Edison Mills

At the end of a rather emotional season, Everton fans finally enjoy the best of their favourites. With a run of good results, the Tofees’ place in the Premier League has been secured, and today is the last home game of the season against the relegated Sheffield United. The Blades have been much more relaxed lately, but it is evident that there is not enough quality in the squad, and it is no coincidence that the fate of the club in the top division was decided long ago.

Everton have picked up ten points in their last four games, losing only to Chelsea in seven meetings. The Toffes’ form is excellent, and a run of three consecutive wins to nil ended with a 1-1 draw at Luton’s ground a week ago. It is important to note that Everton has won their last four home league games, not conceding a single goal.

A week ago, Sheffield United played a solid first half in their home game at Nottingham but had no luck in front of goal, and Brereton Diaz and Cameron Archer were not lucky in front of goal. The loss was the Blades’ fifth in a row, as the team has consistently conceded at least three goals in their own goal in the last four games.

Sheffield United conceded precisely 100 goals, one of the worst records in the history of the English elite. Two of them came in Everton’s 2-2 draw at Bramall Lane in the autumn. Everton rarely scores in both halves of their league matches, but then again, seldom does anyone not do so against Sheffield United. The hosts have a chance of finishing with five consecutive wins at home, and I expect them to do so with ease.

Two rounds before the end of the season, Brentford are no longer in danger of relegation from the Premier League. The Bees are in sixteenth position, ten points more than struggling for survival Luton. On Saturday, Brentford will visit Bournemouth, which is currently right in the middle of the standings, a point ahead of Brighton and with just as many behind ninth-placed West Ham.

The first game between both sides this season was in the fourth round and ended with a draw. Bournemouth came very close to the three points but slipped away in the third minute of extra time when Bryan Mbeumo equalised for 2-2. This was the third clash between the two teams in the Premier League. Last season, The Cherries failed to score a single goal in their opponent’s goal as they went down 0-2 away to Brentford Community, while the score at Vitality was 0-0.

Last weekend, the Bournemouth team conceded their fourteenth loss in total this campaign in a disappointing manner – 0-3 away to the leader of the standings, Arsenal. With this defeat, the Cherries ended their streak of two consecutive wins, which were over Wolverhampton and Brighton. Brentford, on the other hand, earned a point in the last round after a draw with Fulham.

Bournemouth came out as the favourites to win the upcoming battle, and that can’t be wrong, as the team has been without a defeat at their stadium since February when they lost 0-1 to the current champion Manchester City. The Cherries have just another defeat at home in 2024, which was 0-4 against Liverpool. After the loss to City, Bournemouth recorded four wins and two draws. I think that Brentford will not be able to break their rival’s successful streak and will lose for the first time in the Premier League against Bournemouth.

For the first time in a long time, Manchester City will be level on games played with the leader, Arsenal, and will be able to settle at the top for at least a day. In the first match of the 37th round, the Citizens visit thirteenth-placed Fulham. For The Gunners, on the other hand, a seemingly tricky visit to Old Trafford is coming up tomorrow, but due to the poor form and injuries in the Manchester United squad, I don’t expect Arsenal’s game to be a banana skin.

In the first half of the season, Manchester City effortlessly ran over Fulham 5-1 at home. It was the fifteenth consecutive victory for the Citizens over this opponent in all competitions, and this trend can hardly be reversed today. However, today’s game is one of three that Arsenal fans are hoping for, and Fulham’s motivation will be to stop the champion en route to another title.

The end of the season finds the Cottagers in need of improvement, with only one win in seven games already. The team lost to higher-ranked Newcastle and Liverpool, with the points earned coming mainly from the London derbies. The last of these was with Brentford a week ago. Then, the two teams did not beat each other and did not even exchange shots, although situations needed to be improved.

In mid-April, Manchester City was knocked out of the Champions League, which unwillingly lightened the programme for the rest of the season. In two of the four games that followed, the Citizens looked endlessly tired but managed to pull through. These were the victory over Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final and the success at the City Ground. On 4 May, after six days without an official match, we have already seen Manchester City in their full glory – an emphatic 5-1 win over Wolverhampton without a glimpse of compromise.

No one can take away the faith of Arsenal fans, but just as Real Madrid has worked miracles countless times in the Champions League, Guardiola’s Manchester City always end their seasons in style. It’s not luck; it’s experience and belief in one’s abilities. As I’ve already mentioned, Fulham is in poor form and recently has had horrendous results in the competition. Manchester City, on the other hand, are playing with spirit and are missing injured players, which is a prerequisite for another comfortable win.

The match between Manchester United and Crystal Palace will end the 36th round of the English Premier League. The Red Devils were knocked out of sixth position over the weekend and must beat their host, Crystal Palace, today if they want to return to it. On the other hand, The Eagles have exactly 40 points to their name and, with an excellent end to the season, can move a position or two ahead.

Crystal Palace have shown great form in recent weeks on a fairly compressed schedule. Within thirteen days, the team played four matches, and they were brilliant. It all started with minimal success over Liverpool and continued with a 5-2 defeat in a local derby against West Ham. Newcastle also left Selhurst Park defeated. In the previous round, the Eagles remained unbeaten with an 87th-minute goal from Jeff Schlupp for a 1-1 draw away at Craven Cottage.

It has been a disappointing season for Manchester United, but the team still has a chance of a trophy, with an FA Cup final against Manchester City on May 25. So far, so good, but too few games have been won in the league recently. In the previous six rounds, the Red Devils have beaten relegated Sheffield United, and then only just, 3-2. In the last round, Burnley felt quite comfortable at Old Trafford and drew 1-1.

At the end of September, Crystal Palace won 1-0 at Old Trafford against Manchester United, and why not do it again today? The hosts are definitely favourites for the three points today based on the way they have been playing recently and the results they have been getting. However, Erik Ten Hag has a lot of quality in his squad and that has resulted in a goal in the opposition goal in 79% of the games so far. The last time the Red Devils missed out, in an all-competition match, was on December 23 away to West Ham.

Today’s match, between Liverpool and Tottenham at Anfield, was supposed to be crucial in the title race, but at the most critical moment, the Merseysiders collapsed. But the absolute same can be said for Spurs, who missed countless chances to get close to Aston Villa in the Champions League battle, and now only a miracle can qualify them for the rich man’s tournament.

Liverpool sent out a horrendous month of April, which last year was disastrous for Arsenal, and this year proved to be so for the Reds from the city of the Beatles. In their previous five league games, the Reds have only managed to win away against Fulham. Jurgen Klopp lost his last derby to Everton and, in the previous round, officially waved the white towel in a 2-2 draw against West Ham in London.

Tottenham entered an extremely tough run of games, and it doesn’t get any easier until the end. Spurs are without a point in their last four games. In each of them, Postecoglou’s boys have underperformed, having been brought back to life by a fractious error from David Raya in the derby with Arsenal, which was lost 2-3. A 0-2 defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge was also conceded during the week, and this series started with a 0-4 defeat at St James’s Park.

Jurgen Klopp’s stay at Liverpool will end with a Carabao Cup trophy, not the treble dreamed of by the club’s fans. However, with three rounds to go, Anfield will be able to demonstrate their love for the German specialist, and his players should thank him for what he has done for the club.

One of the most infamous sending-offs this season was in the first match between the two teams when fate decided a Matip own goal in the 96th minute to bring the 2-1 success for Tottenham, who finished the game with two more men on the pitch. Today, I expect a rematch for what happened on September 30, which will end Liverpool’s Champions League claims. Liverpool has been without a loss in the Anfield rivalry since 2011 and has had only four setbacks in the past few years. I think it’s even redundant to mention that games of over 2.5 goals scored between the two teams prevail.

For the third time in the last two weeks, Chelsea will play in a London derby. Today, it is at home against West Ham. Both teams are neighbours in the middle of the league standings, but two points lead for the Blues, and a game in hand gives them a fighting chance against Manchester United and Newcastle for the Top 6. In all likelihood, seventh place will also carry a European Conference League quota, but it is debatable how attractive it is for a club like Chelsea.

In the final third of the season, Chelsea is in good form. During the week, we followed up with a 2-0 success over Tottenham at Stamford Bridge, with a dry net that was one of the few for the team this season. Days earlier, however, the Blues made up a two-goal deficit at Villa Park, and a disallowed Axel Dissasi goal in the 95th minute denied them the right to go home with total points.

West Ham fell into a severe hole, which led to them moving further away from the places entitling them to play in the European competitions. In the last two months in England, only Wolverhampton have been beaten. In the previous round, the Hammers finally smashed Liverpool’s title ambitions in a 2-2 draw at the Olympic Stadium in London.

West Ham and Chelsea met back in the second round of the current season, and in that match, David Moyes cleverly managed to outplay the opponent on the counter-attack with only 24% ball possession. The final score was 3-1 in favour of the Hammers. However, I don’t think that the experienced English manager will be able to deceive Mauricio Pochettino again in the dispute between them.

With Cole Palmer in the lineup, Chelsea looks completely different, and today, I expect them to record a tenth win in their penultimate home game of the season. West Ham arrive at Stamford Bridge in terrible form as an away side and lost in seven of their ten away games in 2024. The last of those was a 2-5 defeat to Crystal Palace in one of many city derbies for the London teams.

From a disappointing position in the middle of the league standings, Brighton welcomed Aston Villa in the first of their remaining three home games of the season in the English Premier League. On the other hand, The Villans have the opportunity to make themselves unreachable in fourth position. That will happen with a success for them at the Amex Stadium and a loss for Tottenham at Anfield against Liverpool later in the day.

It’s safe to say Brighton is having a dreadfully poor season. Of course, the team has raised the bar high in recent years and, on their European debut, reached the Europa League 1/8-finals, which is an admirable achievement. However, there will be no European football at the Amex next season. In their last six championship games, the Seagulls have lost four times and taken just two points. However, we have to take into account that the defeats came against Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City, but Bournemouth also easily got away with a 3-0 win over Brighton in the last round.

Unai Emery is making history at the helm of Aston Villa. The Villans are once again a factor in the English Premier League, and the team is a semi-finalist in Europe, although they lost 2-4 in their first clash against Olympiakos on Thursday and at home. In their last league game, Aston Villa went in with a two-goal lead at the break against Chelsea, but the scores were level after the break, and VAR even ruled out Chelsea’s late goal in the 95th minute. However, Emiliano Martinez was substituted at the break of that match, and he was out of the squad for the Olympiakos match.

In the last week, it has been directly evident how vital the Argentine keeper is for Aston Villa, and he will undergo a late fitness test that will confirm whether he can play in the critical away game today. Even with him, however, the Villans’ away form could be more satisfactory, even though they won on their last visit in the league and against Arsenal. In 2024, however, Aston Villa lost only on the pitch of Manchester City, and I don’t think that can happen today. Brighton has been absolutely helpless in the last month, and in September, they conceded a fifth consecutive loss to their rivals, and it was an emphatic 1:6 at Villa Park.

No one can stop Manchester City for a fourth consecutive English title except the club’s results. The Citizens welcome Wolverhampton on Saturday and will now most likely be four points behind Arsenal, who will play their home game against Bournemouth earlier. Indeed, today’s round offers the two easiest games for the two clubs remaining in the title fight.

Manchester City’s form in the league is impressive, and many believe that Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is the only place where the team can lose points in the remaining four matches. The Citizens have won all five of their league games since drawing with Arsenal at the end of March. Erling Haaland and company showed a pretty good performance, scoring 19 goals. In the last round, however, Manchester City looked very tired and miraculously did not lose points at the City Ground against Forest. The hosts from Nottingham squandered great scoring opportunities and eventually lost 2-0 to the champion.

Wolverhampton had severe personnel problems in recent weeks, and they proved fatal to the club’s results. For a month and a half, Wolves were without success and lost most of their matches. Last week, Wolverhampton finally got the fatal thirteenth win of the season in the English Premier League, 2-1 at home against Luton.

The champions did not look good at all at the City Ground and undoubtedly played one of their weakest games since the beginning of the season. However, Pep Guardiola’s players had a whole week to recover, and I think it will prove more than enough after a busy schedule. The difference in the quality of the two teams is incomparable, and I think it will be shown in the actions on the pitch and the final result. Manchester City had a lead at halftime in nine of their last ten home games in the English Premier League.

Sheffield United is officially the first relegated team from the English Premier League this season, with three more teams left in contention for survival. Between them, the best starting position is for Nottingham Forest. In the autumn, the Red and Whites beat Sheffield United with a 2-1 goal in the 89th minute, and a double will help them immensely in the critical battle at the bottom.

In recent weeks, we have seen Burnley manage to rise and have a real chance of surviving, but Sheffield United did nothing of the sort. The team has been waiting for a win since February 10, or eleven games now. There have now been four consecutive defeats. A week ago, the Blades took an early lead when they visited Newcastle, but that only served to frustrate their opponents, and they eventually went down 5-1.

Nottingham has also disappointed in the last couple of months, with only one win over Fulham at home, which is notable in the team’s poor form. Last week, the Red and Whites were the better team on the pitch and deserved at least a point, even though they were up against the champions Manchester City. Striker Chris Wood was the big disappointment for Nottingham, with a couple of big misses.

From the position of relegation, Sheffield United is capable of confusing the plans of its opponents until the end of the season. In their last home game, the Blades lost 1:4 to Burnley, but the result was a bit deceiving. The Sheffield team squandered great scoring opportunities, and their defensive performance is to blame for the loss once again (97 goals conceded this season). Nottingham Forest has just two away wins this season but still has to take a risk today on the way to the three points. I don’t know if the visitors will emerge victorious from this game, but I expect plenty of shots in a very attacking match.

From the role of doomed in the battle for survival, Burnley is now just two points away from salvaging seventeenth position. However, The Clarets’ schedule includes two games against teams battling for a place in Europe – Newcastle and Tottenham. However, the team closes the campaign with a home game at Nottingham, and therein lies the club’s best hope, of course, only if Forest still needs to secure its survival by then.

It has taken Vincent Kompany almost an entire season to start scoring in England’s elite. In eight rounds already, his team has lost only to Everton and away to opponents like West Ham, Chelsea and Manchester United. It was at “Old Trafford”, the last match for the team, in which a late penalty in the 88th minute brought a point to their record.

Newcastle achieved an emphatic 5-1 win at home against Sheffield United and is now just a point behind sixth-placed Manchester United. On May 15, there will be a match between Manchester United and Newcastle, which will probably decide both teams’ fate. Until then, however, Eddie Howe’s boys should not lose any points, and the prerequisite for that is good – since they gained thirteen points in the last six rounds.

We have seen a satisfactory number of goal spectacles this season in the English Premier League, but the first match (2-0) between today’s opponents at St. James’s Park was not one of them. I expect the second to be an exception to the high-scoring in England’s elite. Although Burnley needs to win, a point against such a strong opponent would be a good achievement. The Clarets have not conceded more than a goal in five games, and it is the improved defensive performances that are leading to their positive results. Newcastle, on the other hand, has reduced turnovers recently, and in three of the team’s last five games, less than 2.5 goals have been scored.