Premier League Matchday 26 review: Top four a hot commodity

Jonathan Victoria • 24 Feb 2025 News

Never seen a fight for European football quite like what we have on the cards…

With roughly a third of the season left to go, a clearer picture is being produced for the one at the top and those at the bottom. Everything in between, though, seems manic.

It feels impossible to call the remaining Champions League spots, let alone the Europa and Conference League places. Matchday 26 threw some curveballs that have certainly spiced things up.

Let’s take a look at the good, bad and ugly from the weekend, plus our game of the week and the 5-a-side stars.

The Good

Credit: Asensio brace leads Villa to comeback win over Blues! | Aston Villa 2-1 Chelsea | EPL Highlights (Sky Sports Premier League, YouTube)

With Manchester City, Bournemouth and Chelsea losing and Aston Villa and Newcastle taking victory, fourth place is currently up for grabs for seven teams.

Man City currently occupy the spot on 44 points but just five points behind them in 10th is Fulham. The five teams in between all have as much chance as each other to claim the final spot.

You could probably throw Nottingham Forest in there, too. Their loss over the weekend means they are just three points ahead of Man City, so a couple more poor results could see them drop out of the top four very easily.

That’s what’s so great about the fight this year. Any one of these teams could get the places with a good run. It feels impossible to call right now. Someone will definitely be missing out on European football next season who will feel as though they deserved it.

Props to those further down as well who took the steps to ensure there’s some breathing room between themselves and the bottom three, Wolves in particular for beating Bournemouth, who before the game had more than double their points scored.

The Bad

Credit: Liverpool go 11 points clear at the top 🤯 | Man City 0-2 Liverpool | Premier League Highlights (Sky Sports Premier League, YouTube)

What a week for Man City, eh? Outclassed midweek by Real Madrid and subsequently dumped out of the Champions League only to then play second fiddle yet again at their own home to Liverpool. 

It’s been a rough year for the defending champions, and those results leaves them with practically nothing to play for - yes, I realise they are still in the FA Cup. But after the dominance they’ve had in recent years, would winning that really forgive the season they’ve had?

The Ugly

Credit: Seagulls hit FOUR past Saints! 👊 | Southampton 0-4 Brighton | Premier League Highlights (Sky Sports Premier League, YouTube)

It seems like a fairly foregone conclusion as to the sides who will be getting the drop - or rather, the three sides immediately returning to the Championship.

Southampton are still looking for the two points they need to at least match history, not make their own with the lowest points tally in a season. Ideally, they’d probably like a few more than that so as to not even be in the top 10 of the worst point-scoring season, but that really is asking a lot of them this year.

While neither Ipswich or Leicester have to worry about that, their play as of late has certainly been incredibly uninspiring and another berth in the second division next season looks to be their destiny.

Game of the Week

Credit: Isak brace as Magpies edge SEVEN-goal thriller | Newcastle 4-3 Nottingham Forest | EPL Highlights (Sky Sports Premier League, YouTube)

It was a toss up between Everton 2-2 Manchester United and Newcastle 4-3 Nottingham Forest, but I’ll name the latter as the Game of the Week given seven goals is more than four.

The hosts were up 4-1 at the half and it seemed like it could be a demolition job if it kept up that way, only for Forest to fight back in the second half and give the Magpies a bit of a fright.

It was actually similar in the Everton Man United game, with the hosts seeing a 2-0 lead at the half erased in a brilliant game of two halves as United fought back.

5-a-Side Stars

Before anyone says it, Mo Salah does obviously deserve a place in this week's team, but given he has pretty much deserved a place every week, I’m giving him a break. He needs the rest.

Emi Martinez, Aston Villa

I like to put a goalkeeper in my team and this week I’m giving the nod to Martinez. Nothing too special from him this week, but with a 2.0 post-shot expected goals rate and conceding only once, it’s clear to me that he was as much a reason for their win as the others.

Will Hughes, Crystal Palace

Probably a more underrated performance this week but any clean sheet with no shots on target conceded is worth shouting out. Hughes put in a mega shift, with a 100% successful tackle rate from five challenges (game high), plus two interceptions and two blocked shots, putting it all on the line for the three points.

Brennan Johnson, Tottenham Hotspur

A third consecutive win for Spurs in the league and Johnson led the way, netting twice. A strong performance.

Marcus Rashford, Aston Villa

Marco Assensio may have got the goals, but Rashford set them up. Considering he came on at half time to help turn the tides, it seems as though the Englishman was the real difference-maker in his side's win.

Alexander Isak, Newcastle United

Like Salah, Isak appears almost every week in the team. He’s only made it over Salah because I love a proper goalscorer like him. He’s a genuine pleasure to watch.