EPL Review: Arsenal flip script, Man City crumble, Liverpool ride luck

Following every weekend of Premier League action, theScore examines the most important developments and biggest talking points to emerge from the slate of matches. Below, we dissect Matchweek 24 of the 2024-25 season.

Arsenal have flipped Man City rivalry

Arsenal didn't just beat Manchester City on Sunday - they conquered a demon. The Gunners have truly eclipsed their rivals, leaving them behind after trailing them for years. The only tragedy is that Arsenal may finally finish above City in the table but once again miss out on the Premier League title.

We all know how far Mikel Arteta and his staff have gone to find the antidote to City's sting. He hired pickpockets to test his players' mental sharpness in a casual setting. He brought an olive tree into a team meeting and described his players as branches and his staff as the roots. He adopted a dog named Win and tried as hard as he could to identify the margins City seemed to have cornered for so long.

City beat Arsenal in 15 of 16 matches from the start of the 2017-18 season to the end of the 2022-23 campaign. Arsenal failed to score in many of those games. It was complete annihilation.

But the rivalry changed at the start of last season. A 1-0 win in October 2023 ended City's dominant run. Back-to-back Premier League draws followed, including the 2-2 result that John Stones salvaged with a late header in September.

If those last three contests closed the gap for Arsenal, Sunday's 5-1 win flipped the script entirely, leaving City with a gap of their own.

While Pep Guardiola's players have looked unrecognizable this season - worlds apart from the slick-passing team that won four straight league titles - they were downright bullied at the Emirates. No one could make a pass or a good decision under pressure. Arsenal forced the issue by pressing high and asking questions of City's fragile defenders. The response was usually some kind of giveaway.

Above all, City's buildup play lacked reason. Take, for example, the lunacy that led to Arsenal's first goal. Manuel Akanji wouldn't have coughed up possession if Stones had built up play using the free man on his left instead of the one teammate crowded by opponents.

Arsenal didn't relent and dunked on City whenever they had a chance. It may have looked like they were beating a dead horse, but they were really proving to themselves that the tables have indeed turned.

Quick free-kicks 📝

Liverpool ride their luck

"We weren't unlucky, let's put it this way." That was Arne Slot's refreshingly honest assessment of his team's performance following Saturday's 2-0 win over Bournemouth. Liverpool didn't have it all their own way. The Cherries, riding an 11-match unbeaten run, made it tricky. Margins were fine. Liverpool were on the right side of match-swinging offside calls in either direction, while Bournemouth were thwarted by the post twice. Call it what it was: Liverpool got a little lucky. That's okay. Every team that goes on to win a title gets some fortuitous bounces along the way. They just happen to be magnetized when dealing with a title race, which gives off the illusion that every call is going the way of the leaders. Liverpool are excellent, and they're getting the slices of luck you need to hold off the chasing pack. That's a tough combo to beat.

Tempering expectations

Ruben Amorim could have been right when he said last month that this may be the "worst" Manchester United team in club history - a statement he later admitted to regretting. Against that backdrop, and on the back of another humbling home loss Sunday, this time to Crystal Palace, there will be an obvious desire to anoint any new signings as the singular savior who can help turn things around. That would be a disservice to Patrick Dorgu, the 20-year-old Danish international who arrived Sunday from Lecce for an initial £25 million. And, should the club make an 11th-hour move for another central defender in the wake of Lisandro Martinez's seemingly serious knee injury, they'll get hit with the same label, too. But no one player can turn this around fully, and certainly not immediately. This rebuild is going to take time. Being patient is hard, but it's the only sustainable path back to success for Manchester United and their dejected fan base.

Cunha's mind finally clear

Matheus Cunha has been on a whirlwind ride during the January transfer window. He was initially tabbed as an option for some of Europe's elite clubs looking for more scoring punch, then reportedly had an agreement in place to extend his contract with Wolves, then got called out publicly by his manager, inciting a new round of rumors about the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United being interested, and then, finally, put everything to bed Sunday by inking the aforementioned extension, not long after scoring to seal a 2-0 win over Aston Villa. Transfer speculation can absolutely have a tangible negative impact on player performance, though few admit it. With the window closing and his immediate future decided, Cunha can now focus exclusively on his play. Until we start doing this all over again in the summer, of course.

Aston Villa's secondary scoring

Ollie Watkins needs help in the wake of Jhon Duran's transfer to Al-Nassr. Strictly financially, getting €77 million upfront for a player who was in Major League Soccer just two years ago was a masterstroke. Offered that deal, you take it every single time, especially at a time when financial rules are always top of mind. On the pitch, though, losing the Colombian marksman puts a lot of pressure on Watkins, whose 10 league goals this season make him the club's leading scorer. Morgan Rogers has six tallies, but nobody else has more than three. Duran had seven. Villa need more from Leon Bailey, while January signing Donyell Malen has to get up to speed quickly. Unai Emery will hope that Marcus Rashford can hit the ground running and recapture some of his early-career scoring form.

Star performer 🌟

Chris Wood (Nottingham Forest)

Mohamed Salah, Erling Haaland, and Alexander Isak unsurprisingly occupy the top three spots in the Premier League's Golden Boot race. The top two, especially, were to be expected. Not many would have predicted Wood would be right in the mix, though. The imposing 33-year-old's renaissance since joining Nottingham Forest has been inspiring as it has been unexpected. Wood joined Forest in January 2023 when he was on the wrong side of 30 and had scored only seven Premier League goals since the start of the 2021 season.

He's gone on an almighty tear since then, scoring 32 league goals for Forest. His hat-trick in Saturday's 7-0 annihilation of Brighton brought him to 17 on the current campaign, including seven in his last six league outings. For a team that likes to attack directly and at pace using different combinations of wing-backs and more traditional wingers, the New Zealander is a perfect fit as the target man in the middle. It's working like a dream for Nuno.

Best XI 😎

(Source: FotMob)

Highlight of the weekend 🎥

If you look up "defense-splitting" pass in the dictionary, you'll find this gorgeous assist from James Garner during Everton's dominant 4-0 win over Leicester City.

Stat of the weekend 🔢

The "Theatre of Dreams" is giving Manchester United nightmares nowadays.

Social media moment 📱

Time to get a green piece in there after Southampton's win this weekend.

Where we stand 👀

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