Our chief football writer reviews the main talking points from the weekend's action
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Moises Caicedo’s silliness could have given Arsenal a seven-point lead at the end of November, but Chelsea held firm and made Manchester City the biggest winners of the title race this weekend. The gap is five and City will hope to put on a run after a bad week.
The bottom five clubs in the Premier League all lost this weekend, which means it’s as you were but now with a five-point gap to anyone above them. Wolves remain winless and hopeless but at least meet one of the other four at home this midweek.
In the middle, Liverpool won without Mohamed Salah, which is significant. Newcastle United won away from home in the league, also significant given that they hadn’t since April. And look out for Aston Villa, now into the top four despite a rotten start to the campaign. This is becoming a very weird Premier League season.
Here is one piece of analysis on each of the top flight clubs who played this weekend (in reverse table order)…
This weekend’s results
Brentford 3-1 Burnley
Man City 3-2 Leeds
Sunderland 3-2 Bournemouth
Everton 1-4 Newcastle
Tottenham 1-2 Fulham
Crystal Palace 1-2 Man Utd
West Ham 0-2 Liverpool
Nott’m Forest 0-2 Brighton
Aston Villa 1-0 Wolves
Chelsea 1-1 Arsenal
Wolves show character but it isn’t enough
Had Wolves played all season in the manner of their last two performances, they would not be bottom of the table. That offers some hope I suppose, that Rob Edwards will not let this team entirely collapse in on itself over the course of the next month or so.
But there’s two things to point out, both of them pretty obvious: 1) they have still lost each of the last two games without scoring, and 2) simply showing character is no longer good enough because it is a non-negotiable. You don’t get praised for looking like you care when your supporters have watched you take two points from your first 11 games.
Burnley’s terrible away record
After the defeat at Brentford, Scott Parker insisted that he doesn’t really care about the league table now, that he thinks the group are all doing very well and that he is calm about the run of league defeats. All fair enough; saying as much is logical.
But it’s certainly true that Burnley’s away form is a problem because only Wolves have taken fewer points on the road and Parker’s team have conceded 21 goals in seven away games.
Before the end of December, Burnley face Crystal Palace, Fulham, Everton and Newcastle at Turf Moor. It’s hardly an exaggeration to conclude that they need at least seven points from those games to stay in touch, if the away defensive record isn’t going to improve.
Leeds need to embrace being big bastards
At half-time against Manchester City, with Leeds looking lost, Daniel Farke substituted Wilfried Gnonto and Daniel James for Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Jaka Bijol and switched to a battling 3-5-2 formation based upon pressing, physicality and direct passing. It almost worked a treat and did change the game against a far better opponent.
This has to be the blueprint (and it should always have been). Leeds spent the summer recruiting physical monsters and then Farke seemed to shift to playing out from the back and selecting two nippy wingers. It makes no sense.
As noted by Opta, City had one shot between half-time and the 88th minute as Leeds hassled, harried and generally got in their faces. If you can do that against a preseason title challenger, it can work against mid-table teams at home. And winning those games will be what keeps Leeds up.
Paqueta’s petty dissent costs West Ham
Lucas Paqueta has got him into trouble with his yellow cards before, but this was all about the stupidity to lose his cool when his teammates needed him not to.
Usually you’d get supporters moaning about red cards awarded to their own player, but not here. But if Paqueta getting two yellows in succession for persistent dissent is idiotic, what were those teammates doing?
If you can see that a player’s head has gone – and particularly if they have been cautioned for it – a senior player should be rushing over to pull Paqueta away from the official and make him focus on what matters, ie the actual match. It doesn’t say much for the amount of natural leaders in the squad.
Dyche gets it wrong at Forest
You could reasonably argue that the misfortune of Thursday night cost Nottingham Forest against Brighton. Murillo’s absence through injury – although reportedly only precautionary – meant that Morato started and Forest always look jumpy when he’s there.
But I also think Sean Dyche got his team selection by – Murillo absence aside – keeping the same team as the one that won at Anfield. Omari Hutchinson has changed games recently off the bench and I think starting him over Nicolas Dominguez was a mistake.
I understand the desire to pack the midfield, but it meant that Brighton got lots of joy by building up pressure as Forest had too little on the break in the first 30 minutes. Brighton could have been 2-0 up in that period, although they did take the lead after a spell of Forest dominance. Hutchinson did indeed change the game’s pattern in the second half – by then Forest were chasing.
The most complete Fulham performance
Were this the first time that you had watched Fulham play away from home this season, you would struggle to believe that they had not won a game. The gameplan was obvious: go hard early at an opponent on a wretched home run, low on confidence and having played in midweek. But what I loved about Fulham is how every component part of the team worked simply and effectively.
Calvin Bassey was the “action” central defender and Joachim Andersen the passer to start moves. The two full-backs got forward when they could but made the most tackles against fine wingers. Alex Iwobi tried to drive forward from midfield while Sander Berge sat deep.
And Raul Jimenez was the focal point who held the ball up for two young, quick wingers to overlap and exploit space. This is the Fulham blueprint and they are improving all the time after a poor start.
Everton’s paper-thin squad
Everton badly missed Idrissa Gueye against Newcastle, who were able to play through and around their central midfield at will and establish a commanding half-time lead. David Moyes took off Tim Iroegbunam – Gueye’s replacement – at the break, but by then the damage was done. Iroegbunam wholly failed to replicate Gueye’s energy.
The decline when one player is missing epitomises the thin nature of this squad outside the final third of the pitch. On the bench on Saturday was Carlos Alcaraz, who is more of an attacking central midfielder anyway. Then you had two goalkeepers, Adam Aznou (no Premier League appearances), Elijah Campbell (no Premier League appearances) and Reece Welch (no Premier League appearances).
For all the investment in the final third – Dewsbury-Hall, Grealish, Dibling, Barry – the defence and central midfield is badly stretched with even two or three players missing.
Miley makes the Geordies smiley (sorry)
There was a risk of Lewis Miley getting forgotten at Newcastle. In November 2023, he was magnificent in a 1-1 draw at Paris Saint-Germain, becoming the third youngest Englishman to start a Champions League game. But last season Miley played only 313 league minutes, even with Elliot Anderson leaving for Forest. He’s recently filled in at full-back, but that hardly gets the best out of him.
At Everton, Miley was excellent. He wins tackles, he passes forwards, he gets into the box (see the goal on Saturday) and he can take a mean set-piece too (see the assist).
These are the types of player that can make your squad feel bigger and deeper and Eddie Howe must rotate more – particularly after European games – to give Miley more chances. He should play 1,000 league minutes in 2025-26 if he stays fit.
I think Frank’s race is run at Tottenham
There are certain things that a manager – particularly one who is new in town and hasn’t accrued much, if any, goodwill – can think but not say. And telling home supporters that “they can’t be true Tottenham fans” is, quite honestly, very thick behaviour.
You don’t get to do this, Thomas. Only Wolves have fewer home points than your team. You keep mentioning finishing 17th last season but that was the exception and that got a manager sacked even after they won a European trophy. As Spurs get closer and closer to that same league position, the less I’d be using it as a cause for patience.
I don’t think that Frank can survive this. Tottenham’s players have no obvious intensity and it hasn’t increased as a response to poor form. The defence was shambolic last season but at least then they were missing players through injury; that’s no longer the case. This squad was invested in significantly over the summer and it’s hard to pick a player who has improved since. That always stops with the manager.
Bournemouth’s defensive issues are becoming a headache
From The Score last week:
“…one thing is definitely true: Bournemouth look a little more loose defensively. In their last seven games (City, West Ham, Forest, Leeds, Palace, Aston Villa and Fulham) they have conceded 15 goals and allowed 94 shots. In their four league games immediately prior to that run (Brentford, Brighton, Newcastle, Tottenham), they only conceded once and faced 21 shots.”
Add on another 11 shots and three goals. As part of the section last week, we discussed the energy drop-off in midfield. Certainly Alex Scott struggled to cope with Sunderland and Lewis Cook fared no better when he came on.
With the central defensive partnership of Bafode Diakite and Marcos Senesi also looking a little fragile, it will be interesting to see how Bournemouth cope with a midweek league fixture on Tuesday evening. It’s hardly must-win vs Everton, but Bournemouth must end this little slump soon. It’s now two wins in their last 12.
Brentford have another elite Premier League striker
This week, Keith Andrews revealed that Brazil had been in contact with Brentford about the form of Igor Thiago with a view to calling him up to the senior national team. Come Saturday, Thiago scored twice to take his total in the league this season up to 11. No Brazilian in Europe has scored more league goals in 2025-26.
What is most impressive about this form is how efficient Thiago has been. Erling Haaland’s 14 league goals have come from 50 shots. Thiago’s 11 goals have come from just 26 shots and 13 on-target shots.
At the end of Saturday’s action, 13 Premier League players had taken between 25 and 30 shots this season. Second place on the list of goalscorers was Bryan Mbeumo, with five. That Thiago has 11 is extraordinary, statistically. He’s raising Brentford’s ceiling.
Crystal Palace’s European fatigue repeats itself
Crystal Palace should not have lost to Manchester United. They should have been at least 2-0 up by half-time and Eddie Nketiah squandering a one-on-one came back to haunt them. They created more from open play than their opponents but, unusually for Palace, were undone by set plays.
But there’s still a more general point to make here about post-Thursday night fatigue. In August, Palace let a lead slip against Nottingham Forest after a European game (and could have lost the match late on when Forest hit the post). In October, they let a lead slip against Everton after a European trip, conceding in the 76th and 90th minutes to lose 2-1. Here again, two second-half goals turned a win into a defeat.
Palace have only dropped eight points from winning positions this season. All eight of those have come after midweek European matches. They have to strengthen in January as the Conference League gets more tough.
Liverpool see a future without Salah
With a midweek Premier League programme, it’s eminently possible that Mo Salah comes back into the team and into the same role. But on Sunday at West Ham, we saw a glimpse of a future (or perhaps even a present) without him. And after the mess of the last few weeks, it looked good.
We also might be reading too much into this, given the sample size. But Alexander Isak scored and finally got touches of the ball in a dangerous area. Florian Wirtz had his best game in England and linked up with both Isak and Cody Gakpo, able to operate more centrally. Liverpool looked more solid because they had less need to overcommit players in the final third.
The defence remains a question but then Arne Slot made his brave changes in the final third and it paid off. This front four has to be a meritocracy, whatever you have done and however much your new contract is worth.
Man Utd are still fighting for Amorim
The application and the effort, particularly when trailing, cannot be doubted. Manchester United won a league game after falling behind for the first time since Ipswich at home in February (and the first time away from home since the derby in December 2024). The players are still fighting; nobody doubts that.
But the system remains inexplicable, despite Joshua Zirkzee scoring for the first time in almost a year. He is not a focal point centre-forward, but is playing as one. Bruno Fernandes is an elite advanced central midfielder who is playing as a No 6. Luke Shaw is a full-back playing in central defence. Amad Diallo isn’t a wing-back. Nor is Diogo Dalot.
This week, Ruben Amorim said that his wing-backs were playing badly and that was holding United back. If only there were a way to make this team fluid in possession, perhaps by picking people in a shape that suits their best qualities?
Sunderland’s comeback kings lead the way again
There’s no doubting the most impressive team statistic in the Premier League this season so far: Sunderland have trailed in nine of their 13 league matches but taken 12 points from those deficits.
Firstly, compare that with previous promoted club performance. In 2023-24, the three promoted clubs trailed on 92 occasions (including games against each other) and took 20 points. In 2024-25, they trailed 93 times and took 18 points. On their own, after only a third of the season, Sunderland are two-thirds of the way to matching last season’s total.
But we shouldn’t be comparing this Sunderland performance to promoted clubs, really. Over the last three years, the only clubs who have sustained a point-per-game-after trailing record as high as Sunderland’s over a whole season are Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal, with their deep, vastly expensive squads. It’s a supreme feat.
Hurzeler makes a sensible decision for Brighton
Last year, Brighton lost 7-0 at the City Ground and Fabian Hurzeler demonstrated a double dose of naivety by ostensibly picking a one-man midfield and letting Forest swarm. This time, there was logic, sense and a brilliant result.
Brighton effectively won two matches. Hurzeler picked a far more sensible shape, but he also chose to leave Carlos Baleba out of the team (something The Score has been asking for for a while).
Having nicked a lead before half-time, Hurzeler then soaked up pressure in the second half, eventually bringing off each of his starting front four. They then exploited a Forest mistake to seal the game with their substitute striker. Perfect.
Magic at both ends keeps Aston Villa pushing on
Villa weren’t particularly good against Wolves, just as they haven’t been from time to time during this excellent run. But they have found an ability to squeeze out magic moments from individual players, at both ends, that ensure victory alongside the general competence of everyone else.
They beat Leeds because of a brilliant Morgan Rodgers free-kick. They have won games because Donyell Malen produced something out of nothing off the bench.
Here they needed Emi Martinez on the stroke of half-time and then Boubacar Kamara thrashed home a shot from outside the box. They’re winning games in different ways and they’re somehow now in the top four.
Man City finally share the goals around
Last week we demanded that Manchester City share the goals around more. Cue three goals without Haaland scoring, even if it did take a second-half slump and salvage job. In the first half, when City were electric, Haaland occupied two central defenders and created space around the box for Phil Foden. Foden will be the principal beneficiary and needs to rediscover the scoring form of 2023-24 – 17 league goals.
What’s interesting is how effective City can be when Haaland is barely in the game. He had one of their 17 shots against Leeds; it really is feast or famine.
And that’s a trend. The last four times that City have scored three or more in a league game with Haaland playing but not scoring are 3-2 vs Leeds, 3-1 vs Bournemouth, 4-0 vs Newcastle and 3-0 vs Forest. Haaland took only six shots in those four matches combined. Now, I guess, to find the balance between the two.
Discipline will keep holding Chelsea back
Firstly, Chelsea were absolutely brilliant in the second half against the best team in the league. I think Enzo Maresca got it right, sacrificing Estevao at half-time, bringing on Liam Delap for Joao Pedro and focusing on direct passes, hold-the-line defending and making the most of set-piece situations.
But they could easily have won the game were it not for yet another red card. Moises Caicedo looked fired up – too fired up – in the first half. His tackle on Mikel Merino was dangerous and his acting – “Who? What, me?” – was somehow worse.
Chelsea have now had six players sent off this season before the end of November. Three of those were in the Premier League and Chelsea took one point from those three matches. They’re good and they should be proud after Sunday, but they’re also hurting themselves unnecessarily.
Merino is Arsenal’s everyman
The central midfielder-focal point centre forward is not an obvious combination in the age of small, tricky, technical midfielders, but Mikel Merino is brilliant at it. Arsenal are missing Viktor Gyokeres (although he did come on against Chelsea), Gabriel Jesus, Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard, but it doesn’t matter when you have Merino as the multifunctional tool.
He scored the goal with a header – he’s scored seven of his 10 league goals for Arsenal with his head. He linked up play. He dropped deep enough to play forward passes and was 40 yards from his goal when Caicedo fouled him for the sending off. He makes defensive contributions because he’s used to playing in midfield. Merino might pay the price when Gyokeres and Odegaard are fully fit, but he’s already done his job.
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