It was a big weekend in the Premier League ahead of the latest international break, and most of the so-called Big Six teams managed to earn three points. Except, that is, for the current champions and early-season pacesetters, Liverpool. In this article, we’ll take a look back at how Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham all earned wins… and what went wrong for Arne Slot’s Reds.
Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool
The biggest game of the Premier League weekend was at Stamford Bridge as Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea welcomed Liverpool. It was a relatively even encounter and both sides mustered 12 shots, but the Blues were ultimately more clinical. Moises Caicedo opened the scoring with a bullet strike from outside the area, but Cody Gakpo equalised soon after half time.
The second half could have gone either way, but with the Reds coming into the match on the back of two straight defeats, Slot’s men looked less assured than usual. Chelsea took advantage and struck a hammer blow deep into injury time when Estevao Willian slid in the winner from close range.
The defeat was Liverpool’s third on the spin, and alarm bells are starting to ring quietly among their fans after the club splashed a small fortune over the summer.
Manchester United 2-0 Sunderland
Manchester United showed some positive signs in their 2-0 victory over Sunderland on Saturday, as the Red Devils took an early lead through Mason Mount’s fine effort. Despite holding their own from a possession perspective, Sunderland offered few clearcut chances to find an equaliser. And the home side were two goals up before the break after Benjamin Sesko scored for the second consecutive game.
United were the better team in the second half, and though they didn’t create too many chances, they never looked in danger of giving up their lead. Rubin Amorim has faced plenty of criticism this season but this victory marked his side’s third in a row at Old Trafford, and it serves as a good foundation from which to launch after the international break. The Red Devils are in the top half of the table (just!), and will now hope to progress towards the European places.
Arsenal 2-0 West Ham United
Arsenal knocked Liverpool off their perch at the top of the table with an assured 2-0 victory over West Ham at the Emirates. Declan Rice got the opener against his former club after 38 minutes, while Bukayo Saka added the second from the penalty spot midway through the second period. Despite an early burst of attacking energy, the visitors offered little to unsettle the Gunners and the home side enjoyed almost 68% of the possession and had 21 shots (although only five of those were on target, much to the relief of the travelling supporters).
Mikel Arteta once again utilised the extra depth and quality at his disposal as he shuffled his deck while still maintaining momentum and desire. The added competition for places might play to Arsenal’s advantage this term, and now they’re at the top of the table, Arteta will be determined to stay there. They’re only a point ahead of the champions, however, and the likes of Man City and even Spurs are potential title rivals too. Injuries to Rice and Martin Odegaard – again – will be a concern.
Leeds United 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur
Spurs are now in the top three in the Premier League after a smash-and-grab victory over Leeds United at Elland Road. The home side had the better of the possession (56.5%) and had more shots than the visitors (16 to Spurs’ 9). But it was Thomas Frank’s men who took the lead after 23 minutes through Mathys Tel’s deflected effort.
Daniel Farke’s side hit back after around 10 minutes through Noah Okafor, but Spurs got a second goal in the 57th minute when a low strike from Mohammed Kudus got deflected and wrong-footed goalkeeper Karl Darlow. With just a single league defeat all season, Spurs fans are quietly hoping their side can finally mount a title challenge for the first time in years. Whether they can sustain their fine form remains to be seen, however.
Brentford 0-1 Manchester City
As for Man City, things appear to be getting steadily better for Pep Guardiola’s side after their latest Premier League victory moved them up to fifth in the table. Sunday’s match at Brentford was never going to be a walk in the park given how dogged Keith Andrews’ side can be. But failure to leave with three points would have cast serious doubts over City’s title credentials.
It wasn’t a vintage performance from Pep’s side, whose xG stat was only 0.83, coincidentally the same as Brentford’s. But when you have a goalscorer as talented as Erling Haaland, you always have a fighting chance of getting a result. And ultimately it was Haaland’s ninth-minute strike that proved the difference between the sides. So, with Liverpool slipping, might we see a title race that goes all the way to the wire this term, with two, three or even more sides involved?