Arsenal suffered a 2-0 loss to Aston Villa at the Emirates, with Villa’s late goals from Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey denting Arsenal’s chances of winning the Premier League title. Liverpool also suffered a surprising 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace. Manchester City, however, remained the biggest winners of the day, with a two-point lead at the top of the table with six games left to play.
Arsenal had been on a roll, taking 31 out of a possible 33 Premier League points in 2024, before Villa’s visit. However, former Arsenal boss Unai Emery’s team was able to halt Arsenal’s title charge. Villa showed their teeth by hitting the woodwork through Watkins and Youri Tielemans. They eventually snatched all three points with two late goals. Bailey’s ghosted in to meet Lucas Digne’s low cross six minutes from time. Watkins then scored a sumptuous finish on a counter-attack from an Arsenal corner.
Villa’s victory puts them in pole position for a place in next season’s Champions League. They are now three points clear of fifth-placed Tottenham.
Liverpool also had a disappointing day at Anfield, with Jurgen Klopp’s men appearing to have run out of steam during the business end of the campaign. The Reds have now won just three of their last eight games in all competitions. Liverpool had not lost in any competition at Anfield for 14 months before Atalanta’s 3-0 rout in the Europa League on Thursday. They suffered their first Premier League defeat at home since October 2022.
Eberechi Eze gave Palace a deserved lead in the 14th minute. Andy Robertson’s incredible goal-line clearance denied Jean-Philippe Mateta a second goal. Liverpool improved significantly after the break but missed several big chances. Darwin Nunez fired straight at Dean Henderson, while Curtis Jones, Mohamed Salah, and Diogo Jota all should have salvaged at least one point.
Klopp acknowledged the implications of the defeat for the title race. He said they should play like they did in the second half, not the first. Klopp said, “If we play like we did in the first half, why should we win the league? If you play like in the second half, we can win football games. So if we can win football games then we will see how many we can win. We have to be around when the other guys now struggle, if they struggle.”
City’s advantage has now grown firmly, putting them in a good position to become the first team to ever win four consecutive English top-flight titles. On the other hand, West Ham’s hopes of a fourth consecutive season in European competition were hit by a 2-0 home defeat to Fulham. Andreas Pereira scored both goals for the Cottagers, who moved up to 12th position.
