2025/26 Premier League Roundup: Gameweek 22

Tottenham 1-2 West Ham

Thomas Frank’s position as Tottenham Hotspur Manager looks in even more jeopardy after his side suffered a terrible home defeat against a valiant West Ham United! After just 15 minutes, West Ham already had the lead as Crysencio Summerville scored after a fortunate deflection off Micky van de Ven! Alphonse Areola then managed to pull off a strong double save to keep the game at 1-0, before Valentin Castellanos missed an absolute sitter from just a couple of yards out (at the other end)! What a shocking miss! Guglielmo Vicario was then forced into making a decent save to deny Konstantinos Mavropanos, before Tottenham were finally back on level terms in the 64th minute courtesy of Cristian Romero’s strong headed finish! Spurs were then asking for a penalty after the ball struck the hand of Oliver Scarles, but nothing was given, before in the 93rd minute, Callum Wilson scored to earn West Ham a dramatic (and also crucial) late winner! I have to say, the goalkeeping by Vicario is so poor! In the end, it’s another terrible defeat as far as Thomas Frank and Tottenham Hotspur are concerned! Spurs stay 14th in the table, and they take on Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League tonight before they go to Burnley on Saturday! As for West Ham United, this is massive for them! The Hammers remain inside the Relegation Zone (in 18th), and they’ll host Sunderland next time out!

Sunderland 2-1 Crystal Palace

Jean-Philippe Mateta had a decent chance to give Crystal Palace the lead early on, but he couldn’t guide his effort past Robin Roefs, before Trai Hume had a good opportunity which he failed to hit the target with! In the 30th minute, it was Crystal Palace who found themselves in front as Yeremy Pino scored after a weak clearance by Roefs! However, just 3 minutes later, Sunderland were already back on level terms as Enzo Le Fee finished well! I love everything about this goal! In the second half, Sunderland probably should’ve had a penalty after Justin Devenny bumped into the back of Romain Mundle, but nothing was given! However, it ultimately didn’t matter as in the 71st minute, Brian Brobbey won it for Sunderland with a fantastic finish! Overall, these were two great goals that won this game for Sunderland AFC! The Black Cats rise to 9th in the league, and they’ll head to West Ham next time out! As for Crystal Palace, everything is falling apart for them! The Eagles stay 13th in the table, and their next game is a big one at home against Chelsea!

Manchester United 2-0 Manchester City

Michael Carrick’s return to Old Trafford started off perfectly as Manchester United breezed past a woeful Manchester City! Harry Maguire had a golden chance to give Manchester United the lead early on, but he somehow managed to head the ball onto the crossbar from just a couple of yards out, before Diogo Dalot got away with just a yellow card after a high challenge on Jeremy Doku! This is so obviously a red card; more shambolic decision-making by the referees! Senne Lammens then made a decent save to keep Max Alleyne’s headed effort out, before Man United had a couple of goals ruled out for offside! In the second half, Gianluigi Donnarumma pulled a couple of great saves out to deny the likes of Amad and Casemiro, before in the 65th minute, Manchester United found themselves in front as Bryan Mbeumo wasn’t to be denied again! This set-piece attempt from Manchester City is abysmal! And then, in the 76th minute, United’s lead was doubled as Patrick Dorgu took advantage of a sleeping Rico Lewis to secure all 3 points for Man U! Mason Mount then thought he’d added a third for the hosts right at the end of the game, but his goal was chalked out for a tight offside! Overall, this was probably Manchester United’s best performance in years! United rise to 5th in the table, and they’ll head to Arsenal next time out for a massive Super Sunday clash! As for Manchester City, they played horrifically! City stay second in the league, and they need to bounce back this week when they take on Bodo/Glimt and Wolves!

Chelsea 2-0 Brentford

Kevin Schade got into a great position early on in this game, but his decision to pass instead of shooting turned out to be the wrong one! Then, after messing around at the back, Joao Pedro punished them with a great finish to give Chelsea the lead after 26 minutes! Mathias Jensen then missed a sitter from just a few yards out; how he hit the post I’ll never know, before Alejandro Garnacho missed a sitter of his own down at the other end! In the second half, Schade had a great chance to equalise for Brentford, but his effort was brilliantly saved by Robert Sanchez, before Igor Thiago finally had his opportunity, which he could only head wide! And then, after more horrendous defensive errors by Brentford, Chelsea were awarded a penalty, which Cole Palmer dispatched successfully! Overall, it’s been a good start for Liam Rosenior at Chelsea! The Blues rise to 6th in the league, and their upcoming week sees them take on both Pafos FC (at home) and Crystal Palace (away)! As for Brentford, they shot themselves in the foot on multiple occasions in this game! The Bees drop to 7th in the table, and they’ll host Nottingham Forest next time out!

Liverpool 1-1 Burnley

Liverpool’s drawing run in the Premier League continues as Burnley earned themselves a hard-fought point! Milos Kerkez had a great chance to give Liverpool the lead early on, but his pass was brilliantly cut out by Lucas Pires, before Liverpool were awarded a penalty after Florentino brought down Cody Gakpo! Dominik Szoboszlai then stepped up from 12 yards out, but he shockingly smashed the crossbar! However, in the 42nd minute, Liverpool did finally find themselves in front thanks to a smashing strike by Florian Wirtz! In the second half, Cody Gakpo’s effort was brilliantly cleared off the line by Bashir Humphreys, before in the 65th minute, Burnley were fired back on level terms by Marcus Edwards! I feel like Edwards’ decision to shoot completely caught Alisson off guard! In the end, this is another disappointing result as far as Liverpool are concerned! The Reds stay 4th in the league, and their upcoming week sees them take away trips to both Marseille and Bournemouth! As for Burnley, they’re fighting as hard as they can! The Clarets remain inside the Relegation Zone (in 19th), and they’ll host Tottenham next time out in what is turning out to be a pretty pivotal game for both sides!

Brighton 1-1 Bournemouth

Of course, Brighton and Hove Albion VS AFC Bournemouth had to come down to a stoppage-time equaliser! After originally booking Amine Adli for simulation, the referee overturned his decision to award Bournemouth a penalty after Adli was clearly caught by Bart Verbruggen! This led to Marcus Tavernier stepping up and scoring to fire Bournemouth in front after 32 minutes! Jack Hinshelwood then had a good opportunity to equalise, but he couldn’t guide his headed effort past Djordje Petrovic, before Evanilson headed wide just before halftime! In the second half, Brighton missed a couple of decent chances to get themselves back on level terms, before in the 91st minute, Brighton had their equalising goal thanks to a fantastic overhead kick attempt by Charalampos Kostoulas! In the end, at least Brighton and Hove Albion didn’t lose! The Seagulls drop to 12th place, and they’ll head to Fulham next time out! As for AFC Bournemouth, this is another game that they’ve thrown away! The Cherries stay 15th in the table, and their next game sees them host Liverpool on this weekend’s Saturday Night Football!

Aston Villa 0-1 Everton

Aston Villa’s Title charge has seemingly crumbled as they got picked off by an Everton team who desperately needed this type of result! Merlin Rohl came super close at the start of the game as his effort struck the post in just the opening 20 seconds of the match, before Jake O’Brien thought he’d headed Everton in front, only for his goal to be ruled out for offside! O’Brien wasn’t offside, but apparently Villa were impacted by an offside player regardless! O’Brien then pulled out a crucial block to deny Morgan Rogers from netting the opening goal of the game, before Evann Guessand’s headed effort came back out off the post! In the second half, James Garner probably got away with not receiving a second yellow card (he probably should’ve been sent off), before Thierno Barry managed to give Everton the lead after a complete horror show at the back as far as Aston Villa are concerned! Morgan Rogers then came close to equalising for Villa late on, but his effort was expertly kept out by Jordan Pickford! In the end, what a missed opportunity for Aston Villa! Villa stay third in the league, and their upcoming week sees them face away tests at both Fenerbahçe and Newcastle! As for Everton, this is a great win for them! The Toffees rise to 10th in the table, and they’ll host Leeds on next week’s Monday Night Football!

Leeds 1-0 Fulham

In a reverse of the fixture between these two sides earlier in the season, it was Leeds United who scored late to nick all 3 points at the expense of Fulham! Brenden Aaronson had a great chance to give Leeds the lead early on, but he shockingly ballooned the ball massively over the bar, before Harry Wilson potentially could’ve seen red in the second half! I understand why he didn’t, but I can also understand why the Leeds players/fans/staff were asking for it! Dominic Calvert-Lewin then had a great chance to fire Leeds in front, but he could only strike the side-netting, before Emile Smith Rowe failed to take advantage of a poor goalkeeping decision by Karl Darlow! And then, in the 91st minute, Lukas Nmecha finished brilliantly to earn a massive 3 points for Leeds! Overall, this is a massive win for Leeds United! The Whites remain 16th in the table, and their next game is away at Everton next Monday Night! As for Fulham, this is a tough one to take for them! The Cottagers drop to 11th in the league, and they’ll host Brighton next time out!

Nottingham Forest 0-0 Arsenal

Despite once again dropping points, Arsenal continue to stroll out front in the Premier League Title Race as Nottingham Forest earned themselves a much-needed point! Gabriel Martinelli had a great chance to give Arsenal the lead early on, but he poorly missed the target from just a couple of yards out! I don’t understand how he missed! Murillo then made up for his earlier mistake by pulling off a great defensive block to stop Viktor Gyokeres from scoring, before in the second half, Matz Sels pulled off a great save to deny Bukayo Saka from putting Arsenal in front! Mikel Merino then had a great chance to give Arsenal the lead, but he could only guide his headed effort wide, before Arsenal’s claim for a penalty was thrown out! In the end, Nottingham Forest didn’t do anything going forward in this game, but they’ll very much take the point! Forest stay 17th in the table, and their upcoming week sees them face away trips to both Braga and Brentford! As for Arsenal, they weren’t convincing yet again, and yet they’re still extending their lead out front (it’s utterly ridiculous)! The Gunners remain top of the league, and they face a difficult test away at Inter Milan tonight before they host Manchester United in a massive Super Sunday matchup!

Wolves 0-0 Newcastle

Wolverhampton Wanderers continued their unbeaten run as Newcastle United failed to take their chances! Nick Woltermade had a good chance to fire Newcastle in front early on, but his headed effort was really poor, before Mateus Mane struck his overhead kick effort straight into the arms of Nick Pope! Hugo Bueno then came close right before halftime; his effort flew just over the crossbar, before Kieran Trippier came close with a well-placed free-kick! Bruno Guimaraes then had a chance to win it for Newcastle right at the death, but he scuffed his shot completely wide of the target! In the end, it’s now 5 games unbeaten in all competitions for Wolverhampton Wanderers! Wolves remain bottom of the league, and their next game is probably going to be quite tricky as they head to Manchester City next time out! As for Newcastle United, they simply weren’t good enough to win this game! The Magpies drop to 8th in the table, and they will host both PSV Eindhoven and Aston Villa over the next 5 days!

Premier League Table at the End of Gameweek 22

1. Arsenal: 50pts (+26)

2. Manchester City: 43pts (+24)

3. Aston Villa: 43pts (+8)

4. Liverpool: 36pts (+4)

5. Manchester United: 35pts (+6)

6. Chelsea: 34pts (+12)

7. Brentford: 33pts (+5)

8. Newcastle: 33pts (+5)

9. Sunderland: 33pts (0)

10. Everton: 32pts (-1)

11. Fulham: 31pts (-1)

12. Brighton: 30pts (+3)

13. Crystal Palace: 28pts (-2)

14. Tottenham: 27pts (+2)

15. Bournemouth: 27pts (-6)

16. Leeds: 25pts (-7)

17. Nottingham Forest: 22pts (-13)

18. West Ham: 17pts (-20)

19. Burnley: 14pts (-19)

20. Wolves: 8pts (-26)