Nottingham Forest were the big winners in the battle for a place in next season’s Champions League this weekend in the Premier League as Wolves all but secured survival.
Arsenal took advantage of Liverpool’s absence from league action to close to within 12 points of the leaders courtesy of a 1-0 win over Chelsea.
Newcastle beat Liverpool at Wembley to win the League Cup and their first trophy for 56 years and results also went the Magpies’ way in their hunt for a top-five finish.
At the bottom, more defeats for Ipswich, Leicester and Southampton leaves the bottom three seemingly doomed.
Newcastle’s dream days
Newcastle’s charge towards a return to the Champions League has halted in recent weeks with their focus distracted by the League Cup final.
Eddie Howe’s men wrote themselves into the club’s history books with a famous 2-1 win over Liverpool.
And it was a fine few days for Newcastle in the Premier League too as their rivals for a Champions League place stumbled.
A top five finish is almost certain to be enough thanks to English clubs’ strong performance in European competition this season.
Chelsea’s meek defeat at the Emirates leaves the fourth-placed Blues just two points ahead of Newcastle, who have a game in hand.
Manchester City sit in between them in fifth after they could only manage a 2-2 draw with seventh-placed Brighton.
Bournemouth’s European ambitions are also fading after a 2-1 defeat to Brentford saw the Cherries slip to 10th.
Forest respond to Tuchel snub
Despite a stellar season, Forest were unrepresented as Thomas Tuchel named his first England squad on Friday.
Morgan Gibbs-White, Elliot Anderson and Callum Hudson-Odoi were among those overlooked, which did not go unnoticed from the travelling support at Ipswich as Forest ran out convincing 4-2 winners.
Gibbs-White set up the fourth goal for Jota Silva and was finally rewarded with a call-up to Tuchel’s squad as an addition on Sunday.
Victory propelled Forest ever closer to a return to European football’s top competition for the first time since 1980.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s men are six points clear of City with just nine games to go.
Wolves pull clear
Any lingering doubts over the relegation battle were dispelled after Wolves picked up a vital 2-1 win at Southampton thanks to two goals from Jorgen Strand Larsen.
Wolves are now nine points clear of the drop zone with the bottom three showing no signs of life.
Ipswich have not won in 10 games in 2025, Leicester have lost 13 of their last 14 under Ruud van Nistelrooy, while Southampton remain on course to be the worst side in Premier League history.
“This club doesn’t deserve relegation, the people of this club don’t deserve it,” said Wolves boss Vitor Pereira.
“I’m feeling this with my heart and it’s a project I want to take with both hands.”
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