What we learned from Matchweek 21

Fletcher shows Man Utd have a strong foundation for 25/26 despite the result

On the surface this looked like another difficult night for Manchester United in keeping with their 2025/26 season but to understand the pattern of the game at Turf Moor you only have to look at the Expected Goals (xG) figures: 2.55 to Man Utd and a paltry 0.28 to Burnley.

In other words Darren Fletcher was very unlucky that two difficult Burnley chances were scored to deny his side the victory. In fact, there were plenty of positives for Man Utd that point to a brighter future for whoever comes next.

Benjamin Sesko scored two goals, as many as in his first 16 Premier League games and both were smart finishes that suggest he is finding his feet in English football.

A sharp, goalscoring striker could do wonders for a Man Utd side that already rank second in the Premier League for xG (37.3).

Bruno Fernandes’ assist on his return from injury, making him the outright assist leader in the competition (eight), was more familiar but nevertheless further evidence of a decent Man Utd spine and the club’s stronger-than-you-might-think foundations.

Add to that Kobbie Mainoo’s return to the side, the reinstating of the back four, and the fact that Man Utd are only one point behind Brentford in fifth (a probable Uefa Champions League spot) and supporters can be reasonably optimistic about what 2026 has in store.

Guardiola’s goalscoring concerns could define the title race

Out of absolutely nowhere, Manchester City’s title challenge is under serious threat.

Three consecutive draws has given Arsenal an enormous advantage in the title race but, more than that, has punctured expectations City were beginning one of their traditional imperious runs under Pep Guardiola.

Instead, we see more of the same fogginess, the same lack of spark, the same inability to provide the knockout blow that plagued their 2024/25 campaign.

"The second half was quite similar against Sunderland and Chelsea - we missed the passes,” Guardiola explained. “I like a lot the way we play ... many new players and many new things ... but we don't score goals.

“The energy and the way we play we create chances and expected goals ... we just didn't put the ball in the net.”

By referring to “new players” Guardiola appeared to suggest Man City are still in transition, which is a pretty big problem considering their title rivals Arsenal look like the finished product.

Indeed it is difficult to imagine any of Guardiola’s six title-winning Man City teams drawing three Premier League matches in a row. Arsenal are very much in charge.

Extraordinary late drama at St James' Park could ignite Newcastle’s season

The scenes at St James' Park when Harvey Barnes’ strike nestled into the bottom corner - the limbs, the wall of noise - could be season-defining for a club that has, finally and emphatically, found its spark.

One of the best games of the season got a perfect (and record-breaking) ending to the drama: Barnes’ winning goal, timed at 101 minutes and 48 seconds, was the latest-ever since such data was recorded by Opta from 2006/07.

Eddie Howe will know just how important this remarkable comeback victory could be.

Such an exhilarating ending would lift any club into a new mindset but for Newcastle United in particular this felt big, extending their Premier League winning streak to three games and catapulting Howe’s side all the way up to sixth in the table and within touching distance of the Champions League places.

Everything that happened before Wednesday night can be forgotten now. Newcastle’s campaign is, implausibly, on track.

Wilson does it again for Fulham as indiscipline highlights where Rosenior needs to start

Before the derby on Wednesday night Fulham had only beaten Chelsea once at Craven Cottage in the last 20 years.

Their supporters will savour this result, defined by another Harry Wilson goal that stretched Fulham’s unbeaten run to six and put Marco Silva’s side in contention for European qualification.

If Wilson keeps this up (his 11 goal involvements is already his best-ever season total) and if Raul Jimenez’s goalscoring streak is a sign of his revival, then Fulham could pull off something special.

But they might need to climb above Chelsea to do that, and Liam Rosenior - watching on in the stands, ready to take his first training session the following morning - will be confident he can stop that from happening.

Chelsea have won just one of their last nine Premier League games, a sequence you might expect to end once the new manager is bedded in. The first thing Rosenior needs to sort, on Wednesday’s evidence, is the team’s indiscipline.

Marc Cucurella’s 22nd-minute red card was Chelsea’s fifth of the Premier League season and seventh in all competitions (excluding the two they received in the Fifa Club World Cup), at least four more than any other Premier League side.

Clearly that record has to improve but what’s interesting about the red cards is what they imply about the team: inexperienced, emotional, naive and unable to feel the rhythm of a match and wrest control of it.

These are all qualities of youth, and all qualities that plagued Enzo Maresca. Rosenior, young and relatively inexperienced himself, has a battle on his hands.

Semenyo’s perfect parting gift is an uplifting moment

A brilliant stoppage-time goal was the perfect way for Antoine Semenyo to say goodbye to AFC Bournemouth and not just because it gifted the club their first win in 12 Premier League matches, although that is a hugely significant present in the context of their season.

It was the perfect goodbye because it encapsulated Semenyo’s best qualities and accurately represented the way he has super-charged Bournemouth throughout the Andoni Iraola era, as his manager said after the game.

“I think he has earned all this. I am very happy for him because we know he is a top player but especially a top person,” Iraola said.

“I am very happy for him personally because I think he deserves, after all he has done for us, to finish like this.”

Iraola substituted Semenyo with seconds remaining so that the fans could show their appreciation; a touching sight in an era when players are so often criticised by supporters for moving on to bigger things.

Another brilliant home win proves Andrews is manager of the season so far

An incredible run of form has turned Brentford’s very good season into a scarcely believable one.

Brentford’s fourth win in their last five Premier League matches was arguably their simplest one yet, Keith Andrews’ side being the latest to benefit from the exhaustion that has overtaken a Sunderland team with a long list of absentees.

The first two goals in this game were simple counter-attacks that followed pinching a loose ball in central midfield. Sunderland were sloppy in their passing, wide open, and unable to keep up with the speed of Brentford’s breaks.

But nevertheless Brentford and Igor Thiago were ruthless yet again. The Bees have now scored 11 goals in their last four matches despite drawing a blank in one of those.

Thiago’s brace took him to 16 in the competition, making him the highest-scoring Brazilian player in a single campaign in Premier League history.

Brentford are also on the verge of breaking records. Their 33 points from 21 matches so far is their joint-best ever return (level with 2022/23) and has them all the way up in fifth.

Before the campaign began - and following the departure of Thomas Frank, Bryan Mbeumo, Yoane Wissa and captain Christian Norgaard - a lot of people thought Brentford would go down.

There isn’t a shadow of a doubt that Andrews is manager of the season so far.

Agonising finale denies Wolves crucial three points against nine-man Everton

When Wolverhampton Wanderers supporters reflect on the 2025/26 campaign this summer they might just look at the final few minutes at the Hill Dickinson Stadium as the sliding doors moment.

Rob Edwards and his players deserve huge credit for this three-game unbeaten run, they’ve picked up more points in these games (five) than in their previous 22 but when Everton went down to nine men near the death it felt like this had to be Wolves’ time.

Michael Keane’s red card gave Wolves 10 minutes to find a winner. Jack Grealish’s red in the 90th minute didn’t leave much of a window, yet the visitors were already on top; from Grealish's dismissal onwards Wolves had 86% possession and three shots to Everton’s zero.

One of those three shots was a brilliant curling effort from Hugo Bueno that Jordan Pickford miraculously tipped over the bar. Had it gone in, Wolves would be back in the fight.

Disastrous result for West Ham threatens to end the relegation battle altogether

There was an awful lot of bad luck in West Ham United’s defeat on Tuesday evening, from the VAR intervention on the goal that would have put the hosts 2-0 up to Nicolas Dominguez’s very fortunate looping header that levelled the scores to the penalty that went in Nottingham Forest’s favour.

Nuno Espirito Santo will take no comfort from that. Forest’s victory has opened a seven-point gap to West Ham in 18th, a massive moment for both these clubs and the Premier League as a whole.

There is still plenty of time for those in the bottom three to escape but in a year when the league table is unusually condensed - just six points separates fifth from 14th - those in the relegation zone are starting to look cut off from the rest of the division.

Even worse for the sides currently in the bottom three, Leeds' recent form suggests they are unlikely to fall off a cliff while Forest have a squad that was capable of a top-seven finish in 2024/25.

It’s far from over. But it isn’t looking good for West Ham, Burnley, or Wolves

Goalless draw suits neither Glasner nor Emery at a frustrated Selhurst Park

When you consider how often Aston Villa lose this fixture and lose it heavily, you might think they would be reasonably satisfied with a hard-fought point in what was a slow and low-quality game at Selhurst Park.

Judging by Unai Emery’s furious reaction at the final whistle, you would be wrong.

Emery felt that Youri Tielemans should have been awarded a penalty in stoppage-time, although the Villa manager’s anger may have more to do with the feelings that had built up over a frustrating 90 minutes in which neither side could create clear-cut chances.

Villa remain level on points with Man City and are still in the title race, but as rank outsiders they will feel they have to be winning games like this.

Oliver Glasner won’t have been satisfied either. Crystal Palace are now on a six-game winless run in the Premier League and have failed to win any of their last six at Selhurst Park.

Are Arsenal starting to feel the heat in title race?

After a first half in which they dominated possession - 60% to Liverpool's 40% - the nerves seemed to set in for Premier League leaders Arsenal.

Mikel Arteta's side found it hard to reproduce the attacking verve which had seen them sweep aside Villa 4-1 in their last home match, and they ended up thankful that Liverpool, for all 65% of their second-half possession, were unable to muster a single shot on target.

A point for the Gunners maintained a six-point cushion on second-placed Man City but there will be concern that there was a 55-minute gap between their final shot of the first half and first shot of the second, in the eighth minute of stoppage time.

For Liverpool, both the performance and result were pleasing for Arne Slot as his side extended their unbeaten run to 10 matches in all competitions.

The Reds earned an impressive clean sheet, the first a visiting side has managed at the Emirates this season but they also failed to record a shot on target in a Premier League match for the first time since March 2010.