Premier League Round-Up: Matchweek 36 Winners & Losers

Premier League Matchweek 36 saw Arsenal survive, City chase again, and Spurs drift closer to danger. The title race is not done yet.

Premier League Matchweek 36 was basically Arsenal holding the door shut while Man City kept banging on it.

The Gunners beat West Ham 1-0 through Leandro Trossard, City handled Brentford 3-0 with goals from Jeremy Doku, Erling Haaland and Omar Marmoush, and Spurs somehow turned a home game against Leeds into another relegation panic meeting. 

Normal Premier League behaviour, then.

Winners of the week

Arsenal gained the most because winning ugly in May is not a flaw. It is a survival skill. 

Trossard’s late goal at West Ham was not pretty, but nobody is handing out bonus points for aesthetics now. 

The Gunners are on 79 points after 36 games, five clear of Man City, although City still have a game in hand. That is pressure, but it is also control.

City also did what City do. 

Brentford annoyed them for 45 minutes, then Doku, Haaland and Marmoush turned the second half into a reminder that Pep Guardiola’s side still smell blood. 

Haaland now has 26 league goals. 

That stat reframes City’s season: even when they have looked less dominant, they still have the league’s most reliable punishment machine up front.

Brighton deserve a proper mention too. 

A 3-0 win over Wolves, with Jack Hinshelwood scoring after 35 seconds, Lewis Dunk adding the second and Yankuba Minteh finishing it late, keeps them in the European conversation. 

Hinshelwood’s opener was Brighton’s earliest Premier League goal. That is not a small footnote. That is a team starting games like they are late for rent.

Losers of the week

Spurs get the dustbin award. No argument. 

Drawing 1-1 at home to Leeds when you are trying to crawl away from relegation trouble is embarrassing. 

Mathys Tel scored, then Dominic Calvert-Lewin equalised from the penalty spot, and Spurs finished the weekend 17th, only two points above West Ham. 

This is not a bad run anymore. 

This is a football club trying to rebrand panic as patience.

Aston Villa also made life harder for themselves. 

A 2-2 draw at already-relegated Burnley is not what serious top-four teams do. 

Jaidon Anthony scored, Ross Barkley levelled, Ollie Watkins put Villa ahead, then Zian Flemming equalised 160 seconds later. 

That is how you throw away fourth place without even making it look dramatic.

Liverpool were not disastrous, but they were wasteful. 

Ryan Gravenberch scored early against Chelsea, Enzo Fernandez replied, and Anfield ended with boos. 

When your fans are booing substitutions and the final whistle in a top-four race, the mood is not “nearly there”. It is “what exactly are we watching?”

The race update

The title race is still Arsenal’s to lose, which is exactly why Arsenal fans are terrified. 

They have 79 points from 36 games. City have 74 from 35. Win the next two and Arsenal are champions. 

Drop points, and City suddenly become that horror film villain who gets back up after everyone clapped too early.

Top four is where the real mess lives. 

Man United’s 0-0 draw at Sunderland moved them closer to third, but it was not convincing. 

Liverpool and Aston Villa are both on 59 points, Bournemouth are on 55, Brighton are on 53, and nobody behind United looks fully trustworthy. 

The race is less Champions League chase, more group project where everyone forgot the deadline.

At the bottom, Wolves and Burnley are gone, but 17th and 18th are still ugly. Spurs are on 38. 

West Ham are on 36. Two games left. If Spurs go down after all this, nobody should call it a shock. 

They have been flirting with disaster all season and acting surprised it asked for their number.

One thing nobody is talking about

Bournemouth beating Fulham 1-0 at Craven Cottage matters more than people think. 

Rayan scored the winner, both teams finished with 10 men, and Andoni Iraola’s side moved to 55 points. 

That is a serious season. Not noisy, not flashy, but serious. 

Bournemouth are closer to Europe than some “big clubs” who spent the whole season selling fans a vision board.

Next week’s must-watch

Chelsea vs Spurs is the one. Not because Chelsea are reliable. They are not. 

But Spurs going to Stamford Bridge with relegation breathing down their neck is pure Premier League theatre. 

Chelsea have been messy, Spurs have been worse, and West Ham will be watching like Arsenal fans watching a City game. 

Be honest , do you trust Spurs to handle pressure away from home?