10 things we learned from Week 16 of the 2023-24 Premier League season
What a weekend for Merseyside, as it's becoming clear that two of the top managerial jobs being done in this Premier League season are in Liverpool.
Start with the Reds, as Jurgen Klopp has Liverpool sitting atop the Premier League after 16 weeks. There might be a temptation to write off Klopp's role in some of the success given that Mohamed Salah has reclaimed his status as the Premier League's best player — at least over the first 16 match days — but Klopp has helmed the team with the fewest goals conceded and second-most goals scored this season while bedding in new key pieces Dominik Szoboszlai and at times dealing with injuries to big players like Alisson Becker, Andy Robertson, and Joel Matip.
[ MORE: Premier League season hub — fixtures, results ]
Across town, Everton's season has been anything but straight-forward. The club emerged from the bottom three, then was docked 10 points for sustainability fouls to go back into the relegation zone, and now is back in a safe space, angrily and silently knowing that they've put together a 23 13-point season fit for European consideration.
Who would've guessed Sean Dyche could enforce a siege mentality? I mean, besides almost everyone.
What else happened this week in the Premier League? Let’s relive Week 16 with our writers Joe Prince-Wright, Nick Mendola, and Andy Edwards supplying analysis on the 10 games played in England’s top flight.
Resilient Liverpool right to believe they’re in the title race
The look on Mohamed Salah’s face said it all when asked afterwards about Liverpool being in the title race. He said he can see similarities to their title-winning team from 2019-20; These late wins are now pilling up as nobody has picked up more points (18) from losing positions than Liverpool in the Premier League this season. It wasn’t pretty at all as Liverpool’s first shot on target at Palace was Salah’s goal in the 76th minute. But just like they did at Sheffield United in midweek and against Fulham before that, they ground out a win when not playing at their best. There is still a lot of improvement in this Liverpool side and that must be very encouraging for Klopp as they went top of the table despite not being anywhere near their best for large chunks of the season so far. With players making a big impact off the bench — Harvey Elliott was the hero on Saturday, while Cody Gakpo and Curtis Jones also had a hand in their first goal — new signings adding an extra dimension to their midfield and general play, plus experienced leaders like Alisson, Virgil van Dijk, Salah and Alexander-Arnold all stepping up, there is a great balance about this Liverpool side. Something is building at Liverpool again and these machine-like wins are stacking up. - Joe Prince-Wright
Aggrieved Toffees have belief, something Chelsea’s lacked for ages
Everton is fighting mad, and turning that into performances as the Toffees have deserved every bit of their post-penalty reemergence into the safe spaces. Abdoulaye Doucoure and Dwight McNeil continue to play inspired football under Sean Dyche, and the Toffees have some big — in stature and talent — players who are delivering on their potential under the boss. They believe, big time. Chelsea has almost none of that, and Mauricio Pochettino’s lineup shake-up of leaving Thiago Silva and Raheem Sterling out of the lineup did very little. Reece James’ injury plugged Levi Colwill into the fold, and the team adapted to that, but that’s about it for the positives. Armando Broja was poor and Nicolas Jackson not much of an improvement when Poch flipped his men. The whole right side struggled, which is also a compliment to Everton’s left with McNeil and Vitalii Mykolenko, while the left side’s service was not finished by the other forwards. - Nicholas Mendola
Spurs relish feast of relief
Tottenham Hotspur 4-1 Newcastle United
Tottenham's loud home crowd and a weary opponent made for both a much-needed win and seized opportunity by Ange Postecoglou’s men. Heung-min Son was buzzing from the opening whistle and has become the club’s post-Kane talisman, his ever-present energy keeping the team in every single game. That wasn’t even needed on Sunday, as Brennan Johnson joined Richarlison in running all over a Magpies team that needs a break and instead has to rally to save its Champions League hopes at midweek. And so it wasn’t a surprise when the second, third, and fourth goals went into Martin Dubravka’s goal on Sunday, a sort of turn-about is fair play for the Magpies demolition of Spurs last season. Eddie Howe has bet on using the same 10 field players over and over again with few alternatives on the bench, and it worked the first week but sure looks to have bit him repeatedly in back-to-back blowout away losses. — Nicholas Mendola
Man United answer another step forward with another step back
Manchester United 0-3 Bournemouth
There were so many symptoms of the sick on display for Manchester United, days after a memorable win over Chelsea threatened to restore validity to their season. The Red Devils failed to finish anything, were cooked on the counter attack, and looked cooked and dejected by the end of what would’ve been a 4-0 score line had Dango Ouattara not handled the ball while regaining his balance in stoppage time. Erik ten Hag is getting almost nothing from his marquee signings, as Andre Onana’s stop-start season stopped without many stops on Saturday and Antony is a shell of the man we saw at Ajax. Rasmus Hojlund is still without a goal in Premier League play but has shown well in the Champions League. Meanwhile, Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane are on the bench and Bournemouth fans were serenading Ten Hag with ‘You’re getting sacked in the morning’ chants. That’s probably not true — would any club put a caretaker in charge for Bayern and Liverpool? Cruel! — but what a grim second half. - Nicholas Mendola
Forget the score: Normal transmission resumed for City (even without Haaland)
Luton Town 1-2 Manchester City
Erling Haaland’s absence is as big a storyline as the victory, as Pep Guardiola’s revealed before the game that the Premier League’s leading scorer had a ‘bone stress reaction’ in his foot. The score line — 2-1 at Kenilworth Road — might tempt non-viewers to believe City labored to a win, but this is one occasion where those numbers belie the performance. City allowed just one dangerous chance and that was Luton’s late first-half goal. Otherwise, it was 0.33 xG for Luton to go with four shot attempts and 16 fouls as they failed to find the ball. But almost everyone in City’s XI was good to very good over 90 minutes. Ruben Dias lost his way on Luton’s goal, which was a delightful Andros Townsend cross to the back post, and Josko Gvardiol is out of form, but Phil Foden, Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Nathan Ake, and Jack Grealish shone at Luton. The defending remains a question mark when it comes to a treble defense, but this is a team that will get Kevin De Bruyne back soon and hopefully Haaland, too. - Nicholas Mendola
Old friends flummox Gunners
This, at times, felt more like a tournament game than the free-flowing affair expected by many including this writer, as Villa’s early goal seemed to set the visitors into a more cautious approach. The bad news for Arsenal, if indeed that was the case, is that former Gunners boss Unai Emery loves himself a tournament game. Arsenal had the advantage in xG, possession, and shots, but what it didn’t have was former goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez. The 31-year-old Argentine made three saves and commanded the Villa box, piling up 16 recoveries for his team behind a strong showing from Diego Carlos and Ezri Konsa. - Nicholas Mendola
The ghost of Mitrovic has finally left Craven Cottage
Aleksandar Mitrovic’s name will no longer be mentioned with an air of disappointment about it at Craven Cottage. Instead it will be spoken about happily. Fulham’s fans and staff are happy they had Mitrovic and happy for the goals that he scored to propel them to the Premier League, and then to stay there. They are now even happier that Fulham appear to have found a genuine solution to make up for the goals they lost when the Serbian star left for Saudi Arabia this summer. Raul Jimenez’s hard work has paid off with four goals in his last five games as he’s the fluid focal point of this attack. Similar but different enough to Mitrovic as his runs open up space for Alex Iwobi, Willian, Harry Wilson, Andreas Pereira and others. This is a total team effort and Antonee Robinson told NBC Sports earlier this week that Fulham don’t want to be a ‘one-man team’ anymore and the players have put pressure on themselves to all chip in with goals and assists. There were five different goalscorers against West Ham as Fulham scored with five of their eight shots on target and there was a wonderful belief, confidence and fluidity about their forward play. That was missing for the final months of last season when Mitrovic was suspended and it has been absent for most of this season. This is what Marco Silva has been seeking from his Cottagers. - Joe Prince-Wright
Blades cut through short-handed Bees
Sheffield United 1-0 Brentford
Sheffield United’s beloved former player-turned-manager was reinstalled in the dugout after Paul Heckingbottom was sacked this week. After suffering a 2-0 home defeat to Liverpool on Wednesday, Wilder picked up his first Premier League victory since February 2021, a month before he was sacked. As for the visitors... well, without three of their top four attackers coming into the season due to injury or suspension, Brentford found it incredibly difficult to manufacture scoring chances. The Bees managed just two shots from inside 12 yards, as most of their attempts came from set pieces. - Andy Edwards
Versatile Pascal Gross sums up Brighton’s brilliance
The Seagulls didn’t win the game but they created plenty of chances to do so late on in the second half and most of those came from the wand of a left foot possessed by Pascal Gross. The German playmaker, 32, has been key in Brighton’s rise in the Premier League and he has played in just about every position and never looks out of place. Gross started Saturday’s game at right back, as a few marauding runs forward almost ended in a goal in the first half. Then switched to left wing and that is where he did most of his damage. His cross to Simon Adingra for Brighton’s equalizer was perfect and Gross always seems to find space and link things together in attack. The way he stands still when everything else around him moves is a work of art and Brighton’s wonderful flowing system allows it to get the best out of players like Gross. He delivered dangerous crosses time after time late on and is a silky smooth player who sums up the team-first ethic that Brighton have. At Brighton it is all about playing as a unit and the central cog in that machine, wherever he plays, is Gross. - Joe Prince-Wright
A little relief for Steve Cooper?
Perhaps a hard-earned point away from home will be enough to keep Steve Cooper in as Nottingham Forest manager another few days, as the Tricky Trees secured a 1-1 draw with Wolves on Saturday. The point snapped Forest’s four-game losing streak and moved them one point further above the relegation zone, now five points clear. Wolves, meanwhile, jump two places in the Premier League table, from 14th to 12th, now level on points with 10th-place Chelsea. - Andy Edwards
