Gunners going for gold

 

Arsenal are on course for glory as Manchester City can only hope for several slip-ups if they are to take it to the wire. Manchester United’s recent good form puts them in third spot ahead of Aston Villa, Liverpool and Chelsea all with Europe on their minds.

Week 21 – In midweek matches West Ham United took the lead at home but lost 2-1 to Nottingham Forest while Tottenham lost 3-2 in stoppage time at Bournemouth and Wolves drew 1-1 at Everton who ended the match with 9 players. Ten-man Chelsea were beaten 2-1 at Fulham and Igor Thiago scored twice as Brentford put 3 past their visitors from Sunderland while Brighton earned a 1-1 draw at Manchester City and Benjamin Šeško scored both goals in Manchester United’s 2-2 draw at Burnley. Leeds United took the lead 3 times at Newcastle with a Brenden Aaronson brace but Harvey Barnes completed his double with the latest ever goal in Premier League history to give the Magpies a 4-3 victory while Crystal Palace and Aston Villa played a goalless match and on Thursday Liverpool drew 0-0 at league leaders Arsenal.

Week 22 – Under the managership of Michael Carrick, Manchester United defeated their City neighbours 2-0 while Chelsea enjoyed the same result at home to Brentford and Arsenal drew blanks at Nottingham Forest. Liverpool could only draw 1-1 at home to Burnley while a single goal gave Leeds United a win over Fulham and Crystal Palace opened the scoring but lost 2-1 at Sunderland. West Ham United scored in stoppage time to win 2-1 at Tottenham while on Sunday one goal settled the match in Everton’s favour at Aston Villa and there were no goals between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Newcastle United. On Monday evening Brighton scored in stoppage time to earn a 1-1 draw at home to Bournemouth.

Week 23 – Liverpool fought back from 2 down to level the score but lost to a goal deep into stoppage time at Bournemouth while West Ham celebrated a 3-1 win over their visitors from Sunderland and Wolves lost 2-0 at Manchester City. Tottenham scored in the last minute to earn a 2-2 draw at Burnley and Fulham scored in stoppage time to win 2-1 at home to Fulham while on Sunday all the away teams won, as Manchester United scored a late goal to win 3-2 at Arsenal, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest scored twice at Newcastle and Brentford respectively and Chelsea were 3-1 winners at 10-man Crystal Palace. On Monday evening Leeds United drew 1-1 at Everton.

Week 24 – Arsenal returned from Leeds with a 4-0 win while Newcastle opened the scoring at Liverpool but lost 4-1 with a double from Hugo Etikite and Chelsea fought back from 2 down at home win 3-2 with a goal in stoppage time against West Ham who finished the match with 10 players. Bournemouth were 2-0 winners at Wolves and Everton scored late into stoppage time to earn a 1-1 draw at Brighton while on Sunday ten men from Brentford scored the only goal at Aston Villa and Fulham bounced back from 2 goals down at Manchester United but lost to a goal in added-on time. Dominic Solanke scored twice as Tottenham came from 2 down to draw 2-2 at home to Manchester City and Crystal Palace drew 1-1 at 10-man Nottingham Forest while on Monday evening Sunderland put 3 past their visitors from Burnley.

Week 25 – On Friday evening Leeds United enjoyed a 3-1 home win over Nottingham Forest while on Saturday Viktor Gyökeres scored twice as Arsenal defeated Sunderland 3-0 and 10-man Tottenham lost 2-0 at Manchester United. West Ham scored twice in the first half to win at Burnley and Cole Palmer scored twice from the spot before completing his hat-trick as Wolves won 3-1 at Wolves while Fulham took the lead in front of their home crowd but lost 2-1 to Everton and Brentford triumphed 3-2 at Newcastle. Bournemouth and Aston Villa drew 1-1 while on Sunday, in a controversial match, Manchester City came from behind to win 2-1 with a goal in stoppage time at Liverpool who finished the match with 10 players and Crystal Palace were victorious 1-0 at Brighton.

Week 26 – In midweek matches Leeds came from 2 down to draw at Chelsea and Manchester United scored in added-on time to earn a 1-1 draw at West Ham while there were 2-1 wins for Newcastle at Tottenham and for Bournemouth who came from behind to win at Everton who were reduced to 10 players. Jørgen Strand Larsen scored twice on his home debut for Crystal Palace but Burnley hit back to win with 3 goals before the break and Manchester City also scored 3 times before the interval to win at home to Fulham while Brighton fell to a late own-goal at Aston Villa and there were no goals between Nottingham Forest and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Liverpool won 1-0 at Sunderland while on Thursday Arsenal dropped points in their 1-1 draw at Brentford. After a weekend of FA Cup matches, the league returned with a re-arranged match and league leaders Arsenal dropped further points when they let a 2-goal lead slip to draw 2-2 at bottom of the table Wolves with the leveller coming deep into stoppage time.

Week 27 – Aston Villa needed a late goal to avoid defeat at home in a 1-1 draw against Leeds United while Burnley scored in stoppage time to draw 1-1 at 10-man Chelsea and Brighton were 2-0 winners at Brentford. A Nico O’Reilly double at Manchester City settled the match 2-1 against Newcastle before half an hour had been played while West Ham played a goalless match against Bournemouth and on Sunday Wolves, who had been reduced to 10 players, fell to a last-minute goal at Crystal Palace. It took until late in stoppage time for Liverpool to break down their hosts Nottingham Forest while Fulham enjoyed a 3-1 win at Sunderland thanks to a brace from Raul Jimenez and 2 goals each from Eberechi Eze and Viktor Gyökeres gave Arsenal a 4-1 victory at Tottenham. On Monday evening, one goal was enough to give Manchester United a win at Everton.

Week 28 – The week’s fixtures began on Friday evening when Wolves celebrated a 2-0 win at home to Aston Villa while on Saturday Burnley fought back from 3 down at home to level the score only to lose when Mikkel Damsgaard completed his double for Brentford in stoppage time and in another goal-rich match Liverpool beat West Ham 5-2 at Anfield. Newcastle levelled twice but each time Everton hit back to win 3-2 at St James’ Park while Sunderland drew 1-1 at Bournemouth and one goal at Leeds gave Manchester City another win. On Sunday there were 2-1 wins for the four hosts as Brighton beat Nottingham Forest, with all the goals coming in the first 15 minutes, Fulham got the better of Tottenham while Crystal Palace and Chelsea, having each had a player sent off, lost to Manchester United and Arsenal respectively.

Week 29 – In midweek matches Liverpool lost 2-1 at bottom of the table Wolves with their winner coming in stoppage time and Leeds lost 1-0 at home to Sunderland while Everton won 2-0 at home to Burnley and there was a goalless match between Bournemouth and Brentford. Michael Carrick suffered his first defeat as Manchester United lost 2-1 to a last-minute goal at 10-man Newcastle and West Ham United were 1-0 winners at Fulham while Arsenal earned 3 points with an early strike at Brighton, but Manchester City failed to close the gap as they drew 2-2 at home to Nottingham Forest. Aston Villa were quick to score in their home match against Chelsea who hit back to win 4-1 with a hat-trick from João Pedro and on Thursday Ismaïla Sarr scored twice as Crystal Palace came from behind to beat 10-man Tottenham in front of their disgruntled fans with 3 goals just before the break.

Week 30 – Two late goals, including a goal with the last kick of the match by the youngest ever Premier League scorer Max Dowman, gave Arsenal a 2-0 win at home to Everton while Manchester City dropped points in their 1-1 draw at West Ham and a there were 1-0 away wins for Brighton at Sunderland and for Newcastle at Chelsea. Burnley and Bournemouth played a goalless match while on Sunday Manchester United enjoyed a 3-1 win over Aston Villa at Old Trafford and Tottenham scored a last-minute goal to draw 1-1 at Liverpool. There were goalless draws for Fulham at Nottingham Forest and for 10-man Leeds at Crystal Palace while on Monday evening Wolves came from 2 down to draw at Brentford.

Arsenal stay focused

 

Week 11 – Tottenham turned the match around with 2 late goals in front of their home crowd but were pegged back to 2-2 by Manchester United late in stoppage time and Sunderland also scored in added-on time to draw 2-2 at home to Arsenal while Burnley’s stoppage-time goal could only reduce the deficit to 3-2 at West Ham. Fulham lost 2-0 at Everton and Wolves were breached 3 times after the break at Chelsea while on Sunday Bournemouth were beaten 4-0 at Aston Villa and Liverpool suffered a 3-0 loss at Manchester City. Igor Thiago scored twice at home as Brentford defeated 10-man Newcastle 3-1 while Leeds who opened the scoring lost by the same scoreline at Nottingham Forest and there were no goals between Crystal Palace and Brighton.

Week 12 – Chelsea scored twice at Burnley and Crystal Palace enjoyed the same outcome at Wolverhampton while Liverpool were humiliated 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest. Callum Wilson scored both goals for West Ham at Bournemouth who hit back to draw 2-2 while Brentford took the lead but lost 2-1 at Brighton and Manchester City lost 2-1 to a Harvey Barnes brace at Newcastle. Fulham scored late to send Sunderland home empty handed while on Sunday Eberechi Eze scored a hat-trick as Arsenal humbled Tottenham 4-1 at the Emirates and Aston Villa hit back with a double from Morgan Rogers to win 2-1 at Leeds United. On Monday evening 10-man Everton beat Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford.

Week 13 – Leeds United fought back from 2 down to level the score at Manchester City but lost when Phil Foden added to his first-minute goal in stoppage time while Bournemouth, who ended the match with 10 players, scored 2 early goals but lost 3-2 at Sunderland and Malick Thiaw scored a double for Newcastle as Everton came unstuck 4-1 at the Hill Dickinson Stadium. Tottenham lost 2-1 at home to Fulham after conceding twice in the first minutes and Igor Thiago scored twice as Brentford beat Burnley 3-1 at home with all the goals coming in the last 10 minutes while on Sunday Manchester United came from behind to win 2-1 at Crystal Palace and Liverpool were 2-0 winners at 10-man West Ham. Arsenal drew 1-1 at 10-man Chelsea while Brighton put 2 past their hosts Nottingham Forest and Wolves fell to a single goal at Aston Villa.

Week 14 – In midweek matches Samuel Chukwueze and Phil Foden scored 2 apiece for Fulham and Manchester City respectively as Fulham fought from 5-1 down to close the gap to 5-4 at Craven Cottage while Cristian Romero completed his double in stoppage time to give Tottenham a 2-2 draw at Newcastle and one goal was enough to give Everton all 3 points at Bournemouth. Jan van Hecke and Ollie Watkins netted a brace each for Brighton and Aston Vill respectively as Villa won 4-3 at Brighton while Leeds United triumphed 3-1 at home to Chelsea and Arsenal beat Brentford 2-0 at the Emirates. There were 1-0 away wins for Nottingham Forest against Wolves and for Crystal Palace at Burnley while Sunderland drew 1-1 at Liverpool. On Thursday West Ham earned a 1-1 draw at Manchester United.

Week 15 – League leaders Arsenal lost 2-1 at Aston Villa with the last kick of the match while Manchester City put 3 past Sunderland who finished the match with 10 players and Everton achieved the same result at home to Nottingham Forest. Ten-man Burnley lost 2-1 at Newcastle and Tottenham netted twice at home to Brentford while after a goalless half at home, Leeds United came from 2 Hugo Ekitike goals down draw level and scored deep into stoppage time to earn a 3-3 draw against Liverpool. Chelsea drew blanks at Bournemouth while on Sunday Brighton scored in time added on to salvage a 1-1 home draw against West Ham and Crystal Palace enjoyed a 2-1 victory at Fulham. On Monday evening Manchester United eased past Wolves 4-1 on their travels with a double from Bruno Fernandes.

 Week 16 – Arsenal scraped past bottom-of-the-table Wolves 2-1 with the help of 2 own-goals at the Emirates while Hugo Ekitike scored both goals in Liverpool’s home win over Brighton and Chelsea achieved the same result against Everton. Fulham were 3-2 winners at Burnley while on Sunday Aston Villa won 3-2 at West Ham with a double from Morgan Rogers and Erling Haaland scored another 2 goals as Manchester City registered a flattering 3-0 win at Crystal Palace. Callum Hudson-Adoi netted a brace as Nottingham Forest sent Tottenham away 3-0 losers while Sunderland won the bragging rights 1-0 at home to Newcastle and Leeds United drew 1-1 at Brentford. In an exhilarating match on Monday evening, Bournemouth drew 4-4 at Manchester United.

Week 17 – Chelsea cancelled out Nick Woltemade’s first-half brace to earn a 2-2 draw at Newcastle and 2 more goals from Erling Haaland helped Manchester City to a 3-0 win at home to West Ham while one goal at Everton was enough to keep Arsenal at the top of the table for Christmas. Liverpool were 2-1 winners at Tottenham who finished the match with 9 players and Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored twice for Leeds United who pummelled Crystal Palace 4-1 at Elland Road while Burnley scored a last-minute goal to salvage a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth and Sunderland played a goalless match at Brighton. Keane Lewis-Potter scored both goals for Brentford at Wolves while on Sunday Morgan Rogers did the same for Aston Villa who defeated Manchester United 2-1 at Villa Park and on Monday evening Nottingham Forest lost 1-0 at Fulham.

 Week 18 – On Friday evening one goal gave Manchester United a home victory over Newcastle United while on Saturday there were 2-1 wins for Manchester City at Nottingham Forest and for Arsenal who were hosting Brighton. Ollie Watkins scored both goals for Aston Villa who came from behind to win at Chelsea and Bournemouth were battered 4-1 at Brentford for whom Kevin Schade netted a hat-trick while Everton drew blanks at Burnley and a late goal gave Fulham a win at West Ham. Liverpool defeated Wolves 2-1 while on Sunday Leeds drew 1-1 at Sunderland and Crystal Palace lost 1-0 at home to Tottenham.

Week 19 – In midweek matches at the end of the year, Arsenal blew Aston Villa away 4-1 at the Emirates with all the goals coming in the second half while Manchester United drew 1-1 at home to bottom of the table Wolves and Chelsea shared the points in a 4-goal match with their visitors from Bournemouth. Newcastle won 3-1 at Burnley and Everton scored twice at Nottingham Forest while West Ham drew 2-2 at home to Brighton. On the first day of 2026, there were 0-0 draws between Sunderland and Manchester City, Liverpool and Leeds and also Brentford and Tottenham while Fulham drew 1-1 at Crystal Palace.

Week 20 – Bournemouth scored the first and last goals of the match but lost 3-2 to Arsenal with Declan Rice scoring twice for the visitors while a double from John McGinn helped Aston Villa to a 3-1 win over Nottingham Forest and Wolves celebrated a 3-0 win over West Ham United. Brighton beat Burnley 2-0 while on Sunday Igor Thiago bagged a hat-trick as Brentford belittled Everton 4-2 at the Hill Dickinson Stadium while Liverpool drew 2-2 at Fulham and Chelsea scored in stoppage time to earn a 1-1 draw at Manchester City.  Leeds United and Manchester United drew 1-1 and there was also a 1-1 draw when Sunderland visited Tottenham while Newcastle sent Crystal Palace back 2-0 losers.

Gunners show intent

 

Arsenal are leading the way after 10 weeks with Manchester City ruing dropped points, followed by Liverpool and surprise packages Sunderland and Bournemouth on goal difference.

Week 1 – The 2025-26 season began on Friday evening at Anfield where champions Liverpool took a 2-goal lead against Bournemouth but were pegged back to 2-2 with a double from Antoine Semenyo before bouncing back to win with 2 very late goals. On Saturday Newcastle drew blanks at 10-man Aston Villa while Erling Haaland netted a double as Manchester City return from Wolves with a 4-0 win and there were 3-0 home wins for Tottenham, for whom Richarlison scored twice against Burnley, and for Sunderland who were entertaining West Ham. Fulham earned a 1-1 draw with a last-gasp goal at Brighton and on Sunday, Chris Wood scored a brace as Nottingham Forest sent Brentford home 3-1 losers while Crystal Palace drew 0-0 at Chelsea and Arsenal were 1-0 winners at Manchester United. On Monday evening A single goal gave Leeds United a victory at home to Everton.

Week 2 – On Friday evening West Ham scored an early goal in front of their home fans but were hammered 5-1 by Chelsea while on Saturday Tottenham won 2-0 at Manchester City and there were doubles from Jurrien Timber and Viktor Gyokeres as Arsenal battered Leeds United 5-0 at the Emirates. Sunderland lost 2-0 at Burnley while 10-man Wolves lost to an early goal at Bournemouth and Aston Villa were defeated by the same score at Brentford. On Sunday Everton beat Brighton 2-0 while there were 1-1 draws between Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest and also Fulham and Manchester United. On Monday 10-man Newcastle fought back from 2 down at home to Liverpool to level the score before losing 3-2 with the last kick of the match.

Week 3 – The week began with a 2-0 win for Chelsea over Fulham while Everton won 3-2 at Wolves and Tottenham lost to an early goal 1-0 at home to Bournemouth. Manchester United beat Burnley 3-2 at Ol Trafford with a goal deep into stoppage time and Sunderland needed a goal late in added time as they came from behind to defeat their visitors from Brentford 2-1 and Newcastle played a goalless match at Leeds. On Sunday Manchester City took the lead but lost 2-1 at Brighton and Liverpool defeated Arsenal 1-0 at Anfield while West Ham scored 3 late goals to win at Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace enjoyed the same scoreline at Aston Villa.

Week 4 – Martin Zubimendi scored twice as Arsenal defeated Postecoglou’s Nottingham Forest 3-0 at the Emirates while Tottenham enjoyed the same result at 10-man West Ham and there were 1-0 home wins for Newcastle against Wolves and for Fulham against Leeds with the goal coming in stoppage time. Crystal Palace played a goalless match against Sunderland as did Everton against Aston Villa while Bournemouth beat Brighton 2-1 and Brentford, who had taken the lead, needed a stoppage-time goal to draw 2-2 at home to Chelsea.

Week 5 – Liverpool continued their winning streak with a 2-1 win over Everton at Anfield in the Merseyside derby while Tottenham came from 2 down to draw 2-2 at Brighton and playing with 10 players for most of the match, Chelsea lost 2-1 at Manchester United who also saw red just before the break. Leeds came from behind to win 3-1 at Wolves and Fulham did the same at home to Brentford while West Ham lost 2-1 on their home pitch to Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest took at early lead but drew 1-1 at Burnley. On Sunday Arsenal salvaged a 1-1 draw in stoppage time at home to Manchester City while Aston Villa scored their first goal of the season to draw 1-1 at 10-man Sunderland and there was a goalless match between Bournemouth and Newcastle.

Week 6 – Brentford beat Manchester United 3-1 with Igor Thiago delighting his home crowd with a brace while Brighton came from behind to defeat 10-man Chelsea at the Bridge with a double from Danny Welbeck and Liverpool lost 2-1 to a goal in stoppage time at Crystal Palace. Bournemouth earned a 2-2 draw with a goal in added-on time at Leeds United while 2 own goals and a 2 Erling Haaland goals at the end of the match saw Burnley fall apart 5-1 at Manchester City and a single goal gave Sunderland 3 points at Nottingham Forest. Tottenham needed a last-gasp goal to draw 1-1 at home to Wolves while on Sunday Fulham fell 3-1 at Aston Villa after taking an early lead and Arsenal came from behind to celebrate a 2-1 win at Newcastle with a goal right at the death. Om Monday evening West Ham drew 1-1 at Everton.

Week 7 – On Friday Fulham scored first but hosts Bournemouth hit back with 3 late goals to claim a 3-1 victory while on Saturday Tottenham were 2-1 winners at Leeds and West Ham lost 2-0 at Arsenal. Manchester United put 2 past their visitors from Sunderland and Liverpool suffered a 2-1 loss at Chelsea who secured their win deep into stoppage time while on Sunday there were 2-1 home wins for Everton who came from behind to end Crystal Palace’s 19-match unbeaten streak and for Aston Villa for whom Donyell Malen scored both goals against Burnley. Newcastle put 2 past Nottingham Forest and Brighton struck late to cancel out an own goal at Wolverhampton while an early goal was all Manchester City needed to win at Brentford.

Week 8 – Chelsea scored 3 times at Nottingham Forest but ended the match with 10 players while Newcastle returned from Brighton defeated 2-1 by a Danny Welbeck double and Crystal Palace came from 2 down to draw 3-3 at home to Bournemouth with Jean-Philippe Mateta completing his hat-trick from the spot deep into stoppage time. There were 2-0 home wins for Burnley against Leeds, Sunderland against Wolves and for Manchester City against Everton with Erling Haaland scoring both goals while one goal at Fulham was enough to give Arsenal 3 points. On Sunday Tottenham scored an early goal at home but lost 2-1 to Aston Villa while Manchester United triumphed 2-1 at Liverpool and on Monday evening West Ham lost 2-0 at home to Brentford.

 Week 9 – On Friday evening West Ham pulled a goal back late on in the match but lost 2-1 at Leeds while on Saturday, after conceding an early goal at Chelsea, Sunderland bounced back to win 2-1 with the winning goal coming in stoppage time and Newcastle also scored late to achieve the same result at home to Fulham. Bryan Mbuemo netted a double as Manchester United beat Brighton 4-2 at Old Trafford while Liverpool lost 3-2 at Brentford and on Sunday it was one nil to the Arsenal at home to Crystal Palace while Tottenham won 3-0 at Everton with Micky van de Ven scoring a double. Wolverhampton Wonderers levelled after going 2 down to a Zian Flemming double but lost 3-2 to a goal in stoppage time at home to Burnley while Manchester City fell to a single goal at Aston Villa.

Week 10 – Arsenal remain at the top after scoring twice at Burnley while Liverpool won 2-0 at home to Aston Villa and Crystal Palace achieved the same result against Brentford. Leeds lost 3-0 at Brighton with Diego Gomez netting twice and 10-man Wolves suffered the same outcome at Fulham while Manchester United drew 2-2 at Nottingham Forest and Tottenham lost 1-0 in front of their home crowd to Chelsea. On Sunday Erling Haaland added 2 more goals to his tally as Manchester City beat Bournemouth 3-1 and West Ham hit back after an early setback to enjoy the same result against their visitors from Newcastle while on Monday Everton drew 1-1 at Sunderland.