There were no Premier London Derbies (PLDs) in the last round of the Premier League (PL) fixtures, but it was an eventful week for all our Clubs! At the top of the PL Arsenal (72 points from 29 games) cruised serenely on with an emphatic 4-1 home win over Leeds United. They still have 8 points lead over Manchester City and look ready for the “six-pointer” to come. Brentford had a good 3-3 draw away to Brighton and Hove Albion who needed a 90th minute converted penalty by World Cup winner Mac Allister to equalize. The Bees lost mid-week away at Manchester United and are now 9th with 43 points from 29 games.
Chelsea lost 0-2 at home to fast improving Aston Villa under former Gunners’ boss Unai Emery and that was enough to see Head Coach Graham Potter sacked. The Blues were not scoring goals nor winning matches. Their subsequent 0-0 home draw against Liverpool leaves them in 11th on 39 points from 29 games. If there are any surprises left at Stamford Bridge is it the return of idol Frank Lampard as Interim Head Coach for his second spell? Another returner was Roy Hodgson, now with the longest career span in English League football of 41 years and 3 months, to Crystal Palace. He celebrated with a very welcome 2-1 win over Leicester City who themselves dismissed their manager Brendan Rodgers.
Fulham lost 2-1 away to Bournemouth and have slipped to 10th. Tottenham Hotspur also had a coaching team change confirming the expected departure of Antonio Conte before the end of the season. His Assistant Cristian Stellini will be Interim Head Coach assisted by popular former player Ryan Mason. Some on the pitch chaos in the Monday match away at Everton meant both teams finished with 10 players in a 1-1 draw. Mid-week results mean they are now 5th with 50 points from 29 games.
West Ham United won their vital PL match against Southampton 1-0 and have risen to 15th with 27 points, but only out of the relegation zone on goal difference. This was not helped by a heavy home defeat 1-5 to now 3rd placed Newcastle United. The Hammers will have to go again on Saturday 8 April 2023 in our next PLDs match which is Fulham v West Ham. This was goalless in 2020-21 and an away win 0-2 in 2018-19 season. How precious that would be for The Hammers, but The Cottagers will want to halt their recent slide in form. A tense match in prospect, but another managerial sacking unlikely with a European match coming.
Until next time, “Happy Easter” and enjoy your football, Andrew at PLDs.