Plus: Everton's problems on the pitch laid bare; Mikel Arteta calls for Arsenal response, Andreas Pereira shines for Fulham, while Joachim Anderson and Jefferson Lerma keep Liverpool at bay
Tuesday 16 April 2024 12:50, UK
For all the money they've wastefully splurged, Chelsea might just have pulled off the signing of the season. It will certainly feel that way if Cole Palmer can add to his Premier League heroics with something special against his former club Manchester City at Wembley on Saturday in the FA Cup semi-finals.
That certainly isn't beyond him. Everything Palmer touches turns to gold right now.
He has almost single-handedly revived the Blues' league prospects. For all their issues this season they are three points off sixth and seventh with a game in hand over Newcastle and Manchester United. European football could be salvaged for next year. Palmer's back-to-back hat-tricks at Stamford Bridge have helped - especially the late two goals to turn defeat into victory against United.
On Monday it was a showcase of his wonderful ability. The skill in the silky opener. The instinct to poach the second. The ruthlessness to punish Jordan Pickford with his weaker foot. And then the attitude to take the ball off Noni Madueke and Nicolas Jackson for the second-half penalty.
This 21-year-old has it all. Chelsea supporters gave him a standing ovation when he came off - they know they've brought a real gem to the club in Palmer.
Peter Smith
Much of Monday was dominated by Everton's big off-pitch issue: their appeal against a second points deduction this season. But at Stamford Bridge their problems on the pitch were brutally exposed.
Sean Dyche was incensed in his post-match press conference by what he saw across the field.
Up front, there was the same wasteful finishing that has held them back all year. Beto's volley over from three yards was a shocking miss. His blushes may have been spared by the offside flag going up but if he'd hit the net VAR most likely would have overturned that offside call and given the goal.
It wasn't their only opening - they finished the game with an xG of 1.41 but the team with the worst shooting accuracy in the league found the target with just two of their efforts and again went goalless.
In midfield, the half-time withdrawal of both James Garner and Amadou Onana summed up how Dyche felt about his players in the centre of the pitch, while the defence - which has been a positive for much of the campaign - was exposed repeatedly by Chelsea, with some bad moments for Jordan Pickford adding to the shortcomings at the back.
"It's miles off where we want to be," said Dyche. Whether Everton's appeal against their most recent points deduction is successful or not, they must improve on the pitch if they are to keep themselves above the drop zone.
Peter Smith
Aston Villa’s win at the Emirates isn’t quite as devastating to Arsenal’s title hopes as Brighton’s victory in north London in May last year but it has the same effect - handing the initiative to Manchester City in the title race.
Arsenal’s 2-0 defeat at the hands of Unai Emery, their former manager, means they missed the chance to return to the top of the table, instead handing champions City a two-point lead with six games to play.
While there are 18 points still to play for, the signs are ominous for Arsenal and fellow title chasers Liverpool. City are six games from a fourth successive title for a reason - they know how to close things out at this stage of the season.
Mikel Arteta’s reaction to the defeat felt pointed. The manager admitted he expected his side to suffer a setback during the run-in but urged his side to “stand up”, adding: “The moment is now”.
Arteta has challenged his side to show they are stronger than 12 months ago, when they blew their lead at the top of the table as City were crowned again.
How Arsenal respond to this defeat, as well as their manager’s words, will be instructive. Victory over Bayern Munich on Wednesday will show lessons have been learned - but a Champions League exit will leave a second consecutive season in danger of fizzling out.
Joe Shread
At least the blame can be shared. Darwin Nunez should have scored but so should his replacement Diogo Jota. Curtis Jones will be wondering how he missed but the midfielder can share that frustration with the team's star forward Mohamed Salah.
Crystal Palace defended gamely in beating Liverpool 1-0 at Anfield and will feel their resilience was rewarded but the home side can only look to their own finishing. Jamie Carragher felt they could have had four. Jamie Redknapp opted for six instead.
The sober statistical analysis provided by Opta suggests that the expected-goals figure for the chances created by Liverpool was almost three. The reality is that they scored none. This wastefulness as a decisive stage of the season is likely to prove costly.
Liverpool are being outscored in the Premier League title race by Manchester City and Arsenal. Not by much. But it is significant because Jurgen Klopp's side have actually created many more chances than their rivals. The contrast in finishing is marked.
City would have been expected to score 68 goals from their chances but have actually scored 76. Arsenal would have been expected to score 62 goals from their chances but have actually scored 75. But Liverpool's chances, worth 75 goals, have yielded only 72.
Nunez's lack of composure in front of goal is well documented and it is perhaps no surprise that City have been colder but Arsenal too? That is damning. Salah, once such a clinical finisher, is underperforming his expected goals for the second season in a row.
It has been a recurring theme of late, costing them two points against Manchester United at OId Trafford. Here, it was all three. No crisis, just a disappointment. And likely to prove the difference between Liverpool and their rivals in this Premier League title race.
Adam Bate
It just had to happen, didn't it? On the weekend Arsenal could have moved one point clear at the top of the Premier League with just six games remaining, they're haunted by their former boss Unai Emery.
It was all set up for Arsenal to take pole position in the title race, with Liverpool being stunned at home by Crystal Palace earlier on Sunday, but the Gunners were left shocked themselves in front of their own fans.
While the headlines will be about Arsenal squandering their chance to return to the summit, it's important to praise Villa for what Gary Neville described as an "outstanding" display. Emery's side have big ambitions of their own and are now in a great position to finish in the top four following Tottenham's heavy defeat at Newcastle on Saturday.
Paul Merson believes Villa, who have not finished higher than fifth since 1997, are underrated and he has a point. Emery took over a side languishing near the bottom of the league in October 2022 and has since led them to within touching distance of Champions League football and a European trophy.
His appointment at Arsenal six years ago came at the wrong time but there is no doubt Emery is a phenomenal coach. The 52-year-old guided the Gunners to fifth place in his one full season in charge and while they have undoubtedly improved under Mikel Arteta, Emery could well have ruined their chances of winning their first title since 2004.
After completing the double over Arsenal this campaign, Emery has now lost just one of his seven games in all competitions against them. How pivotal will this result against his ex-employers prove to be?
Dan Sansom
A lot of cliched football sayings are bogus. Born out of idle pub chat, usually after a lemonade or two. But the phrase 'bogey team' holds genuine merit. Liverpool's is Crystal Palace.
The Eagles are the first opposition side to win three Premier League games at Anfield since Jurgen Klopp took charge. No other team has won there more than once. And this latest triumph eclipsed all others.
Liverpool's expected goals total reached 2.87 - their most on record in a game in which they did not score (since 2010-11). The brilliance of Joachim Andersen and makeshift centre-back partner Jefferson Lerma made sure of that.
Andersen made 14 clearances, seven of those headed, the most of any player on the pitch. Lerma won 100 per cent of his aerial duels too. It was a brilliantly controlled, calm, and at times heroic performance from a side whose defensive record has been patchy.
This was Liverpool's first home league defeat since October 2022, but their second in the space of four days in all competitions after falling to Atalanta on Thursday. Jurgen Klopp had promised a reaction to that, but didn't account for Palace's dogged determination and defiance, best summed up by Tyrick Mitchell's stretch to block Mo Salah in second-half stoppage time.
Oliver Glasner's team can breathe much easier now, with the reward daylight between themselves and the drop zone.
Laura Hunter
English audiences first set eyes on Andreas Pereira in a Man Utd shirt a decade ago, although he went on to only make 45 appearances in total during a stop-start career at Old Trafford, including loans to Granada, Valencia, Lazio and Flamengo, before Marco Silva decided to bring him to west London in July 2022.
The Portuguese backed his man-management skills and coaching abilities to get the best out of the, at times, frustrating Brazil international and that is exactly what he has done.
Silva spoke in the aftermath of Fulham's 2-0 win at West Ham, in which Pereira starred to score his first-ever Premier League double, of how he has changed the player's position in midfield to help bring the best out of him.
"This afternoon the plan was clear for him," said Silva in his post-match press conference. "We said to never be [in front] of the two West Ham midfielders. We wanted him in the pockets, between the lines, that's how we planned the game. About him arriving in the box, that's something we're demanding of him."
And boy did the 28-year-old heed his manager's advice at the London Stadium to bring up his 12th goal involvement in 40 matches in all competitions so far this season, with Pereira specifically running over to embrace his manager on the touchline after opening the scoring with the duo's close bond there for all to see.
Richard Morgan
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