Title run-in

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Title run-in

And just like that… it’s Matchday 36. 

There are a lot of good fixtures this weekend but - if we’re being honest - all eyes are on the title race. 

So, let’s take a look at those fixtures…

Arsenal vs Bournemouth is the early kick-off on Saturday (TNT Sports) and the league leaders will feel confident that they won’t drop points: 

• The Gunners have won all six of their previous home Premier League matches against Bournemouth… 

• … and the Cherries have only taken five points from 13 league meetings with Arsenal.

What’s more, Arteta’s men can’t stop scoring. Their average of 2.4 goals-per-game is the highest in a single campaign since 1934/5. 

Unless Bournemouth causes an upset, Arsenal will pile pressure on the late Saturday fixture… 

… speaking of, Manchester City vs Wolves (Sky Sports). 

*copies and pastes above*

Yup. City are likely to have the same result as Arsenal this weekend. 

And while it was Wolves who delivered City’s first defeat of the season in September, they have lost on seven of their last eight league visits to the Etihad.

With manager Gary O’Neil serving a touchline ban, it’ll be difficult for Wolves to dent City’s 31 matches unbeaten. 

We’d like to bring more gossip - but don’t expect it from this Matchweek…

Last night’s results…

Premier League: Chelsea 2 - 0 Tottenham

Europa League: Marseille 1 - 1 Atalanta | Roma 0 - 2 Bayer Leverkusen

Europa Conference League: Aston Villa 2 - 4 Olympiakos | Fiorentina 3 - 2 Club Brugge

Matchday 36 Snapshot

Luton vs Everton (Friday 3 May, 20:00 BST - Sky Sports)

→ Luton have already beaten Everton in the Premier League and FA Cup fourth round this season.

→ Everton are in good form with three wins in a row at Goodison Park, but Sean Dyche’s side are winless in nine away Premier League games (D3 L6).

Chelsea vs West Ham (Sunday 5 May, 14:00 BST)

→ Chelsea have had the upper hand in this fixture previously with 12 wins and just one defeat from their last 17 home games against West Ham. 

→ West Ham manager David Moyes has never won an away Premier League match against The Blues in 18 attempts (D8 L11). 

Liverpool vs Tottenham (Sunday 5, 16:30 - Sky Sports)

→ Liverpool have been beaten in their last two home games, but that is as many losses as they had suffered in their previous 57 combined.

→ Spurs have only one win in their last 29 away Premier League matches against Liverpool (W19 D9). 

Link to this weekend’s fixture list here.

Head Start

🏆 Fifth spot gone: The Premier League has missed out on a fifth Champions League spot next season. Germany will join Italy in getting a fifth automatic spot in next season’s tournament. (More on this story below)

📉 Depreciating assets: The value of Chelsea players has fallen by £77.2 million, according to CIES valuations shared with The Athletic. That’s including £130 million of value by Cobham academy graduates who cost nothing to acquire.

❌ Computer says no: Ralf Rangnick will not take over at Bayern Munich next season but will remain in his role as Austria’s head coach after Euro 2024. The former Manchester United coach confirmed last week that Bayern had been in touch in search of a successor to Thomas Tuchel.

🤔 Tonali suspended ban: The Italian international has been handed a suspended two-month ban and fined £20,000 for breaching the FA’s betting rules. Tonali will not serve the ban if he does not commit further breaches before the end of the season.

Premier League

Should the Prem help its clubs in Europe, like other nations do?

Hmmm. That’s awkward.

‘The Best League in the World’ has missed out on a fifth Champions League slot next year. And it’s the Italian and German top-flight leagues that secure it.

Here are the UEFA club coefficients (as of May 2)…

1. Italy - 19.428

2. Germany - 18.357

3. England 17.375

4. France - 16.083

5. Spain - 15.437

Hmm. Does this mean that the Premier League should do something to help English clubs in Europe? 

Look, we all know about the congestion of fixtures - yada yada  - but let’s not bore you with that.

Instead, let’s look at what other European leagues are doing:

• France’s Ligue 1 downsized to 18 teams last season - the German Bundesliga has done this since the 1960s.

• Portugal’s Primeira Liga grants its big three sides a weekend off before a big Champions League match.

• Spain’s La Liga is notoriously for moving fixtures at the very last minute to give their teams a rest - like Real Madrid’s rescheduled fixture with Real Sociedad last weekend.

OK. Sure. But they’re not the leagues that have beaten English sides to the extra slot.

Well, Italy and Germany only have one domestic cup - England has two.

And both leagues try to use a Friday night slot for domestic cups for teams playing a Champions League fixture the following Tuesday - the Premier League doesn’t.

English clubs lead the way for the least rest time between games. So, let’s be honest, the Premier League doesn’t help clubs in European competitions.

How? The Premier League should help out English clubs in Europe by…

• Reducing the number of competitions or clubs in the league (the worst solution).

• Or rescheduling fixtures to help with congestion.

… but - and it’s important but - redistribute revenue from European competitions to compensate the clubs that aren’t competing.

Off The Pitch

🗳️ Boris Johnson turned away from polling station after forgetting photo ID - a law he introduced (More)

☔️ You can now stay in Prince’s house from ‘Purple Rain’ on AirBnB (More)

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 John Swinney set to become first minister of Scotland (More)

🍺 Pubs in England are set to be given extended opening times from June for Euros (More)

🎶 TikTok and Universal Music Group Settle Royalty Dispute With New Licensing Agreement (More)

🚕 Uber faces £250m London black cab drivers case (More)

🥊 Ryan Garcia has tested positive for a banned PED after his win over Devin Haney (More)

Fantasy Premier League

Captaincy for Gameweek 36 🫡

Gameweek (GW) 36 is as close to a normal GW as you will get at this time of the season.

• No doubles.

• No blanks.

• No Chips required.

So you can put away your calculator and Fantasy Football Hub AI generator for now at least.

But before we dive into who should lead your FPL team out of the proverbial tunnel in GW 36, we need to remind you that GW 37 gets juicy with six teams doubling:

Chelsea, Manchester City and Newcastle assets will all be in high demand… something to bear in mind.

According to 100 FPL experts, these are the four most popular captains:

🥇 Erling Haaland (£14.1m) - Wolves (H) 

• Blanked in the reverse fixture but scored a hat-trick against Wolves the last time he faced them at home.

• Wolves concede the seventh most shots in the box and big chances in the league. 

🥈 Cole Palmer (£6.2m) - West Ham (H)

• The Hammers have conceded the most penalties in the league (10) and Chelsea have won the most (12), this is a good sign for Palmer who is first choice and has yet to miss a penalty. 

• West Ham has conceded the fifth most shots in the box and third most big chances.

🥉 Alexander Isak (£8.3m) - Burnely (A)

• He scored in the reverse fixture and has scored 19 goals in his last 22 starts for Newcastle.

• But, Newcastle have almost double the expected goals (xG) at Home vs Away, the highest difference in the league.

Kevin De Bruyne (£10.5m) - Wolves (H)

• He has returned in each of his last three games against Wolves.

• Burnley struggle to defend set-pieces and allow the most chances from wide areas which would benefit De Bruyne.

FPL Bonus Points 📊

• FPL not gone your way this season? Go easy on yourself… the current FPL Champion is ranked 1,186,503 in the world.

• 78% of managers surveyed will be using their Bench Boost in GW 37.

Game Face On

Put the following players in order of their Premier League appearances, highest to lowest.

• David James

• Gary Speed

• Gareth Barry

• Ryan Giggs

• James Milner

• Frank Lampard

Scroll below for the answer.

Extra Time

Liverpool’s home shirt for next season revealed.

Jamie Carragher’s drunkered interview with Jadon Sancho is the best of the season.

Ange Postecoglu wasn’t happy with his side’s performance.

How much do the top clubs really make?

April’s goal of the month nominees have been released.

Answer

• Gareth Barry - 653

• James Milner - 634

• Ryan Giggs - 632

• Frank Lampard - 609

• David James  - 572

• Gary Speed - 535

“Salah is the most selfish player I have ever witnessed. When the going gets tough and another player puts it on him, Salah will disappear from a game.”

-Graeme Souness