Top 5 Takeaways from Matchday 31 of English Premier League

Kevin de Bruyne played his last Manchester Derby on Sunday

With only a few fixtures left in the 2024-25 English Premier League, the relegation battle seems to have been wrapped up early, while champions-elect Liverpool have also stolen a race for the trophy.

It’s the European spots where most of the eyes are currently as multiple sides are fighting to make it back to Europe while the likes of Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur would be solely focussed on earning a top-half finish along with UEFA Europa League success.

Here, we look at the top five takeaways from the recently concluded Matchday 31 of the 2024-25 English Premier League season:

#5 Leicester City set record for worst home run in PL history

Leicester City set an unwanted record by losing eight matches on the bounce at the King Power Stadium and scored zero goals in 720 minutes, testing the patience of their fans, who have supported the club through a tough period in the last few years.

Rudd van Nistlerooy wouldn’t have imagined that he would be at the helm of a side that endures worst home form, losing eight matches on the trot, an all-time Premier League record when he won both matches as the caretaker manager of Manchester United in November.

The Foxes conceded 21 goals during that period, which included four 2-0 losses, three 3-0 losses, and a 4-0 loss to Brentford. To put it into a wider context, two Southampton managers have parted ways with the Saints since van Nistlerooy’s men scored a goal at home in the Premier League.

#4 Manchester United miss on a rare chance of doing a double over their noisy neighbours

Ruben Amorim stayed unbeaten against Pep Guardiola in his first season in England

In his last Manchester Derby, Kevin de Bruyne was named the Manchester City skipper, while the team missed the services of the injured Erling Haaland, along with Savinho, Jeremy Doku, and Jack Grealish, who were benched by Pep Guardiola.

While City was the brighter of the two teams in a dull first half, the Red Devils sprang to life in the last quarter of the match, creating multiple chances but failed to find the back of the net as Ruben Amorim missed out on a golden chance of doing a double over Guardiola in the league.

The Red Devils won the reverse leg 2-1 at the Ethiad Stadium courtesy of an Amad Diallo show in the dying minutes of the game. The young starlet was missing at Old Trafford, and the hosts seemed a bit toothless in attack, which needs to be addressed in the summer transfer window.

#3 The Title Race drags on for a few more weeks

After Arsenal dropped points against Everton on Saturday in a 1-1 draw, Liverpool had the perfect opportunity to go 14 points clear at the top of the league standings but a 3-2 win for Fulham on Sunday dented the hopes of the Reds’ fans who would have already been clearing their schedules for the trophy parade.

On the weekend at Craven Cottage, Fulham started on the front foot, forcing Liverpool to buckle under pressure, but the Reds did strike first through Alexis Mac Allister. Ryan Sessegnon equalised with a fierce strike for the hosts, and Alex Iwobi gave them the lead a few minutes later. 

Rodrigo Muniz doubled the advantage for Marco Silva’s men courtesy of sheer determination and while Luis Diaz did reduce the deficit in the second half, the Reds could never recover and ended up dropping three points in London.

Arne Slot’s men do seem a bit lethargic since their elimination from the UEFA Champions League, and many of the players seem to have put their feet up, thinking that a 10+ point gap cannot be bridged with a handful of fixtures left in the league.

While Alisson Becker is missing due to injury, along with the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Connor Bradley, Slot has been fielding a makeshift right-back, but it’s his preferred centre-back pairing of Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate that has let the Merseyside club down in the last couple of fixtures.

#2 Newcastle United grab hold of a Champions League spot

In the Monday night fixture, Newcastle United defeated relegation-threatened Leicester City 3-0 to jump to 5th spot, which is pretty much an assured Champions League spot in the league standings. Moreover, the Magpies have a game in hand which allows them to get to 56 points and in 4th position, only 1 point behind the third-placed Nottingham Forest who have 57 points.

Eddie Howe would be soaking in all the praises at the end of the season as he can’t manage to take it easy currently with only 6 points separating Forest in 3rd and Aston Villa in 7th position on the points table.

With Manchester United coming to St. James’ Park on Sunday followed by matches against Crystal Palace and Aston Villa in a gap of a week, Howe’s men would be fully focussed on the run-in while all of those three sides would be diverting their focus on either Europa League, Champions League, or the FA Cup semi-final.

#1 Southampton relegated in record-breaking time

Ivan Juric has parted ways with Southamption after relegation was confirmed for the Saints

Talking about the Saints, the team from the south coast also set an unwanted record as they became the first side to be relegated mathematically with seven matches to go in the season. Southampton have only been able to win 2 matches in 31 fixtures so far, highlighting the lack of quality and intent in the squad.

Southampton bagged two wins, a 1-0 win against Everton and a 2-1 win against Ipswich Town, as they more often than not failed to deliver a good performance. Goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale has been relegated from the top tier of English football for the third time in his career, and this one would hurt him the most as he kept only two clean sheets, the win against Everton and a 0-0 draw against Fulham in December.

Ivan Juric parted ways with the club which ends a torrid 2024-25 season for him that led him from Roma to the south of England, but the Croatian failed to have a positive impact at either of the two clubs. 

Juric’s reign ended with a 3-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, and co-incidentally, his predecessor Russel Martin also lost to Spurs, a 5-0 defeat in his last match in charge of the Saints. Simon Rusk will be acting as the caretaker manager for the second time in the season, starting with the home fixture against Fulham on Saturday.