Top dogs chased by Foxes

After 10 weeks, Liverpool and Manchester City are the top runners, but Leicester City are hot on their tails with a young Chelsea side also in the mix.

Week 1 – On Friday evening the 2019-20 Premier League began with VAR making its debut, but it was business as usual for Liverpool who brushed Norwich aside with 4 goals in the first half, though the visitors pulled a goal back after the break. In the early kick-off on Saturday, Raheem Sterling netted a hat-trick as champions Manchester City demolished West Ham United 5-0 at the London Stadium while on Sunday Frank Lampard’s Chelsea were taken apart 4-0 at Manchester United with Marcus Rashford scoring twice for the Red Devils. Harry Kane scored 2 late goals as Tottenham came from behind to win 3-1 at home to Aston Villa while a single goal gave Arsenal all 3 points at Newcastle and there were 3-0 wins for Brighton at Watford and for Burnley at home to Southampton with Ashley Barnes scoring a brace in front of his home crowd. Sheffield United drew 1-1 at Bournemouth and there were goalless draws for Wolves at Leicester and 10-man Everton at Crystal Palace.

Week 2 – Tottenham drew 2-2 at Manchester City who had a stoppage-time winner denied by VAR while Liverpool won 2-1 at Southampton and Arsenal were 2-1 winners at home to Burnley. Teemu Pukki claimed a hat-trick as Norwich defeated Newcastle United 3-1 at Carrow Road while Bournemouth scored 2 early goals to win 2-1 at Aston Villa and an early goal gave Everton a win at home to Watford. West Ham drew 1-1 at Brighton while on Sunday Crystal Palace lost 1-0 at Sheffield United and Leicester City drew 1-1 at Chelsea. On Monday evening Manchester United, who missed a penalty, drew 1-1 at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Week 3 – On Friday evening Aston Villa were 2-0 winners at home to Everton while on Saturday Mohamed Salah scored twice as Liverpool defeated Arsenal 3-1 at Anfield and Norwich City fought back twice but lost 3-2 at home to a young Chelsea side for whom Tammy Abraham netted twice. Crystal Palace scored a stoppage-time 2-1 winner at Manchester United who missed a penalty while Southampton were 2-0 winners at 10-man Brighton and Sebastien Haller scored twice for West Ham who won 3-1 at Watford. Leicester City picked up a 2-1 win at Sheffield United while on Sunday Tottenham lost 1-0 at home to Newcastle and Wolves scored a 97^th minute penalty to draw 1-1 at home to Burnley. Sergio Aguero scored twice in Manchester City’s 3-1 win at Bournemouth.

Week 4 – Arsenal came from 2 down to draw with Tottenham at the Emirates while Sergio Aguero scored twice as Manchester City sent Brighton packing 4-0 and Liverpool were 3-0 winners at Burnley. Manchester United drew 1-1 at 10-man Southampton while Sheffield United fought back from 2 Tammy Abraham goals to draw at Chelsea and a double from Jamie Vardy helped Leicester City to a 3-1 home win over Bournemouth. Norwich City lost 2-0 at West Ham while 10 men from Aston Villa fell to a single goal at Crystal Palace and Watford drew 1-1 at Newcastle. Wolverhampton Wanderers ended the match with 10 players as they lost 3-2 at Everton.

Week 5 – Norwich City celebrated a 3-2 victory over reigning champions Manchester City and Carrow Road while Liverpool extended their lead at the top as they came from behind to beat Newcastle 3-1 at Anfield with Sadio Mane netting a double and Tammy Abraham scored a hat-trick for Chelsea who tore Wolves apart 5-2 at Molineux. Heung-Min Son scored twice in front of his home crowd as Tottenham swept Crystal Palace aside with 4 goals in the first half while Arsenal let their 2 goal advantage from a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang brace slip away as they drew 2-2 at Watford and a Manchester United penalty conversion was the difference between them and Leicester City at Old Trafford. Everton lost 3-1 at Bournemouth with Callum Wilson scoring twice for the seasiders while Burnley scored in stoppage time to draw 1-1 at Brighton and Southampton were 1-0 winners at Sheffield United who finished the match with 10 men. On Monday evening ten men from West Ham played out a goalless match at Aston Villa.

Week 6 – Manchester City blew Watford away with 5 goals in the opening 18 minutes and went on to annihilate their visitors 8-0 with a hat-trick from Bernardo Silva while league leaders Liverpool won 2-1 at Chelsea and 10-man Arsenal twice came from behind to beat Aston Villa 3-2 at the Emirates. Tottenham took the lead but lost 2-1 at Leicester and Manchester United lost 2-0 at West Ham while Sheffield United were 2-0 winners at Everton. Ten men from Wolverhampton scored late in stoppage time to draw 1-1 at Crystal Palace and Brighton drew 0-0 at Newcastle while Chris Wood scored 2 early goals for Burnley to send Norwich back with nothing to show for. The weekend had begun on Friday evening with a 3-1 win for Bournemouth at Southampton.

Week 7 – Jamie Vardy netted a brace as 10-man Newcastle United were brushed aside 5-0 at Leicester City who are in 3^rd place behind Liverpool who picked up 3 points with a single goal at Sheffield United, and Manchester City who were 3-1 winners at Everton. Chelsea won 2-0 at home to Brighton and Crystal Palace enjoyed the same result as they entertained Norwich with Wolves also picking up the same result at home to Watford. Southampton lost 2-1 at 10-man Tottenham while West Ham drew 2-2 at Bournemouth and Burnley twice came from behind to draw 2-2 at Aston Villa. On Monday evening Arsenal drew 1-1 at Manchester United.  

Week 8 – Reining champions, Manchester City, were beaten 2-0 at home to Wolves with Adama Traore striking twice for the visitors while Liverpool scored a stoppage-time penalty to win 2-1 at home to Leicester and a single goal at the Emirates against Bournemouth gave Arsenal 3 points, moving them into 3^rd place. Tottenham were beaten 3-0 at Brighton with Aaron Connolly bagging a brace while Wesley Moares scored twice and missed a penalty at Norwich as Aston Villa battered the Canaries 5-1 and Chelsea swept Southampton aside 4-1 at St Mary’s. Manchester United lost 1-0 at Newcastle and 10-man Everton lost by the same scoreline at Burnley while Crystal Palace came from behind to win 2-1 at West Ham with a late goal awarded by VAR and Watford hosted Sheffield United in a goalless match.

 Week 9 – Liverpool’s winning streak came to an end as they drew 1-1 at Manchester United while Manchester City closed the gap at the top with a 2-0 win at Crystal Palace and Leicester City came from behind to win 2-1 at home to Burnley. A late equalizer gave Tottenham a 1-1 draw at home to Watford while Chelsea defeated Newcastle with a single goal at Stamford Bridge and West Ham lost 2-0 at Everton. After taking the lead, Brighton were reduced to 10 men and lost 2-1 to a stoppage-time goal at Aston Villa while Southampton drew 1-1 at Wolves and Norwich drew 0-0 at Bournemouth. On Monday evening, Arsenal lost 1-0 at Sheffield United.

Week 10 – The weekend began on Friday evening at St Mary’s where it rained goals as 10-man Southampton were annihilated 9-0 by a rampant Leicester City for whom Ayoze Perez and Jamie Vardy each scored a hat-trick. Liverpool came back from an early setback to beat Tottenham 2-1 at Anfield while Manchester City, who finished the match with 10 men, were 3-0 winners at home to Aston Villa and Crystal Palace bounced back from 2 early goals to draw 2-2 at Arsenal who had a late goal chalked off by VAR. Burnley scored 2 late goals but lost 4-2 to Chelsea with Christian Pulisic grabbing a hat-trick for the visitors while Tim Krul saved 2 penalties but saw his Norwich side lose 3-1 at home to Manchester United and Everton scored an own-goal in stoppage time to lose 3-2 at Brighton. Wolverhampton Wanderers drew 1-1 at Newcastle who suffered a late dismissal and Sheffield United drew 1-1 at West Ham while Watford played a goalless match at Bournemouth.