EPL week 20 review: Liverpool hit Arsenal for five; Spurs drop to third

Week 20 of the English Premier League sees Liverpool slam Arsenal, Spurs slip up against Wolves, and Man City get back to winning ways with a win over Southampton.

Liverpool 5 v 1 Arsenal

I spent the last remnants of 2018 making a Korean dumpling soup called Manduguk. I was back in the womb, worry-free, food on tap, the music of my mother making me merry.

I didn’t want 2018 to end.

I’m not alone.

Throughout 2018 Liverpool have pulled a club record 88 points from 37 league games, and that’s a monumental achievement when you consider how dominant the Merseyside club was in the 1980s.

Arsenal was the latest club to feel the razor-like ruthlessness of Jürgen Klopp’s side in a one-sided Anfield affair. The Gunners didn’t do themselves any favours when they provoked the beast by scoring first. Alex Iwobi danced down the left before sending a ball across the box, and Ainsley Maitland-Niles outstripped Andy Robertson at the far stick to score his first goal for the club.

Liverpool was level within three minutes when the ball fell somewhat fortuitously to Roberto Firmino six-yards from goal after some impressive build-up play from the Brazilian. Anfield still shook when Firmino added his second after a touch of Brazilian class saw Arsenal players turned to stone as he bobbed and weaved through the defence before scoring with a neat left-foot shot.

The competition ended in the 32nd minute when Robertson found Mohamed Salah with a cross-field pass, and the Egyptian laid it on a plate for Sadio Mané to score from close range. Salah made it four in first-half injury time when he scored his 13th goal of the season from the penalty spot, and Firmino did the same in the second half to score his hat-trick and his eighth Premier League goal against the Gunners.

Liverpool’s win sees them move seven points clear of the competition at the Premier League summit with the tasty treat of facing Man City at The Etihad coming up on Thursday.

The Race for the Title: City Win; Spurs Lose

What a difference a game makes.

The Spurs 11 lined up against Wolves at Wembley having won their previous five games, scoring 11-goals in their past two matches, knowing that a win would keep them within three points of the league leaders.

Now they sit third, and the gap is nine points.

Mauricio Pochettino told the press that his players are not machines after the shock defeat. Although, you could watch Harry Kane’s 22nd-minute opener a hundred times and still believe it came from the foot of an android. The favourite to lift the Golden Boot at the end of the season picked the ball up on the right-hand side of the box, shrugged off the intentions of the Wolves defence with a nice Cruyff turn before sending a rocket past the Wolves keeper.

With everyone expecting Spurs to continue their murderous rampage of late, they instead dawdled through the second half like a bunch of Octogenarian librarians. Pochettino’s men didn’t have a single shot on goal and Wolves hit them with a three-goal 18-minute blast that gave Wolves their first win over Spurs in eight years.

First Wily Boly thundered home a header from a Joao Moutinho corner to equalise in the 72nd minute. Raúl Jiménez put them in front with a weak effort from the edge of the box on 83-minutes, and Hélder Costa ran through on goal to seal the points with seven minutes remaining.

Spurs drop to third after Man City got back to winning ways with a 3-1 win over Southampton. It was a case of déjà vu when Pierre-Emile Højberg’s fierce strike cancelled out David Silva’s early opener. Before two goals in first-half injury time, the first a James Ward-Prowse own goal, and the second a Sergio Agüero’s header prevented any repeat of the disasters that befell them when going ahead against Crystal Palace and Leicester in their previous two league games.

Here are the results in full.

Results in Full

Watford 1 v 1 Newcastle
Brighton 1 v 0 Everton
Spurs 1 v 3 Wolves
Fulham 1 v 0 Huddersfield
Leicester 0 v 1 Cardiff
Liverpool 5 v 1 Arsenal
Crystal Palace 0 v 1 Chelsea
Southampton 1 v 3 Man City
Burnley 2 v 0 West Ham
Man Utd 4 v 1 Bournemouth

Premier League Table

1. Liverpool – 54 points
2. Man City – 47
3. Spurs – 45
4. Chelsea – 43
5. Arsenal – 41
6. Man Utd – 35
7. Leicester – 31
8. Wolves – 29
9. Watford – 28
10. Everton – 27
11. West Ham – 27
12. Bournemouth – 26
13. Brighton – 25
14. Crystal Palace – 19
15. Newcastle – 18
16. Cardiff – 18
17. Southampton – 15
18. Burnley – 15
19. Fulham – 15
20. Huddersfield – 10