10 things we learned from Week 32 of the 2023-24 Premier League season
Some weekend, that.
Set against the backdrop of the Fan Fest in Nashville, the Premier League weekend saw the first-place team drop points and the two closest rivals dominate league opposition ahead of an incoming Champions League quarterfinal midweek.
[ MORE: Premier League upcoming schedule, all results ]
Multiple relegation candidates won, the favorite for fourth-place changed again, and both Chelsea and Manchester United dropped the proverbial ball when it came to taking a firmer grip on their European potential.
All while Premier League luminaries like Wayne Rooney, Alan Shearer, Joleon Lescott, and others hit our airwaves and/or the streets of Nashville to delight in Week 32 of the 2023-24 Premier League season.
Phew.
Here’s the sense made of it by our writers, as Joe Prince-Wright, Andy Edwards, and Nick Mendola share their observations from across the most recent PL games.
10 things we learned from Week 32 of the 2023-24 Premier League season
Youthful errors, substandard finishing catch up to Liverpool
Manchester United 2-2 Liverpool
This game could’ve been over well before halftime, as Manchester United were very poor at home. In fact, the Red Devils were booed off the pitch down 1-0, the Old Trafford faithful knowing full well the score line was fortunate given the performance. Jurgen Klopp’s attack was lively but could only manage the one goal; Andre Onana made a number of saves in a 45-minute period which saw the Reds cue up 15 shots and 1.66 expected goal compared to 0 and 0.00 for the insipid Red Devils. Klopp has been able to overcome his injuries because his finishers have been doing their jobs so well. Young defender Conor Bradley had an own goal last time out but the Reds struck thrice to beat Sheffield United. This time, it was an awful decision from young Jarell Quansah and Caoiminh Kelleher’s inability to secure a bail out for his fellow young back that allowed the Red Devils hope. These errors are always going to happen — Klopp said as much after the game — as Klopp has trusted the young bucks because of the players in front of them while inexperienced Ibrahima Konate and Joe Gomez sit on the bench. The philosophy had them first in the table, but it didn’t help Sunday. — Nick Mendola
Commanding Gunners give away nothing
Another Arsenal game, another performance that gives almost nothing to the opposition. The Gunners kept a seventh clean sheet in Premier League play since the calendar turned to 2024, with David Raya only needing to make two saves on a paltry 0.53 xGA. William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes were massive in the win and having a former center back in Ben White at right back doesn’t hurt. Sit Declan Rice and Jorginho atop and control is virtually assured against most teams. Brighton might’ve finished with 53% possession but most of that came in the second half. This wasn’t close, and that’s saying something given the venue and the opponent. Performances like this leave neutrals wondering if only thing that can stop Arsenal is if Liverpool refuse to drop any more points. — Nick Mendola
Kevin De Bruyne back to is best at perfect time
Crystal Palace 2-4 Manchester City
This week there was talk that Kevin de Bruyne is perhaps holding back Phil Foden after the latter scored a hat trick in City’s midweek win against Aston Villa while playing KDB’s usual central role. De Bruyne is the type who would have taken that talk very personally and at Crystal Palace he responded by scoring two beauties and setting up another as he played with that chip on his shoulder once again. De Bruyne said Foden’s form “keeps him on his toes” when speaking to TNT Sports after the game. Guardiola told TNT that De Bruyne “won the game for us” with his quality. After being out injured for a large chunk of this season KDB is still finding his rhythm and we haven’t really seen the best of him in the Premier League. He had only scored once in the league before Saturday’s win at Palace but doubled that tally with two fine strikes in each half to remind of his brilliance and grab control of the game for City when they looked shaky. With Real Madrid to come in the Champions League quarterfinals, Chelsea in the FA Cup semifinal and key games in the title race, having Kevin de Bruyne in this kind of mood is exactly what City want. He’s fired up, hungry and ready to show everyone why they shouldn’t write him off and accuse him of standing in Foden’s way. De Bruyne will be still be rested at times during the run-in but Saturday proved he is still City’s talisman and can deliver big moments when they need him to. Did anyone ever really doubt that? Kevin didn’t. And he wanted to remind you. — Joe Prince-Wright
Spurs’ dreaming of present and future
Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 Nottingham Forest
This project's not perfect but it is oh-so-ahead of schedule, as Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham is deservedly top four with some players still getting used to the Premier League and some still getting used to being a pro, period. The key to what Postecoglou's doing at Tottenham is similar to what we saw from him at Celtic. It's not that his system is easy, it's that he has efficiently taught these players the key parts of it. If — and it's a big if — Spurs can continue to play this well going forward while gaining the wisdom to eliminate a bunch of the errors, they'll be a threat in any competition. And if Spurs supply Postecoglou with European depth, who knows how high they might fly next season. To dare is to do, yeah? — Nick Mendola
Inconsistent performances to blame for Brentford’s nine-game winless run
For periods of Saturday’s game — much like plenty of recent games they failed to win — Brentford were equal parts brilliant and maddening. The Bees had just 24 percent of possession, took two shots and accrued all of 0.10 xG in the first half; Brentford completed 68 passes, to 267 for Villa; they were still asleep and in the dressing room when they went 2-0 down immediately after the restart. Then, Jorgensen scored one of the sloppiest accidental goals of the season, and they were instantly flying. Their press suddenly gave the Aston Villa defense and midfield fits, winning the ball back in advantageous parts of the field and quickly getting it wide to Sergio Reguilon, who provided the long overlapping runs and picked up two assists at 2-2 and 3-2. But, of course, their inability to finish games came back to bite them again, as Villa regained control and nearly won it late. — Andy Edwards
Chelsea roller coaster refuses to stop
It’s been seven-straight games without a Premier League loss for Chelsea, who have also reached the FA Cup semifinals and challenged a League Cup semifinal over the past month and a half. Yet it just feels so dizzy, doesn’t it? Only three matches of the unbeaten run gave them all three points— away to Palace, and home to Newcastle and Manchester United — and none of those were straightforward. Chelsea is young, for sure, and the Blues are grinding out results for Mauricio Pochettino, but they’re still so far from the finished product. A lot of that isn’t their fault, as the roller coaster ride of a season isn’t just about performances — Wesley Fofana, Reece James, Levi Colwill, Christopher Nkunku, and Ben Chilwell are all out and most of those names have missed huge chunks of the season. There’s a lot more to like in Chelsea’s future than fellow big name strugglers Manchester United, but Pochettino will still have expected to claim all the points from nights these these. Onward, he goes. — Nick Mendola
Magpies show European spirit
The Injury Fest that’s been the 2023-24 Newcastle United season has shown few signs of subsiding for the stretch run, and the Magpies’ back four alone on Saturday would’ve given pause to even he most passionate member of the Toon Army. Newcastle could not call upon Sven Botman, Kieran Trippier, Tino Livramento, Jamaal Lascelles, and Matt Targett, had to move left back Dan Burn to center back, and used reserves Emil Krafth and Lewis Hall out wide (Hall, for what it’s worth, was dinged up at midweek to boot). The only player in his regular spot was Fabian Schar, and on another day he wouldn’t have been able to claim glory as the match-winning goal scorer because Fulham could’ve had two, three or four goals in the first half as they spent the first 30-plus minutes in the Magpies end. Alas, Newcastle found its footing and stayed in frame for a return to some sort of European competition. And they’ll need that boost in order to keep and keep attracting players in the face of Financial Fair Play. Their remaining fixtures have some tough asks — Man Utd away, visits from Brighton and Spurs — but desperate Palace, Sheffield United, Burnley, and Brentford should present enough points for a realistic chance at seventh place. — Nick Mendola
Bowen injury a big concern for Hammers
West Ham lost Jarrod Bowen to injury in the second half and that is a big blow if he’s out for an extended period of time. Bowen took a whack on the hip and it was a strange one as there wasn’t much contact but he couldn’t run it off. Perhaps he was taken off due to Thursday’s huge Europa League quarterfinal first leg at Bayer Leverkusen and Moyes will be hoping Bowen is back for the biggest game of their season. West Ham have plenty of attacking talents who dazzle but Bowen sets the tone and makes them tick and if he’s out for a large chunk of the rest of the season, it will impact the Hammers massively. Still, they’re in a very good position in seventh in the league and can now focus on pushing for yet another European campaign while the pressure is off them against all-conquering Leverkusen and that may suit them with Kudus, Antonio, Paqueta, and hopefully Bowen, in full flow. If West Ham have Bowen available they will have a much better chance of advancing to a European semifinal for a third-straight season. — Joe Prince-Wright
Toffees sticking around
No one's going to mistake Sean Dyche's Everton for a rollicking celebration of attacking football, but that's okay for this challenging ride of a season. "Just get through it" is the motto, and getting through the points deductions has not been an easy thing for the Toffees. Still, the never-relegated bunch have a gaffer who never allows them to feel sorry for themselves. The excuses are not tolerated, and there's always another day to set things right. That sort of expectation is why Dominic Calvert-Lewin, snake-bit for so long, has ground his way to consecutive big goals in big games. Everton isn't safe yet, but bet against them at your own risk. — Nick Mendola
Luton battling injury issues to give themselves a chance
Rob Edwards’ side is currently without six players who started at least half the games in which they played this season, which played a significant role in the 10-game winless run (0W-3D-7L) that Luton snapped on Saturday. Chief among them is Elijah Adebayo, the leading goalscorer who emerged from Morris’s shadow before picking up a hamstring injury in early February. Adebayo could be back just in time for the run-in, when Luton face Brentford, Wolves, Everton and Fulham — four games they could reasonably expect to win. — Andy Edwards
