3 things we learned: United vs. Arsenal is not a rivalry

The relegation battle is getting interesting, and Arsene Wenger lost to Jose Mourinho again. Here’s what we learned from the Premier League weekend.

Wilfried Zaha saves Crystal Palace from relegation

After starting the season without scoring a single goal in their first seven matches, Crystal Palace were comfortably leading the race to the bottom of the Premier League. The resurrection started under the very experienced eye of Roy Hodgson, and culminated this past Saturday with a 5-0 rout of Leicester that put the south London team all the way up to 11th place and clear of relegation.

Hodgson’s magic touch aside, much of the credit has to go to Wilfried Zaha, the Ivorian international who has become a nightmare for opposing defenders due to his impressive combination of pace and skill. Palace’s record without Zaha is beyond dire — zero points in the 10 matches he missed. In the 26 matches Zaha featured in, Palace have gained all 38 of their points and you have to wonder if Palace would be challenging for a European spot had Zaha not missed time through injury.

Zaha is only 25, about to enter the prime of his career, and the big clubs are undoubtedly paying attention. It will be surprising if Palace are able to hang on to their talisman over the summer break. Hodgson has addressed the issue with a memorable quote: “He’s not going to stay because of my blue eyes.” If Palace manage to hang on to Zaha, you’d have to fancy them as one of the stronger teams in the Premier League next season.

Manchester United vs. Arsenal, the rivalry that isn’t

There are college-age soccer fans who have no real recollection of the magnitude of the Arsenal-Manchester United games of the late ’90s and early 2000s. This was a rivalry game that determined the Premier League winner for nine straight years. We’re a far cry from those glory days now.

Arsene Wenger fielded a young, inexperienced side for what was once the game in the Premier League. It’s fitting this was Wenger’s last game against Manchester United and Jose Mourinho, a meaningless affair, another uninspired game from Arsenal, who have now lost all their away games in 2018.

If anything is to be taken away from the match, it would be that there should be no questions regarding the timing of Wenger’s departure. Arsenal are too big a club to become irrelevant and incapable of any sort of challenge toPremier League supremacy. Wenger has only won two out of 19 encounters against Mourinho. That type of record precludes any talk of rivalry.

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Things are bonkers in the relegation zone

The battle for the 17th and final salvation spot will go down to the last matchday with as many as five teams involved: Swansea, West Ham, Huddersfield, Southampton and Stoke are all caught in the desperate battle to avoid the abyss.

Huddersfield have the toughest schedule remaining with games against Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal. They’ll need at least three points from those games against teams from the top six to ensure survival.

Swansea and Southampton face each other next week, with the winner of that game taking a huge step to avoid relegation, while all the other relegation candidates will be praying for a tie.

West Ham are not in the clear yet, although they’re playing against two teams with nothing to play for, Everton and Leicester, and the likelihood their opponents are more focused on their summer plans than putting a nail in the Hammers coffin is high.

Stoke appear to have the easiest schedule with games against Crystal Palace at home and Swansea on the road. They’ll need to win both and look for some help in the other games, otherwise the “Can he do it on a cold rainy Tuesday night in Stoke?” take will need to be retired.

Swansea appear to hold the keys, as their games against Southampton and Stoke (both at home) will be decisive in determining who survives.