On Saturday 1 February 2025, Liverpool beat Bournemouth 2-0 to move nine points clear at the summit of the table.
Prior to this, the Bees had got the better of supposedly bigger teams this season and there was already a feeling that Arne Slot’s men could drop points.
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Nottingham Forest who were beaten by Bournemouth 5-0 last weekend this time around were in seventh heaven on Saturday as they thrashed Brighton and Hove Albion 7-0.
Michael Arinze Okosi writing for The Standard Gazette in this exclusive report reflects on the five takeaways from the games in the English topflight on Saturday.
1. Questionable Refereeing
A notable incident happened in the Brighton game against Nottingham Forest.
Nottingham Forest ‘escaped’ a penalty against them after a mild clash of heads between their player, Nikola Milenković and Danny Welbeck.
The game was officiated by Simon Cooper who failed to award a penalty to Brighton – a very similar incident to the one between William Saliba and Joao Pedro. Brighton were awarded a penalty following that passage of play.
That seemed now like a clear case of robbing a party to pay the other.
It shows clear signs of the lapses in refereeing decisions made in the English top flight.
2. Salah on the threshold of glory
Egyptian king, Mohamed Salah scored a brace Saturday evening to take his Premier League goals tally to 21 this season thus becoming one of the league’s all-time leading marksmen with double digits in five seasons.
His second goal was his 178th Premier League goal, taking him ahead of Frank Lampard in the record books.
The former African Footballer of the Year winner joins an elite league that includes Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry and Frank Lampard.
Salah scored a controversial goal from the penalty spot before curling a brilliant effort into the top right corner to make it 2-0 for the Reds.
Salah’s form this season in addition to other seasons has cemented his legendary status in the Premier League.
His form has also effectively ended the debate over who is a better African export to the Premier League between him and Didier Drogba who was instrumental to Chelsea’s finest moments.
Saturday’s goals mean Salah has scored 25 goals in all competitions so far this season.
Only three Premier League legends are now ahead of the Liverpool forward for 20-goal seasons as he reached 20 Premier League goals in a season for a fifth time.
The second goal was his 178th Premier League goal, taking him ahead of Frank Lampard in the all-time record books.
Salah has been in sensational form this term, registering goal involvement at a record rate, leading the Premier League for assists (13) as well as goals.
According to stats from Opta, only two players have ever been the outright leader for both goals and assists in a Premier League season – Andy Cole in 1993-94 and Harry Kane in 2020-21 – although Salah came close in 2021-22 when he topped the assists charts but shared the lead for goals with Son Heung-min.
This season is now the fifth separate campaign in which the Egyptian has reached 20 Premier League goals. Only Alan Shearer (7), Sergio Agüero (6) and Kane (6) have done so more times than him. Salah is now level on five with Thierry Henry.
3. Promising Everton
Several weeks ago, Everton was considered as a candidate for Premier League relegation.
Now, the Toffees are no longer in that conversation as they have picked valuable points since the re-appointment of David Moyes who took over from Sean Dyche.
Illiyan Ndiaye was in superlative form as he scored a deserved late goal in the 90th minute.
The Senegal international previously had a chance to score but his effort hit the bar.
Abdoulaye Doucouré and Beto (double) had put the Merseysiders 3-0 up before the late goal.
Everton have new owners and all they need is to avoid the drop, and there could be a whole new side brimming with superior talents come next season.
4. Inconsistent Toons
Newcastle United slipped to a 1-2 home defeat to Fulham at King James Park on Saturday.
The loss to Fulham at home underlines the inconsistent season of Eddie Howe’s side.
They beat Southampton 3-1 away last weekend but suffered a 1-4 home defeat to Bournemouth in the previous round of games.
Newcastle United are still odds-on favourites to at least qualify for the UEFA Europa League but with the form of teams like Chelsea, and Bournemouth – and the possible return to fitness of Tottenham Hotspur’s injured players, the road may be too slippery for the Geordies.
5. Too little, too late for Wolves?
Wolverhampton Wanderers enhanced their hopes of escaping relegation to the Championship with a 2-0 win over Aston Villa.
Both clubs are on the end of the spectrum in terms of league aspirations.
Unai Emery’s side, Villa, are firmly in the Champions League round of 16 and are in the top six in the 2024/2025 season.
Villa have played additional games this season and they could all be part of the reasons for the indifferent outing.
The question for Wolves and their manager Vitor Perreira is: Are they on their way to climbing out of the relegation spots?
Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Matheus Cunha were the scorers and the contract situation with the latter said to be on the verge of signing a new contract until 2029 could lift the morale of the whole team.
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