Those wins didn't even feel good: A Premier League recap

Arsenal and Tottenham both pulled out huge victories that also made tummy hort.

Author

Kim McCauley
April 27, 2026

Following massive gut punches in the previous round, Arsenal pulled out a victory to go top of the Premier League, and Tottenham Hotspur got the job done in a must-win against Wolves to give themselves any chance of staying up.

Does either fanbase feel any better on Monday morning? Of course not!

Robin Roefs, who is getting linked to a huge money move to top clubs, had a stinker in goal here. Forest’s 5 goals came from 1.16 xG + an own goal, and less than 3 post-shot xG. Roefs directly gave the ball away for the 2nd goal, and had poor passes that indirectly led to several other chances.

As a whole, Sunderland have earned the right to mentally be in Mallorca. But their goalkeeper and back 4 did not earn it in this one, and we’re sending them to Bognor Regis — which is what readers decided our Galveston equivalent is.

It’s a bit too late for the regression monster to eat Aston Villa — the gap to 6th place remains 8 points, and they likely only need to stumble to a couple more draws to lock up a Champions League spot. But if you’ve been crying that they can’t keep getting away with it, you were correct.

Fulham are also kind of getting away with it, sitting just one point out of a European spot with a negative goal differential. The final day battle for those places is going to be awesome.

As much as I’d like to make the joke that Crystal Palace are mentally in Bognor Regis, they actually played this game like it meant something to them. And they got extremely unlucky.

Liverpool’s third goalkeeper Freddie Woodman had an outstanding game, Alexander Isak got on the scoresheet, and one of our favorites Curtis Jones had a fantastic assist.

Forest’s win on Friday has likely reduced the relegation battle to two teams, and they both delivered on Saturday. And Jarrod Bowen, unhappy with my recommendation to avoid him in FPL, delivered both assists for the Hammers. If West Ham hold off Spurs, Callum Wilson’s 92nd minute winner will be remembered for a long time.

For the first time in 2026, Spurs have three points. They struggled all game against Wolves, generating less than 1 xG, and Xavi Simons tore his ACL in the process, but a win is a win?

Between the lack of quality on display against the league’s worst team and the injury to their most creative player, this match was more discouraging than encouraging for Tottenham’s hopes of staying up.

More pessimistic Arsenal fans might say the same about this performance against Newcastle and what it means for their title hopes.

The Gunners went top thanks to a fantastic goal by Eberechi Eze, but were out-shot at home by a struggling Newcastle side, and Kai Havertz went off with yet another injury. Viktor Gyökeres managed 1 shot and 0.03 xG in his 60 minutes on the pitch. Noni Madueke turned in another stinker.

But! Bukayo Saka made a 10 minute cameo at the end of the match. The biggest reason for optimism about the title if you’re an Arsenal fan is that their attack looks worlds better when he’s on the pitch and fit.

A heartbreaker for the Saints and any fans of the Magic Of The Cup™️. City sent out their B-team, giving their stars a rest and assuming their backups were good enough to get the job done against the fifth-placed side in the Championship. Instead, they went behind in the 79th minute and had to use the big guns to get the result.

While the ending was a gut punch, it was cool to see Finn Azaz score a stunner against City. He’s been one of the best players in the Championship this season with 11 goals and 8 assists.

In case you were wondering if firing Liam Rosenior has sparked Chelsea back to life, I’m going to say… not really. While game state certainly played a big part, I am not exactly encouraged by 8 total shots, 0.68 xG, and no shots after the 57th minute. But despite all that, the Blues have a chance to save their season with a trophy.

Monday: Manchester United vs. Brentford

It’s been 5 straight draws for the Bees, and they have gone: 0-0, 2-2, 0-0, 2-2, 0-0. That means we’re statistically guaranteed a 2-2 game tonight, right? I’d enjoy that.

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