We knew at least one top-four contender was going to drop points this season, as the seasons for Chelsea and Liverpool clashed Sunday at Anfield.
But it turned out two would lose games this weekend, leaving Liverpool and Manchester City — as they have so many times in recent seasons — sitting in the Premier League table’s top two spots.
[ MORE: Premier League standings ]
That could soon change, with now third-place Arsenal set to face the Reds in Week 9, but for now the Premier League season continues to deliver typical twists and turns en route to what seems likely to be a wild fight for the Premier League Trophy.
There’s still one more Week 8 clash on the docket, as Crystal Palace head to Nottingham Forest on Monday (Watch live at 3pm ET on USA Network and streaming online via NBC.com).
Here are 10 thoughts about Week 8 (so far) from our writers, as Joe Prince-Wright, Andy Edwards, and Nick Mendola share their observations from the latest nine games of the 2024-25 Premier League season.
10 things we learned from Week 8 of the 2024-25 Premier League season
Another step forward, albeit a small one, for Liverpool
Liverpool 2-1 Chelsea | Player ratings | Three things learned
This was a big win for Arne Slot early in his Liverpool reign, but there is clearly still work to do before we start to call Liverpool genuine title contenders. Manchester City and Arsenal are still a step above the Reds but if they can get the balance right they will hang in there and be in the title conversation late in the season. Liverpool didn’t have total control of this game and still looked suspect defensively on the counter when Chelsea played direct to one of their wingers. But they’re on the right path — the extra control and calmness the Reds now have was evident when they scored their second goal as they took the sting out of the game. Aside from a few desperate crosses late in the game, Chelsea didn’t look like equalizing. This will give Slot confidence he can deliver against the big boys and even though Liverpool were expected to win this, the face they did underlines how seamless the transition has been from Klopp to Slot. Seven wins from eight games, no matter the schedule, is a fine way to start the season. With a tough set of fixtures coming up in the Premier League and Champions League between now and January, we’re about to find out if Liverpool are much further ahead in their journey. — Joe Prince-Wright
Arsenal’s stunning red card record grows
Bournemouth 2-0 Arsenal | Three things learned | Arteta on red cards
Mikel Arteta’s Gunners are enduring another season of multiple red cards, now seeing three through eight games. That’s an eye-popping number and the Gunners have only taken two points from those three matches. It’s a head-scratcher, as it’s not like the sending-offs are a pattern of violent conduct or extreme indiscipline, but Arteta could realistically be pointing to a perfect season if his men could’ve avoided these mistakes. Declan Rice’s silly second yellow at Brighton came with the Gunners up 1-0 and led to a 1-1 draw. Arsenal led 2-1 at Man City when Leandro Trossard committed a poor challenge en route to a 2-2 draw. Those six points turned into two for them and, pivotally, one for their title rivals. And now this red card has cost them points against a decent Bournemouth team but one that title fighters are expected to defeat most weeks. Oof. — Nick Mendola
Casemiro leads way, Red Devils catch fire in second half
Manchester United 2-1 Brentford | Erik ten Hag reaction
Erik ten Hag’s men will have felt unlucky to enter halftime down a goal, having out-attempted the Bees 10-6, but the deficit could still have infected a goal-starved club nowhere near its best form. Alejandro Garnacho’s goal very early in the second half served a perfect harbinger of what was to come, as the Red Devils piped eight of their 13 second-half shot attempts on target and did not let either of Brentford’s two efforts reach Andre Onana. Anything but three points would’ve felt an injustice to the hosts, who had no passengers and got fantastic displays out of Casemiro, Bruno Fernandes, Garnacho, Rashford, and Hojlund. Casemiro’s performance will provide a special bit of hope, as he piled up 13 defensive actions, won 11-of-16 duels, and was credited with four created chances. It’s something to build on, for sure, but United’s had that before and will need to prove they are capable of consistency. — Nick Mendola
The margins in the Premier League could not be thinner
Tottenham Hotspur 4-1 West Ham
At this point, Ange Postecoglou’s style of play is well-defined and established at Tottenham. Every time Spurs take the field, they dominate possession, trap their opponents inside their own half, and have loads of shots — and crosses and corner kicks — from minute 1 to 90. They either take a some of their (multitude of) scoring chances, or they waste a bunch and regret doing so a couple hours later. The result is not always indicative of the performance. For better or for worse, it goes both ways, but the process and the plan remain consistent with a new standout star leading the way each game. Brennan Johnson’s run of six goals in six games (all competitions) came to an end, but Tottenham still scored four times. Postecoglou has made Spurs less reliant on one player doing it all (Son last season, with 17 goals and 10 assists, and Harry Kane for most of a decade before that). That change means they can win in a multitude of ways from week-to-week. It’s still early, which means lots of up and downs, but it’s impossible to look at Tottenham and say they’re not headed in the right direction.— Andy Edwards
VAR keeps improving, gets controversial winner correct
It’s a hard-luck, cruel loss for Wolves but none of the harsh vibes should come from the officiating at the end of the game. Bernardo Silva is jockeying with the goalkeeper while the Phil Foden’s corner kick is sent into the mixer, but ducks away by the time John Stones head the ball toward goal. Jose Sa even has time to get back on the line for the kick and — as we’ve all been told — there’s no offside on a corner. The controversy comes from the fact that the goal was ruled offside on the pitch, but this is what they’ve added Video Assistant Referee to govern the game. VAR has had some dicey moments in its Premier League infancy, but does the seem to be getting better and more efficient. That won’t change the minds of purists who want the game to better reflect real life and it’s unfairness, and we get that, but VAR is doing its job increasingly well. — Nick Mendola
Big picture? Both Liverpool and Chelsea are serious threats
Liverpool 2-1 Chelsea | Player ratings
There were moments of weakness for both Arne Slot’s Reds and Enzo Maresca’s Blues, but no fair-minded neutral can say either team is missing an ingredient to win any game on their docket. That’s especially true considering Liverpool were playing without all-world goalkeeper Alisson Becker and Chelsea could use neither suspended fullback Marc Cucurella nor center back Wesley Fofana. This 2-1 win could’ve been 2-1 the other way, 2-2, or 3-3. Liverpool showcased discipline, while Chelsea showed the depth of their attacking pieces. And if Romeo Lavia and/or Reece James can consistently play the way they did in their returns to the Starting XI, Chelsea is in very good shape. — Nick Mendola
Devastating collapse will hit Southampton hard
Southampton 2-3 Leicester City
This is the kind of defeat which will define a season. Not in a good way. Southampton were clinical early on and put themselves in a great position, but they just never looked like they believed they could win this game and secure their first victory of the season. They allowed Leicester to keep believing and as soon as the Foxes’ first goal went in you knew what would happen. Russell Martin’s side play some lovely stuff and could have gone 3-0 up but Ryan Fraser’s disaster substitute appearance summed up their collapse. On the flip side Abdul Fatawu was excellent off the bench and ripped Southampton apart, just like he did last season in the Championship. Football is a cruel game and Southampton will do well to recover from this crushing blow as the manner they lost this game sums up the harsh lessons they’ve been learning week in, week out this season. It’s still early in the season but there really is no coming back from this kind of defeat. — Joe Prince-Wright
Aston Villa’s duo of Rogers, Watkins tough to contain
Morgan Rogers could have easily scored a hat trick in the first half as he and Ollie Watkins ripped Fulham apart. They will do that to plenty more teams this season and beyond. Villa were so threatening in central areas as Watkins would drop deep, Rogers would run in-behind and vice versa. Rogers playing just underneath Watkins is working a treat and it opens up so many spaces for Villa’s other attacking players with Watkins’ runs in-behind relentless. This duo seem to be on the same wavelength and there’s nothing more dangerous than that for defenders. — Joe Prince-Wright
Everton in control (and get a little bit of luck)
Everton peppered Ipswich’s goal with eight shots on target, and left few holes at the back aside from Jack Clarke’s dance into the 18 for what wound up a surprising overturned penalty. Sean Dyche’s team has looked like a Sean Dyche team for a few weeks, and only figures to become more solid when Jarrad Branthwaite finds consistent fitness. If Everton take care of business against the league’s bottom half, sprinkling in away wins like this, they’ll be out of the relegation mire a lot earlier this season. — Nick Mendola
Magpies bungle big chance from top to bottom
Newcastle United 0-1 Brighton & Hove Albion
In some ways, we should be celebrating a rare dominant performance from Eddie Howe’s team because the Magpies have made a habit of playing poorly but getting positive results this season. That, too, is something to celebrate when the feeling is that good times are around the corner. But Newcastle’s attack missed so many chances to score during shocking shooting from stars Anthony Gordon and Alexander Isak, and Eddie Howe’s habit of playing favorites continues to deliver headscratchers. Harvey Barnes didn’t start in favor of Jacob Murphy, and Sandro Tonali was again the first midfielder yanked from the pitch despite showing no signs of slowing down as part of a brilliant midfield three with Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton. The Magpies back line is not great right now and there’s no depth with Sven Botman, Jamaal Lascelles, Matt Targett, and Kieran Trippier out of the lineup. When injuries join selection errors and sloppy stars in a club, it’s going to deliver bad vibes. And the Magpies’ only point from their last four fixtures came against City. With Chelsea-Chelsea-Arsenal next across all competitions, maybe Newcastle is more likely show up against better teams? — Nick Mendola
