At the moment, there are five teams within one win of first place in the Premier League — including leaders Man City — as the top-four race is promising massive drama for months to come this season.
Arsenal came back to draw Chelsea and claim a share of the points lead, while Liverpool won a Merseyside derby and Villa smashed West Ham to crowd the throne room.
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There’s one more game left and it could see another change at No. 1, as Tottenham Hotspur seeks a return to the top of the table when ornery Fulham visit North London on Monday (Watch live at 3pm ET on USA Network and stream online via NBCSports.com).
The bottom of the table? Looking a bit too predictable at the moment for the new boys, though Luton Town continues to flash potential as Bournemouth flounders and Everton rides the unlucky again.
Our writers Joe Prince-Wright, Nick Mendola, and Andy Edwards got stuck into analysis on the nine games played so far as England’s top flight returned from the international break.
Goalkeeper struggles the focus as Arsenal fight back to stun Chelsea
Both Robert Sanchez and David Raya had games to forget. The Spanish goalkeepers have been selected for their distribution, but Sanchez had a few dodgy moments and made a poor pass for Declan Rice’s goal which let Arsenal back in to the game. Raya was shaky throughout and was lobbed from long-range for Mudryk’s goal. Sanchez is seen as a stop-gap solution for Chelsea, while Raya is supposed to be an upgrade on Aaron Ramsdale. It seems like Arsenal may move back to Aaron Ramsdale as their starter soon, while Chelsea could both be in the market for a new goalkeeper in January and surely David de Gea will get a call. Overall, Arsenal’s fightback was impressive as Mikel Arteta was brave with his subs and they worked again. On the flip side Chelsea got a lot worse when Mauricio Pochettino brought on his subs and their focused, determined display seemed to fall apart with so many new arrivals on the pitch. They do have a lot of injuries so that makes sense. Arsenal will feel like this was a win as Chelsea let them off the hook.- Joe Prince-Wright
‘Not a perfect win, but a necessary one’ for Manchester United
Sheffield United 1-2 Manchester United
That’s what Harry Maguire said after picking up his Man of the Match honors from another substandard performance on the whole. It was a challenging day for Man United even before kickoff as the footballing world focused on the death of legendary England and United star Sir Bobby Charlton, but that can’t account for another disjointed showing. Man United is not anywhere near as good as the sum of its parts right now, but Erik ten Hag’s men still can still see the top four. It’s stunningly close. And the manager will have to keep those players looking in front of them, because what’s behind them has a lot of grime to it. Man United is bottom of its Champions League group and plays third-place Copenhagen at midweek. Anything but a strong performance there could have the Premier League side in an awful position with Manchester City coming to Old Trafford next weekend. -Nicholas Mendola
Liverpool get a little lucky
This was not vintage Liverpool but they got the job done. Ashley Young should have been sent off, no question at all, but Everton defended extremely well and were unlucky with the penalty kick awarded against them. It was a penalty but Michael Keane didn’t move his arm towards the ball. Liverpool labored, as they often do in the early games that Jurgen Klopp so despises. though they eventually prevailed. But Everton were not happy with Liverpool not going down to 10 men — and rightly so. Ibrahima Konate should have received a second yellow card for a foul on Beto, he was away and running towards goal one on one, but he didn’t. Everton wanted consistency. They didn’t get it. Sean Dyche was fuming as the no red card decision was a pivotal moment in the game. Liverpool were lucky not to go down to 10 men and even things out. If that would have happened, Everton would have probably held on for a point.- Joe Prince-Wright
De Zerbi’s strange selection at Man City sees Seagulls start slowly
Perhaps Roberto De Zerbi felt that Evan Ferguson needed a bit of a rest after playing 156 minutes for Ireland over the last week, but his omission from the starting lineup left Brighton unable to relieve pressure during transitional moments and keep possession of the ball early on, and the tone was set for much of the game. Clearly, the plan was to do most of their attacking on the counter — a most un-Brighton-like approach. Matters were complicated further when Danny Welbeck was forced off through injury after a quarter-hour, with Ferguson coming on to replace the striker. It was all Man City already, and Ferguson’s introduction wouldn’t turn the tide alone. Brighton eventually found their footing sometime after the hour mark, not long after Ansu Fati and Billy Gilmour, a pair of technicians and creators, came off the bench. Things got very interesting late on, even before Manuel Akanji’s sending-off in stoppage time, but the lingering sense was that De Zerbi had waited too long to make his changes and affect the game. - Andy Edwards
Douglas Luiz delivering on promise for (almost) mighty Villa
One manager’s opinion does not make a man, but it’s becoming easier by the week to see why Pep Guardiola brought Douglas Luiz to Manchester City, as the 25-year-old has become something like a Rodri/Gundogan mix for Unai Emery. Luiz scored twice on Sunday to run his Premier League season total to five, and that’s all gravy for a player whose main job — along with the esteemed Boubacar Kamara — is to do basically everything else. He’s showing an incredible range of passing — a team-best 4.2 long balls completed per 90 minutes — while pressing so well in the opposing third and winning 1.7 tackles per 90 (Only Kamara has more among Villa’s set). -Nicholas Mendola
Douglas Luiz player ratings vs West Ham (fotmob.com)
Douglas Luiz player ratings vs West Ham (fotmob.com)
Buy-in clear as Newcastle impresses versus previously stingy Palace
Roy Hodgson has overseen one of the Premier League’s stingiest defensive units, as Palace had allowed just seven goals in eight games coming into this one, but the Eagles allowed more than half that total at St. James’ Park. Newcastle’s defensive acumen and Palace’s attacking struggles are almost equally well-known; It’s not a surprise that Eddie Howe’s defense limited the Eagles to a single shot on target even without Sven Botman, especially given Palace’s problems are linked to the long-term absences of Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise. Hodgson set up to stop the Magpies but the hosts’ speed made that plan look flat-out poor. Jacob Murphy and Kieran Trippier repeatedly overran the Eagles’ left side, and that mean Tyrick Mitchell had no real chance to do what he does best. The Joelinton-Bruno Guimaraes-Sean Longstaff midfield was up for the fight with Jefferson Lerma, Will Hughes, and Cheick Doucoure, and that bodes well for the Magpies should they lose Sandro Tonali for a long period of time. And it also signals something special because Miguel Almiron, Alexander Isak, and Tonali were all required for 20 minutes or less before a big midweek Champions League scrap with Borussia Dortmund at St. James’. -Nicholas Mendola
Sweet revenge for Gary O’Neil
Gary O’Neil said all the polite and humble things after the game, but his immediate reaction at the final whistle could not hide what winning this game meant to him, just months after he bailed the club out of its relegation fight and was rewarded with his removal. Bournemouth essentially gave O’Neil to Wolves, so it’s not without artistic merit that the Cherries gifted a winner O’Neil’s new club. That’s not to say that Wolves didn’t earn this win — O’Neil’s men were superior over 90 minutes — but a bad giveaway sure helped Sasa Kaladjzic’s super sub winner. Wolves kept 66% of the ball and took 20 of the game’s 27 shots, no doubt inspired to fire forward in favor of their boss. Bournemouth, not Wolves, have the personnel problem now. It’s not Andoni Iraola’s doing but O’Neil doesn’t have to worry about that, as Wolves look capable of being comfortably midtable by the end of the Premier League season. -Nicholas Mendola
Utter domination sees Brentford back to winning ways
Luca Koleosho had Burnley’s best scoring chance of the game, an open-net opportunity in the 75th minute, but the 19-year-old USMNT-eligible winger flubbed the finish in a manner which perfectly summed up the Clarets’ day. That “shot” represented 0.88 of Burnley’s 1.07 xG for the game. it came on six total attempts. Compare that to 2.81 xG on 23 shots for Brentford, who looked like their old rabid selves despite the absences of Ivan Toney, Kevin Schade, Rico Henry, Aaron Hickey, Mikkel Damsgaard, and Keane Lewis-Potter. Fifteen of Brentford’s 23 shots came from inside the penalty area, as they put 10 on target and might have scored five or six if not for a solid performance by James Trafford in goal. Inversely, Burnley 23 goals conceded are most in the Premier League this season, just as their -16 goal difference also ranks bottom. - Andy Edwards
Luton have a real chance of Premier League survival
Nottingham Forest 2-2 Luton Town
This is what you have to do if you want to stay in the Premier League. After scrapping away for 76 minutes, Luton found themselves 2-0 down at Forest. Did they give up? Nope. Just when Forest started to act like they had the three points in the bag, Luton poured forward. They got the first and then the second and could have even won it as Rob Edwards’ side truly never give up. It’s a cliche but you need that mentality if you want to stay in the Premier League. Luton know they’re up against it and everyone’s favorites to go down. Well, they’re not going to go down without a fight and this kind of result and performance proves they can hang in there. They fight for everything and are ugly and horrible as an opponent. The Hatters got a goal from a set piece to spark the comeback and they are a truly humble bunch. The main reason Luton can stay up is that they truly know what they are as a team and they’re all in. That is what it is all about and they totally deserved their comeback point at Forest. - Joe Prince-Wright
There’s mystery around Manchester City: The time to get them is now (and that’s still a bad time)
No one thinks Manchester City isn’t a contender to repeat as Premier League and UEFA Champions League winners, but there’s some unease about the side’s status. Perhaps there’s worry that the gents don’t have the motivation to fight so hard — again — on both fronts. But City are fourth in xG and fourth in goals, and that’s well below their standard. Here’s the thing, though: City’s still the best defensive unit in the league and Brighton’s just the latest team to fall below 1 xG (just). They lost 1-0 on a wicked deflection for Arsenal and 2-1 to Wolves via an own goal despite a 23-3 advantage in shot attempts. City has 102 open play shots to just 45 conceded and they are doing this without Kevin De Bruyne. If there’s a time to take them down, it’s now. That’s a big ‘if’ considering City leads the Premier League in defense, possession, and passing accuracy. -Nicholas Mendola
