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Can Manchester City catch leaders? Can Liverpool recover? The table is tight and an unexpected win, or loss, changes fortunes in a hurry.
Published Nov 20, 2025 • 5 minute read
Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes reacts after the final whistle during the English Premier League football match against Sunderland.
Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes reacts after the final whistle during the English Premier League football match against Sunderland. Getty Images
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With another interminable international break out of the way, it’s now time for Premier League teams to put their foot to the floor and try and get some traction through the busy festive period.
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Prior to players jetting off around the globe, Arsenal dropped their first points in nearly two months, drawing with Sunderland while Manchester City thrashed Liverpool to cut the Gunners’ lead at the top to four points.
Defending champions Liverpool’s fifth loss in their past six games put them eight back of Arsenal in eighth place, but the table is awfully congested as they’re only two points out of third.
Chelsea, Sunderland, Tottenham, Aston Villa and a rejuvenated Manchester United make up the rest of that top eight, and with the gap so small in the whole top half of the table and more teams being more competitive than we’ve seen in a while, clubs that can string together wins in the next six weeks will dramatically shape the season.
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Arsenal received bad injury news as central defender Gabriel looks to be out for several weeks with a hamstring injury suffered in a Brazil ‘friendly’.
And they get back into action with the North London Derby as fifth-place Spurs pay them a visit in the FUBO Game of the Week.
It kicks off a challenging stretch for Arsenal. They are in London three games in a row — after Spurs they visit third-place Chelsea then host 12th-place Brentford (who are only three points out of fourth) before travelling to sixth-placed Aston Villa.
If they still have a four-point bulge at that point, it really will be their title to lose the rest of the way.
Gabriel’s injury will test them, though the Gunners do have better depth than they’ve had in the past. But he’s one of the world’s best defenders and his partnership with William Saliba is seamless.
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Arsenal’s strength has been their stoutness at the back, but Spurs have only scored one fewer goal than their bitter rivals on the season.
Meanwhile, City can be heartened that they looked back to their controlling best in beating Liverpool, but they have a difficult task away to wounded Newcastle.
Going to St. James’ Park is never easy and Newcastle have quality, but have been quite poor lately. The heat will crank up on manager Eddie Howe if results don’t start coming.
If City can get past this one, their next run of matches contains Leeds, Fulham, Sunderland and Crystal Palace. They could really get the ball rolling here and put some pressure on if the leaders drop any points in the next month.
If you want evidence the Premier League has never been more competitive than it is this season, no team currently has won more than two games in a row and only Wolves, who just changed their manager, have lost more than two in a row. Everyone else has got at least one point in their past three.
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Every week someone seems to get a result against someone you wouldn’t expect.
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Chelsea: They sit solidly in third, six points back of Arsenal, have won four of their past five and have bumbling Burnley up next. Only Manchester City have scored more goals than Chelsea this season and Burnley have the third-worst defensive record in the Premiership.
Manchester United: They only got a draw against Spurs, their second in a row, but they’re unbeaten in their past five and clearly have found form under embattled manager Ruben Amorim, getting him some breathing space. They have some tricky games — Everton, Crystal Palace, West Ham, Wolves and Bournemouth — but have a chance in this next stretch to announce they’re ready to honestly compete for a Champions League spot.
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Sunderland: Showed guile coming back against Arsenal to gain a point and become the first team to score more than one goal against the Gunners this season. In fact, the Gunners had only allowed three goals all season before giving up a pair against the Black Cats. Tough centre back Dan Ballard is emerging as one of the young stars of the season for Sunderland.
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Liverpool: After looking like they had righted the ship with dominating performances against Aston Villa and Real Madrid, the Reds were thoroughly outplayed by City. No big deal, that happens, but it was their fifth loss in their past six games. If they can finally get some form from record-signing Alexander Isak, they do have a chance to make some hay. No game is a given as boss Arne Slot has struggled with tactics against teams that play in a low block and counter attack with long balls, but their next nine games are against Nottingham Forest, West Ham, Sunderland, Leeds, Brighton, Tottenham, Wolves, Leeds again and Fulham. This will be the stretch where they’ll really see if their season can go anywhere.
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Bournemouth: After starting so well, they’ve lost two in a row and only won one of their past four. They can correct that against West Ham, who have won two in a row under Nuno Espirito Santo, but top player Antoine Semenyo is being targeted by a load of January transfer rumours.
Leeds: After starting the season with such promise, they’ve really struggled winning just one of their past five. Need to start tightening up games, they have the second-worst goal difference in the league.
Read More
[Manchester City's Jeremy Doku dribbles the ball followed by Liverpool's Dominik Szoboszlai during a game last season.
Liverpool, Man City face off in massive showdown to keep title hopes alive](https://torontosun.com/sports/soccer/liverpool-man-city-face-off-massive-showdown)
2. [From left: Arsenal's Ethan Nwaneri celebrates scoring the opening goal with Mikel Merino and Myles Lewis-Skelly during the English League Cup fourth round football match against Brighton and Hove Albion.
London calling from the top of the table as Arsenal mind the gap](https://torontosun.com/sports/soccer/london-calling-from-the-top-of-the-table-as-arsenal-mind-the-gap)
Crisis Club
Newcastle: Yes, the table is tight, they’re in 16th but are seven points off the top four. They’ve only won one in their past four and need to start getting a few draws here and there. Dropping two-goal decisions to Brentford and West Ham is not the trend they’d want to follow and City are a nightmare opponent the way they’re playing at the moment.
This weekend’s slate
Saturday: Burnley vs Chelsea; Bournemouth vs West Ham; Brighton vs Brentford; Fulham vs Sunderland; Liverpool vs Nottingham Forest; Wolves vs Crystal Palace; Newcastle vs Manchester City.
Sunday: Leeds vs Aston Villa; Arsenal vs Tottenham.
Monday: Manchester United vs Everton.
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