Welcome back to the 12th week of the Premier League Ones to Watch column, a weekly piece that highlights the most notable performance of the previous matchday as well as predicting a top performer for the weekend ahead. This column is made for West Coast fans in particular, as I help you decide which games you should wake up for by identifying the players who are worth the price of admission, so to speak.
In this past week of Premier League action, Matheus Cunha, the man already in the transfer rumor spotlight, showed what all the hype was about with a big-time performance in a 3-0 win against Leicester City at the Molineux Stadium.
In the victory, Cunha scored in the 33rd minute and added assists in the 56th and 85th minute to secure a victory that saw Wolves leap up to 13th in the table. Cunha has recently been linked to an expensive move to Manchester United, and the spotlight from these rumors has seen him shine and showcase his abilities rather than collapse under the pressure. Cunha has now reached 15 goals and six assists on the season, tying him for the single-season-goal scoring record by a Brazilian in Premier League history — level with Gabriel Martinelli and Roberto Firmino.
Liverpool’s title-clinching performance against Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield gave us another of the weekend’s most notable performances. Dominik Szoboszlai came through with a crucial two assists in Liverpool’s 5-1 win, taking him up to five goals and five assists on the season.
Szoboszlai’s two assists in the 16th and 63rd minute were crucial to Liverpool’s victory leading them to formally clinch the 2024-25 Premier League title. Szoboszlai has been integral to Liverpool’s midfield this season and played a huge role in their trophy push.
The last performance of note was Kieran Trippier’s outing for Newcastle against Ipswich Town. Newcastle have had a great stretch of performances as of late and their 3-0 win at St. James Park against Ipswich was simply a continuation of this. Trippier had a 56th minute assist to Dan Burn in addition to creating William Osula’s first-ever Premier League goal for the club, which helped put the game away.
Trippier has now reached three assists on the season and has played a key role in Newcastle’s push for European football. He will need to continue this form as five teams are in the hunt for just three available Champions League spots.
Looking ahead to next week, the race for these Champions League spots is likely to lead to big performances for the teams and players still looking for an opportunity to play among Europe’s best next season. One of the players worth keeping an eye on for this reason is Kevin De Bruyne.
A few weeks ago, De Bruyne announced he would be leaving Manchester City at the end of the season. Since then, De Bruyne and City have been playing like a new side, determined to make his illustrious City career come to a successful finish. In the race for both a Champions League place and an FA Cup title, City are determined to end the season on a high. With a matchup against 13th-placed Wolves at the Etihad this week, De Bruyne will look to add to his three goals and seven assists and help get City closer to Champions League football.
Another player in a similar situation with the Champions League race is Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers. Villa find themselves in seventh place but are just three points off the required fifth place needed to qualify for the Champions League. Rogers has had the best season of his career so far with eight goals and eight assists on the season. He will need to come up big for Villa against Fulham this week if he hopes to be playing among Europe’s elite next season.
The last player is again one involved in the race for the Champions League. Morgan Gibbs-White has been the centerpiece of Nottingham Forest’s team this season and will need to step up against Brentford at the City Ground on Thursday if Forest wants to be in the Champions League. Many of his five Premier League goals and seven assists have come in big moments this season and seen him lift Forest’s attack. While level on points with the currently fifth-place Chelsea, Forest have played one game fewer, and thus know they need a win against Brentford to put them in prime position to qualify for the Champions League for the first time since 1980.
As always, it’s important to reflect on last week’s picks. Last week was one of the most successful weeks yet, with all three players posting a big performance. Mohamed Salah managed to score a goal and hit an iconic selfie celebration in his team’s title-clinching win against Tottenham. Additionally, Marcus Rashford scored a penalty against Manchester City, although Villa did ultimately lose the matchup. Lastly, as mentioned above, Cunha had the best performance of the week with a goal and two assists. Hopefully the success continues into next week.