⚽ English Premier League Season: 2024/2025

[AverageGlabella]

The title race has not ended. It is not yet a clear race between Arsenal and Manchester City because Manchester United are not that far behind as they occupy the top three positions in the Premier League table. There are still 51, 48 and 45 points available to the top three teams until the season ends therefore the race is not over. The top 5 including Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur are also in the chasing pack though they might be too far behind to mount a serious challenge if Arsenal collapse and go through a bad run of form (as I expect they will do).

Newcastle and Tottenham do not have the same depth to challenge even if they could close the gap in the next few games I think over that many games they will pick up injuries and will not be able to replace them. Arsenal might be able to but their replacements are not of the same quality and they will probably struggle towards the end of the season. Manchester United has shown that without Casemiro they struggle to hold their shape in the midfield and the center of the field gets over run. If Casemiro does not miss to many games then they might be ok but they are relying on him not getting injured which he currently is injured but I do not know how long. If it is a long term injury I think we can count them out of the title race because Casemiro is the most important player of the team and the reason that Manchester United have regained their form and confidence this season.

Manchester City has the best depth and can replace most of the players in the 1st team with a equally good player or just below in quality. I think they have the best chance dealing with injuries and that could be the deciding metric why they will win another league season. I hope Arsenal and Manchester United can challenge for the league but I am concerned about Manchester United more then I am concerned about Arsenal because of Casemiro already being injured.

I would not be surprised if Manchester City win the title to become champions again and for this season they remain champions because their legal team drags out the process until next season by filing a strong defence to each of the 155 alleged breaches, which means if they finish top they will be champions 2022/23. In that scenario they could receive a points deduction or relegation next season but they will remain champions for this season.

I would be very surprised if the league would relegate their champions. I think the most that will happen is a points reduction and a transfer ban but I do not think the points reduction is likely. I think they will be handed a transfer ban for next season and maybe the year after but it depends on how well their legal team can defend against the case. They have fought legal cases like this before and have won so they have experience in dealing with these cases. I do not think this will distract the players on the field and for this season I think they are in the strongest position out of the top 4 because of their depth. If they receive a transfer ban I think it could be very interesting next season because they are in need of a few additions to make sure that they do not repeat this seasons performances because despite their position they have not been playing at their top ability.

If they are found guilty by the FA and they lose the appeal and all that happens before the current season ends, they could theoretically have either points deducted or be relegated for breaching financial fair play rules therefore it could be a case of Arsenal or Manchester United ending the season second place in the Premier League table but one of them could end up being crowned champions if Manchester City are removed from the equation.

I think punishments are normally applied to the season after the legal case ends and not the current season so I do not think it will affect the current season and they should be able to continue on. It would be to much drama to see Manchester City win the league and then take that away from them and demote them from the league because the team that is in 2nd place feels they do not deserve it and I think celebrations would not hit the same and from past punishments for teams not following the rules the sanctions have always been the next season.

If the FA find Manchester City guilty of any of the 115 charges and are punished with a points deduction or more likely relegation, I think they will consider going to the High Court to try to have the verdict overturned using legal challenges to try to reverse the punishment. If they are found guilty, I am sure Guardiola will stand by his words and he will resign because he said he believes the club did not lie to him when they said they did not break financial fair play rules.

Why do you think that relegation is more likely? I do not think this has ever been done but points reductions have. I do not think it would be fair for the lower league that has to play against Manchester City with their better players because that makes it that only 2 people can get promoted because Manchester City will definitely be 1 of the 3.

If Manchester City are punished with relegation there is no doubt the majority of their players will leave as they would not want to play in the second tier and they would want to play Champions League football. That would leave them in financial difficulties because the owners could easily cover all costs but they would have to do so within scrutinised financial fair play rules therefore to cover the salaries of the players without Premier League income will be impossible. If the Premier League also place an embargo on their teams buying Manchester City players it will make it harder for them to balance their books outside of the Premier League.

They will not leave because it would not be that easy the players would command a similar amount of money for their wages and a lot of teams cannot pay the amount they will ask. Manchester City has some of the highest wages in Europe and they cannot sell all of their players so a lot of the players will stay and they will know that Manchester City will get promoted so it will only be 1 year of playing in the lower leagues anyway but I cannot believe that they will get relegated because of these charges.

[Igebotz]

If Manchester City are found guilty by the FA on any of the 115 allegations, possible punishments from the FA and the Premier League could include:

Huge financial penalties
Points deduction
Severe points deduction leaving them bottom of the Premier League meaning unavoidable relegation
Automatic relegation at the end of the season
Several season long ban on Manchester City re-entering the Premier League
Transfer embargo where no Premier League teams engage with Manchester City

Was there an addition of 15 charges to the original 100? I'm not sure if the penalty will be issued this season, but the other EPL clubs have been pushing the FA for a quick decision, but nothing has happened so far.

Apart from huge financial penalties and a 15-point deduction, the other penalties aren't realistic; the FA wouldn't want a club like City which has a lot of money and influence to end up in a lower tie; the FA is so corrupt. Juventus had minor charges compared to Man City and were penalized, but the FA has yet to make a significant move like the Italian FA.

[AverageGlabella]

If Manchester City are found guilty by the FA on any of the 115 allegations, possible punishments from the FA and the Premier League could include:

Huge financial penalties
Points deduction
Severe points deduction leaving them bottom of the Premier League meaning unavoidable relegation
Automatic relegation at the end of the season
Several season long ban on Manchester City re-entering the Premier League
Transfer embargo where no Premier League teams engage with Manchester City

Was there an addition of 15 charges to the original 100? I'm not sure if the penalty will be issued this season, but the other EPL clubs have been pushing the FA for a quick decision, but nothing has happened so far.

Apart from huge financial penalties and a 15-point deduction, the other penalties aren't realistic; the FA wouldn't want a club like City which has a lot of money and influence to end up in a lower tie; the FA is so corrupt. Juventus had minor charges compared to Man City and were penalized, but the FA has yet to make a significant move like the Italian FA.

Sky sports says around 100 charges [1]. According to sky sports it could be worse for Manchester City too because they might not be able to register players so with a transfer ban they cannot buy players, loan or even sign youth players and I think this applies to any expiring contracts too. If the Premier League decides to stop them from registering players for multiple years instead of 1 they could risk losing some of their best players. It would be a big statement by the Premier League to do it but I do not think they will because Manchester City brings in too much money for the Premier League. I expect a large fine and maybe a transfer ban but I do not think they will ban all registrations because that would make it difficult for them to recover from.

I am 100% certain that they will not relegate Manchester City. The investigation has been going on more then 4 years so I doubt we will see penalties next season and it will probably be in a few years if they are found guilty. 100 charges is going to take years it could even be another 4 years to battle the charges in court.

1. https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11661/12804623/man-city-premier-league-charges-explained-what-are-they-what-could-punishment-be-whats-the-timescale

[JollyGood]

Was there an addition of 15 charges to the original 100? I'm not sure if the penalty will be issued this season, but the other EPL clubs have been pushing the FA for a quick decision, but nothing has happened so far.

Apart from huge financial penalties and a 15-point deduction, the other penalties aren't realistic; the FA wouldn't want a club like City which has a lot of money and influence to end up in a lower tie; the FA is so corrupt. Juventus had minor charges compared to Man City and were penalized, but the FA has yet to make a significant move like the Italian FA.

The FA have openly stated Manchester City did not co-operate ever since they started their started their investigation around four years ago.

There are 115 allegations in total which are between 2009 and 2018. In that period Manchester City won the following:

Premier League 4 times: 2011–12, 2013–14, 2017–18 and 2018–19
FA Cup 2 times:  2010–11 and 2018–19
League Cup: 2013–14, 2015–16, 2017–18 and 2018–19
FA Community Shield: 2012 and 2018

Guardiola joined Manchester City in 2016 therefore at least two of his four Premier League titles will be tainted if they are found guilty of financial misconduct.

As for relegation, if Manchester City cheated their way to the numerous Premier League titles, try explaining to fans of the other 19 clubs why Manchester City do not deserve to be relegated.

I am 100% certain that they will not relegate Manchester City. The investigation has been going on more then 4 years so I doubt we will see penalties next season and it will probably be in a few years if they are found guilty. 100 charges is going to take years it could even be another 4 years to battle the charges in court.

1. https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11661/12804623/man-city-premier-league-charges-explained-what-are-they-what-could-punishment-be-whats-the-timescale

If what you say is the true then those that cheat the system can and will carry on cheating their way to more titles and trophies. One thing that the Premier League can do is to punish Manchester City without waiting for the independent commission to give their verdict. They already had one meeting a few days ago where the issue was discussed while Manchester City were present at that meeting too.

If this takes years to drag out before a decision is made it will basically leave the Premier League with no credibility.

[JollyGood]

There is one Premier League game taking place this evening:

Arsenal vs Manchester City

I am expecting Manchester City to win the game and with that Arsenal will in my opinion finish either second or third when the season ends because they will be battling it out with Manchester United to see who will finish as runners-up.



Arsenal and Manchester City still have to play each other twice this season. The first game is this evening and the next one is in Manchester on 26th April but for some reason Haaland is not effective against the other 4 so-called big teams when playing away. We will see his statistics against Arsenal later because he will be in the starting line-up.

[GxSTxV]

There is one Premier League game taking place this evening:
Arsenal vs Manchester City
I am expecting Manchester City to win the game and with that Arsenal will in my opinion finish either second or third when the season ends because they will be battling it out with Manchester United to see who will finish as runners-up.
Arsenal and Manchester City still have to play each other twice this season. The first game is this evening and the next one is in Manchester on 26th April but for some reason Haaland is not effective against the other 4 so-called big teams when playing away. We will see his statistics against Arsenal later because he will be in the starting line-up.

Arsenal's recent matches have been consistently poor with a significant drop in performance from their earlier games in the Premier League and how they started it. Today's match against Manchester City who are just behind them in the standings is proving to be a challenge as Arsenal is already losing 1-0 in first half a goal that been scored by Kevin De Bruyne. If they continue to perform this way they will end up with the same number of points as Manchester City. And even that they still has a chance to improve their standing with a later match, it may not be enough to make up the difference. At the very least they will need to draw this match if they hope to gain an advantage for their next matches
Edit: 3 minutes before the end of first half Arsenal scored the drawn goal with a penalty it’s 1-1 now

[JollyGood]

RESULT:

Arsenal 1-3 Manchester City

It ended 1-1 at half time but at full time Manchester City showed their superiority with a vital 1-3 victory.

Arsenal have lost top spot, they are now second in the league table and Manchester City are sitting at the top.

Clearly Arsenal played well for large parts of the game but Manchester City were by far the better team and deserved the win. I thought they would win and I also think Arsenal with finish the season probably 3rd behind both Manchester teams.

Arsenal's recent matches have been consistently poor with a significant drop in performance from their earlier games in the Premier League and how they started it. Today's match against Manchester City who are just behind them in the standings is proving to be a challenge as Arsenal is already losing 1-0 in first half a goal that been scored by Kevin De Bruyne. If they continue to perform this way they will end up with the same number of points as Manchester City. And even that they still has a chance to improve their standing with a later match, it may not be enough to make up the difference. At the very least they will need to draw this match if they hope to gain an advantage for their next matches
Edit: 3 minutes before the end of first half Arsenal scored the drawn goal with a penalty it’s 1-1 now

[Queentoshi]

Arsenal losing points at home is not good for them. The points difference in the championship race is closing. While they were doing so well at the beginning of the season, with the 5 points they lost in the last 2 weeks, other teams started to enter the race. If City win tomorrow, the points difference will drop to 3 but they will have played one more game.

Today result is a very disappointing results for the Gunners, they should be very worry of losing that top spot at the moment, their last three games, they have drew one and lost two, and they have Manchester city play at the weekend again, the gap is already reducing, they can't afford to lose that weekend game against Manchester city and again. With this result I can fully say Manchester United are very much in the title race

[JollyGood]

Here are the next set of games taking place on Saturday 18th February:

Aston Villa vs Arsenal
Brentford vs Crystal Palace
Brighton and Hove Albion vs Fulham
Chelsea vs Southampton
Everton vs Leeds United
Nottingham Forest vs Manchester City
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Bournemouth
Newcastle United vs Liverpool

Arsenal have a difficult game at Aston Villa whereas Manchester City also have a difficult game against Nottingham Forest. The late kick-off game between Newcastle United and Liverpool has to be the game to watch. Chelsea have a chance to close the gap on the teams above if they manage to defeat Southampton.

[püsür]

There is a big difference in team rosters between Arsenal and Manchester City. If Arsenal didn't even make the top 4 this season, no one would be surprised or say how they didn't make the top 4. Arteta showed completely different things with the staff he had. Behind him was a team with an incredible squad depth that has dominated the Premier League in recent years, City. For example, there are guys like Akanji, Stones, Laporte, Ake, Walker, Dias on the defensive line in City. All of them can easily start first 11 at Arsenal today. The league is not over, Arsenal is still the leader, but it was obvious that their job was difficult.

[Juggy777]

Here are the next set of games taking place on Saturday 18th February:

Aston Villa vs Arsenal
Brentford vs Crystal Palace
Brighton and Hove Albion vs Fulham
Chelsea vs Southampton
Everton vs Leeds United
Nottingham Forest vs Manchester City
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Bournemouth
Newcastle United vs Liverpool

Arsenal have a difficult game at Aston Villa whereas Manchester City also have a difficult game against Nottingham Forest. The late kick-off game between Newcastle United and Liverpool has to be the game to watch. Chelsea have a chance to close the gap on the teams above if they manage to defeat Southampton.

@JollyGood indeed Arsenal player’s will be under pressure to win and reclaim the top spot, hence it’ll be interesting to see how they respond to the pressure in this fixture. Also if Chelsea can’t beat the struggling Southampton then Potter’s job will be under threat, because there’s no way that the Chelsea board will be happy with just a draw or a defeat at the hands of Southampton who’re currently lying at the bottom of the table.

[JollyGood]

RESULT:

Aston Villa 2-4 Arsenal

In the early kick-off game Aston Villa did very well against Arsenal and nearly pulled off a stunning victory but two goals from Arsenal in time added-on gave them the win and they climb back to the top of the table.

Chelsea have a chance to make a statement today if they can beat Southampton but will they be up to it? As for Manchester City, if they win away at Nottingham Forest they will be able to go back to the top of the Premier League table.

@JollyGood indeed Arsenal player’s will be under pressure to win and reclaim the top spot, hence it’ll be interesting to see how they respond to the pressure in this fixture. Also if Chelsea can’t beat the struggling Southampton then Potter’s job will be under threat, because there’s no way that the Chelsea board will be happy with just a draw or a defeat at the hands of Southampton who’re currently lying at the bottom of the table.

[Agbe]

Aston Villa 2-4 Arsenal
Arsenal controlled the ball from the first half to the second half though Aston Villa played well in the first half of the game. Even the ball possession Arsenal was the highest. Arsenal midfielders and Strikers were good in the game. Aston Villa also tried in the match by scoring 2 goals. I predicted and place a bet on Arsenal to win the game though no predicted 1-2 but it happened to 2-4 so I could not win the bet again.

Aston Villa vs Arsenal
Brentford vs Crystal Palace
Brighton and Hove Albion vs Fulham
Chelsea vs Southampton
Everton vs Leeds United
Nottingham Forest vs Manchester City
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Bournemouth
Newcastle United vs Liverpool

From the above fixtures Arsenal has already won their match so I am giving a prediction on the following matches.
Brentford vs Crystal Palace 2 - 3
Brighton and Hove Albion vs Fulham 1 - 2
Chelsea vs Southampton 2 - 1
Everton vs Leeds United 3 - 1
Nottingham Forest vs Manchester City 1 - 3
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Bournemouth 2 - 1
Newcastle United vs Liverpool 0 - 3
That is my parochial view of the matches.

[JollyGood]

More results from the games played today:

Brentford 1-1 Crystal Palace
Brighton and Hove Albion 0-1 Fulham
Chelsea 0-1 Southampton
Everton 1-0 Leeds United
Nottingham Forest 1-1 Manchester City
Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-1 Bournemouth

The bottom three clubs all won today with Everton winning at home against relegation facing Leeds. Bournemouth won away at Wolves and Southampton ended up winning away at Chelsea. Not only is Chelsea manager Potter under intense pressure because of their form and league position but today Azpilicueta suffered a head injury. The referee stopped the game for around 10 minutes until he was taken off in a stretcher.

At the top half of the table, Fulham continue to impress as they push for a top finish. Arsenal won today but Manchester City only managed a draw therefore a two point gap stands between them at the top of the table. The evening kick-off game today is between Newcastle United and Liverpool.

[Jossque]

Manchester City drew away to Forest. This point loss could become very important for them in the future. It's a pity that they couldn't win the match despite dominating the game from the beginning to the end. Especially in the first half, Manchester City had 85 percent possession. Nottingham forest scored with one shot and managed to get 1 point.
Chelsea continues to lose points. Things are starting to get worse for chelsea who lost to southampton at home.
In the meeting of the 2 in-form teams of the league, Fulham managed to beat Brighton away. It was the hosts who played better and had more chances but they couldn't win.

[MAAManda]

Manchester City drew away to Forest. This point loss could become very important for them in the future. It's a pity that they couldn't win the match despite dominating the game from the beginning to the end. Especially in the first half, Manchester City had 85 percent possession. Nottingham forest scored with one shot and managed to get 1 point.

This time Manchester City played like an amateur team, completely dominating the game but could not even win by 1 goal difference against Nottingham Forest. Maybe they forgot that they are racing with Arsenal for the EPL title. Apart from that, Erling Haaland, who played from the start of the match, also couldn't do anything and got a bad rating in this match with a rating of 5.9. This makes this match the worst match ever for Haaland.

[JollyGood]

Rebuilding the Chelsea team will take years, I cannot see then winning the Premier League again for the foreseeable future. They will need more than a cash injection, they will need a competent manager that will be given time. I do not know if the owners will sack Potter at the end of the season but buying players is one thing but having a manager to bring out the best in them is another.

Especially in the first half, Manchester City had 85 percent possession. Nottingham forest scored with one shot and managed to get 1 point.
Chelsea continues to lose points. Things are starting to get worse for chelsea who lost to southampton at home.
In the meeting of the 2 in-form teams of the league, Fulham managed to beat Brighton away. It was the hosts who played better and had more chances but they couldn't win.

[CLS63]

It was a really unbelievable match for Manchester City. Nottingham were like they were in defense all the time. They were desperately trying to fend off Manchester City attacks. Manchester City found so many opportunities to score more goals. Especially the one Haaland wasted was hard to believe. First his shot hit the post and right after that he missed the target on another absolute goal chance. They were very incapable about finishing today in short.

Nottingham were able to score by a counter-attack in a very unexpected time. They got into the penalty area so easily that I couldn't even understand. This week was another chance for Arsenal to take the lead again.

[Majestic-milf]

It was a really unbelievable match for Manchester City. Nottingham were like they were in defense all the time. They were desperately trying to fend off Manchester City attacks. Manchester City found so many opportunities to score more goals. Especially the one Haaland wasted was hard to believe. First his shot hit the post and right after that he missed the target on another absolute goal chance. They were very incapable about finishing today in short.

Nottingham were able to score by a counter-attack in a very unexpected time. They got into the penalty area so easily that I couldn't even understand. This week was another chance for Arsenal to take the lead again.

Quite a performance from the Nottingham Forest side if you ask me. I knew that the game would end in a draw and I have to commend their dedication and resilience despite being pressed by the citizens, they still kept up a bold front and went ahead to turn their only shot on target into a goal.
 This draw came as a shocker to Man City because from the start, they felt they had the game in their grasps but began being sloppy and desperate in the second half and their woes became heightened after Chris Wood got the equalizing goal in the 84th min and cancelled their chances of topping the Gunners. Good game there, I'd have to say.

[Igebotz]

The bottom three clubs all won today with Everton winning at home against relegation facing Leeds. Bournemouth won away at Wolves and Southampton ended up winning away at Chelsea. Not only is Chelsea manager Potter under intense pressure because of their form and league position but today Azpilicueta suffered a head injury. The referee stopped the game for around 10 minutes until he was taken off in a stretcher.

Trust the process; we're going to win the championship against chesterfield next season, and Potter is in charge. Except for Chelsea, 2 wins in 15 games is an automatic sack offense in other clubs . The owner and coach are more satisfied with the results; we have spent more time in 10th place than any of the top six. I'm not sure how much time Todd Boehly is willing to give Potter, but I believe that giving him more time will do more harm than good for the team.

I'm not sure why Potter chose Apzi over James; he always underestimates his opponents.. I just hope it's not another skull injury.