their 6-0 humbling by Brighton on Saturday.
But West Ham are not yet assured of top-flight survival after a 4-3 defeat by Crystal Palace left them five points clear of the drop zone, with a trip to Manchester City looming on Wednesday.
