What we learned from Matchweek 25

Football writer Alex Keble highlights the hot topics and tactical lessons from Matchweek 25, including:

- Extraordinary comeback could be the spark Man City needed to light the fire
- Crucial goal shows improving Gyokeres can play a big part in the run-in
- Advantage of Man Utd's free midweeks summed up by set-piece routine
- Monumental win for Palace could be a watershed moment in Glasner’s final year
- Elland Road form alone might be enough to keep Leeds up
- Everton are in race for Europe – and have a manager who knows how to get there
- Newcastle’s Premier League season is in danger of unravelling
- Palmer’s injury-hit season could turn around after fourth career hat-trick
- West Ham’s revival has widened the relegation battle
- Bournemouth’s impressive start to 2026 reveals new depths to Iraola

Extraordinary comeback could be the spark Man City needed to light the fire

Pep Guardiola’s antics on the touchlines, from the anxious pacing like a “demon” (in the words of Gary Neville) to the slightly manic impersonation of Gianluigi Donnarumma’s glorious injury-time save, was arguably the most animated we have seen him for some time.

It hints at something significant. For a while now, as Manchester City stutter through unexpected draws, Guardiola has been a little quieter than usual, the loss of control and the swings of momentum that have gone against his team left unexplained in post-match press conferences.

But on Sunday it was as if the flame was relit - both for Guardiola and his team.

Man City’s comeback win at Liverpool was one for the ages, an iconic match that could be the catalyst this club has been waiting for. An undeniable sense of drift had taken hold at Man City, as if the players just couldn’t lift themselves to seize the moment and put Arsenal under pressure.

They certainly seized the moment at Anfield.

Watch: The crazy second half of Liverpool 1-2 Man City

The result, the adrenaline coursing through their veins, the mood in the dressing room; this is how a title run is forged. Minds will sharpen and Man City will look at the Premier League table with a renewed focus and determination.

A squad full of new players yet to win a title under Guardiola perhaps needed a moment to bind them together, to feel – not just know – the manager’s genius and his ability to put together a winning streak through spring.

Suddenly the six-point gap, with Arsenal still to visit the Etihad Stadium, seems like nothing at all.

Crucial goal shows improving Gyokeres can play a big part in the run-in

It was a routine win for Arsenal at Emirates Stadium, but while Sunderland never truly threatened the hosts, there is a world in which the final 25 minutes got nervy; at 1-0, Arsenal were not creating many chances and Sunderland certainly had a foothold in the contest.

Viktor Gyokeres’ goal to give Arsenal a cushion – his first of two strikes – was a critical moment and precisely why Arsenal spent so much money on him in the summer.

It hasn’t been the smoothest of starts to Premier League life for Gyokeres but his form is steadily improving. His brace on Saturday made it four goals in four games in all competitions, and eight goals or assists in his last eight appearances in an Arsenal shirt.

His 30-minute cameo against Sunderland produced perhaps his most important moment for the club so far. That killer instinct, which allowed Arsenal to ride out the game stress-free, is just what Mikel Arteta’s side need in the run-in.

Judging by Man City’s result at Liverpool, Arsenal are going to need Gyokeres.

Gyokeres' shot placement map 25/26

Advantage of Man Utd’s free midweeks summed up by set-piece routine

A red card for Cristian Romero certainly helped, but Manchester United showed the control, the slick one-touch football, and the self-belief that was so clearly lacking prior to Michael Carrick’s arrival.

The speed and fluency of Man Utd's play stands out most of all, a style of football characterised best by the one-touch wall-passing from the No 10s. Time and time again, Bruno Fernandes, Amad or Matheus Cunha popped up between the lines to receive a line-splitting pass and pop it off to a team-mate.

One explanation for that is the suitability of the formation - a very narrow 4-2-3-1 that has Cunha (LW) and Amad (RW) in the half-spaces, like No 10s - and the confidence flowing through a team that has now won four out of four under Carrick.

Man Utd average positions v Spurs

But that doesn’t explain how Carrick has got Man Utd playing this way. To explain that, we need only look at their opening goal, from a brilliantly worked corner that must have required extensive scouting of Spurs and extensive practice on the training pitch.

Watch: Set-piece routine for Mbeumo's opener

In other words, it required time: the one thing Man Utd have more of than any of their rivals.

Amorim didn’t appear to make the free midweeks count, but one month in, Carrick is taking full advantage: Man Utd have won four consecutive Premier League games for the first time since February 2024 under Erik ten Hag.

Monumental win for Palace could be a watershed moment in Glasner’s final season

It is impossible to overstate how big a result this was for Crystal Palace and Oliver Glasner.

There was a serious danger Glasner's final season as Palace manager would end with a whimper, but victory in "the M23 derby" – ending an 11-match winless run in all competitions – suddenly pushes their campaign onto a new path. It could reignite a push for European qualification and invigorate the club for a tilt at winning the UEFA Europa Conference League.

That’s because Palace have Burnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Selhurst Park in their next two matches, games that – with confidence restored – Glasner will expect his side to win. In this unusual season, maximum points here would put an eighth-place finish (likely to mean European qualification) firmly back in their sights.

Palace's next PL fixtures

It would also mean Palace can take on European opponents in the middle of a winning streak. Without meaning to get too far ahead here, it is worth noting that Palace’s likeliest route to the Conference League final is Zrinjski Mostar, Mainz 05 (currently 14th in Germany), Fiorentina (18th in Italy), and Rayo Vallecano (18th in Spain).

The Glasner era could yet end on the biggest high of all.

Elland Road form alone might be enough to keep Leeds up

Winning this six-pointer pulled Daniel Farke’s side three points clear of Nottingham Forest but the significance goes beyond the victory itself.

Here was evidence that Leeds United’s home form is going to last the distance – and, therefore, could be enough all on its own to seal survival.

Leeds have won 76 per cent of their Premier League points at home, the highest proportion of any side in the division (22 out of 29 points). They have only lost three home matches - as many as Liverpool and Aston Villa - and sit 11th in the Premier League on home form alone.

The good news for Leeds fans is that they still have Sunderland, Wolves and Burnley to visit Elland Road; those three clubs are all comfortably in the bottom half of the table for away form.

Beat all three and Leeds will have at least 38 points, a total that has proved enough to stay up in each of the last 14 Premier League seasons.

Everton are in race for Europe – and have a manager who knows how to get there

A five-match unbeaten run, including a sequence of eight points from their last four games, has propelled Everton up into eighth place and just two points shy of Liverpool in sixth spot.

Like so many other mid-table clubs this season, Everton have found that, in a season with Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur struggling, it only take a short burst of form to come into contention for a place in Europe.

The advantage Everton have over teams such as Brentford, Sunderland and Fulham is that they have a manager who has done it all before.

David Moyes took a West Ham United team that came 16th in 2019/20 to sixth and seventh spots in the next two seasons and defied all expectations to lift the UEFA Europa Conference League trophy in 2023.

Moyes once took Everton to the brink of UEFA Champions League qualification back in 2004/05. They won’t reach those heights, but replicating what he did at West Ham is certainly not out of the question.

Since his appointment in January 2025, Everton have won the joint-sixth most points in the Premier League.

PL table since Moyes' Everton return (11/1/25)

Scroll horizontally to see full table on mobile devices

Newcastle’s Premier League season is in danger of unravelling

The boos at the final whistle at St James’ Park on Saturday evening were new, reflecting a disappointment at how the 2025/26 season is panning out for Eddie Howe’s side.

Newcastle’s CEO David Hopkinson recently said that he wants to win the Premier League title by 2030, a dream that certainly looks a long way off after the Magpies lost their third consecutive game in the competition to drop to 10 points shy of the Champions League places.

And it could yet get worse. Newcastle’s next two Premier League matches, both away from home, are against Spurs and Man City. Fail to win either of these matches and Howe’s side will face the very real prospect of a bottom-half finish.

Newcastle's next PL fixtures

Indeed the tone of Newcastle's 2025/26 campaign will be defined this month, with Champions League play-off games against Qarabag and an FA Cup tie at Aston Villa all to come in the next fortnight.

This is hardly the form – one win in eight in all competitions – that Newcastle want to be in, ahead of the most critical two weeks of their season.

Palmer’s injury-hit season could turn around after fourth career hat-trick

Chelsea’s resurgence under Liam Rosenior looks set to be a major boost for Cole Palmer, who, in a season plagued by injuries, has boosted his personal numbers significantly with a hat-trick at Molineux.

Palmer became the first player in Premier League history to score three first-half hat-tricks, and the first Chelsea player to score four hat-tricks in the competition. More importantly, it took his goals and assists tally this season from four to seven.

Watch: EVERY Cole Palmer first-half hat-trick

Palmer contributed 33 goals and assists in his first Premier League season at Chelsea and then 23 in his second, but injuries in 2025/26 have curtailed his output significantly.

He will hope that Chelsea’s improvements under Rosenior – that’s four wins in four now in the Premier League – can help him to rediscover his best form.

West Ham’s revival has widened the relegation battle

West Ham have won three of their last four Premier League matches, as many as they had in their previous 21, to radically alter the shape of this year’s relegation battle.

At the beginning of 2026 it started to look as though, once again, we would not see a real scrap in the spring.

But thanks mostly to Crysencio Summerville – who at the weekend became the first player to score in five consecutive appearances for West Ham in all competitions since Jesse Lingard in 2021 – the relegation battle looks wide open.

Premier League goalscorers in last four matchweeks

A first Premier League goal for new striker Valentin Castellanos was the icing on the cake, suggesting Nuno Espirito Santo’s side now have the firepower needed to keep climbing; West Ham have scored at least twice in four consecutive Premier League games for the first time in over four years.

They are just three points behind Forest and only six behind Leeds and Spurs. The Nuno era is finally under way.

Bournemouth’s impressive start to 2026 reveals new depths to Iraola

Given that AFC Bournemouth lost yet another big player in January, when Antoine Semenyo left for Man City, it is quite incredible that only two teams have won more than their 11 Premier League points in 2026 — Man Utd (14) and Chelsea (13).

They were unlucky not to beat Villa on Saturday, hammering at the door and forcing Emiliano Martinez into seven saves, his fourth-most ever in a Premier League game.

Bournemouth's only goal came through 19-year-old Rayan, the January signing who followed up his assist on his debut with an excellent goal against Villa. His immediate success is indicative of Bournemouth’s season.

Watch: Rayan's goal v Aston Villa

The average age of Bournemouth’s starting XI against Villa was 24 years and 94 days, their third-youngest ever in the Premier League. The two previous occasions when their average age was lower also came this season, reflecting Andoni Iraola’s regeneration of the team through youth.

Rayan joins Junior Kroupi and Amine Adli as breakthrough players this season, revealing new depths to Iraola, who has expertly navigated player sales.

More on Matchweek 25