Premier League Game Week 30: Things we learned

Liverpool emerged as the happiest side of them all at the end of the matchday 30 of the Premier League. The Reds won a tightly contested game against Brighton before their title rivals Manchester City and Arsenal played out a goalless draw to hand them a two-point lead at the top of the table. We have already analysed how hard each team’s run was in the Premier League. However, the results of his weekend have only indeed more permutations and combinations to an already complicated situation.

Further down the kerfuffle of the title race, there is also the intense race for the top four, or should we say the top five, as under the revamped Champions League format, even the fifth-placed team might get a chance to qualify for the Champions League final.

So, here are the top things we learned from Premier League gameweek 30.

Liverpool keep their nerves to go top of the league 

Any team that aspires to be a champion has one thing in common: ugly wins. Liverpool had an Expected Goals (xG) of 2.98 against Brighton (0.51). On top of that, they had 30 shots, out of which eight were on target. However, for large parts of the game, Liverpool were unable to use this attacking superiority for most of the game. 

In the end, they edged out their opponents 2-1. However, after conceding in the second minute, Liverpool kept things tight at the back, allowing their opponents only two more shots on target. In the end, their frontline got them the much-needed two goals to get them the three points.

City Arsenal play out a goalless draw 

The most anticipated clash of the weekend was the most underwhelming game between Arsenal and Manchester City. City had an xG rating of 0.85, while Arsenal was even worse at 0.73, which can explain the boring fest that occurred on the pitch for the 90 minutes. The two teams have scored a combined 123 goals so far in the league but only managed to get three shots on target.

The two teams are intertwined in an intense title race, and perhaps that was the reason why both teams were trying to ensure that they didn’t concede. City, however, would be the less happy side, considering they were playing at home. This result leaves them three points behind league leader Liverpool.

Manchester United need goals 

0.10. This was Manchester United’s xG rating at the end of their match against Brentford. This was the worst by any team across the Premier League this week. However, such is the unpredictability of football, and despite such a…