What’s Hot and What’s Not from the Premier League weekend

Premier League leaders Chelsea saw their lead at the summit cut to four points after losing at Manchester United on Sunday.

Antonio Conte’s men saw second place Tottenham thump Bournemouth 4-0 on Saturday to cut the gap at the top, and the Blues were unable to respond, instead going down 2-0 to former manager Jose Mourinho’s Red Devils.

And it all means that, with just six games of the season remaining, Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs are only four points adrift, and given that they are on a wonderful seven-match winning streak, the Premier League title race isn’t over just yet.

Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool remain third after narrowly defeating West Brom 1-0 at the Hawthorns, and the Reds remain two points clear of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City after they impressively saw off Southampton 3-0 at St Mary’s.

United’s win over Chelsea took them up to fifth, and they are now three points ahead of Arsenal despite Arsene Wenger’s men getting back to winning ways by beating Middlesbrough on Monday night – the Gunners are level on points with Everton, who got the better of Burnley 3-1 on Saturday to remain seventh.

At the bottom, Sunderland took a step closer to relegation after only drawing 2-2 at home to West Ham, while Swansea suffered a 21st league defeat of the campaign by losing 1-0 at Watford, who climbed into the top ten as a result.

Marco Silva’s Hull remain just two points clear of the bottom three after going down 3-1 at Stoke, while champions Leicester saw a two-goal lead slip to draw 2-2 with a resurgent Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

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

HOT – Tottenham

Pochettino’s Spurs produced yet another commanding performance to brush aside Bournemouth 4-0 at White Hart Lane on Saturday.

Two goals in three first half minutes effectively won the game for the hosts, with the outstanding Mousa Dembele firing home just before Son Heung-min added a second, and then strikes from Harry Kane and Vincent Janssen in the second period sealed an impressive afternoon for Tottenham.

They were irresistible going forward, and but for Cherries keeper Artur Boruc, it could have been eight or nine.

As it is, it’s another three points for Pochettino’s men, their seventh straight victory, and they are now right back in the Premier League title race.

NOT – Antonio Conte and Chelsea

Spurs piled the pressure on leaders Chelsea after their comprehensive win on Saturday, and the Blues were unable to respond, instead going down 2-0 at Manchester United.

It was a somewhat strange display from Antonio Conte’s side as it lacked flair and urgency, and they were also notable absentees from Conte’s pre-match interview.

The Italian seemed quite subdued and flat when speaking with Sky just prior to the match, and that may well have transpired into the players, who produced an equally lethargic and lacklustre display at Old Trafford.

Clearly, Chelsea are still favourites to land the title this season, but Tottenham aren’t far behind, and with the way Pochettino’s men are playing, any slip up from Conte’s men could be costly.

HOT – Manchester United

Although Chelsea weren’t at their best, much of that was down to Mourinho’s United not allowing them to be at that level.

The Red Devils were outstanding in what has been labelled in some quarters as the best performance post-Sir Alex Ferguson, with striker Marcus Rashford superb throughout, including a really well-taken goal, as was Ander Herrera, who not only did a job on Eden Hazard, but produced a wonderful through ball for Rashford’s early goal.

The Spaniard also netted one of his own on Sunday, albeit a huge deflection helped it on its way in, but all in all it was a stunning display from Mourinho’s men, who will take great confidence from it into their Europa League quarter-final clash on Thursday, as well as their remaining league games.

NOT – Those in the bottom three

All three teams in the Premier League relegation zone took a step closer to the Championship this weekend, with none of the three picking up a victory.

Basement side Sunderland look all but certain for the drop after only drawing 2-2 at home to West Ham, leaving them nine points adrift of safety, while fellow North East rivals Middlesbrough were beaten 2-1 at home by Arsenal to stretch their winless league run to 15 matches.

18th place Swansea suffered a fifth defeat in six games by going down 1-0 at Watford, and that leaves them two points behind Hull, who may well have lost at the weekend, but have won three of their last six games.

At the moment, it’s difficult to see any of the bottom three teams picking up the points required to stay up, and this weekend was another clear indication of that.

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