Category: English Premier League

Mikel Arteta’s side have experience of being top of the table but have been unable to finish the job in previous seasons

All the signs point to it finally being Arsenal’s season. But given that they have spent almost 800 days top of the table since last being champions in 2004, nothing will be taken for granted at this stage. After an outlay of more than £250m in the summer, Mikel Arteta has a formidable squad that has been able to cope with injuries to important players such as Kai Havertz and Martin Ødegaard – a problem that derailed them in three successive runner-up finishes.

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Arsenal’s title tilt is built on solid defence, Chelsea miss Cole Palmer and what happened to clampdown on shirt-pulling?

“One-nil to the Arsenal” may not be thrilling but it is certainly effective. Sunday’s victory over Crystal Palace was Mikel Arteta’s side’s third by that margin in nine Premier League games. Last season, Arsenal managed that result five times in the league, while also drawing 1-1 in seven matches. Clean sheets in just half of those might have made for an intriguing title race. For all the noise surrounding Arsenal’s attacking talent, their defence is just as vital. It is their solidity at that end of the pitch that will probably lead them to glory, with three goals conceded in nine top-flight games so far. Sunday also marked a century of games across all competitions since they have conceded more than twice. The last to put three past David Raya? Luton – remember them? – back in December 2023. Sam Dalling

Match report: Arsenal 1-0 Crystal Palace

Match report: Aston Villa 1-0 Man City

Match report: Brentford 3-2 Liverpool

Match report: Manchester United 4-2 Brighton

Match report: Everton 0-3 Tottenham

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Micky van der Ven scored twice and led Tottenham’s effective rearguard action at Everton to maintain Thomas Frank side’s excellent away record

3 min Chance! Grealish and Mykolenko combine to push Everton into the box, but nobody can get a shot in. Then Ndiaye wriggles down the right, past Spence, and cuts back to Beto – who can only deflect it to Grealish. His shot is well blocked by … someone.

2 min Everton go long and for one mad moment it looks as if two of their players are through, but the ball bounces kindly for Vicario.

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Vítor Pereira had to be escorted away from the touchline after an angry post-match exchange with the supporters with whom he was sharing pints and fist bumps when steering Wolves away from relegation with six successive wins last season.

Six months to the day since they last won in the Premier League, 3-0 against Leicester, the Wolves manager’s frustrations appeared to boil over after his team’s fightback from 2-0 down was ended with Lyle ­Foster’s 95th-minute winner.

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A Ruben Amorim pirouette and revolving fist-pump greeted Bryan Mbeumo putting Manchester United 3-0 up and told the tale of how precious this third consecutive league victory is.

Yet the goal came on 61 minutes and still United found themselves clinging on at 3-2 deep into added time before Mbeumo smashed home his second. Almost instantly Anthony Taylor blew for time and “Glory, Glory Man United” blared out at Old Trafford.

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Bryan Mbeumo scored twice as United survived a spirited Brighton comeback to make it three wins in a row

35 secs: Mbeumo loops a cross in from the right. Fernandes wafts a header wide right. A bit more pace on either and United were off to a flyer.

Everyone takes a knee to send out the message that there’s No Room For Racism … then the hosts kick off. Brighton are kicking towards the Stretford End in this first half.

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Mo Salah’s spectacular late goal couldn’t rescue Liverpool from a fourth consecutive league defeat

2 min Ajer stabs a long pass down the left towards Schade, forcing Mamardashvili to come out of his box to clear. That means the first long throw of the game…

1 min And they’re off!

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Newcastle’s new chief executive, David Hopkinson, is presiding over a “100-day review” of all areas of club operations. It is the sort of management exercise beloved of senior executives across assorted companies but the reality at St James’ Park is that almost every department is largely a hostage to first-team fortunes. In other words, if Eddie Howe’s team fail to qualify for the Champions League again next season everyone will suffer the consequences.

Given the odds are overwhelmingly against Newcastle lifting that trophy next spring, they desperately need to hit their Premier League stride and start clambering up the table.

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Goals from Brendan Aaronson and Joe Rodon did the damage as Nuno Espírito Santo’s winless start at West Ham continued

More Daniel Farke, speaking to Sky, and an explanation of his goalkeeping selection: “First of all, we have to say Karl Darlow is always reliable and done a really solid job when we needed him. We make no secret out of it that we have signed [Lucas] Perri as number one. Overall we had a difficult week. We had a few players struggling with a few physical problems. We tried to find a good mix. We cannot afford to play without all of them.

Andy Irving is a cult hero at West Ham. Ironically so far, though the club are calling out for a hero who isn’t called Jarrod Bowen.

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Perhaps taking an extended holiday after being sacked by Nottingham Forest would have been a more sensible next step for Nuno Espírito Santo. Rather than being on a peaceful cruise, he is captaining a sinking ship with his West Ham defenders playing their role by being all at sea in defeat by Leeds.

Brenden Aaronson and Joe Rodon were allowed space in the box to put Leeds two up within a quarter of an hour. Leeds faded in the second half, offering West Ham a chance to fight back but the visitors lacked quality in the final third and could muster only a late consolation goal through Manuel Fernandes. The defeat leaves West Ham second bottom of the Premier League nine games into their worst start to a season in 52 years, and their only win came against their current head coach.

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Champions Liverpool pay a visit to Brentford on Saturday night while leaders Arsenal host Crystal Palace on Sunday

Saturday 3pm Venue Stamford Bridge

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Marc Guiu faces Sunderland reunion, Manchester United seek a minor three-peat and Mohamed Salah has to step up

Leeds host West Ham in a Friday night match that, even at this early stage of the season, looks very much like a quintessential relegation six-pointer. Elland Road is a wonderfully atmospheric ground but given the local traffic congestion, getting there, particularly on a Friday evening, is invariably tortuous. The prospect of exacerbating that gridlock dictates that the club’s plans to expand Elland Road to 53,000 appear in potential jeopardy. Leeds city council will make a final, delayed, decision on the project on 27 November but, with 65% of the team’s fans driving to matches, there is concern about the inevitable extra traffic chaos. The club hope to reduce the percentage of match-bound car travel to 51%, but to do that public transport needs to improve; Leeds is the biggest city in western Europe without a metro system. Cycling? Anyone familiar with the area’s topography knows it is not a realistic option for the vast majority of fans. Louise Taylor

Leeds v West Ham, Friday 8pm BST

Chelsea v Sunderland, Saturday 3pm BST

Newcastle v Fulham, Saturday 3pm BST

Manchester United v Brighton, Saturday 5.30pm BST

Brentford v Liverpool, Saturday 8pm BST

Bournemouth v Nottingham Forest, Sunday 2pm GMT

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The former Tottenham manager made a rash Premier League return, and it will probably be his last

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The weirdest aspect of Ange Postecoglou’s 40-day reign at Nottingham Forest was how inevitable it all felt. The only shock was that he was sacked on Saturday, within minutes of a 3-0 home defeat to Chelsea, rather than a day or two later. But by then, it was obvious this ill-starred adventure had run its course; perhaps it was kinder to everybody to bring it to an end. Forest, certainly, had to act quickly if they are to make the most of their first European campaign in three decades.

But why was such an obviously terrible appointment made in the first place? What was it that made the Nottingham Forest owner, Evangelos Marinakis, ever think that Postecoglou was the right man to succeed Nuno Espírito Santo? They met in July at an event staged by the Greek league to celebrate Postecoglou winning the Europa League with Tottenham, but was it really just that? That they got on well over a glass of wine?

This is an extract from Soccer with Jonathan Wilson, a weekly look from the Guardian US at the game in Europe and beyond. Subscribe for free here. Have a question for Jonathan? Email soccerwithjw@theguardian.com, and he’ll answer the best in a future edition.

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Arsenal’s title chase picks up pace, Yankuba Minteh gets one over on Newcastle and Wolves are in a tight spot

The high-stakes duel in one of the fiercest rivalries in the English game came down to a crucial in-game management decision. Arne Slot, a manager lauded for smart substitutions last season, took a gamble in the 62nd minute, making three changes that aggressively shifted Liverpool into a 4-2-4, leaving Curtis Jones and Florian Wirtz dangerously exposed in midfield. The gamble initially appeared worthwhile: after rattling a post twice, Cody Gakpo finally delivered a 78th-minute equaliser to breathe some life into the deflated Anfield crowd. But Ruben Amorim remained calm and trusted his vision. Liverpool were undone just six minutes later after Bruno Fernandes’s fantastic cross found Harry Maguire inexplicably alone at the far post, the lack of defensive bodies evident as he thumped in the winner. Slot was hoping for a high-risk, high-reward outcome but ultimately, United’s grit in the second half paid off. Amorim has his critics – droves of them – but his tactics, including starting Maguire, were vindicated to earn United’s first win at Anfield since 2016. Two league wins on the bounce is a first for Amorim at United. Are the wheels shifting? “It’s an embarrassing stat to have had,” said Maguire. “We have to start putting a bit more consistency together. We have set a benchmark.” Yara El-Shaboury

Match report: Tottenham 1-2 Aston Villa

Match report: Fulham 0-1 Arsenal

Match report: Nottingham Forest 0-3 Chelsea

Match report: Brighton 2-1 Newcastle

Match report: Manchester City 2-0 Everton

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Bryan Mbeumo’s early goal and Harry Maguire’s late header gave Man Utd their first win at Anfield in a decade

‘Ten years, man’

Given Mo Salah’s recent form (poor) and record against Man Utd (peerless), we may well hear the phrase “Who else?” at some point this afternoon. Opta’s supercomputer reckons there’s a 74.19 per cent chance.

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