Matchday 36 of the EPL season is in the books, and we’re here to review it, identify the big takeaways, and examine the markets.
Around The EPL
The final Saturday of the EPL season is in the books with Southampton kicking things off by avoiding the worst record in Premier League history. Their 0-0 draw won’t feature a long highlights package, but it’s saved embarrassment and forced Manchester City into a tough finish to their season if they’re to end up in the Top 5.
Brighton & Hove Albion put two past Wolves to secure their victory while Everton returned to their winning ways with a 3-1 over Fulham.
For the first time ever in the Premier League, Brighton have had multiple players score 10+ league goals in a single season.
◉ 11 – Joao Pedro
◉ 10 – Danny WelbeckAnd Kaoru Mitoma is one goal away from joining them. 😀 pic.twitter.com/MuOVk5iyv1
— Squawka (@Squawka) May 10, 2025
Ipswich’s effort and fight can only take them so far this season. It wasn’t enough to claim a point as Brentford held on to win 1-0 behind Kevin Schade’s goal in the 18th minute.
Ollie Watkings is now Aston Villa’s record EPL goal scorer after finding the net against Bournemouth.
Magnificent Ollie Watkins 💫
His 75th goal makes him Aston Villa's all-time top Premier League goalscorer 🦁 pic.twitter.com/eLIKc8Y5Jp
— Premier League (@premierleague) May 10, 2025
Chelsea’s hopes to qualify for the Champions League took a massive hit as they fell 2-0 to Newcastle. Down 1-0 after conceding in only the second minute, Nicolas Jackson’s first-half red card compunded the issues for Chelsea before Bruno Guimaraes made sure of things in the 90th minute.
Both Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United qualified for the Europa League final mid-week. Both then produced little over the weekend in 2-0 defeats. Crystal Palace handled Ange Postecoglou’s makeshift side. Meanwhile, United dominated the numbers but ended up on the wrong side of the scoreboard against West Ham.
While the game didn’t carry the implications many would have hoped for earlier in the EPL season, Liverpool v Arsenal still produced the goods. Liverpool pulled two goals in front before halftime before Arsenal produced a fine comeback to finish level at 2-2.
3 Takeaways From Matchday 36
City Slump
An uncharacteristic EPL season continues for Manchester City, just as it looked as though they’d found their form to qualify for the Champions League. Now, following their 0-0 draw with Southampton, Champions League football is no certainty.
City recorded a whopping 69 touches in Southampton’s box but only managed five shots on target. Erling Haaland, in particular, struggled for effectiveness with only one off-target shot in 90 minutes.
Ruben Dias saw his side play with 70% possession and get 26 shot away, but fired his last shot at Saints post-game:
“They don’t even try to play. They are just wasting time the whole game. I don’t even feel they wanted to play the game, or win the game – they are just sitting around”
Saints responded on the pitch with interim manager Simon Rusk noting: “That was our aim. We did want to be frustrating, we did want to make it difficult, it’s a bit of a backhanded compliment.”
They responded off the field, too:
Biggest win of the EPL season for Saints. https://t.co/l6F5GzVuUU
— Jason (@SportsJO13) May 11, 2025
Despite the result, City are still $1.30 to finish in the Top 4 ahead of their Matchday 37 fixture against Bournemouth as $1.50 favourites.
Top 4 Finish: Newcastle – $1.20, Manchester City – $1.30, Chelsea – $3.30, Aston Villa – $6, Nottingham Forest – $17
Aston Villa Finishing Strong
Ollie Watkins is now Aston Villa’s leading goal scorer, but it’s Emiliano Martinez stopping them at the other end that secured the points in this one. He’s one of the best goalkeepers in the EPL and was at the top of his game with only nine teammates in front of him late against the Cherries.
Thank you Emiliano Martinez. 🙏🏻#avfc #utv pic.twitter.com/KgyQ8dqBSz
— Oli 🇸🇪 (@olii_avfc) May 10, 2025
The result allowed Villa to make the most of City’s slip up ahead of two very winnable games against teams with their minds elsewhere.
“Bournemouth were fantastic as well … and Europe! Europe!! we are in EUROPE!!! Conference, Europa League or Champions League. Of course, we want to try to get our best dreams, Champions League. There are still matches to play and teams in front of us, but we can feel some positivity to get it. We have to play Tottenham at home and we must focus on this match only.” – Unai Emery
Unai Emery’s side are preparing to face Tottenham Hotspur five days before their Europe League Final as $1.38 favourites. They’ll then face Manchester United four days after the final with a spot in the Champions League likely to be up for grabs.
Newcastle The Big Winners, Chelsea Losers
A chaotic day of results ended with Newcastle as the big winners with Champions League placings in mind.
They’re now level on points with Aston Villa, but above them on goal difference.
Newcastle’s win means Chelsea will more than likely need to win both of their last two games to earn a place. They have the benefit of playing an out-of-touch Manchester United as $1.30 favourites on Matchday 37. Should results go as expected, their clash with Nottingham Forest to finish the season has winner-takes-all potential.
Nicolas Jackson’s red card puts a spanner in the works. He will miss their next game as a result. Chelsea has lost three of the six EPL matches Jackson has missed. Notably, they couldn’t generate more than one expected goal combined in defeats to Brighton and Arsenal without him.
But as Chelsea face a tough finish, Newcastle are in control of the race for the Champions League at $1.20 to finish in the Top 4. In fact, they can’t be ruled out of a Top 2 finish at $4.33 following Arsenal’s draw over the weekend.
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