Category: English Premier League

We assess how each top-flight side fared in the search for quality and value during the summer window

• Transfer interactive: all the deals from across Europe

Andrea Berta’s first transfer window since taking over as sporting director has been busy. Headline moves for Viktor Gyökeres and Eberechi Eze have given Mikel Arteta the firepower and creativity he asked for, while Martín Zubimendi has added class to midfield. The arrival of Cristhian Mosquera, Christian Nørgaard, Noni Madueke and Kepa Arrizabalaga has also added depth to Arsenal’s squad that is already being called on after a series of early season injuries, while the late signing of the exciting Ecuador defender, Piero Hincapié, should prove to be a shrewd addition. Ed Aarons

Sunday’s match was defined by a brilliant free-kick, but the way it came about showed the difference between the clubs’ managers

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There was a time, not that long ago, when almost all big games were stiflingly tense affairs – cautious, cagey, almost unwatchable but for the exquisite tension, the sense that this was too important to expect the football to be entertaining. The goal-heavy thrillers of the Pep Guardiola-Jürgen Klopp rivalry were a welcome diversion, but they always felt oddly transgressive – were we sure major clashes were supposed to be that much fun? In that sense, Liverpool’s 1-0 win over Arsenal on Sunday fit into a long-established tradition; in time the tedium will fall away in the collective memory and all that will remain is the majesty of Dominik Szoboszlai’s match-winning free-kick.

Two other more recent traditions were observed amid the anxiety of Anfield: that Arne Slot will always somehow find a way, and that Arsenal will always somehow come up short. Few managers have ever had such a golden touch as Slot; he has a remarkable capacity to make decisions that don’t just change the outcome of a game, but do so in an obvious and unmissable way.

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.

Benjamin Sesko lacks sharpness, VAR spoils Josh King’s day and Sunderland have a man for the big moments

It was always going to be a tight match but in the end it took a moment of genius from Dominik Szoboszlai to settle it in Liverpool’s favour. The Hungarian is an attacking midfielder by trade but since Jeremie Frimpong’s injury Arne Slot has found a new role for him at right-back. Szoboszlai had clearly learned some free-kick technique from Trent Alexander-Arnold over the years but his ability in the alien position was almost more impressive. He had almost no problems with Gabriel Martinelli and he quickly adapted to Eberechi Eze, who was a greater threat than the man he replaced, but Szoboszlai remained calm and collected throughout. He was able to defend well and also produced some stunning passes, distributing long and short, changing the dynamic of the match as Alexander-Arnold used to. The victory over Arsenal will be remembered for a split second of quality but Szoboszlai should take great credit for how he has adapted to help Slot and his teammates. Will Unwin

Match report: Liverpool 1-0 Arsenal

Match report: Manchester United 3-2 Burnley

Match report: Chelsea 2-0 Fulham

Match report: Brighton 2-1 Manchester City

Match report: Tottenham 0-1 Bournemouth

Match report: Leeds 0-0 Newcastle

Match report: Wolves 2-3 Everton

Brighton fought back to defeat Manchester City 2-1 after Brajan Gruda slotted home a late winner

2 min City get busy down their left flank with Ait-Nouri and Marmoush playing tiki-taka. Then they make their way over to the right where Bobb and Nunes follow suit.

1 min City kick off and go back to Trafford, who jinks past thre onrushing Gomez … but then hoofs the ball to Bart Verbruggen.

Szoboszlai settled the match with a superb free-kick to keep Liverpool’s perfect start to the season and end Arsenal’s

Eze begins life at Arsenal with a watching brief.

Brighton are beating City. Will the title be decided at Anfield today?

Updates and latest transfer news ahead of Sunday’s Premier League games and Old Firm derby

Ewan Murray, who will be joining us later, has previewed the Old Firm.

It was also a day of uncertainty for West Ham. There were a lot of reports around about Aston Villa agreeing a deal to sign Lucas Paqueta but those were premature. Villa were looking at a loan with an obligation to buy. West Ham have no intention of selling the Brazilian. The latest from the club and Paqueta’s camp is that he will not leave during this window. West Ham are at Nottingham Forest later. Paqueta trained on Saturday and travelled with the squad. There’s some doubt over his involvement because of the speculation over his future but sources at West Ham remain confident he’ll play. Nayef Aguerd, though, is not expected to be involved. He wants out.

The spoils were shared after an uneventful match at Elland Road

2 min: A fairly nondescript start to the game, during which Leeds see plenty of the ball. Elland Road in good voice.

Leeds get the ball rolling. The rain tipping down in West Yorkshire.

Joao Pedro and Enzo Fernandez scored to give Chelsea the points but Fulham were furious about two VAR interventions

5 min Fulham try to play out from the back and lose the ball. Joao Pedro rakes a left-foot drive from 25 yards that is held to his left by Leno.

2 min Fulham have started with a back three/five, so this is their revised line-up.

Three seasons of work from the head coach on the same host body have led in a straight line to Anfield where Arteta can shape his destiny

After tea and cake and Declan Rices. After Ebe Eze and Viktor Gyökeres. Should I, after three straight second places, have the strength to force the moment to its crisis? Hmm. Maybe not. With all due apologies to the living descendants of TS Eliot, the love song of Mikel Arteta still doesn’t really scan or rhyme or have a clear endnote as yet, even as the six-year anniversary of his appointment as Arsenal manager approaches.

This is normal enough. It is obviously incorrect to conclude, as many have, that Arsenal’s manager has to win a trophy this season or be remembered not just as a fraud, but as a Lego-haired billion-pound-spend fraud, the worst kind of fraud there is. Sport doesn’t work in simple metre. Uncertainty is key to its fascination.

Liverpool and Arsenal clash at Anfield on Sunday while a beleaguered Manchester United host Burnley on Saturday

Saturday 12.30pm TNT Sports 1 Venue Stamford Bridge

• United ready to accept £35m-£40m for winger

• Garnacho out of favour with Ruben Amorim

Chelsea are close to an agreement to sign Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho in a deal likely to be worth between £35m and £40m.

Talks are yet to conclude but there is an expectation United will lower their £50m asking price and reach a compromise that will allow the winger to move to Stamford Bridge. Chelsea are waiting to hear back from United and are confident the deal will go ahead. Garnacho has no future under Ruben Amorim but Chelsea regard the Argentinian as a top talent and believe they can get his career back on track.

Goodness knows what the man who was not there made of it all. Might Alexander Isak have felt the tiniest bit guilty at the sight of his increasingly overwrought understudy, Anthony Gordon, missing a couple of extremely presentable chances before being sent off for a ridiculous first-half tackle on Virgil van Dijk?

And how did Newcastle’s currently striking star striker assess Hugo ­Ekitiké’s attacking performance for Liverpool? Even as Isak continues to endeavour to engineer a move to Anfield, did he celebrate Will Osula’s unexpected late Newcastle leveller to make it 2-2? What, precisely, did he feel when the 16-year-old visiting substitute Rio Ngumoha won it for the champions in the 100th minute?

Questions around goalkeeping and style of play raise questions about whether Man City can regain the aura of invincibility that once surrounded them

The truly great sides always come with an aura. One of the elements that makes them so hard to beat is that beating them seems so inconceivable. Even when they hit a bad run, the expectation is always that at some point they will rediscover their form. To some extent, Manchester City did that last season. As miserable as much of the campaign was, after losing to Nottingham Forest at the beginning of March, they put together a run of 10 games unbeaten and ended up third – even if defeat to Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final demonstrated the shortcomings that remain.

That game showcased City’s flatness at times going forward but also a strange openness at the back that was apparent again in the 4-3 defeat to Al-Hilal in the Club World Cup. Pep Guardiola sides, given how high their line is, will always be susceptible to direct balls played in behind them if something goes awry with the press; it’s an inevitable part of the risk-reward of that style of play.

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.

Richarlison and Martín Zubimendi are changing things up at Spurs and Arsenal while Graham Potter needs to get ugly

Ruben Amorim has been a highly successful Manchester United manager against continental opposition and promoted Premier League clubs. He’s been respectable against the top teams in England, with a win at the Etihad, a draw at Anfield and a win on penalties against Arsenal. But he’s been hopeless when faced with opponents from mid-table. Last season, after taking over in November, Amorim supervised 14 league games against clubs that ended up between seventh and 17th. United won two, drew two and lost 10, scraping eight points out of a possible 42. One of those two wins was at Craven Cottage, a streaky 1-0. Here, again, they needed luck to take the lead as Leny Yoro got away with a two-hands push on Calvin Bassey; this time they blew it, and they couldn’t complain. United had been the better team for 20 minutes, Fulham for about 75. Tim de Lisle

Match report: Fulham 1-1 Manchester United

Match report: Everton 2-0 Brighton

Match report: Crystal Palace 1-1 Nottingham Forest

Match report: Manchester City 0-2 Tottenham

Match report: Arsenal 5-0 Leeds

Amorim tells United to ‘grow up’, Fernandes says referee triggered penalty miss

Match report: Brentford 1-0 Aston Villa