EPL
Arsenal 4-1 Leeds: Player ratings as Gunners restore eight-point lead at Premier League summit

Arsenal restored their eight-point lead at the Premier League summit with an ultimately commanding 4-1 victory at home to Leeds United on Saturday afternoon.
The Gunners will have watched Manchester City close the gap with a second-half dismantling of Liverpool earlier in the day – the match was shown on the Emirates’ big screens – and began their game in a fog of hesitancy. Although, their visitors warrant some credit for that.
Javi Gracia had lost all three of his previous meetings with Arsenal by an aggregate score of 0-6 but arrived in north London with a plan to frustrate. Jack Harrison on the left and Rasmus Kristensen, a right-back shunted into midfield, were tasked with plugging the gaps between Leeds’ full-backs and centre-backs, the half-spaces from which Arsenal have wreaked so much havoc this season.
With Arsenal’s regular avenues to goal protected by a military blockade of neon camouflage kits, the hosts had to rely upon a returning weapon of their own. On his first Premier League start since the World Cup, Gabriel Jesus roamed around in constant search of space. The Brazilian nodded a header over the bar after ten minutes before wriggling into the box with the ball at his blurring feet.
Chopping away from Kristensen, Jesus sent Luke Ayling to the turf but soon joined him on the grass when the Leeds skipper carelessly left his studs dangling. Jesus dusted himself off and cooly slotted the spot kick he had worked so hard to win down the middle of the goal, finding the net for the first time since the opening day of October.
Leeds had enjoyed the better of the opening half-hour but their stubborn resolve melted in the wake of Arsenal’s opener. Jesus soon launched a counter-attack which culminated with Gabriel Martinelli watching his 40-yard lob hurriedly scrambled off the line by Ayling. Within two minutes of the restart, Leeds’ beleaguered captain couldn’t stop Martinelli’s cross from bouncing along the box for Ben White to crash in at the back post.
The tight stitching in Leeds’ rearguard was well and truly frayed thereafter. Jesus, who had spotted whispers of room throughout, revelled in the newfound patches of green grass. Arsenal’s number nine picked out Leandro Trossard in the box, surging beyond a trailing pack of disheartened visiting players to receive a return pass and stuff it past Illan Meslier after 55 minutes.
Just as the final 15 minutes threatened to meander towards a tame conclusion, Kristensen exploited his advanced positioning with a thumped shot from the D. Aaron Ramsdale was unsighted by a wicked deflection from Oleksandr Zinchenko and gave up yet another clean sheet; Arsenal have conceded in seven of their last eight home games.
Granit Xhaka restored Arsenal’s three-goal advantage within ten minutes, bursting into a scantily-clad box and guiding Martin Odegaard’s feathered cross into the corner. A matter of hours after City underlined their title credentials against Liverpool, Arsenal responded with a 4-1 win of their own, the club’s seventh consecutive top-flight victory – the longest run of any team at any point of the season.
GK: Aaron Ramsdale – 4/10 – Alert right from the opening whistle, making a save inside the first ten seconds but very shaky with the ball at his feet.
RB: Ben White – 7/10 – No punches were pulled against his former club with a spiky, stud-filled showing.
CB: Rob Holding – 6/10 – Rarely ventured away from a safe pass but managed to clear most of the danger that fell his way.
CB: Gabriel – 7/10 – Commanding on and off the ball.
LB: Oleksandr Zinchenko – 5/10 – Struggled when lured into a one-on-one out wide but limited those scenarios as he spent much of his time in midfield.
CM: Martin Odegaard – 6/10 – Grew into the game as space opened up between the lines.
CM: Thomas Partey – 7/10 – Exerted a sense of reassuring serenity in possession.
CM: Granit Xhaka – 7/10 – Readjusted well when faced with the initial obdurate shape but continued to crash the box when space opened up.
RW: Leandro Trossard – 8/10 – Starting on his unfavoured right flank, Trossard was brilliantly disciplined when counter-pressing and set up Jesus’ second.
ST: Gabriel Jesus – 9/10 – Breezing around the final third, Jesus was back to his untameable best.
LW: Gabriel Martinelli – 8/10 – The Brazilian’s unwavering directness helped pierce Leeds’ stubborn resolve.
Substitutes
Bukayo Saka (60′ for Jesus) – 5/10
Jorginho (60′ for Partey) – 5/10
Emile Smith Rowe (85′ for Odegaard) – N/A
Fabio Vieira (86′ for Xhaka) – N/A
Kieran Tierney (86′ for Zinchenko) – N/a
Manager
Mikel Arteta – 7/10 – Watched on as his players unpicked the problem in front of them with admirable cunning and creativity.
GK: Illan Meslier – 5/10 – Sharp off his line but not always so decisive.
RB: Luke Ayling – 2/10 – The former Arsenal academy graduate played as though he was still harbouring north London leanings.
CB: Robin Koch – 4/10 – Rash when robbed of the extra security provided by so many extra players flooding into Leeds’ backline.
CB: Pascal Struijk – 6/10 – Safe and sturdy on the left of Leeds’ rearguard.
LB: Junior Firpo – 5/10 – Curbed his natural attacking instincts as Leeds were reluctant to commit more than the front three forward.
CM: Rasmus Kristensen – 6/10 – Despite nominally starting further forward, Kristensen’s defensive discipline was integral to tracking Xhaka’s roaming.
CM: Marc Roca – 5/10 – Sweeping up at the base of midfield, Roca sometimes slipped in the backline himself as well.
CM: Jack Harrison – 6/10 – Dropping as deep – and sometimes deeper – than Leeds’ left-back Firpo.
RW: Luis Sinisterra – 5/10 – Skirting around the fringes of the contest.
ST: Brenden Aaronson – 4/10 – A striker in name only, the flitting attacking midfielder drifted in and mainly out of the contest.
LW: Crysencio Summerville – 7/10 – A wriggling menace as Leeds swept forward in transition.
Substitutes
Weston McKennie (66′ for Aaronson) – 5/10
Rodrigo (66′ for Sinisterra) – 5/10
Liam Cooper (74′ for Koch) – N/A
Georginio Rutter (74′ for Summerville) – N/A
Patrick Bamford (85′ for Harrison) – N/A
Manager
Javi Gracia – 5/10 – Deployed his side in a compact shape that also threatened in transition until the opening goal.
Player of the match – Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal)
EPL
Mohamed Salah’s record in the Europa League

Though Liverpool have become accustomed to the Champions League, their star man Mohamed Salah is no stranger to Europe’s second-tier competition, the Europa League.
Jurgen Klopp’s outfit now have time to reflect and recuperate after finishing 5th in the Premier League and out of the Champions League spots for the first time since the 2014/15 campaign.
Unai Emery – now in charge of high-flying Aston Villa – put the sword to Liverpool in the final of the 2015/16 Europa League final, with Coke’s second-half double proving crucial for Sevilla that day.
As they exchange their Tuesday and Wednesday nights for Thursday’s, Klopp, who had pledged to make the Europa League “our competition” will look to Salah in particular to prevent a repeat of that torrid night in Basel seven years ago.
FC Basel plummeted out of the Champions League after failing to meet their aim of reaching the group stage in 2012/13.
The Egyptian King, in the infant years of his career, made more appearances from the bench than he did as a nailed-on starter in Basel’s Europa League campaign but he was a star nonetheless.
Salah scored his first of eventually many goals on the European stage in the quarter-finals as Basel edged past Tottenham on penalties after drawing 4-4 on aggregate scoring.
His scoring exploits did not halt there as his future employers Chelsea were at the hands of a Salah double in west London. Although the Egypt international crashed out of the competition thanks to the Blues, his Europa League showings earned him a rightful move to the English giants a few months later.
Salah helped Basel to their best-ever finish in the competition, performing when it mattered the most and often being the difference-maker.
Wedged in between his other two Europa League campaigns came his least successful one, with just a goal and assist apiece.
12 days after scoring his first goal for the club against Sassuolo, Salah added one to his European CV against, once again, Tottenham. Spurs had become a familiar sight for the tricky winger and a match-up that he flourished in.
Bearing in mind his spell in Fiorentina was merely a loan, Salah enjoyed positivity for the majority of the season and spurred his side into the semi-finals of the Europa League. His influence – goals aside – was undeniable, though his game time was limited on the centre stage.
A theme begins to reoccur with Salah and the Europa League as he helped Fiorentina – very much a surprise package of the 2014/15 Europa League season – reach the semi-finals of the competition for only the third time in the entirety of the club’s history.
Salah’s most recent Europa League campaign came just before his high-profile move to Liverpool, featuring in six games for Roma in 2016/17.
The Italian side endured a torrid campaign in Europe, preventing Salah from showing the footballing world his undeniable talent. Domestically, Roma finished in second place and secured themselves a spot at Europe’s top table for the following campaign, but cracked under pressure when vying for European silverware in the same season.
Neither goal amounted for anything in this term, either. Roma’s four-goal thumping over West Ham’s conquerors in Astra Giurgiu was already wrapped up before Salah’s effort came, and he managed to grab his second of the competition in a last 16 defeat to Lyon.
EPL
Erling Haaland set to beat Premier League record set by Thierry Henry 20 years ago

Manchester City’s goalscorer-in-chief has set the Premier League alight in his inaugural campaign, breaking record after record and is closing in one Thierry Henry’s long-standing achievement.
Though goals are Erling Haaland’s forte, he has also dished out the odd assist, taking his goal involvement tally to a highly respectable 44. His latest lay-off to Phil Foden at Brighton matched the Premier League record of total goal involvements in a single season.
Arsenal legend Thierry Henry set the same record two decades prior, but the new kid on the block will want to leave the Frenchman in the dust by surpassing it in City’s finale at Brentford.
44 – Erling Haaland’s assist tonight was his 44th Premier League goal involvement in 2022-23 (36 goals, 8 assists) – a joint-record in a 38-game Premier League season, along with Thierry Henry in 2002-03 (24 goals, 20 assists). Machine. pic.twitter.com/Ni4XS7WXyE
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 24, 2023
Both Premier League cult heroes in their own right, but with Haaland’s career still in his infancy, he has all the sufficient tools to surpass Henry’s legacy. Marry that up with Pep Guardiola’s ideology and we have an all-timer on our hands.
His arrival divided opinion: some believed he was the world-beating attacker that City craved while some were under the impression he couldn’t hit the heights of the likes of Harry Kane and Mohamed Salah. Oh, how wrong were they.
Guardiola muttered that Sergio Aguero was irreplaceable upon his departure but has been proved entirely wrong by Haaland’s first season in England. An audacious chip over Lukasz Fabianski recorded his record-breaking 35th goal of the campaign, but was just the latest of many to remind us what an alien talent the Spaniard has at his disposal.
Month |
Goals |
Assists |
---|---|---|
August |
9 |
1 |
September |
2 |
0 |
October |
6 |
2 |
November |
1 |
0 |
December |
3 |
0 |
January |
4 |
0 |
Feburary |
2 |
1 |
March |
1 |
1 |
April |
6 |
2 |
May |
2 |
1 |
Two hat-tricks in August had rival fans trembling and City fans relishing in the presence of their new focal point, but few understood what the phenom was capable of.
Next up for the 22-year-old is to eclipse old-timer Dixie Dean, who set the all-time goal record across all competitions – a total of 63 back in 1927/28.
At the rate that Haaland is excelling at, Alan Shearer and Andy Cole’s joint-record of 47 goal involvements in a 42-game campaign could be his next season, although he has four fewer games to manage it.
Should he remain in the Manchester City ranks for years to come, surely Shearer’s 260-goal record is in jeopardy?
Month |
Goals |
Assists |
---|---|---|
August |
2 |
2 |
September |
4 |
2 |
October |
0 |
1 |
November |
3 |
2 |
December |
2 |
0 |
January |
6 |
1 |
February |
2 |
2 |
March |
0 |
2 |
April |
3 |
3 |
May |
2 |
5 |
Amazingly, Henry failed to secure the Golden Boot in this monumental season, with Ruud van Nistelrooy taking the award back to Manchester with him.
The former France international remains the only player to notch 20 in both goals and assists, though, and given Haaland’s speciality in being the finisher rather than the provider, this record seems to be safe for the foreseeable future.
Despite the astonishing nature of the Arsenal forward’s exploits in the attacking third, they were still five points adrift of the league summit as none other than Van Nistelrooy’s United won their seventh Premier League title.
BUNDESLIGA
All permutations for Europe and relegation

The end of the Premier League season is upon us and it has certainly been a thrilling campaign with lots of drama along the way.
While the title may have already been wrapped up by Manchester City at the expense of Arsenal, there is still a huge amount to play for all over the rest of the table on the final day of the Premier League season.
The primary focus will be on the relegation zone where only one team has already had their fate sealed, which is Southampton. Some eyes will also be on the various European qualification spots. Here are all of the permutations you need to know about to enjoy the final day of the 2022/23 Premier League season.
Read 90min’s full match previews here
The Champions League race in the Premier League has been thrilling this season, but Manchester United actually brought it to a close on Thursday night when they easily beat Chelsea 4-1. It means that Manchester City, Arsenal, Man Utd and Newcastle will be the Premier League’s representatives in the Champions League next season.
All that is yet to be decided in the top four is who will finish in third place. Man Utd are now two points ahead of Newcastle so they just need to win against Fulham to make sure that they keep third. If they draw and Newcastle win away at Chelsea, the Geordies would nab third due to goal difference. The only real desire to finish third is due to bragging rights and stature, rather than anything too tangible beyond a couple of million in prize money (which, relatively speaking, isn’t a lot).
Position |
Team |
Goal difference |
Points |
---|---|---|---|
1 |
Manchester City |
62 |
89 |
2 |
Arsenal |
40 |
81 |
3 |
Manchester United |
14 |
72 |
4 |
Newcastle |
35 |
70 |
Similar to the Champions League battle, the Europa League battle was expected to go down to the wire. As it turns out, Liverpool are guaranteed to finish in fifth place and Brighton are guaranteed to finish in sixth place, meaning they will be England’s Europa League participants next season.
There is actually a chance that three teams enter the Europa League next season from the Premier League, but only if West Ham win the Europa Conference League final against Fiorentina. That has no bearing on the Premier League table going into the final day.
The Europa Conference League slot is where the interest lies on Sunday, with three teams fighting for seventh place in the Premier League. Seventh in the Premier League gets this spot because Man Utd won the Carabao Cup and they already have a European spot. The teams in question are Aston Villa, Tottenham and Brentford.
Aston Villa are the team in pole position so all they need to do is equal or better the results of Brentford and Tottenham. If Villa are beaten, Brentford do not win and Spurs draw, Spurs will get seventh on goal difference.
Tottenham will also get seventh if they win and Villa draw or lose, while Brentford are going to have to beat Man City and hope both Villa and Tottenham draw or lose if they are to qualify for Europe for the first time. The Bees are certainly the outside bet.
Position |
Team |
Goal difference |
Points |
---|---|---|---|
5 |
Liverpool |
28 |
66 |
6 |
Brighton |
20 |
62 |
7 |
Aston Villa |
4 |
58 |
8 |
Tottenham |
4 |
57 |
9 |
Brentford |
11 |
56 |
This is where the majority of the focus will be on the final day of the 2022/23 Premier League season, as three teams are all vying to finish in the place above the relegation zone.
Everton are currently the team in a position of strength, while Leeds United and Leicester City are in the bottom three. All of the power lies with Everton as if they win their game, Leeds and Leicester’s results are irrelevant.
Leicester and Leeds are level on points. Leicester need to win their game and hope that Everton either lose or draw. Leicester can finish level on points with Everton if they win and Everton draw, but Leicester’s goal difference is better and they would be safe. They also have a better goal difference than Leeds so if Everton draw and both Leicester and Leeds win, it is Leicester that would be safe.
Leeds also simply have to win their game and hope that Leicester lose or draw, with Everton also losing. If Leeds win and Everton draw, they would be level on points and Leeds would need to beat Tottenham by three clear goals in order to get the goal difference swing on Everton.
The clearest way of viewing it is that if Everton win, it is game over. If Leicester and Leeds both lose or draw, it is game over regardless of what the Toffees do.
Position |
Team |
Goal difference |
Points |
---|---|---|---|
17 |
Everton |
-24 |
33 |
18 |
Leicester |
-18 |
31 |
19 |
Leeds |
-27 |
31 |
20 |
Southampton |
-37 |
24 |
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