It only took three weeks for the Premier League gauntlet to leave just two perfect teams, as Arsenal’s draw with Brighton left Manchester City and Liverpool as the only 3-0-0 sides on the 2024-25 Premier League table.
Liverpool ate up Manchester United giveaways while Manchester City overcame a blip against West Ham thanks to Erling Haaland’s second hat trick of the season.
[ MORE: Mo Salah speaks of ‘my last year’ with Liverpool ]
Elsewhere, Newcastle and Crystal Palace flummoxed Tottenham and Chelsea thanks to good goals and better goalkeeping (Well done to Nick Pope and Dean Henderson).
And so we go to the international break with plenty of talking points around the Premier League.
Here are 10 thoughts about Week 3 from our writers, as Joe Prince-Wright, Andy Edwards, and Nick Mendola share their observations from the latest 10 games of the 2024-25 Premier League season.
More of the same from (Man Utd and Liverpool)
Manchester United 0-3 Liverpool
- Salah speaks of possible ‘last year’ with Liverpool
- Erik ten Hag backs Casemiro says Man Utd ‘will go for trophies’ this season
Ten Hag can lament Ugarte’s late addition and Hojlund’s injury but he can’t say much for himself about both what happened with Casemiro and once he took the Brazilian off the pitch. Simply put, his system needs two excellent holding midfielders to allow Bruno Fernandes the freedom to do his best. He has a 19-year-old Kobbie Mainoo — an excellent prospect but not the finished project — and his next option after Casemiro’s two errors was a 20-year-old without Premier League minutes. He needed a better plan, and none of his attacking players bailed him out (though Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui again impressed at the back.
Arne Slot’s Liverpool took some time to get their feet under them, ceding 67% possession over the first 15-20 minutes, but it was all dominance from that point forward. Mohamed Salah wasn’t named Man of the Match but both he and Luis Diaz were fantastic while Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Ryan Gravenberch were near-perfect in the midfield. Three games, seven goals, and none conceded for the Reds against Ipswich Town, Brentford, and Manchester United is a decent start.
Man City machine grinds up Irons as ‘training camp’ continues
Yes, there were a couple of errors committed by Manchester City, but a team that has so far not used Rodri while also barely deploying Nathan Ake, John Stones, Phil Foden, and Kyle Walker is 3-0-0. And they’ve only rarely had to push the aggression button to do it. It helps that Erling Haaland had a full summer to himself thanks to Norway’s continued international qualifying struggles, and he is in monstrous form with a Premier League record seven goals from the first three matches of a season. Kevin De Bruyne is also in fantastic form. All of these things are good, because things get crazy after the international break. After a PL visit from Brentford and a League Cup outing versus Watford, City will play Inter Milan, Arsenal, and Newcastle in a 10-day span. All that said... they can handle it. — Nick Mendola
Declan Rice red card correct as Gunners boil over
The pivotal moment in this game arrived early in the second half as Declan Rice was shown a second yellow for stopping Joel Veltman taking a quick free kick and even if the ball was still moving, slightly, the decision to book him was correct. Yes, Veltman was lucky to only see yellow as the way he kicked Rice was overly aggressive and, yes, Joao Pedro should have been booked for doing the same thing but was let off. That understandably irked Arsenal. Still, Brighton had achieved their aim of rattling Arsenal and the game had been simmering throughout the first half with late tackles flying in and a real edge. After a trademark rampant start from Arsenal, the only way Brighton could get back in the game and break the rhythm was to be combative. It worked and Arsenal, especially Rice, took the bait. They’ll have to control their emotions better moving forward if they want to stay in the title race and especially in huge upcoming games against Tottenham and Man City in the two games right after the international break.— Joe Prince-Wright
Absences keep game in balance for Newcastle, Spurs
Newcastle United 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Two teams who like to play the game were limited in one part of the field, and that led to a lot of chances without finish. Spurs did not have access to Dominic Solanke and Richarlison, and it’s not wild to say one of them could’ve turned one of the visitors’ 20 shot attempts into goals. And Newcastle is still waiting out Fabian Schar’s suspension while fellow center back Sven Botman continues his recovery from an ACL injury. The Magpies deployed Dan Burn with Emil Krafth at center back and while both were fine it certainly hurt the team’s plans to keep the ball. Sandro Tonali changed the game a little when he came on for Sean Longstaff, and the reverse fixture will be one to watch. That’s not to say this match wasn’t fun, but both Eddie Howe and Ange Postecoglou will prefer a different viewing experience. — Nick Mendola
Inexplicable lack of late intensity dooms Everton
Full credit to Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth, who look very good and kept fighting for goals despite clearly being off their best. Iraola would later call it their worst performance of the season and say that Everton deserved to win the game. And that’s true! So you’d think that a Sean Dyche-coached club that has been clobbered early this season and under serious heat from the fans would not let their foot off the gas or at least solidly keep their eyes out the windshield. Everton chose neither. There were passengers looking for drivers all over the pitch on Bournemouth’s goals, and the loss just feels like sabotaging the early part of the season. Late leads will be haunted as will multi-goal leads. And for it to happen at home? Woof.— Nick Mendola
Chelsea fail to feast on Cole Palmer’s cooking and Palace live to fight another day
Fotmob.com credited Cole Palmer with five created chances but Chelsea only cashed in a single marker — Nicolas Jackson’s early tap-in. Palmer was, again, very good in the middle of the park but Pedro Neto was quiet on the left and Noni Madueke couldn’t deliver a finish on the right despite putting himself in good positions. Jackson might’ve had three goals another day and cynical Blues fans will say they’ve heard that story too many times, but he was busy. Joao Felix and Mykhailo Mudryk were decent off the bench, but decent doesn’t get you into the top four. As for Palace, the Eagles so far have played three London derbies and taken a single point. That’s disappointing, but Sunday’s sensational goal from Eberechi Eze and shot-stopping display from Dean Henderson show two players who can lead them out of a relegation fight if Oliver Glasner can quickly get new transfers Maxence Lacroix, Eddie Nketiah, and Trevor Chalobah to contribute consistent performances around Adam Wharton, Marc Guehi, and friends.— Nick Mendola
Foxes find fight and hope in close loss to Villa
Leicester City 1-2 Aston Villa
Steve Cooper’s men might’ve claimed a point on another day. They’ll feel more good performances are coming as Leicester weren’t terrible at the back and reinforcements are coming to what was a quiet attacking unit. Odsonne Edouard arrived on loan from Palace but wasn’t registered in time for kickoff, and Patson Daka is out through injury. There’s hope for Leicester, at least on the field, to produce a safety run in the Premier League.— Nick Mendola
When Playing It Out of the Back Goes Wrong - South Coast Edition
This is going to be a very long season for Southampton if they, as a newly promoted side, keep trying to play the ball short and pass through opposing presses at the highest level of the sport. That much should be obvious to anyone who watched Burnley last season. Southampton clearly want to be positive with their limited possession, but perhaps there is a better time and place for it than away to Brentford. Regardless of opponent, Brentford always want the other team to pass the ball out of the back, because they think they can press them into mistakes and easy scoring chances for themselves. In fact, Thomas Frank’s team has done it as well as anyone in the PL for years now, pressing their way to victories against most of the big boys at some point and establishing themselves as part of the PL furniture. The first and second goals were direct results of Playing It out of the Back Going Wrong, and the first one came less than 30 seconds after another instance of Saints losing the ball just outside their penalty area before resuming regular service and doing it again after the restart. This time, the Bees eventually put the chance away. — Andy Edwards
Was everyone wrong about Nottingham Forest this season?
Despite having to settle for a point, that’s three games unbeaten for Forest (a win and two draws) to start the 2024-25 Premier League season. Considering they were widely tipped to be in the thick of the relegation fight once again this season, Nuno Espirito Santo will be over the moon to sit near the top half of the table (pending more results this weekend) at the first international break. With a few new signings still to bed in and bring the squad up to speed, things are (finally) looking up at the City Ground. — Andy Edwards
Tractor Boys showcase their path to safety
Fulham had plenty of the ball but it was Ipswich who looked more dangerous throughout the match at Portman Road. Kieran McKenna’s side showcased their ability to sit back, defend, and be dangerous on the counter. They’ll need to do that often and well to stay up this season. There was a directness and aggressiveness about Ipswich whenever they sniffed a chance to counter and they will be involved in plenty of games similar to this one against Fulham. This performance gives Ipswich a blueprint for how they can consistently pick up points this season and they have the players to do it. Omari Hutchinson and Liam Delap were a handful and perfectly suited to this plan.— Joe Prince-Wright