Liverpool’s lead at the top of Premier League stretched to six points on Saturday when Darwin Nunez scored two late goals as the Reds finally saw off Brentford.
Meanwhile Arsenal, who were 2-0 up against Aston Villa early in the second half of their match, eventually had to settle for a point as the Villains roared back. The Reds’ victory put some pressure on the Gunners, who played in the tea-time kick-off, and when Mikel Arteta’s men buckled the Premier League 2025 betting odds took another shift back towards Merseyside.
Arne Slot’s Liverpool were looking for their first win of 2025 after drawing their first two and it looked like the wait was about to go on when the two teams entered injury time at 0-0. The Gtec Community Stadium has been a fortress for the Bees this season and it looked like Thomas Franks’ side had picked up another impressive result but, while Brentford are usually free-scoring and attacking they spent much of the afternoon on the back foot and often putting bodies on the line to keep the league leaders at bay.
Remarkably, Liverpool had 37 shots in total with eight on target, while the Bees did have their moments, with 11 shots and six on target, and probably the best chance of the first half. But the red wave finally ended the Londoners’ resistance and it was Uruguayan striker Nunez who broke Brentford hearts with Liverpool’s 36th and 37th shots. With just nine goals in the previous 11 months Nunez has often been criticised for his lack of precision in front of goal, hitting the woodwork a record four times in a match against Chelsea. But this time he was clinical with two crucial finishes; the first was a tap-in from a Trent Alexander-Arnold cross but the second was a trademark bullet into the top corner.
Nunez has struggled for game time with Mo Salah, Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo in such good form and this brace will have given him the world of confidence, while spoiling Arsenal’s build up to their game.
Emery makes his point
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has made quite an impression in the Midlands since taking up the role in 2022. In his first season he took a side in relegation trouble to safety and actually finished in seventh place to win European football, following that up with a fourth place finish in 2024. It’s been a real redemption for Emery in the Premier League after he was sacked by Arsenal after just over a year in charge, back in 2019.
In his preview of Arsenal’s match with Villa my SBOTOP colleague said the Gunners need to believe they can win the title but Emery’s team put a real dent in their hopes, particularly after goals either side of half time, from Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz, who shook off the memory of his FA Cup horror show against Manchester United with a clinical finish. The Gunners were cruising but then Youri Tielemens brought back the uncertainty as he headed home a cross from Lucas Digne, and, on the three-quarters mark Ollie Watkins seized on some sloppy Arsenal defending and levelled the game at 2-2. Arsenal thought they’d won it late on when Mikel Merino’s strike deflected off Havertz into the net but VAR correctly intervened as the ball had clearly been steered home by the German’s arm.
Brilliant Bournemouth bring the Magpies back down to earth
In other Premier League 2025 news, another head coach who can do little wrong is Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola who led his team to a stunning 4-1 win away to high-flying Newcastle United to move up to sixth place in the table on Saturday. Eddie Howe’s Magpies were on a nine match winning run in all competitions and with an impressive defensive record, but the Cherries tore them apart, inspired by flying Dutchman Justin Kluivert who scored a superb hat-trick. He got his first when he slid home a cross from Antoine Semenyo and, after Bruno Guimaraes headed the Geordies level, Kluivert restored the lead just before half time.
Newcastle’s in form striker Alexander Isak was on an eight match scoring run but he was very quiet, suffering from a rare lack of support but, at the other end, Kluivert completed his hat-trick to move up to ten goals for the campaign and in eighth place in the chase for the Golden Boot. Milos Kerkez rounded off a near perfect afternoon for Iraola’s men with a spectacular strike, deep into injury time.
The Geordies have been on the charge in recent weeks but this result has stopped them in their tracks, while the Cherries have put themselves in the thick of the battle for European places.
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