Premier League Matchday 25 Preview: Tough times for Parker and Glasner but Wirtz flourishing | OneFootball

English Premier League Tips

Get the lowdown on Matchday 25 in the Premier League

Get the latest standings, betting odds and fixtures ahead of Matchday 25 in the Premier League and check out Mike Norman's managers to watch and especially his player to watch after some excellent winners in recent weeks...

What happened in Matchday 24?

The big news from Matchday 24 is that Arsenal extended their lead at the top of the table to six points. The Gunners thrashed Leeds 4-0 to move seven points clear on Saturday afternoon, but with Aston Villa in a surprise home defeat to Brentford on Sunday, and Manchester City dropping two points from being two goals up at Tottenham, it meant that Arsenal's lead was six points after the weekend's fixtures.

Manchester United remain fourth in the table after their 100% winning start under interim boss Michael Carrick continued with a dramatic 3-2 win over Fulham, while fifth-placed Chelsea won by the same scoreline, coming from two goals down to beat West Ham.

The top six in the table remained unchanged in Matchday 24 after Liverpool got back to winning ways with an impressive 4-1 win over Newcastle on Saturday evening.

Elsewhere a draw between Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace did neither team any harm - or favours for that matter - while Brighton's 1-1 draw at home to Everton kept both sides safely in mid-table. And mid-table is where you'll find both Bournemouth and Sunderland who recorded comfortable wins over the two bottom clubs - Wolves and Burnley - respectively.

Premier League Table after Matchday 24

Who are the favourites to win the Premier League title?

Arsenal are now the shortest price they've been all season in the Premier League Winner market, shortening from 4/11 this time last week to their current price of 2/13 thanks to their win at Leeds and their nearest title rivals both slipping up.

Man City are out to 4/1 following their draw with Tottenham and Aston Villa are out to 66/1 despite being just seven points off the top. Villa have been joined by Manchester United on 66/1 who have now won three Premier League games in a row and have a big chance of making it four when they host struggling Spurs on Saturday.

2025/26 Premier League Winner: Betfair Sportsbook odds

- Arsenal 2/13- Manchester City 5/1- Aston Villa 66/1- Man United 66/1- BAR 150/1

Who are the favourites to be relegated to the Championship?

Wolves are virtually resigned to their fate and there's now no offers on them in the Premier League Relegation market given that they are 18 points adrift from safety with just 14 games to play. The picture isn't much better for Burnley who are 1/500 after putting in a woeful display in a 3-0 defeat to Sunderland on Monday night.

West Ham looked on course to make it three wins on the spin when leading Chelsea 2-0 at Stamford Bridge, but they collapsed in the second half, eventually falling to a 3-2 defeat, and they remain 1/3 to go down thanks to the team immediately above them, Leeds, also suffering defeat in Matchday 24. The Whites can be backed at 6/1 in the market.

Nottm Forest and Crystal Palace are a similar price to what they were last week thanks to sharing the spoils when both sides met at the City Ground on Sunday afternoon. Forest can be backed at 7/1 to be relegated with Palace at 10/1.

2025/26 Premier League Relegation: Betfair Sportsbook odds

- Wolves (no offers)- Burnley 1/500- West Ham 1/3- Leeds 6/1- Nottm Forest 7/1- Crystal Palace 10/1- BAR 18/1

What are the Matchday 25 fixtures?

Friday 6 February

- Leeds v Nottm Forest (20:00, live on Sky Sport)

Saturday 7 February

- Man United v Tottenham (12:30, live on TNT Sports)- Arsenal v Sunderland (15:00)- Bournemouth v Aston Villa (15:00)- Burnley v West Ham (15:00)- Fulham v Everton (15:00)- Wolves v Chelsea (15:00)- Newcastle v Brentford (17:30, live on Sky Sports)

Sunday 8 February

- Brighton v Crystal Palace (14:00, live on Sky Sports)- Liverpool v Manchester City (16:30, live on Sky Sports)

What is the game of the weekend?

Although Manchester United v Tottenham early Saturday afternoon is a mouthwatering prospect, there can only be one game for this section this week and it's all eyes on Anfield as Liverpool host Manchester City in a game that could have huge implications for each team's ambitions.

Should other results go the way that the betting markets suggest in Matchday 25 then we could quite easily see wins for Arsenal (home to Sunderland), Chelsea (away to Wolves) and Manchester United (home to Tottenham), and that means that the loser of Liverpool v Man City really will be losing out. Even a draw would be a bad result.

With a defeat - should Arsenal win of course - then Man City will be nine points adrift in the title race, and you'd have to think that would be the end of that, while a defeat for Liverpool would leave them lagging behind in the race to qualify for next season's Champions League.

It really is a huge game at Anfield on Sunday.

In recent head-to-heads in the Premier League the two teams can't be separated with three wins for Liverpool, three for Man City, and four draws. Even at Anfield it's been relatively close with two wins for the Reds, two draws and one win for City from their last five meetings.

In the Sportsbook Match Odds market Liverpool are the marginal favourites to take all three points at 7/5 while Man City can be backed at 7/4 and the Draw at 13/5.

Below you can see a chart showing the percentage chance for each outcome using the  market.

Managers to watch in Matchday 25

While Thomas Frank returned to the top of the Seventh Premier League Manager to Leave market at 17/20, replacing Arne Slot - who is out to 4/1 after surprisingly going odds-on this time last week - this week's focus is on Scott Parker and Oliver Glasner, who can be backed at 5/2 and 4/1 respectively to be the next manager to leave.

Burnley weren't expected to survive in the Premier League this season but they probably were expected to put up a fight at the very least. But that simply isn't materialising under Parker's guidance.

The Clarets are on a run of 15 Premier League games without a win, they're trading at 1/500 to be relegated, and at newly-promoted Sunderland on Monday night they never laid a glove on their opponents in a dismal display. Defeat at home to fellow strugglers West Ham on Saturday and it might just be time for the Burnley hierarchy to start preparing for next season in the Championship with a new manager.

While Crystal Palace are in a tiny bit of danger of being dragged into the relegation battle, Glasner's stock is still relatively high after guiding the Eagles to FA Cup success last season.

The problem with Glasner is he has already announced that he is leaving at the end of the season, and he continues to make cryptic comments about the club, often referring to his unhappiness at what is going on behind the scenes. So Palace being on a winless run of 12 games is not doing Glasner's cause any good whatsoever.

The Eagles face rivals Brighton on Sunday, and a defeat there might just persuade chairman Steve Parish to end Glasner's tenure a lot sooner than the end of the season.

Player to watch in Matchday 25

Our 'Player to watch' has been very profitable in recent weeks following a Bruno Fernandes assist against Arsenal - tipped up at 9/2 - and last week's 11/4 anytime goalscorer tip Dominic Solanke, and the player we like this week is a man who is starting to flourish in a Liverpool shirt, attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz.

Incredibly, Liverpool's £100m+ summer signing didn't register a single goal involvement in his first 13 Premier League games for his new club, and he had to wait until 27 December - 23 games in all competitions - before scoring his first goal for the Reds.

But even when he wasn't scoring or assisting, Wirtz still looked a class act at times and it seemed inevitable that he would eventually start to make a real impact in his new team. He has six goals and three assists to his name (all competitions) in his last 10 appearances and he is becoming a key part - if not the main part - of Liverpool's attack.

The German international will surely relish facing Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday, and because Liverpool face one of the Premier League's best teams we can get a decent price about Wirtz making an impact. He's 16/5 to score anytime and 13/57/5 to score or assist in Sunday's huge game.