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
Boo’s rang around Anfield as Arne Slot’s Liverpool played out a 1-1 draw with Chelsea, ending the visitors’ six-game losing run. Liverpool were without Mohamed Salah, Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike, but that didn’t stop disgruntled fans from making their feelings known.
As expected, Brighton & Hove Albion made light work of Wolverhampton Wanderers with two goals inside eight minutes on their way to a 3-0 win.
VAR removed Timothy Castagne on review before Adrien Truffert was punished with a straight red only ten minutes later as Fulham and Bournemouth were reduced to 10 men each. Despite playing with less possession, accumulating fewer expected goals and firing fewer shots, Bournemouth hung on to win 1-0. The win extends Bournemouth’s unbeaten EPL run to 16 games, dating back to early January.
The 0-0 draw doesn’t do Sunderland’s performance justice. They were the better team on the day, but Manchester United escaped the Stadium of Light with a point. In contrast, the 3-0 final score perfectly sums up Manchester City’s dominance as they kicked away in the second half to comfortably beat Brentford.
Burnley only have pride to play for at the moment, and did so with plenty on Matchday 36. Aston Villa fans won’t have been able to enjoy the entertaining 2-2 draw quite like the neutrals would have on the day. Nonetheless, the point, their 20th from a losing position this season, inches them closer to Champions League qualification.
Lastly, Mathys Tel has the unfortunate honour of becoming the first Tottenham Hotspur player since Robbie Keane in 2007 to score a goal and concede a penalty in the same Premier League game in their 1-1 draw with Leeds United.
3 Takeaways From Matchday 36
City Do Their Job
Jeremy Doku became just the third player in an EPL match this season to generate 6+ chances created and 6+ completed dribbles in Manchester City’s 3-0 win over Brentford. Another goal in this one gave him three for the week across three consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, Erling Haaland has now scored in four Premier League games on the bounce to lead the Golden Boot race.
“So long as Erling Haaland is on the field and adding to his competition-high 25 goals, City can leap Arsenal once more.” – The Run Home: How The Final Three Rounds Shape The Season
Unlike Matchday 35 when City clipped up, they did it easily in this one. Their 2.98 expected goals is bang on their output while they didn’t give Brentford a chance, limiting them to just 0.24 expected goals.
City allowed Arsenal to retake the lead at the top of the EPL table, but they do have a game in hand against Crystal Palace midweek as $1.18 favourites. Playing at the Etihad is already an advantage for City, but that advantage grows when looking over the history of the two teams. Palace have won only seven of their 36 matches at the ground.
West Ham Hammered By VAR
It looked as though West Ham had rescued a valuable point in drawing level with Arsenal in added time before Callum Wilson’s strike was wiped off. Now, they’re deep in the relegation zone and unlikely to climb their way out.
A controversial VAR decision – one Garry Neville called the “biggest moment in VAR history” – on Matchday 36 isn’t why West Ham are $1.22 to be relegated, but it certainly didn’t help their cause to stay up.
Despite an arm quite clearly draped over David Raya, limiting his ability to jump and make his best attempt at the ball, West Ham fandom and their manager have been left in disbelief:
🗣️ "Everybody involved in football lost a little bit of perception what is or is not a foul – that's why we are upset."
Nuno Espirito Santo speaks to @CarrieBrownTV following @WestHam's dramatic defeat to Arsenal.#beINPL #WHUARS #WHUFC pic.twitter.com/b2sEryyziV
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) May 10, 2026
Following Arsenal’s win, Leeds, Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace are now all safe from relegation. For the Hammers, they need to win both of their remaining matches to give themselves a strong chance of staying up. The first is as $3.10 outsiders at St James’ Park. However, with how Newcastle are playing at the moment, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Hammers pick up all three points.
Tottenham Trip Up
Once again, Tottenham looked like they cared about the result. It’s a frustration for Spurs fans to see it take this long and, after Leeds United equalised, it could still be too little too late.
Roberto De Zerbi’s side squandered a 1-0 lead to finish level with Leeds and only two points in front of West Ham at 18th on the EPL table.
Antonin Kinsky pulled off this save in the 98th minute 😱
⚪️ @SpursOfficial pic.twitter.com/8KdYsAiOmN
— Premier League (@premierleague) May 11, 2026
De Zerbi remains optimistic, but it’s too late in the season for good performances that don’t result in three points.
“I think we have to consider the result but we have to consider the performance.
“We played a good game, we are making points, in the last four games we made eight points.”
Spurs take on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in their next match – a horror scenario when desperately searching for points. Tottenham hasn’t won at their London rivals since Dele Alli scored a brace back in 2018. Even in their current poor form, Chelsea are still $1.95 favourites to win. The prospect of lowering Tottenham down to the Championship is the perfect avenue for this Chelsea playing group to get the fans back on side before the end of the EPL season.