There are a number of fixtures in the Premier League in mid-week, which are affected by the FA Cup quarter-finals, with a number of delayed matches in the 29th round in mid-March. Arsenal and Chelsea were the first to play out, and with Arsenal's five-goal win, the pressure has come to the other two teams. Liverpool are drifting away from the Premier League title, while Manchester City will have to win to hold the initiative in the title race.
Twin goals from White and Kai Havertz, along with an early goal from Leandro Trossard, helped Arsenal beat Chelsea 5-0, the second-biggest defeat in Chelsea's Premier League history, the biggest being a 6-0 defeat to Manchester City five years ago. With the win, Arsenal have 77 points, three more than Liverpool with one game in hand, and four more than Manchester City with two games in hand.
What's more, against the traditional giants, Arsenal were able to win big and get a huge increase in goal difference to 56, compared to 44 and 43 for Manchester City and Liverpool respectively. If the final points are the same, Arsenal will have a certain advantage when comparing goal difference.
In a sense, Liverpool are gradually moving away from the Premier League title, and the rest of the games will not only be won, but also won by a big margin. Therefore, in the case of a small number of games, any draw is basically equivalent to the end of the title race for Liverpool. For Manchester City, although it is currently the team that concedes the fewest points in the top three of the championship, it also needs to fight for three points in each game, only by winning, can the initiative of the championship be firmly in their own hands, if they can't win, the championship initiative will be handed over to Arsenal.
In this round of replays, Liverpool will travel to challenge Everton, which is a local derby, if it is placed in the past, it should be quite a fierce competition. However, this season's Everton has experienced two penalty points deductions, and a total of 8 points have been deducted, from worry-free relegation to relegation. Fortunately, Everton beat relegation rivals Nottingham Forest in the last round, and they are five points ahead of Luton Town with a game in hand, and the pressure of relegation has suddenly decreased.
In the first leg of the battle between the two sides, Manchester United veteran Ashley Young left the field in the first half with two yellows and one red, allowing Liverpool at home to win the game at the last moment with Salah's brace. Now swapping home stadiums, Liverpool are in desperate need of a winning three points more than Everton. After the FA Cup and Europa League are out of the tournament, Liverpool has no pressure on the schedule, can Klopp help the team to win another Premier League title before he leaves?
Manchester City's opponent in this round is Brighton, which is also away. In the first leg of the contest, early goals from Alvarez and Erling Haaland gave City a comfortable home victory. Brighton are not as competitive as they used to be after losing a few of their main players last summer, currently sitting in 10th place in the Premier League, and their chances of playing in Europe again are slim.
Manchester City are in the best of the top three in the title race, but they should not be taken lightly, and any draw will also change the Premier League title race. What Pep Guardiola does best is that he can often make opponents desperate with a wave of wins at the end of the season. In fact, since losing to Aston Villa in early December last year, Manchester City has been unbeaten in 29 games in all competitions, including the Club World Cup, and the Premier League has achieved 13 wins and 4 draws. Facing Real Madrid, a total of 210 minutes of competition, both sides could not win, and the penalty kick was lost, perhaps Manchester City's "bad luck".
Arsenal's big win has made the Premier League title race more intense, Manchester City and Liverpool have no way back, and if they want to compete for the title, they can only continue to take all three points. Watching Bayer Leverkusen and Inter Milan win the championship in advance, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain are also in sight, the Premier League team can only sigh that the championship is really difficult!