The 2025 Premier League title race is coming to its climax but it promises to be another second place for Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal who dropped points for the fifth time in the last seven games, as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Thomas Frank’s Brentford, on an action-packed Saturday of top flight football.
With just six games to play, Arsenal are ten points behind Champions-elect Liverpool and they will now focus all their concentration on the Champions League, after hammering Real Madrid 3-0 in their quarter-final first leg last week. Arteta made five changes to his starting line-up against the Bees, who were hoping for a rare victory in North London; not since the 1930s had they beaten the Gunners on their own patch. But they gave it a good go in a hard fought first half, which saw Arsenal’s Kieran Tierney have a goal disallowed by VAR. Thomas Partey put the Gunners ahead on the hour but the Bees hit back when substitute Michael Kayode set up Yoane Wissa for his 16th goal of the campaign.
Liverpool play West Ham United at home on Sunday and can go 13 points clear with a win, with just 18 left to play for.
City’s next generation shoot down the Eagles
It’s been a funny old season for reigning champions Manchester City who have been out of the running since Christmas and crashed out of the Champions League rather earlier than expected. They are in with a good shout of winning the FA Cup and are very likely to qualify for the 2025 Champions League and, on Saturday, the next generation of City stars put on a show as Guardiola’s side whacked upwardly mobile Crystal Palace 5-2, and that after going two goals down.
The Eagles were soaring before they met Manchester City and they hit their hosts with a quick-fire double from Eberechi Eze and Chris Richards. But a Kevin De Bruyne goal inspired a fight back which swept the Eagles aside. City are a team in transition and De Bruyne is one of a number of players in their 30s. At the start of the campaign, the SBOTOP Premier League 2025 betting odds backed Pep Guardiola’s side to make it a fifth successive title but the Sky Blues haven’t been in the race since they suffered an almighty slump in the autumn. And pundits started to wonder how Guardiola will rebuild a new generation of winners.
Well, we saw a glimpse on Saturday as Omar Marmoush, who has made an electric start to his Manchester City career, and young guns James McAtee and Nico O’Reilly all scored, Mateo Kovacic also getting on the score sheet. McAtee was making his first league start for the Sky Blues and he came through the club’s academy with O’Reilly, and those two helped City climb back into the top four….where I strongly suspect they will end up.
Toffees are too sticky for Forest
The season’s surprise package, Nottingham Forest, are starting to look over their shoulders in third place after they suffered a 1-0 home defeat to David Moyes’ Everton. It looked like the game was heading for a goalless draw until Toffees’ midfield ace Abdoulaye Doucoure popped up in the 94th-minute to fire home the winner, after a quick counter attack launched by winger Dwight McNeil. That made it back-to-back defeats for Nuno’s Forest and they now have Manchester City breathing down their necks, just two points behind, as well as Aston Villa, Chelsea and Newcastle lurking not far behind.
Elsewhere, with Southampton already relegated and still sitting on a measly ten points, the game against Euro chasing Aston Villa was something of a dead rubber for the hosts, but it was deadly serious for the Villans who, after a frustrating first half, continued their top five push, despite January recruit Marco Asensio seeing two penalties saved. After Saints keeper Aaron Ramsdale had made a brilliant stop to deny the Spaniard from 12 yards, Villa substitutes Ollie Watkins and Donyell Malen put Unai Emery’s team in charge. Asensio’s injury time penalty was saved but John McGinn popped in the rebound to make it 0-3.
Villa have a Champions League second leg at home to Paris Saint-Germain to prepare for now, while Southampton are trying to avoid being the worst Premier League team of all time. The Saints still need to find two points to beat Derby County’s woeful return of 11 points in 2008.
In other Premier League 2025 news, Brighton missed out on a chance to close in on a Europa League place as they were twice pegged back by soon to be doomed Leicester City. Joao Pedro gave the Seagulls a lead from the penalty spot but the Foxes bit back when Stephy Mavididi scored their first goal in 13 hours of football to level before half time. It looked like Leicester would pay the penalty when VAR awarded the Seagulls another spot-kick, converted by Pedro again, but a late header from Caleb Okoli gave Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s Foxes a first point in nine games.
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