On Monday night, Manchester United headed to London to take on Crystal Palace to round up the Premier League weekend… and they had the shock of their lives.
The Eagles have been in good form recently while the Red Devils have been spluttering, but there was little left of the visitors at the end of this massacre, as Palace simply destroyed Erik Ten Hag’s hopeless team.
The brilliant Michael Olise was United’s, and particularly Casemiro’s chief tormentor, as he scored twice, the first goal coming on just 12 minutes as he left the Brazilian stumbling in his wake.
Before halftime, the Eagles were two up when the in-form Jean-Phillipe Mateta strolled past Jonny Evans before hitting a beauty past Andre Onana.
The game was over early in the second half when Tyrick Mitchell poked home the third, and then Casemiro was humbled again when Daniel Munoz took the ball off him on the touchline, and when the ball was pulled back to Olise on the edge of the penalty area, he smashed it high into the net.
Quite what Onana was doing, I’m not as sure as Olise’s shot, well-hit though it was, flew into the middle of the goal.
The Big Six is now the Big Eight
After Newcastle United and Chelsea won impressively at the weekend, Manchester United dropped to eighth, and now a new order is being established at the top of the English top flight.
For many, many years, pundits and fans talked of the Premier League Big Six—the mega-rich clubs that swept up the trophies and hoovered up the floating fans.
Replica shirts of Manchester United and Liverpool have sold for many miles beyond the North West of England, and since the turn of the century, those two giants have been joined by Manchester City and the London trio of Arsenal, Chelsea, and Tottenham Hotspur.
But the last two seasons have seen two new kids on the block, and neither Aston Villa nor Newcastle United look like disappearing any time soon.
The Villains are in prime position to qualify for the Champions League, in fourth place and seven points ahead of Tottenham, who have three games to play. Unai Emery’s team has been in the top four throughout the campaign, and they fully deserve to be ahead of both Manchester United and Chelsea.
Meanwhile, the Saudi-owned Magpies qualified for the Champions League last season, and while they have missed out this year, they will not be going anywhere.
While Villa lost to Brighton at the weekend, Newcastle slapped relegation threatened Burnley 4-1, and they are up to sixth. Meanwhile, it really looks like Tottenham’s top-four challenge is coming to an end after they were battered 5-2 by Liverpool.
Chelsea hammered West Ham 5-0, and Manchester City also plundered five against Wolves, while Arsenal passed a tricky test at home to Bournemouth. The Premier League 2024 betting odds say the title is heading back to the Etihad, but the Gunners are still fighting.
Get ready for the Manager Merry-go-round
In other Premier League 2024 news, the rumour mill is turning once again, and here at SBOTOP, we’ll keep you informed of the changes as they happen over the summer: the big transfers and the managerial moves.
A lot of the focus has been on Old Trafford, and, after last night’s pain at the Palace, Ten Hag’s position is on the agenda again. German news outlets have reported that the United boss is on a list of potential replacements for the outgoing Thomas Tuchel at Bayern Munich.
The Bundesliga club has apparently contacted the Dutch manager’s agent to see whether he is interested, though no formal talks with United have taken place. Bayern believe that Ten Hag has been hamstrung by off-field problems at Old Trafford, and they are big admirers of his methods.
There have even been suggestions in the UK press that Tuchel could be heading the other way.
Another team that suffered a walloping at the weekend looks set to change its manager as West Ham United are reported to have agreed a deal with former Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui.
The former Spain and Real Madrid head coach has stayed in England since he left Molineux last summer, and he has made no secret of his desire to continue his work in the Premier League. Now he seems set for the London Stadium. Hammers boss David Moyes is out of contract at the end of the campaign, and he is keeping tight-lipped on the subject; saying: “I’ll talk to the board at the end of the season. We’ll do that then.”
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