It's been a good month for...
Pep Guardiola
Manchester City might have lost the Manchester Derby in April but that defeat merely delayed City's inevitable Premier League triumph by another week. 3-1 away victories at both Everton and Tottenham were enough to secure Guardiola his first Premier League trophy and City rounded off the month with a 5-0 demolition of Swansea at the Etihad and an equally comfortable 4-1 success at West Ham. City have blown the rest of the league away this season and as good as the likes of Kevin de Bruyne, David Silva, Raheem Sterling and co. have been the credit largely has to go to Pep. He got his style, system and signings spot on and it will take something very special to prevent his side making it back-to-back titles in 2018/19.
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Chelsea
It has been a largely disappointing season for the Blues but a strong April showing means they go into the final month of the campaign with a slim chance of qualifying for the top four, despite it being out of their own hands. It was two wins and a draw out of four for Antonio Conte's team but it should have really been three out of four, Javier Hernandez scoring a late goal for West Ham in a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge at the start of the month. Chelsea had previously lost 3-1 at home to Tottenham before making amends with an Olivier Giroud-inspired 3-2 win at Southampton and a 1-0 victory at Swansea. It will be interesting to see if Conte is still in charge at the start of 2018/19, but if they do manage to make the Champions League and win the FA Cup you wouldn't bet against it.
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Darren Moore
West Brom's caretaker manager had an unbelievable month! Filling in following Alan Pardew's departure, Moore is unbeaten and has even lifted the Baggies off the foot of the table at the time of writing. He oversaw a 1-1 home draw with Swansea, an incredible 1-0 win at Manchester United, a 2-2 draw with Liverpool at the Hawthorns and a 1-0 win at Newcastle in April. Unfortunately for him and his players, those results weren't enough to prevent relegation to the Championship, but he has already collected more points than Pardew managed and looks to have the players on side. If he gets the job permanently we could see West Brom bouncing straight back up to the Premier League next year.
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But a bad one for...
Alan Pardew
As mentioned above, Pardew's sacking has led to a huge upsurge in form at West Brom. The journeyed manager had an awful few months at the Hawthorns, taking just eight points from a possible 54 and effectively leading the Baggiest towards their relegation fate. Pardew was brought in to keep WBA up, and his record will surely put other struggling teams off appointing him in future. Maybe a Championship side will come calling for Pardew but it's been a disaster of a year for him.
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Arsenal
It may be a little harsh to put the Gunners in here this month but they are still the only side in the entire football league without an away point in 2018 after 2-1 defeats at Newcastle and Manchester United. They did win their other three matches in April, at home to Stoke (3-0), Southampton (3-2) and West Ham (4-1), but it wasn't enough to see the club announce the fact that Arsene Wenger will be leaving Arsenal at the end of the season after a 22-year spell. Lots of Arsenal fans were happy with the news but I can now see there being a transitional period at the Emirates and wouldn't be surprised if they endured another tough season in 2018/19. As for Arsene Wenger; he will be greatly missed by the Premier League.
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West Ham
The Hammers are still not mathematically safe after failing to win a single match in April. The month started promisingly in that 1-1 draw at Chelsea, but a 1-1 home draw at Stoke in their next match was then followed by 4-1 drubbings at Arsenal and at home to Manchester City. Admittedly they have played three of the big boys but it was far too easy for Arsenal and City and that is what worries me with West Ham. The new stadium shouldn't be an excuse anymore but it just doesn't intimidate the opposition like Upton Park used to. The Hammers should be fine but it has still been a frustrating campaign for them.
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