Matchday 23 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
West Ham inched closer to safety with a much-needed 3-1 win over Sunderland to kickoff Matchday 23. Three first half goals did the for the Hammers to be five points in front of Burnley and five points from safety.
Christian Romero may have saved Thomas Frank’s job with his leveler in the 90th minute against Burnley. Tottenham dominated for the most part, but this is a results business, and while there was a lot to be encouraged about, fans aren’t seeing it in a 2-2 draw with relegation-bound Burnley.
Another late goal for the day from Harry Wilson saw Fulham finish 2-1 in front of Brighton & Hove Albion. In contrast, Manchester City did their work early with Omar Marmoush finding the net inside six minutes before Antoine Semenyo scored on the stroke of halftime in their 2-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanders.
Antoine Semenyo: DEADLY. 🇬🇭💥pic.twitter.com/mYK9CL6u48
— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) January 24, 2026
While they came into this week on an unbeaten run, Liverpool are now win less in their last five EPL matches following their 3-2 defeat to Bournemouth. The xG battle paints a picture of the contest as Bouremouth turned their 2.3 expected goals into three, while Liverpool did well to score two on 0.83 expected goals.
“They’ve looked vulnerable and I have to say I thought for the first time last night watching them [Liverpool], I thought they looked a little bit soft.” – Gary Neville
Nottingham Forest are staving off relegation to have built a five-point lead on 18th with a 2-0 win over Brentford. Meanwhile, Chelsea sit fifth on the EPL table after handling a 10-man Crystal Palace 3-1. A turbulent week ended with Adam Wharton seeing red.
Aston Villa managed to keep pace with City by beating Newcastle 2-0 on the road. A lot looked to be going against Villa in the build up as they tried to recover from a mid-week trip to Turkey, but Emiliano Buendia and Ollie Watkins were on target to generate the 2-0 win. Notably, Newcastle had their chances but failed to score despite generating 2.3 expected goals. It’s their highest xG tally without scoring in the EPL since 2022.
Arsenal v Manchester United always presented as the most interesting fixture on Matchday 23. It still managed to exceed expectations, though. A five goal thriller ended with a Matheus Cunha stunner and Red Devils 3-2 win.
Matheus Cunha.
That's the post. pic.twitter.com/XXdmJQraFe
— Premier League (@premierleague) January 25, 2026
To finish, Leeds United earned a much-needed point by finishing level with Everton to pull six points from the drop.
3 Takeaways From Matchday 23
Arsenal Needs To React
“The margins are extremely small and we made them even smaller. Now we have to react and see what we are made of. Today we were not at our level and we paid the price. We just gave it away.” – Mikel Arteta
Arsenal gave it away, but plenty would argue against Arteta’s claim that his side “were in total control” for a period.
After a dominant opening spell, Arsenal dropped the intensity and the momentum flipped. Man United struggled early, but grew into the match and controlled the end of the first half and the opening of the second. That shift in momentum, rather than pure luck, explains the result pic.twitter.com/HzqOjU9sgq
— markstats 🍁 (@markrstats) January 25, 2026
The Gunners conceded three goals in a match for the first time since December 2023. The first came on the back of a Martin Zubimendi pass that was intercepted by Bryan Mbeumo who found David Raya to score. It marks the second error leading to an opposition goal in their last four EPL games, more than they had throughout the first 19 games of the campaign.
With the ball, Arsenal generated only 0.39 expected goals. Scoring two flatters them somewhat in the end.
Expected to take control of this game when leading 1-0, Arsenal crumbled. Is their control of the title next?
The Carrick Effect
In contrast to Arteta and Arsenal’s concerns, Michael Carrick is demanding attention as the long-term solution as Manchester United’s manager.
While inspiring United’s first win at Arsenal since December 2017, Carrick also did something in nine days and two games which took Ruben Amorim 10 months and 35 games: Win back-to-back in the EPL.
United fans sang “We’re gonna win the league” after the final whistle of this one. There is a long way to go for that to happen, and it’s unlikely to be this season, but a top-four finish and Champions League football is certainly on the cards.
🚨🗣 – Michael Owen:
"There's NO fluke about these two results [Man City and Arsenal].
"Manchester United have been absolutely BRILLIANT." pic.twitter.com/YAxmPeGkYX
— UF (@UtdFaithfuls) January 25, 2026
Carrick hasn’t done anything outrageous. He’s put players in roles that suit them and adopted a compact and disciplined defensive shape. It’s simple, but that might be the argument against Carrick long term. He’s masterminded wins over the two best teams in the EPL in back-to back weeks, but how does it all translate over a full season.
We might learn more about Carrick’s United when they take on Fulham – a team they’re expected to beat as $1.55 favourites – on Matchday 24.
Palace Extend Winless Run
A horror week for Crystal Palace was only made worse on Matchday 23 as they made it 11 games without a win after going down to Chelsea 3-1.
Jaydee Canvot’s careless backpass allowed Chelsea to earn a first-half lead. Extending that lead only five minutes after the break, Palace’s Adam Wharton saw a second yellow card to all but secure the result.
Oliver Glasner doesn’t want to he there; he’s made that clear. Still, he’s saying the right things about the group moving forward.
“I saw a lot of positives but when you are losing 3-1 and have not won for 11 games then it’s completely right to say ‘where are the results?’
That’s what we have to get. It is up to us to find these puzzle pieces. There’s no magician. I always believe in this group, these players, that we will turn it around.”
It seems like the Palace front office won’t be giving Glasner what he wants and seeing that he remains in charge for the foreseeable future. He faces a crucial match next week as $3.80 outsiders to Nottingham Forest.
A defeat to Forest and a couple of other results go against them, and Palace might all of a sudden be in a relegation battle.
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