Football writer Alex Keble highlights the hot topics and tactical lessons from Matchweek 34, including:
- Slot defies the odds to win title
- Can Wolves emulate Forest's season?
- Evanilson’s suspension a blow after Hojlund equaliser
- Jackson ending his goal drought is crucial for Chelsea
- Slack defending raises fears West Ham won’t win again this season
- Ipswich’s latest result typifies their season
- Sessegnon sets Fulham up for a shot at seventh
Slot defies the odds to win title
A swaggering 5-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur and a goal for Mohamed Salah is just what Liverpool needed to remind everyone their 2024/25 Premier League title triumph was a brilliant achievement – and up there with the very best.
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There have been attempts to rewrite history over the last couple of months, when the absence of a title battle has led to a few bored neutrals questioning whether this Liverpool team are actually any good.
The manner of the win on Sunday, plus the narrative full-stop on the season, should refocus attention on Liverpool as worthy winners.
Liverpool have been outstanding - and Arne Slot has produced one of the best debut campaigns in Premier League managerial history.
Back in August almost nobody thought it possible that Slot, with no experience in one of Europe’s top five leagues, could win the title straight after the departure of someone as iconic as Jurgen Klopp.
Many feared an effect similar to when Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger left Manchester United and Arsenal.
Those concerns were only heightened when Liverpool made just one summer signing, Federico Chiesa.
We must hold all of that in mind as Liverpool celebrate this week.
Forget how Arsenal or Manchester City have done this season. To win 82 points from 34 matches – to lose just two matches – is phenomenal, and far better than anybody anticipated eight months ago.
The weakness of their rivals should not undermine the quiet brilliance of Slot, who is now a Liverpool legend. That will never change, and yet this is just the beginning.
With Virgil van Dijk and Salah signed up to new deals, the chances of overtaking Man Utd with a 21st title are high.
Can Wolves emulate Forest's season?
Wolverhampton Wanderers have won six Premier League matches on the bounce, a quite incredible run and the club’s best since 1970. No wonder even the players are starting to get a bit carried away.
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“Nottingham [Forest] are doing really well and are one of the examples that you said,” captain Nelson Semedo responded when asked about Nuno Espirito Santo’s side.
“They are fighting for the Champions League places, why can't we do that as well?”
Since Vitor Pereira’s appointment on 19 December, only four teams have won more points than Wolves. They are joint-fifth (a UEFA Champions League place this season) over a period that covers almost half a season.
It’s only logical, then, to start dreaming of what might happen after a full pre-season under Pereira and a transfer window to give him the squad he needs to compete.
It’s almost mathematically impossible for Wolves to qualify for Europe this season, which means that in 2025/26 they will, like Nottingham Forest, have an advantage over many of their rivals with free midweeks.
On the other hand, we should perhaps temper expectations once we take into account Wolves’ opponents; their six wins in a row have come against six of the current bottom seven teams in the division.
We will find out if Wolves are good enough to have a Forest-like season over the coming weeks, when the fixtures get tougher.
If Pereira continues their good form against Man City, Brighton, Crystal Palace and Brentford, then fans can start dreaming.
Evanilson’s suspension a blow after Hojlund equaliser
In the five-horse race for a top-eight finish, which will bring European qualification unless Crystal Palace win the FA Cup, the most significant thing that happened over the weekend was Rasmus Hojlund’s stoppage-time equaliser at AFC Bournemouth.
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Or was it? Because although those two dropped points were a major blow - the difference between eighth and 10th – Andoni Iraola will probably be even more concerned by the red card to Evanilson.
Evanilson, who has eight goals or assists in his last 12 matches in all competitions, is now set to miss the next three Premier League matches against Arsenal (A), Aston Villa (H) and Man City (A).
A tough run has just got a lot tougher.
When Evanilson was injured through most of January and February, Dango Ouattara and Justin Kluivert came to the fore, replacing his goals and assists. But neither player is in form at the moment.
Kluivert, still the club’s top Premier League goalscorer this season, with 12 goals, has only scored once in his last 13 matches in all competitions.
Ouattara hasn’t scored a goal in any of his last 11 matches.
When you throw in that Bournemouth have only won one of their last nine Premier League matches, it starts to feel unlikely Iraola’s side will enjoy the strong finish required to get into Europe.
Jackson ending his goal drought is crucial for Chelsea
The big winners from the weekend were Chelsea, not because they won back-to-back Premier League matches for just the second time in 2025, but because of who scored to earn a 1-0 success against Everton.
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Nicolas Jackson’s goal was his first in 13 appearances, a dry spell that stretched back to December. He really needed that – as did Chelsea.
Cole Palmer extended his run to 17 without a goal in all competitions, and indeed was a peripheral figure at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, so Jackson’s emphatic finish from outside the area was a huge relief to Enzo Maresca.
He needs at least one of those two firing over the final stretch. Chelsea have a really difficult fixture list – Liverpool (H), Newcastle (A), Man Utd (H) and Nottingham Forest (A) - and they simply could not have afforded to lose ground before that run-in begins.
If this marks the return of a more ruthless Jackson, Chelsea may qualify for the Champions League.
But unless Palmer takes inspiration from the Chelsea striker, Maresca’s side remain outsiders to beat their rivals to a top-five finish.
Slack defending raises fears West Ham won’t win again this season
When Tomas Soucek gave West Ham United the lead in the 83rd minute at the Amex Stadium, it felt as though the Graham Potter era finally had lift off.
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Those late Brighton goals are a gut punch to Potter and the West Ham fans. This defeat will have hurt more than any other in recent weeks. And there have been quite a few.
West Ham are winless in their last seven Premier League matches, their longest run since January 2023. But worse than that, only the three relegated clubs have collected fewer points since Potter’s debut.
Fewest points since Potter took charge of West Ham
| Team | P | W | L | Goal difference | Pts |
| Fulham | 15 | 7 | 7 | +1 | 21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nottingham Forest | 13 | 6 | 5 | +4 | 20 |
| Brentford | 13 | 5 | 4 | +3 | 19 |
| Bournemouth | 14 | 4 | 5 | +5 | 17 |
| Man Utd | 14 | 4 | 6 | -3 | 16 |
| West Ham | 14 | 3 | 7 | -4 | 13 |
| Spurs | 14 | 4 | 9 | -6 | 13 |
| Southampton | 14 | 1 | 11 | -23 | 5 |
| Ipswich | 14 | 1 | 11 | -26 | 5 |
| Leicester | 14 | 1 | 12 | -28 | 4 |
It might get worse before it gets better.
The defending for Brighton’s two goals in the closing stages were in keeping with recent performances, the West Ham defence losing their markers in the penalty area for Kaoru Mitoma’s equaliser and then failing to close down Carlos Baleba for the winner.
Without a sharp improvement in their own third, it’s hard to see West Ham winning any of their next three fixtures: Spurs, Man Utd, and Nottingham Forest all have the strength in attack to punish Potter’s side.
West Ham's final matches
Ipswich Town at Portman Road on the final day won’t be easy, either, with Kieran McKenna’s side keen for a good send-off in their final Premier League match.
Ipswich’s latest result typifies their season
The Premier League relegation battle is officially over.
Newcastle’s 3-0 victory over Ipswich confirmed that all three promoted clubs have gone straight back down, and despite the big gulf between the bottom three and the rest, Ipswich are the side who will look back with the most regret.
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Their defeat at St James' Park was like their season in microcosm: competitive for decent portions of the game, but ultimately too error-prone.
Newcastle didn’t register a single shot on goal in the first 15 minutes, and Ipswich were holding firm right up until Ben Johnson’s second yellow card in the 37th minute, after which it became a formality for the hosts.
In the end, as we saw on Saturday, Ipswich just weren’t ready to compete at this level, although McKenna had a more optimistic take in his post-game interview with Sky Sports.
“There’s so many [lessons],” he said. “Our lessons might be different from another club’s because we have climbed so quickly from League One. It’s been a massive challenge.
“Many things we have done positively that will set us up well for the years ahead, there’s been some things we could have done better and things we will learn from.”
Sessegnon sets Fulham up for a shot at seventh
Ryan Sessegnon’s winner in the second minute of second-half stoppage time at St Mary’s Stadium could prove to be the most important goal of Fulham’s season.
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To drop points against the bottom club would have been a major hit to Fulham’s confidence. To win it so late will provide a massive boost ahead of their showdown with Aston Villa next weekend.
Fulham are only six points behind Villa in seventh, meaning a win in the early kick-off on Saturday will give Fulham a shot at reeling in Unai Emery’s side.
If they are to do it, they’ll need more heroics from Sessegnon, who has four goals and two assists in his last eight Premier League matches, as many as in his previous 59 appearances in the competition.
When you consider that right-back has been Villa’s weak spot throughout the season, we shouldn’t rule out Sessegnon again making the difference – and Fulham beginning to prepare for European football again.