What’s Hot and What’s Not from a defining Premier League weekend

Premier League leaders Chelsea are on the verge of sealing the title after beating Middlesbrough 3-0 to condemn the North East outfit to relegation.

Antonio Conte’s men had seen second place Tottenham lose 1-0 at West Ham on Friday night and knew victory over Steve Agnew’s Boro would put them one win away from the title, and they did just that thanks to goals from Diego Costa, Marcos Alonso, and Nemanja Matic.

And defeat for Middlesbrough saw their place in the Championship confirmed for next season after a disastrous top-flight campaign, a term which has seen them win just five times in 36 games, and sit seven points adrift of safety.

Elsewhere, Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool remain third despite only managing a draw at home to Southampton, and they are now just a point clear of Manchester City after they dispatched Sam Allardyce’s Crystal Palace 5-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

And the Citizens are now four points clear of neighbours Manchester United after they went down 2-0 at Arsenal on Sunday, bringing to an end their 25-match unbeaten league run as well as bringing the Gunners back into the battle for a top four place – they are just six points behind City with a game in hand.

At the bottom, Swansea climbed out of the bottom three after beating Everton 1-0 at the Liberty Stadium, leapfrogging Marco Silva’s Hull after they suffered a surprise 2-0 defeat at home to basement side Sunderland hours before.

Bournemouth and Stoke and Burnley and West Brom played out 2-2 draws on Saturday, results clinching the first two their place in the top-flight next term, while champions Leicester also mathematically secured their safety with a 3-0 win over Walter Mazzarri’s Hornets.

So, on what was a defining weekend of action in the top tier, here is What’s Hot and What’s Not from the last four days in the Premier League…