Premier League Matchday 33 Recap (2025/26)

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Full Results (Matchday 33)

  • Brentford 0–0 Fulham

  • Leeds 3–0 Wolves

  • Newcastle 1–2 Bournemouth

  • Tottenham 2–2 Brighton

  • Chelsea 0–1 Manchester United

  • Aston Villa 4–3 Sunderland

  • Everton 1–2 Liverpool

  • Nottingham Forest 4–1 Burnley 

  • Manchester City 2–1 Arsenal

  • Crystal Palace 0–0 West Ham

  • Brighton 3–0 Chelsea

  • Bournemouth 2–2 Leeds

  • Burnley 0–1 Manchester City 

Game of the Matchday 

Aston Villa 4–3 Sunderland

There were numerous contenders but what happened at Villa Park was just sheer fun. A seven-goal rollercoaster that somehow eclipsed the title showdown at the Etihad — which also lived upto its billing — for pure entertainment value. Ollie Watkins scored on either side of a Chris Rigg goal to make it 2-1 at the break. Morgan Rogers scored just a minute into the 2nd half and Aston Villa were looking towards a comfortable home win. And things were going that way until a 2-minute storm arrived as Trai Hume and Wilson Isidor struck late to leave the home crowd in stunned silence at 3-3. The Black Cats then got dangerously close to stealing the whole 3 points from Villa until Emiliano Martinez replicated that World Cup 2022 Final save, to find moments later a 90+3' minute winner from substitute Tammy Abraham, steering home a Lucas Digne cross, to break Sunderland for good and keep Villa’s Champions League ambitions afloat. With 14 shots on target combined and a whopping 10 big chances this topped the matchday for utter footballing fun.

Biggest Surprise

Brighton 3–0 Chelsea

In what resulted to be Liam Rosenior's final game in charge as Chelsea’s manager, their season sank deeper at the Amex as they were comprehensively bullied by Brighton. Ferdi Kadioglu set the tone after just 3 minutes, while Jack Hinshelwood doubled the lead before Danny Welbeck added a third in stoppage time to rub salt in the wounds. This was an abysmal performance from Chelsea in both attack and defence. Brighton created 5 big chances reflecting a 2.14 xG that arguably flattered the visitors. The Seagulls had 9 shots on target as opposed to the Blues' 0. No tactical identity, toothless in attack and lethargic in their organisation to progress the ball past a relentless Brighton press. Including this loss, they have lost 7 out of their last 8 matches — and 5 of them by a margin of 3 goals — with the outlier being a 7-0 win over Port Vale in the FA Cup. Awful form in the most crucial stage of the season.

Best Team Performance

Leeds 3–0 Wolves

The next team Chelsea face in the FA Cup semi-final is Leeds United, a team in confidence with good form and one that delivered the best team display this matchday at Elland Road. They put 3 past EFL Championship-bound Wolves with a performance that had impressive showings from the whole team, with the more notable displays from the likes of Ao Tanaka, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Brenden Aaronson, Pascal Struijk. James Justin and Noah Okafor. While the visitors aimlessly cycled possession, Leeds were ruthless, recording 17 shots, creating 7 big chances and restricting Wolves to just a single save for Karl Darlow the entire afternoon. Daniel Farke has finally found a Premier League formula that balances discipline with intensity for his Leeds side after all these years.

Player of the Matchday

Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest)

Morgan Gibbs-White produced a defining performance to destroy Burnley and single-handedly drag Nottingham Forest toward safety. After Forest went into the break trailing to a Zian Flemming goal, Gibbs-White took complete control, netting a spectacular 15-minute hat-trick. All three of his finishes were top quality, in particular his third — a towering header. He registered a mere 0.44 xG from those three scoring shots, a statistic that underscores his pin-point precision and ability to turn half-chances into match-winning moments. That is now 12 goals and counting in the Premier League for Gibbs-White and he will be hoping that Thomas Tuchel is watching.

Honorable mentions - Bernardo Silva (Manchester City), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa) & Xavi Simons (Tottenham)

Moment of the Matchday

Virgil Van Dijk scores at the death to win the Merseyside Derby for Liverpool

Watch Van Dijk's header here

Everton hearts were shattered by Virgil van Dijk once again as the Liverpool captain etched his name into Merseyside folklore, repeating his debut heroics with a 100th-minute winner. In the historic first derby held at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, the points seemed destined to be shared after Beto had canceled out Mo Salah’s opener. However, deep into the final moments of added time, Van Dijk rose highest to meet Dominik Szoboszlai’s corner, powering a header past Jordan Pickford to manifest the exact nightmare the home support were fearing after Beto's goal. It marked Liverpool’s sixth stoppage-time winner against their neighbors in the Premier League era, a cruel inversion of the script from last season, when Everton captain James Tarkowski snatched a last-second equalizer in the final derby at Goodison Park.

Looking Ahead – Matchday 34 Fixtures (IST Kick-offs)

Saturday, 25 April

  • Sunderland vs Nottingham Forest - 12:30 am

  • Fulham vs Aston Villa - 5:00 pm

  • Liverpool vs Crystal Palace - 7:30 pm

  • West Ham vs Everton - 7:30 pm

  • Wolves vs Tottenham - 7:30 pm

  • Arsenal vs Newcastle - 10:00 pm

Tuesday, 28 April

  • Manchester United vs Brentford - 12:30 am

by ShotBlogged


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