Manchester City's win at Chelsea cut their deficit to Arsenal to six points on another enthralling weekend of Premier League football.
Arsenal’s 2-1 loss to Bournemouth was compounded by Manchester City’s 3-0 win at Chelsea to cut the Gunners’ advantage to six points ahead of Sunday’s meeting between the pair at the Etihad.
They were just two storylines to emerge, as at the other end, Tottenham lost Roberto De Zerbi’s first game in charge 1-0 at Sunderland, after West Ham had moved out of the bottom three by beating Wolves 4-0 on Friday.
There is still a high-stakes M62 derby to go with Manchester United hosting Leeds United on Monday, but with so much to ponder from the previous nine fixtures, here is our team of the week for Gameweek 32.
Goalkeeper – Marco Bizot (Aston Villa)
Called up in the warm-up following an injury to Emi Martinez, Marco Bizot excelled in Aston Villa’s 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest.
Beaten by Neco Williams’ 38th-minute effort, Bizot made amends with a strong save from the same player soon after, but his real standout moment came in the second half when he diverted away after Matty Cash had deflected towards his own goal.
Defender – Mats Wieffer (Brighton)
Brighton’s versatile Mats Wieffer grabbed both goals in Saturday’s 2-0 win at Burnley, ending a scoring drought that stretched back to December 2024.
Signed from Feyenoord as a midfielder, Wieffer has spent most of this season as the Seagulls’ nominal right-back, but with a brief to move into central areas when required.
The Dutchman is one of several success stories that have helped Brighton play their way back into European contention and they go hunting a sixth win in seven games when they travel to Tottenham on Saturday.
Defender – Konstantinos Mavropanos (West Ham)
West Ham whirred past Wolves on Friday, but only really settled after Kontantinos Mavropanos had headed them ahead late in the first half.
The Greek completed the scoring with an improvised volley in the final quarter of the game.
Mavropanos and Axel Disasi are forming a strong defensive duo that could be crucial to the Hammers’ survival hopes.
Defender – Marc Guehi (Chelsea)
The January signing of the season? Marc Guehi has come in and settled things down in the Manchester City defence since joining from Crystal Palace in January.
Chelsea let Guehi leave for a relatively low £18m in 2021 and showed himself to be several levels above his former club’s options with his performance in City’s 3-0 win at Stamford Bridge.
The defender even showed his deft footwork when turning nicely to slam home his team’s second.
Defender – Neco Williams (Nottingham Forest)
Forest’s Williams opened the scoring against Villa as part of a typically fine performance on Sunday.
The Welshman failed with his penalty in Wales’ shootout loss to Bosnia-Herzegovina, but has bounced back.
As well as landing three of his four shots on target, Williams also won 100 per cent of his tackles.
Midfield – Alex Scott (Bournemouth)
Time might be running out but the ‘Get Him On the Plane Brigade’ saw more reasons to back Alex Scott’s inclusion in England’s World Cup squad.
The silky playmaker burst from midfield before cooly finishing past David Raya to give Bournemouth a 2-1 win at Arsenal, capping a fine performance that saw him register a 90.9 per cent pass success rate.
Scott went unused when previously called up by England, but is making a real case for a place at this summer’s tournament.
Midfield – Rayan Cherki (Manchester City)
The world has been waiting for Rayan Cherki, but even last season’s 19 Ligue 1 goal involvements for Lyon didn’t foreshadow how good he has been since joining Manchester City.
Cherki’s two assists at Chelsea moved him onto 10 for the campaign and his ability to take the ball anywhere on the pitch and produce something wonderful is marking him out as one of the players of the season.
Midfield – Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (Chelsea)
Everton did some shrewd business in rescuing Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall from Chelsea and after limited exposure at Stamford Bridge, the midfielder is showing the Blues what they’re missing.
Dewsbury-Hall scored an injury-time equaliser in Saturday’s 2-2 at Brentford and his midfield combination with James Garner and Idrissa Gana Gueye is arguably the most underrated in the Premier League.
Forward – Rio Ngumoha (Liverpool)
Liverpool fans have been calling for Rio Ngumoha to get more minutes and his excellent showing in the 2-0 win against Fulham included a wonderful goal, dancing inside off the left and firing home like a right-footed Mohamed Salah.
Ngumoha also created two other chances in his 69 minutes, before being deservedly applauded off on the back of his first Anfield goal.
Arne Slot is preaching caution about potentially overusing the 17-year-old, but the freedom he has shown this season stands in contrast to several of his more experienced colleagues.
Forward – Jean-Philippe Mateta (Crystal Palace)
Injuries and mid-season exit rumours meant Jean-Philippe Mateta lost his mojo during the winter, but the Frenchman opened the scoring in Crystal Palace’s 3-0 Conference League win over Fiorentina.
He came off the bench on Sunday and bagged both, including a stoppage-time penalty, in his team’s 2-1 victory over Newcastle.
Overlooked by France last month, Mateta may miss out on a World Cup place, but rekindling his form won’t harm his or Palace’s chances of achieving their objectives over the next couple of months.
Forward – Taty Castellanos (West Ham)
Like Mavropanos, striker Taty Castellanos grabbed a brace in West Ham’s win over Wolves.
The January arrival has displayed plenty of hustle and bustle since signing from Lazio, but luck hasn’t always been on his side, and he had a goal narrowly ruled out for offside in last Sunday’s FA Cup defeat to Leeds.
However, Castellanos displayed his resilience with his first goals since the end of February by delivering an all-around excellent performance.
