Haaland booty, Raya’s prize + dead rubber dodged

May 6, 2024 Vaseline stjohnson 0

Arsenal and Manchester City traded blows in the Premier League title race on Saturday, with each recording beautiful home wins.

We looked into the details of those two matches in our latest Scout Notes article.

THERE IS NO DOUBLE GAME WEEK 37 DEAD RUBBER FOR THE CITY…

The victories of the top two ensured there was no repeat of last season’s Double Week 37 debacle – a dead game for Manchester City.

No matter what the results are next weekend, there will be something at stake in City’s trip to Tottenham Hotspur the following Tuesday.

It’s less about the motivation of the players and more about Pep Guardiola’s scoresheets.

A year ago, City won the title without kicking a ball on matchday 37 thanks to Arsenal’s defeat against Nottingham Forest.

Guardiola responded by resting his big guns, making nine changes and sending this motley team to face Chelsea:

The image above comes from Transfermarkt.

City could only have had one dead game in the Week 37 Double at most before today’s action; Now even that scenario can’t happen.

We may still see some horse selections for Pep’s camps, perhaps a surprise or two. But at least the threat of widespread turnover has now been eliminated.

…BUT THE GOLDEN BOOT RACE MAY BE OVER

The title race is still alive, but the fight for the Golden Boot may be over.

Four goals for Erling Haaland (£14.2m) took him to 25 for the season, five ahead of his nearest rival:

We still have Messrs. Palmer, Salah and Watkins coming up on Sunday, but barring a similar goal from one of the suitors, Haaland will be hard to catch.

There are possible broader implications elsewhere. would do Alejandro Isak (£8.3m) would have taken Newcastle United’s penalty at Turf Moor if he wasn’t gunning for the Golden Boot?

Haaland had endured a somewhat anemic winter/spring, managing just two double-digit hauls in 15 games. He did not seem pleasant to look at, perhaps affected by his two-month absence which disrupted the rhythm.

But last Sunday there were ominous signs in a strong scoring comeback at Forest.

Wolves then bore the brunt of their system reset at the Etihad.

Spot shots can come in any game, but his two non-penalty goals were more impressive. An impressive header, followed by a magnificent shot with effect. jose sa (£5.0 million) prevented further damage.

“Erling is back in business. Penalties are a guarantee but the second and fourth were incredible. To get back to his best form, he needs time.” – Pep Guardiola, quoted by The Guardian

The exchanges between player and coach after Haaland’s retirement were minimized by Guardiola after the game.

Looking at gameweek 37, there’s no doubt that Haaland’s captains poll numbers will have been inflated with this 21-point haul. Opposing him became a little riskier.

THE DISTRIBUTION OF SUPPORT

Haaland’s goals ensured that everyone else was a footnote.

Phil Foden (£8.4m) provided the assist for the Norwegian’s fourth goal but was otherwise relatively quiet. Kevin De Bruyne (£10.5m) was a surprising waste, something their manager mentioned in post-match interviews. Both have made progress in recent weeks and both could easily do so again in Week 37.

Ederson (£5.5m) recovered quickly from injury and achieved the usual feat of losing a clean sheet against a team that posed little threat (Wolves only had two shots). This time he was directly guilty, waving a cross that Hwang Hee-chan (£5.4m) ended well.

Drawing attention once again was Josko Gvardiol (£5.1 million). He advanced once again down the left wing and it was he who scored the first of City’s penalties. He should have scored himself from a corner, while another assist should have come when he fed Haaland.

THE “BEST FIRST HALF” OF ARSENAL

“We started the game with probably the best first half we have played all season. I think we were incredible, we were super composed with the ball, very aggressive without the ball, we generated so many opportunities that we could have easily scored three, four or five.” -Mikel Arteta

Bukayo Saka (£9.0 million) and Kai Havertz (£7.5m) both emerged from the kick-off with an attacking return each, but the non-owners got their way here.

Arsenal destroyed Bournemouth’s goal in the first 45 minutes. A combination of wastefulness and heroic Cherries defending kept the game goalless until Havertz ‘won’ the penalty which Saka converted.

Martin Odegaard (£8.6m) squandered a Saka assist. Saka and Declan Rice (£5.5m) wasted assists by Havertz. William Saliba (£5.9m) had a shot saved from close range, Gabriel Magalhaes (£5.4m) saw a spectacular goal disallowed for a narrow offside, and ben white (£6.1m) could have had at least one assist.

Odegaard finished the day with the highest Non-Penalty Expected Goals (NPxGI) involvement figure of Week 36 so far. Saka finished with seven shots and five chances created.

Given how weak Manchester United have been lately (most shots conceded in the league in the last six games), there could be more shots in Week 37.

“Today was incredible, honestly. Everything he did, intelligent, the timing, the movements, how he keeps the ball, the way he presses, how he links the game, understanding of the game. “He was incredible today.” – Mikel Arteta on Kai Havertz

Rice participated in the other two goals, assisting Leandro Trossard (£6.5m) before signing up himself. It’s now 11 attacking returns in 12 starts for Rice, who has broken loose for the first time. Jorginho (£5.3 million) and now Thomas Partey (£4.8 million) operating as the ‘six’ instead of him.

Finally, David Rayá (£5.2m) is now guaranteed the Golden Glove. In fact, he was before this match, but he capped it off by recording Arsenal’s 17th clean sheet of the season. Apart from a controversially disallowed goal and a decent goal Dominic Solanke (£7.2m), there were few scares.

Haaland Foden