There may be big names in the top three places on the Premier League table, but only two were expected to be there and the division’s biggest mainstay looks like anything but a title contender and is on the outside looking into the top four.
[ MORE: Premier League 2024-25 table | Golden Boot leaders ]
Find us the page that shows a predicted Premier League table with Manchester City in sixth, Nottingham Forest in fourth, and both Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United in the bottom half of the table after 17 weeks of the season.
Liverpool goes through an era change? The Reds are leading the table by multiple fixtures. Chelsea, too? They’ve surged up the table.
It’s wild. Consider this — Forest’s in the top four after finishing in 17th last season, and the Tricky Trees are using the manager once fired by the usual top-four contender currently living in 11th.
So yeah, go ahead and say you know how this ride’s going to end, and we’ll go ahead and tell you we can’t believe you.
Here are 10 quick thoughts about the 10 games staged in Week 17 from our writers — Joe Prince-Wright, Andy Edwards, and Nick Mendola.
10 things we learned from Week 17 of the 2024-25 Premier League season
Stopping counters key to Liverpool’s title hopes
Tottenham Hotspur 3-6 Liverpool
- Tottenham vs Liverpool player ratings
- Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou bristles in post-match interview
- Liverpool’s Salah ‘happy and proud’ to rewrite record book
- Three things we learned from Spurs 3-6 Liverpool
The only weakness in this Liverpool team appears to be their lack of pace defensively. Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, and Joe Gomez are dominant center backs but when Tottenham found gaps down the sides of Liverpool’s center backs and stretched them with crosses into the box, the Reds looked fragile. Liverpool have now conceded two or more goals in four of their last five Premier League games. That’s fine if they’re going to keep scoring three or four at the other end but it’s not sustainable and will cost them points over the course of the season. In the title race you’d say Arsenal have a much better defense than Liverpool and if the Reds are going to keep surging towards an unlikely Premier League trophy this season, they have to tighten things up at the back. Simply put, they have to be more boring. The way Slot roared his side on to get forward suggested he’s fine with being an entertainer over a pragmatist. That is great in theory but Liverpool must tighten things up to get themselves over the line this season. — Joe Prince-Wright
Gabriel Jesus renaissance can shift Gunners perspective
- Bukayo Saka injury updates as star spotted on crutches
- Mikel Arteta reaction to Gabriel Jesus’ star turn
No one’s saying that an oft-injured star delivering five goals in two games should stop Arsenal from going into the transfer market for help at center forward in January, but maybe the Gunners can play it a little safer with who joins their crew rather than pay through the nose to start 2025. Think back to the 2022-23 when Jesus arrived in North London from Manchester City and inspired many to consider him the final piece to Arsenal’s title challenge. It’s easy to call that short-sighted now, but Jesus also has struggled to be available since those halcyon days that started his tenure. If — and it’s a huge if — Jesus can fire forward with vigor, then he’s perfectly suitable to serve as the No. 9 for Arsenal. The Gunners still must address the situation and shouldn’t hesitate if they find a top target at a price they’d pay in most windows, but they can also feel a little bit less desperate and express that to would-be sellers looking for those big Premier League dollars. And if you disagree with all of that, you can at least acknowledge that the 27-year-old Jesus — who also played a role in the third, fourth, and fifth Arsenal goals — should be front-and-center in each of the next few games as Arsenal look to chase down Chelsea and Liverpool.— Nick Mendola
Suddenly finish-challenged Blues saved by Sanchez, Sancho
The Blues created a decent amount of chances given the Toffees’ strong, resolute execution of a typically-stingy Sean Dyche set-up, and Maresca said he was happier with their performances than some winning ones on a windy day at Goodison Park. Everton went full Dyche, and their very physical play drew Chelsea into a little bit of distraction and a big bit of a scrap. Perhaps that’s why the Toffees got a few very good chances themselves, but found themselves denied by Robert Sanchez. The Chelsea goalkeeper isn’t universally admired by made a terrific stop on Jack Harrison on a four-save day as he was asked to do about the same amount of shot-stopping as Jordan Pickford despite only seeing 20 touches of the ball. Nicolas Jackson was a bit off, and Pedro Neto joined Pedro Neto in being a bit quiet. Jadon Sancho was a force for the visitors, but Everton’s play forced him to join Chelsea’s defensive midfielders in getting stuck into challenges more than delivering chances (Sancho won 12 of his game-high 20 duels and drew three fouls). It’s an okay point, not a good one for Chelsea, and they can thank Sanchez for it. — Nick Mendola
Sarcastic stats — New Man United goes old Man United
Manchester United 0-3 Bournemouth
Ruben Amorim spoke about the mistakes and pivotal moments going against Manchester United, and that is not wrong. It’s also nothing new. Look at the numbers from this game and they are laden with dark humor as a black comedy continues around Old Trafford. The Red Devils had 60% of the ball and took 23 shots to Bournemouth’s 10. They won the expected goal scrap by more than one xG — 2.26-1.24. They also, as you’ll well know from getting this far in the post, lost 3-0. They lost by three! Unfortunately, that’s only mildly surprising. In fact, what’s dangerous to the Red Devils is that their fans may not even get to the numbers beyond the score line anymore. The expectation is now disappointment, and that may be Amorim’s most difficult task in taking the proverbial poisoned chalice held by and taken from Erik ten Hag, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Jose Mourinho, Louis van Gaal, and David Moyes. Are there more? Maybe. The list is getting long and this writer’s getting weary. Amorim’s side look better than the opponents on a fairly regular basis. That and a trio of mental lapses will get you zero points and some bleak laughter. — Nick Mendola
Crumbling City can’t stop counters and are battling for the top four
Aston Villa 2-1 Manchester City
Manchester City have a huge problem: they cannot stop counter attacks. They should have been 1-0 down after just 20 seconds at Villa when one ball through the middle caught out their entire defense but Jhon Duran missed a big chance. He didn’t make the same mistake 15 minutes later as the Colombian put Villa up on another counter. Morgan Rogers made it 2-0 in the second half from, you guessed it, another counter. Seemingly every single time City gave the ball away in midfield or attack, Villa needed to connect two passes and they were in on goal. Yes, City have defensive injuries. Yes, they are low in confidence. But it was remarkable to see Pep Guardiola having an entire week to work on City’s tactics for this game only for his team to just repeat the same mistake over and over again. This is the team which has won four-straight Premier League titles and completed a historic treble just over 12 months ago. One injury to Rodri doesn’t explain how they’re wide-open defensively, have conceded 27 goals in their last 12 games, and can’t control games or sustain attacks. This is bigger. City have crumbled. Mentally and physically they look finished. By the time the busy festive period is over they could well be in mid-table and at this point they will be starting to switch their focus away from an unlikely title bid to making sure they somehow finish in fourth to keep a Champions League spot. It wasn’t just the play on the pitch which was most concerning in the loss at Villa on Saturday. It was the negative body language and the way City basically just gave up and accepted their fate. Guardiola has a humongous job on his hand to rebuild City’s confidence and try to find some kind of solution to stop them from giving up big chances galore in each and every game. For a squad of this quality the way they’re playing is unacceptable. — Joe Prince-Wright
From 17th in May to top-4 at Christmas — Forest, what a story
Brentford 0-2 Nottingham Forest
As ever, the football was anything but beautiful and free-flowing from Forest, but the Tricky Trees continued to execute at an incredibly high level. Nuno Espirito Santo has them set up to defend first and foremost — this was their 6th clean sheet of the season — and they’re finishing their big chances (few and far between as they are) as well as, or better than, anyone in the league right now (23 goals on less than 21 xG). Up until recently it was mostly Chris Wood carrying Forest with the most timely of goals, but the big Kiwi has just one of their last seven as Anthony Elanga has come alive and is one of the good reasons to believe they can keep pace with the likes of Arsenal, Aston Villa, Manchester City, and Newcastle — all of whom were below them in the table at full-time. — Andy Edwards
Magpies look confident, comfortable, and driven again
Ipswich Town 0-4 Newcastle United
Eddie Howe’s unit has taken some grief for inconsistent play this season, and the manager himself has dealt with rancor over his lineup choices, but at the moment it’s all come out in the wash. Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali seem to have figured out the best way to play together in the midfield, and Jacob Murphy is absolutely thriving opposite right wing Anthony Gordon and center forward Alexander Isak. Young fullbacks Valentino Livramento and Lewis Hall, the latter especially, also are at the best they’ve been in their young careers. Let’s not forget the goalkeeper, as club legend Martin Dubravka is capably deputizing for injured-again Nick Pope, and may well deserve the first shirt anyway. And the club will soon get its best center back, Sven Botman, back into the fold. That will force Howe to choose between the Dutchman and current pair Dan Burn and Fabian Schar. Competition and confidence are good things. With Harvey Barnes, Lewis Miley, Kieran Trippier, Sean Longstaff, William Osula, and Lloyd Kelly all anxious to win minutes, Howe has every reason to succeed against any opponent and he’s shown it in beating up a pair of bottom-half sides. Believe it or not, that counts as progress.— Nick Mendola
Vitor Pereira brings confidence to talented Wolves
Leicester City 0-3 Wolverhampton Wanderers
New Wolves boss Vitor Pereira is clearly a man who believes in himself and Wolves’ players have already shown they will follow his every word. Wolves were hungry, looked full of confidence, and pounced on Leicester’s mistakes with clinical finishing. They scored on all three of their shots on target in the first half and were even wasteful in the second half with a couple of big opportunities. Still, this win was huge as Wolves have dragged a host of teams back into the relegation scrap and Pereira was delighted at the final whistle as he celebrated a debut win as a Premier League manager. He is confident, brash, and loud, and Wolves’ talented and somewhat volatile squad seems to have found a natural leader. It’s early days but the signs are very good that Pereira is the kind of manager who can get the best out of this talented squad and give them the confidence to bury teams when they get the chance.— Joe Prince-Wright
Brighton better balanced, but have they lost their edge?
West Ham United 1-1 Brighton & Hove Albion
File also under: Do Spurs fans really want Ange to change? — if I say Brighton, you say fun. Dollar-for-dollar, there wasn’t a better watch in the Premier League than Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton. They pressed, they took insane risks with the ball. and they quickly became everyone’s favorite neutral team. It took the Seagulls as high as sixth in the Premier League and the Round of 16 in the Europa League. Their philosophy was clear as day and teams hundreds of millions of dollars more expensive struggled to cope with them on a regular basis. Nearly six months on from De Zerbi’s departure, Brighton are missing everything that made them successful and it’s not entirely clear what new manager Fabian Huerzler is trying to do tactically. Maybe it’s an overreaction given their recent slide (winless in 5 games with just 6 goals scored), but Brighton superhero status feels long gone and now they are simply just another vaguely familiar face in the crowd. — Andy Edwards
Ivan Juric sees a platform to build on
Ivan Juric was talking to the Saints bench via a walkie talkie and the message was loud and clear about how he plans to save Southampton. The Croatian coach is all about being solid defensively, aggressive and pressing high. We didn’t see that much pressing on Sunday but he hasn’t been in charge of a training session yet. What we did see was Saints looking more solid and less likely to self-implode like they have for most of this season. Having Aaron Ramsdale back from injury was huge and Saints kept just their second shutout of the season. Fulham had a few very decent chances but Ramsdale came up big with saves and the next step for Saints under Juric is to have some kind of attacking impetus. They are the lowest goal scorers in the Premier League with just 11 after 17 games, but if they can become more solid defensively there’s a small sense of hope they could build some momentum and pick up points to give themselves a chance of staying up. — Joe Prince-Wright
