The Premier League mid-week results are closer to the unpredictable than the ones fans anticipate, as all battles take massive twists from the competitive aspects of the standings.

Arsenal re-established their seven-point cushion, while Chelsea returned to the top five at the expense of Liverpool, who lost 2-1 at the bottom of the table to Wolves, the latter making it seven points out of a possible 10.

No one saw the results coming, but they did arrive. We exploit the impact of the results of the mid-week games of the Premier League round 29 on the different battles for the rest of the season.

Title race: Advantage Arsenal

Arsenal secured an ugly 1-0 win at Brighton thanks to Bukayo Saka's ninth-minute strike, but the Gunners will have no complains of their performance, especially since the result helped them stretch their lead at the summit.

Their man rivals Manchester City were held 2-2 at home by a stubborn Nottingham Forest side, whom they had been tipped to comfortably beat having emerged winners in all three of their previous home clashes since the latter returned to the topflight.

Despite leading twice thanks to goals from Antoine Semenyo and Rodri, the visitors leveled through Morgan Gibbs-White and Elliot Anderson to steal a point off Pep Guardiola's team, complicating their title charge.

Arsenal now lead the way by seven points, although City has played a game less, they are no longer in charge of their own fate because even if they do beat Arsenal at the Etihad in April, Mikel Arteta's team will still win the title by winning all their other games.

More twists and turns still to come but in what has become a two-horse race, it is the leaders who have the advantage with eight more games to climax.

UCL qualification race: Chelsea come alive 

Chelsea secured a massive win away to Aston Villa, but the best news for Liam Rosenior and his team is that it gets better given they are the only side to win among the five teams battling for a possible three Champions League slots.

The world champions were presented a chance to return to fifth after Liverpool's loss at Wolves on Tuesday night, where Andre's late winner stunned the visitors, after Mohamed Salah had cancelled out Rodrigo Gomes' opener.

Joao Pedro bagged his first Premier League hat-trick for Chelsea in a 4-1 comeback win at Villa Park, while Cole Palmer was also on the scoresheet as Douglas Luiz's early strike turned into a mere consolation.

Manchester United missed the chance to pull clear of Aston Villa and maybe start giving their city rivals a run for their money as they fell to a first defeat under Michael Carrick, in a 2-1 loss at 10-man Newcastle United.

The host went a man down in the latter stages of the first half after Jacob Ramsey was controversially shown a second yellow for supposedly diving to win a penalty, but the game blew off right after the incident.

Anthony Gordon won and converted a penalty to give Newcastle the lead while Manchester United fired back through Casemiro's header from Bruno Fernandes' delivery from a free-kick, all before the halftime whistle.

Despite Newcastle being a man down, it was surprisingly even until the closing stages, when the visitors committed bodies forward in search of a winner, only to concede one in the form of a brilliant solo run and finish by William Osula.

Brentford also missed the chance close the gap on Liverpool after being held away at Bournemouth, who were the better side on the night in a match that produced no end product.

Other European hopefuls: Everton step up

James Tarkowski and Kiernan Drewsbury-Hall strike in either half to give Everton a 2-0 victory over Burnley, moving them just a point off seventh-place Brentford, while Bournemouth's single point won takes them to the company of the 40-point league.

Fulham also remains on 40 points after a disappointing home loss to West Ham United. Sunderland, who ended a run of four wins in the league have also moved up to 40 points, meaning just goal difference separates ninth and 11th.

Newcastle United (39) trails by a point after their win over Manchester United so there could still be hope, although they are just ahead of Brighton (37) by two points, although Crystal Palace (35) faces Tottenham later on Thursday.

Relegation battle: Hope for West Ham 

Leeds United's 1-0 loss to Sunderland was a tough one to swallow, especially as it was an even game, and they conceded a cheap penalty moments after having a goal ruled out for offside.

They remain on 31 points, two ahead of Tottenham Hotspur (29), who play host to Crystal Palace in tonight's London derby, and have picked up the fewest points of any team since the turn of the year — four points, all from four draws in 10 games.

Nottingham Forest won a massive point away at Manchester City, and even though they passed up the chance to win it late on, they also survived a City onslaught much later to see out a valuable point.

It leaves them with 28 points, but also in complication as they now lead 18th-place West Ham United just by goal difference, while Wolves close the gap on Burnley to three points in their quest to vacate the 20th position since gameweek 1.

Next round of the event

Interesting matches have been scheduled for the Premier League in the final weekend before the international break, but before then, it is time for Emirates FA Cup action this weekend, so there will be no league action.

It is also a period of rest for Manchester United, who are active in no other competitions, while Spurs, even though they are out of the FA Cup, will travel to Madrid to face Atlético in the first-leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie.

The likes of Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea, and Liverpool, will play in both the FA Cup and Champions League before they play next in the league, and will all play away from home in Europe, fatigue could have its toll on them.

Arsenal host Everton next time they play in the league, on the evening of Saturday 14th, game kicking off simultaneously with Chelsea at home to Newcastle, while Manchester City play away to relegation threatened West Ham United later in the night of the same day.

Manchester United hosts Aston Villa the following day at noon, with Liverpool hosting Tottenham Hotspur immediately after the game ends, while European hopeful Brentford plays host to Wolves in the final game of the round on Monday night.

The next run of games will be decisive, especially those meetings between direct rivals, while Arsenal will be desperate to maintain their lead over Manchester City, to be on the safe side, if they lose at the Etihad later in April.