Coming into matchday 26 of the Premier League, the races for European places and relegation were heating up. The big game of the weekend, Liverpool against Arsenal, lived upto its billing as Jurgen Klopp’s side won only their third game in 2017, putting their troubles behind them with a comprehensive 3-1 win over the Gunners.

The result threw further doubt on Arsene Wenger’s future at the Londoners, with them dropping outside the top four and their opponents of the day going above them into the last Champions League qualifying spot.

Elsewhere, the battle of the young strikers Harry Kane and Romelu Lukaku ended in a victory for the former with the Englishman’s brace resulting in Tottenham seeing off Everton 3-2. Manchester City’s clinical 2-0 away victory over Sunderland saw them retain third spot, while United lost further ground on the top four after a frustrating 1-1 draw at home with Bournemouth.

What was Wenger thinking?

One of the most important matches of the season? Check. Team struggling post January? Check. Squad overly-reliant on one attacker? Double check. Start said player in said big game? Well,....

Nobody knows what was going through the Arsenal manager’s head when he decided to drop his best player on the eve of an Anfield trip, but Jurgen Klopp and the Kop faithful would have squealed in delight at the sight of the Chilean benched.

After Liverpool scored the first goal within the opening 10 minutes, it was all downhill for the away side as they were pegged back, Granit Xhaka and Francis Coquelin in the middle unable to cope with the Reds’ movement.

Sanchez was introduced in the second half in place of Coquelin, but till then, the damage had been done. Liverpool’s defenders had a tougher time of it in the second half with the ex-Barcelona man providing Danny Welbeck with the assist. Well, Mr Wenger, how’s that statement of I’m-in-charge-around-here working out for you?

Kane shows once again that he is very Abel

Named after a WWE superstar, Kane’s road to Wrestlemania,...erm, Premier League glory continues. No striker under the age of 23 has scored more league goals in Europe’s top five divisions, with Kane and Torino’s Andrea Belotti leading the way with 19 strikes.

With his brace, the Englishman now has 68 Premier League goals in 106 appearances, at an astounding rate of 0.64 goals per game, lower than only Messrs Thierry Henry and Sergio Aguero in the league’s 25-year history.

Lukaku was shackled by Jan Vertonghen throughout the 90 minutes, but got a chance through an uncharacteristic slip-up by the Belgian. Lukaku took his chance promptly, bringing his season’s tally to one within Kane’s.

The Englishman may have been substituted, but this was his fourth brace or higher in his last 10 matches. In 2017, only Lionel Messi (15) has scored more goals than Kane’s 14. August company indeed!

United’s profligacy and the small-team bias

‘How did they not score?’ is fast becoming one of the catchphrases associated with Manchester United’s season as they failed once again to knock over one of the Premier League’s relative minnows on home turf.

Jose Mourinho’s men have now dropped points at home to Stoke, Burnley, West Ham, Hull and Bournemouth. With these 10 points, United would be, you guessed it, second, hot on Chelsea’s heels.

Goals scored and Total shots taken, courtesy Squawka.com

Instead, they find themselves languishing in sixth, having scored fewer goals (39) than any of the top seven, including Everton, who have 44. By contrast, they rank third for shots taken and second for shots on target, indicating that the quality of thumps by their attackers has been poorer than that of their neighbours in the table.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s stats mirror that of his club’s: having taken 110 shots, he has scored 15 goals. Everyone else in the top five of the Premier League goalscorers chart has taken 91 shots or fewer. On Saturday, he had seven shots without any yield.

City’s away record, Gylfi’s the assist master and others

City’s 2-0 cruise at the Stadium of Light makes them the form team in the division, with four wins in their last four matches. This was also their third clean sheet in the last four games. City now have 10 away wins this season, which is also their highest for a single campaign.

Swansea midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson notched up his 10th assist of the campaign in a dogged 3-2 win against Burnley. The Icelandic medio has now played a hand in 18 of the Swan’s 35 goals. Without them, it is fair to say that the Welsh outfit would have been propping up the Premier League table now.

Riyad Mahrez scored from open play for the first time in 28 games as Leicester came from behind to beat Marco Silva’s Hull City 3-1. It was the first time in 18 Premier League games this season that Leicester have managed to win after going behind in the match.

Their renaissance with Craig Shakespeare at the helm continues. While Crystal Palace climbed out of the relegation zone with back-to-back wins, Middlesbrough’s 2-0 loss at Stoke has sent the Riversiders into the bottom three. At this rate, Sunderland look doomed and Boro’s wretched form could them joining the Black Cats in the Championship next season.