ALEX CROOK: No De Zerbi Bounce & Gunners Misfire (TOTU)

Our football ambassador ALEX CROOK is back with his latest Tales Of The Unexpected, highlighting five takeaways from the Premier League weekend!

Anything that caught you by surprise over the weekend? Email content@starsportsbet.co.uk and we’ll include the best submissions in next week’s TOTU!

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TITLE COULD BE DECIDED BY GOAL DIFFERENCE AS GUNNERS MIS-FIRE

In just ten days’ time we may well have new leaders of the Premier League.

Arsenal’s tepid defeat at home to Bournemouth opened the door for Manchester City and they walked right through it with their second half obliteration of a Chelsea team in freefall.

Not only are City now just six points behind the misfiring Gunners, they have also slashed their goal difference advantage to a paltry three.

With the top two facing off at the Etihad on Sunday in a game described to me by City winger Jeremy Doku as ‘decisive’, Pep Guardiola’s side know they can leapfrog Mikel Arteta’s men by winning that one and their game in hand at lowly Burnley next Wednesday.

Not since the famous Sergio Agueroooooo moment in 2012 has the title been decided on goal difference, but with both contenders having favourable run-ins that could be about to change.

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NEVER MIND THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE, CHELSEA MIGHT NOT MAKE EUROPE AT ALL

Liam Rosenior was still talking up Chelsea’s chances of a top five finish in the wake of Sunday’s 3-0 drubbing at home to Manchester City.

The Blues boss may be better served looking down the table as opposed to up, with tenth-placed Sunderland now just two points behind the so-called ‘World champions’.

Discounting the 7-0 FA Cup quarter final thrashing of League One Port Vale, Chelsea have won just one of their last seven games in all competitions.

They look a million miles off being able to gate-crash the Champions League placings and with teams in behind them like Bournemouth, Everton and Brighton in far better form, even Conferennce League qualification looks a tall order.

How the mighty have fallen.

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LACK OF DE ZERBI BOUNCE NO SURPRISE FOR TEETERING TOTTENHAM

There are few bigger certainties in life than death, taxes…. And Tottenham losing football matches.

The only surprise to me is that so many pundits tipped them to win at Sunderland on Sunday.

This is a Spurs team lacking quality, hunger and desire who remain the only side in the Premier League yet to taste victory in 2026.

Roberto de Zerbi is a top coach, but he is not a miracle worker and his record of taking over mid-season hardly hinted at the fabled ‘new manager bounce’.

At Palermo he was sacked after less than three months in the hot-seat after winning one of his first 13 matches before failing to win any of his first nine at Benevento.

While ultimately a success, De Zerbi did not claim three points in any of his first five games at Brighton.

Sorry Spurs, in the bottom three for the first time in 2009 after their 1-0 reverse at the Stadium of Light, do not have the luxury of allowing him time to bed in.

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KING DAVID ONE OF THE STORIES OF THE SEASON

How refreshing it was to hear David Moyes talking up Everton’s prospects of a place in Europe.

While so many managers do their best to downplay expectations, Moyes is embracing the challenge head on, knowing chances like this do not come around too often for the Toffees.

Moyes has often been a spikey interviewee, but there is a more relaxed demeanour about the veteran Scot this season and his team are playing with freedom too.

Whoever wins the league will probably pick up the manager of the year accolade, but Moyes deserves to be in the conversation, especially if Everton do secure a berth in either the Europa or Conference League.

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IS RIO IN WITH A WORLD CUP SHOUT?

There has been a lot of talk about the prospect of 16-year-old Max Dowman forcing his way onto the plane for the World Cup.

But there is another teenager that England boss Thomas Tuchel should be keeping tabs on in Rio Ngumoha.

The 17-year-old dazzled in Liverpool’s 2-0 win at home to Fulham that lifted some of the gloom that has engulfed Anfield this season.

It was not just his crucial opening goal that made Ngumoha stand out but his fearlessness in possession and relentless running.

England under-19 international Ngumoha should have played his way into the starting 11 for the second leg of Liverpool’s Champions League quarter final at home to PSG this mid-week.

He could also be a wildcard option for Tuchel in north America this summer.

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