Premier League Matchday 34 review: Inevitabilities fulfilled

Jonathan Victoria • 28 Apr 2025 Features

Congratulations and commiserations.

The 2024/25 season is drawing to a close but unfortunately there will be no final day title or relegation decider as Matchday 34 saw both of those confirmed.

As usual, there were the good, bad and ugly moments from the weekend and we’re going to take a look at them in the Matchday 34 review - and before you say it, yes I realise that there is still one game left to be played on Thursday, but I’m not waiting until then. Deal with it.

The Good

Credit: Ipswich RELEGATED as Magpies cruise to win | Newcastle 3-0 Ipswich | Premier League Highlights (Sky Sports Premier League, YouTube)

Congratulations to Liverpool who finally claimed their second Premier League title. It’s just been a matter of time until it was confirmed but, even as someone who often dislikes the Reds, it was nice to see them actually get to celebrate their title victory with the fans.

It’s also nice to see history being made for Dutch football in the Premier League, with Arne Slot becoming the first Dutch manager to win the title, while Virgil van Dijk became the first Dutch captain to lift the trophy. Also shout out to Dominik Szoboszlai for becoming the first Premier League champion from Hungary.

On the result that secured them the title, it was a performance befitting a champion. An easy demolition job of a team that has been woefully poor this year, Liverpool oozed quality and confidence in their 5-1 win over Tottenham to claim their record-equalling 20th English top flight title - which for many now solidifies them as English football’s greatest-ever team.

Elsewhere, Manchester City’s last-minute victory over Aston Villa earlier in the week puts them in a strong position for a top four finish while making Villa’s chances a lot slimmer. Coupled with their FA Cup semi-final victory, Man City’s so-called fall-off this season isn’t actually looking too bad.

Newcastle also took a big step to securing Champions League football once again, making the leap up to third with their victory over Ipswich. Chelsea’s result over Everton also moved them up into fifth, which could see them into the competition next year provided their London rivals Arsenal win it this season.

While the results did go the way of Newcastle, Man City and Chelsea, their spots may yet still be temporary as Nottingham Forest are yet to play. A win for them would take them back up to third in their spectacular campaign so far.

The Bad

Credit: Hojlund scores 96th minute equaliser! ⏰ | Bournemouth 1-1 Man Utd | Premier League highlights (Sky Sports Premier League, YouTube)

Villa’s loss to Man City was mentioned above but it was a very damaging result to their European hopes. After a very solid showing in the Champions League this year, they will have been hoping for another berth next year to continue their development.

Instead, they fell in the dying moments at the Etihad which leaves them with an outside chance at securing a place. Europa League looks more likely for them now, which may not be a bad thing by any means as they will likely be presented as one of the favourites.

Also falling into the bad category will be West Ham, who have now gone seven games without a victory and find themselves as the worst of the rest in 17th.

Rasmus Hojlund was able to save Manchester United’s blushes, albeit barely thanks to a 96th minute equaliser against a 10-man Bournemouth side. In fairness to them, all 11,000 fans at the Vitality can be very intimidating.

Finally, I’ll give the relegated teams a week off from the ugly as it’s not really a surprise at this point. My Saints were so close to getting that one point we want to not equal Derby’s record, but of course we couldn’t hold on.

Leicester fell victim to potentially the most in-form team in Europe right now, Wolves. I’ve checked that as well. There is genuinely no other team in Europe’s top five leagues that have won their last six consecutive games like Wolves have.

And commiserations to Ipswich for having their relegation confirmed. I look forward to our battles back in the Championship next year.

The Ugly

Credit: LIVERPOOL WIN THE PREMIER LEAGUE TITLE IN STYLE! 🏆 | Liverpool 5-1 Spurs | Premier League Highlights (Sky Sports Premier League, YouTube)

Only one side belongs here. No prizes if you guessed it to be Tottenham.

It has been quite remarkable how bad they’ve been this year, incomprehensible at times I must say. They’ve had a lot of lows this year, but to put up such a weak fight to make Liverpool earn their title is surely their rock bottom - unless they end up finishing 17th.

Game of the Week

Credit: Anfield sings EMOTIONAL You'll Never Walk Alone as Liverpool crowned Champions (Sky Sports Premier League, YouTube)

No surprises here that my pick for the Game of the Week goes to Liverpool’s demo job on Spurs. A 5-1 thumping is a good reason as any to be named Game of the Week, but if you haven’t seen the celebrations already, check out the highlights and see the energy from inside and around Anfield. It is positively electric.

5-a-Side Stars

No players really shone extremely brightly this week, although there were some who contributed a fair bit to their teams’ success.

Kepa Arrizabalaga, Bournemouth

Despite not being able to help his side claim all three points, the Cherries very easily could have been on the losing end of this fixture if it weren’t for Kepa’s heroics, saving five of United’s six shots on target.

Kieran Trippier, Newcastle

Two assists and Man of the Match honours for Newcastle’s number two, his contributions making the largest difference in helping propel the side up into provisional third place.

Matheus Cunha, Wolves

A hand in every goal for his side, Cunha’s inspired performance saw him notch a goal and two assists to keep Wolves climbing up the table for a strong finish to the campaign.

Dominik Szoboszlai, Liverpool

While the Hungarian failed to find the net himself from his two shots, he did tally two assists to help get the party started in Merseyside.

Nicolas Jackson, Chelsea

His first goal in 13 Premier League matches deserves a shoutout. Also helps that there wasn’t really anyone else to pick.