Liverpool’s lead at the top of the Premier League remained at seven points after another great weekend of top flight football which saw nets bulging the length and breadth of the land.
League leading scorer Mo Salah was on target again on a weekend for the league’s top strikers to show what they can do, while some new faces also got in on the act. Arne Slot’s Liverpool were at home to struggling Wolverhampton Wanderers and they were two goals up at the break. Salah combined with Luis Diaz for the opener as the Colombian bundled the ball over the line with his stomach and then, when Diaz was felled by Wolves keeper Jose Sa, Salah stepped up to hit the spot kick straight and high into the net.
The visitors started the second half brightly but Salah soon had the ball in the net again with a clinical finish, though this time Wolves were saved by the offside flag. And when Matheus Cunha scored his 12th goal of the campaign it made for an anxious finish at Anfield. But Liverpool held on for a 2-1 win to move on to 60 points while Wolves are hovering nervously above the drop zone with a two point cushion.
Before Liverpool’s clash with Wolves, Arsenal had reduced the gap at the top of the league table to four points thanks to a 2-0 win away to Leicester City. The Gunners’ striking problems have been well documented and Mikel Arteta failed to bring in a proven goal scorer in January. But the Arsenal boss may have found a solution in attacking midfielder Mikel Merino, recruited from Real Sociedad last summer. He has an eye for a goal, scoring 20 in 190 appearances for the Basque giants, and Arteta’s decision to play him as a makeshift striker paid off handsomely as he climbed off the bench to sink the Foxes with a quick-fire brace at the King Power Stadium.
With Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus both injured, another attacking midfielder, Leandro Trossard, played up top for the first 70 minutes but without success; and the Belgian was replaced by the Spain star who struck on 81 and 87 minutes with two instinctive finishes. The Premier League 2025 betting odds here at SBOTOP rate the Gunners the clear second favourites to win the league, and Arteta will need to be inventive for the rest of the season if his team is to chase down the Reds.
Meanwhile, in other Premier League 2025 news, a new kid on the block in Manchester scored a hat-trick in a top four clash. The battle for Champions League places took a twist when Manchester City suddenly looked like their old selves as they swatted Newcastle United away 4-0, with their January signing Omar Marmoush scoring a 14 minute hat-trick to send the Sky Blues into fourth place and drop the wounded Magpies into seventh.
Eddie Howe’s Newcastle were unusually poor after a strong run of form and they met a Manchester City side which has rediscovered its swagger, inspired by the Egyptian hit-man who opened the floodgates with a delightful chip over the hapless Martin Dubravka, latching on to a 60 yard ball from keeper Ederson. It was 3-0 at the break as Marmoush completed a first half treble and Pep Guardiola’s latest up and coming star, James McAtee, rounded off the scoring late in the game.
This performance was the perfect warm-up for City’s Champions League second leg clash against Real Madrid this week; with a 3-2 deficit to make up the Sky Blues need to be back to their very best.
Forest felled again at the Cottage
Nottingham Forest headed to Fulham on the back of a 7-0 mauling at the hands of Brighton and Hove Albion and then a real battle to overcome third tier Exeter City in an FA Cup penalty shoot out. And, in their third away game in a week Nuno Epsirito Santo’s team fell again as Calvin Bassey’s second half header gave the upwardly mobile Cottagers a deserved 2-1 win.
Emile Smith Rowe gave Marco Silva’s Fulham an early lead before Forest’s Chris Wood scored his 18th goal of the campaign to level before the break. But the Cottagers stuck to their task when Bassey popped up to take the game away from the visitors. Fulham moved up to eighth in the league table, two points behind Newcastle United while Forest remain in fourth, but a second loss in a week means they are now only three points clear of Manchester City and four clear of Bournemouth. The Cherries won 3-1 away to relegation destined Southampton, while sixth placed Chelsea suffered a set-back with a 3-0 defeat away to Brighton.
With Manchester City clicking through the gears and the likes of Chelsea and Newcastle in the rear view mirror, Forest’s top four dreams are starting to look a little shaky.
●●●
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS
Stay updated with everything sports and betting.
Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
