City dominance

 

With only 8 match weeks left, Manchester City are closing in on the finish line and still on course for an unprecedented quadruple. City rivals, Manchester United are leading the pack in pursue of a realistic Champions League spot and an unlikely slipup by the league leaders.

Week 21 – An early goal gave Manchester City a home win against Sheffield United to keep them at the top while Manchester United drew 0-0 at Arsenal and Southampton lost 1-0 at home to Aston Villa. Callum Wilson scored both goals for Newcastle at Everton while Fulham drew 2-2 at West Brom and a single goal gave Crystal Palace a home win over Wolves. Leeds United enjoyed a 3-1 victory at Leicester and Liverpool achieved the same result at West Ham with 2 goals from Mohamed Salah while Tottenham were defeated 1-0 at Brighton and Chelsea beat Burnley 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.   

Week 22 – In midweek nine-man Arsenal lost 2-1 at Wolves while Southampton, whose first dismissal of two came after only 80 seconds, were taken apart 9-0 at Manchester United with Anthony Martial netting twice for the rampant hosts and there were 2-1 wins for Sheffield United at home to West Brom and Crystal Palace at Newcastle with both winning teams having to come from behind. Brighton earned a shock 1-0 win at Liverpool while Jesse Lingard scored twice on his debut as West Ham won 3-1 at Aston Villa and Everton defeated Leeds United 2-1 at Elland Road while there were 2-0 victories for Manchester City and Leicester City at Burnley and Fulham respectively. On Thursday evening, Tottenham lost 1-0 at home to Chelsea.

Week 23 – Having missed a penalty, Ilkay Gundogan scored twice as Manchester City strengthened their position at the top with an impressive 4-1 victory at champions Liverpool while Everton came from 2 down to draw level with 2 goals early in the second half and earned a 3-3 draw at Manchester United with the last kick of the match and 10-man Newcastle defeated Southampton 3-2 at St James’ Park with Miguel Almiron netting a brace for the hosts. Arsenal fell 1-0 at Aston Villa while Brighton drew 1-1 at Burnley and West Ham, who ended the match with 10 players, drew 0-0 at Fulham. Ten-man West Brom lost 2-0 at Tottenham while Chelsea were 2-1 winners at Sheffield United and Leicester drew 0-0 at Wolves. On Monday evening, Crystal Palace lost 2-0 at Leeds United.

Week 24 – Leicester City scored 3 late goals in the space of 5 minutes as they came from a goal down to enjoy a 3-1 victory at home to Liverpool while another brace from Ilkay Gundogan helped Manchester United beat Tottenham 3-0 at the Etihad and Burnley enjoyed the same result at Crystal Palace. Leeds United scored twice at the Emirates by which time Arsenal had cruised into a 4-goal lead with a hat-trick from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang while Wolves came from behind to win 2-1 at Southampton and Manchester United drew 1-1 at West Bromwich Albion. Josh Maja scored both goals for Fulham at Everton and the only goalless match was between Brighton and Aston Villa while on Monday West Ham were 3-0 winners at home to Sheffield United and Chelsea put 2 past their visitors from Newcastle.

Week 25 – Two rearranged matches were played on Wednesday with Fulham drawing 1-1 at Burnley and Manchester City powering 3-1 past Everton at Goodison Park while week 25 began on Friday with Leeds losing 1-0 at Wolves. Liverpool lost their 4^th home match in a row for the first time in 97 years when they went down 2-0 to Everton who had not won at Anfield since 1999 while Chelsea drew 1-1 at Southampton and a goal within 2 minutes of kick-off gave Manchester City a win at Arsenal. Tottenham lost 2-1 at West Ham while Leicester were 2-1 winners at Aston Villa and Manchester United picked up a 3-1 victory at home to Newcastle United. Ten-man West Brom drew 0-0 at Burnley and Fulham picked up 3 points with a goal at home to Sheffield United while on Monday evening Crystal Palace scored a stoppage-time 2-1 winner at Brighton. In a rearranged match the following evening, Leeds United triumphed 3-0 over Southampton at Elland Road.

Week 26 – Arsenal put an early setback behind them to win 3-1 at Leicester while Burnley were buried 4-0 with a Gareth Bale brace at Tottenham and there were goalless draws for Manchester United at Chelsea and Fulham at Crystal Palace. Manchester City continued their winning streak with a 2-1 scoreline at home to West Ham while Liverpool were 2-0 winners at Sheffield United and an early goal settled the match in Aston Villa’s favour at Leeds. West Bromwich Albion ended their winless run with a single goal at home to Brighton who twice struck the woodwork from the penalty spot while Wolves drew 1-1 at Newcastle and on Monday evening Southampton fell to an early goal at Everton.

Week 27 – In one of the many rearranged matches played in midweek, Manchester City scored 3 late goals with a double from Gabriel Jesus to send Wolves home with their tails between their legs as 4-1 losers while Leicester City conceded an early goal but drew 1-1 at Burnley and Manchester United fired blanks at Crystal Palace. Ten-man Sheffield United earned a 1-0 win at home to Aston Villa while there were 1-0 away wins for Everton at West Brom and Tottenham at Fulham and Liverpool suffered another home defeat, losing 1-0 to Chelsea. At the weekend runaway league leaders Manchester City lost 2-0 at home to Manchester United and Liverpool fell to a 1-0 loss at home to Fulham while Crystal Place were taken apart 4-1 at Tottenham for whom Gareth Bale and Harry Kane scored 2 apiece. Leicester City came from behind to win 2-1 at Brighton while Arsenal could only draw 1-1 at Burnley and Southampton were 2-0 winners at Sheffield United. There were goalless draws for Aston Villa at home to Wolves and Newcastle at West Bromwich Albion. On Monday evening, Chelsea defeated Everton 2-0 at Samford Bridge and West Ham enjoyed the same result at Home to Leeds.

Week 28 – On Wednesday evening Kevin de Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez each scored a double as Southampton were brushed aside 5-2 at Manchester City in a rearranged match and on Friday 2 late goals saw Newcastle draw 1-1 at home to Aston Villa. Arsenal fell behind but beat Tottenham, who were later reduced to 10 players, 2-1 at the Emirates while a hat-trick from Kelechi Iheanacho helped Leicester thump Sheffield United 5-0 and West Ham United lost to a single goal at Manchester United. Manchester City undid Fulham 3-0 at Craven Cottage while Everton lost 2-1 at home to Burnley and Chelsea drew 0-0 at Leeds United. Crystal Palace were 1-0 winners at home to WBA and Brighton triumphed 2-1 at Southampton while on Monday evening Liverpool picked up a win with a goal at Wolves.

Week 29 – With the quarter-final matches of the FA Cup being played, only four Premier League matches took place starting on Friday evening when Leeds United were 2-1 winners at Fulham. On Saturday Newcastle United fell 3-0 at Brighton while on Sunday Tottenham won 2-0 at Aston Villa and Arsenal fought back from 3 down to draw 3-3 at West Ham.

Week 30 – Thomas Tuchel lost his first match in English football as West Bromwich Albion came from a goal down to pummel 10-man Chelsea 5-2 at Stamford Bridge with Matheus Pereira and Callum Robinson scoring 2 apiece for the Baggies. Manchester City were 2-0 winners at Leicester while Liverpool swept Arsenal aside 3-0 at the Emirates with Diogo Jota netting a brace and Leeds United picked up a 2-1 home win over Sheffield United. Southampton fought back from 2 down to send Burnley home 3-2 losers and Mahmoud Trezeguet scored twice as Aston Villa came from behind to register a 3-1 win at home to Fulham while Harry Kane was twice on target for Tottenham who drew 2-2 at Newcastle and Brighton took the lead but lost 2-1 at Manchester United. On Monday evening Crystal Palace drew 1-1 at Everton while West Ham were 3-2 winners at Wolves.

Taking turns at the top

 

With very little to separate the top teams, after 20 weeks nine teams have enjoyed at least a brief stay at the summit.

Week 11 – Tottenham and Liverpool remain at the top after 2-0 and 4-0 home wins over Arsenal and Wolves respectively while Chelsea overcame an early setback to beat Leeds United 3-1 at Stamford Bridge and Leicester City scored a last-minute goal to win 2-1 at Sheffield United. Manchester United came from a goal down to win with 3 second-half goals at West Ham while Manchester City put 2 past their visitors from Fulham without reply and Everton drew 1-1 at Burnley. Wilfried Zaha and Christian Benteke scored 2 apiece as Crystal Palace pummelled 10-man West Brom 5-1 at the Hawthorns while on Monday Southampton came from behind to win 2-1 at Brighton and the Friday encounter between Aston Villa and Newcastle was postponed.     

Week 12 – The weekend began on Friday when Leeds took an early lead but were beaten 2-1 at home to West Ham. On Saturday, 10-man Aston Villa broke the deadlock with a stoppage-time penalty away to Wolves who also ended the match with 10 players and Chelsea also lost to a spot-kick at Everton while West Brom lost 2-1 at Newcastle and the Manchester derby at Old Trafford finished goalless. On Sunday, table-topping Tottenham and Liverpool drew 1-1 away to Crystal Palace and Fulham respectively while James Maddison scored a brace as Leicester defeated their visitors from Brighton with 3 goals before the break and Sheffield United lost 3-0 at Southampton. Ten-man Arsenal sank to a 1-0 defeat at home to Burnley.

Week 13 – In midweek matches Liverpool scored a last-minute 2-1 winner at home to Tottenham to go top while Chelsea took the lead at Wolves but lost 2-1 to a goal deep into stoppage time and Manchester City were help to a 1-1 draw at home to West Bromwich Albion. Newcastle scored first but were outclassed 5-2 at Leeds while Everton enjoyed a 2-0 victory at Leicester and Arsenal, who were once again reduced to 10 men, ended their losing streak at home with a 1-1 draw against Southampton. David McGoldrick scored twice for Sheffield United but lost 3-2 at home to Manchester United for whom Marcus Rashford also netted a brace while 10-man Crystal Palace drew 1-1 at West Ham and there were goalless draws for Brighton at Fulham and for Burnley at Aston Villa.   

Week 14 – Mohamed Salah came off the bench to score twice as Liverpool demolished Crystal Palace 7-0 at Selhurst Park with Roberto Firmino also netting twice for the Reds while Manchester United destroyed Leeds United 6-2 at Old Trafford with Scott McTominay scoring twice in the first 3 minutes of the match and Tottenham lost 2-0 at home to Leicester. A single goal gave Manchester City a win at Southampton while Arsenal lost 2-1 at Everton and 10-man Fulham drew 1-1 at Newcastle. After the sacking of Slaven Bilic, with Sam Allardyce in charge, ten-man West Brom suffered a 3-0 home defeat to Aston Villa for whom Anwar El Ghazi netted twice while Sheffield United, who were also reduced to 10 players, drew 1-1 at Brighton. On Monday Burnley enjoyed a 2-1 home win over Wolves and Chelsea broke West Ham down 3-0 at Stamford Bridge with a late double from Tammy Abraham.  

Week 15 – Manchester United twice took the lead but came away from Leicester with a 2-2 draw while Arsenal enjoyed a 3-1 home win over Chelsea and Crystal Palace were beaten 3-0 at Aston Villa who played the second half with ten players. Sheffield United fell to a late goal at home to Everton while Manchester City put 2 past their visitors from Newcastle and Southampton drew 0-0 at Fulham. On Sunday, West Bromwich Albion earned a 1-1 draw at Liverpool while Tottenham drew 1-1 at Wolves and an early penalty gave Leeds a win at home to Burnley.  West Ham had to twice come from behind at the London Olympic Stadium to draw against Brighton.  

Week 16 – The fixtures continued without a breather and on Monday there were 1-1 draws for Leicester at Crystal Palace and Chelsea at home to Aston Villa. On Tuesday Leeds United battered West Brom 5-0 at the Hawthorns while Arsenal won 1-0 at Brighton and there were 1-0 home wins for Burnley against Sheffield United and for Manchester United over Wolves. West Ham played a goalless match at Southampton. With Manchester City’s match at Everton and Fulham’s fixture at Tottenham being postponed, the year ended with a goalless draw between Newcastle and Liverpool on Wednesday evening.

Week 17 – The year began on Friday with a late goal handing Everton a home defeat against West Ham while Manchester United were 2-1 winners at home to Aston Villa. On Saturday, Leeds United lost 3-0 at Tottenham who finished the match with 10 players and Brighton pulled back a 2 goal deficit to draw 3-3 at home to Wolves while Alexandre Lacazette netted twice for Arsenal who eased 4-0 past West Brom on their travels and Sheffield United lost 2-0 at Crystal Palace. On Sunday Chelsea lost 3-1 at home to Manchester City while Leicester won 2-1 at Newcastle and with Fulham’s match at Burnley being called off, on Monday Liverpool lost to an early goal at Southampton.

Week 18 – A cluster of matches were played in midweek with Sheffield United picking up their first win of the season with a penalty at home to Newcastle while a single goal took Manchester United to the top of the table with a win at Burnley and Wolves lost 2-1 at home to Everton. One goal was enough to give Manchester City a home win over Brighton while Fulham drew 1-1 at Tottenham and Arsenal drew blanks at home to Crystal Palace.  

Week 19 – Two Matheus Pereira penalties helped West Bromwich Albion to a 3-2 win at Wolves while Leeds lost 1-0 at home to Brighton and Burnley lost by the result to an early goal at West Ham. Fulham, who played half the match with 10 players, lost 1-0 at home to Chelsea while Leicester City were 2-0 winners against their visitors from Southampton. The clash at the top of the table between Liverpool and Manchester United ended goalless while Tottenham returned from bottom of the table Sheffield United with a 3-1 win and John Stones netted twice as Manchester City put 4 past Crystal Palace at the Etihad. While Everton’s match at Aston Villa was postponed, on Monday evening Newcastle lost to 3 second-half goals at Arsenal with 2 coming from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Week 20 - Leading up to the FA Cup weekend, several Premier League matches were played before week 20 began the following week. Leicester City enjoyed a 2-0 win at home to Chelsea and West Ham were 2-1 winners over their visitors from West Brom while Aston Villa lost 2-0 at Manchester City and Manchester United came from an early setback to win 2-1 at Fulham. On Thursday evening Burnley stunned Liverpool 1-0 at Anfield and on Saturday Newcastle were beaten 2-0 at Aston Villa. Week 20 was played in midweek and Manchester City moved to the top after a thumping 5-0 win at West Brom with Ilkay Gundogan netting twice for the visitors while Arsenal came from an early goal down to win 3-1 at Southampton and Leeds United were 2-1 winners at Newcastle. Bottom-of-the-table Sheffield United shocked Manchester United 2-1 at Old Trafford while Crystal Palace scored an early and late goal but lost 3-2 at home to West Ham with Tomas Soucek claiming a double for the Hammers and while Leicester City drew 1-1 at Everton, Chelsea drew blanks at home to Wolves in Thomas Tuchel’s first match in charge of the Londoners and Fulham’s visit to Brighton also ended goalless. On Thursday evening, Tottenham lost 3-1 at home to Liverpool.

London calling

 

After ten weeks Tottenham and Chelsea make up the top 3 in the Premier League with champions Liverpool sandwiched in between behind Spurs on goal difference.

 

Week 1 - After a short break the Premier League began with Arsenal netting 3 times at Fulham without reply while a single goal gave Crystal Palace a win over their visitors from Southampton and Newcastle were 2-0 winners at West Ham. In the most eagerly anticipated match of the week, Mo Salah converted 2 spot kicks to complete his hat-trick at Liverpool in a thrilling 4-3 win over newly promoted Leeds United. On Sunday, Jamie Vardy scored 2 penalties to help Leicester City to a 3-0 win at West Brom and Tottenham lost 1-0 at home to Everton while on Monday evening 2 early goals settled the match in Wolves’ favour at Sheffield United and Chelsea returned from Brighton with a 3-1 victory. Manchester City v Aston Villa and Burnley v Manchester United were postponed due to the Manchester clubs’ relatively recent involvement in European competitions.

Week 2 – In a high-scoring week, Heung-min Son scored 4 times for Tottenham as they came from a goal down to win 5-2 at Southampton for whom Danny Ings scored both goals and Everton came from a goal down at home to 10-man West Brom to win 5-2 with a hat-trick from Dominic Calvert-Lewin while Aleksandar Mitrovic scored twice for Fulham who lost 4-3 at Leeds United with Helder Costa netting a double for the hosts. Wilfried Zaha bagged a brace as Manchester United started their campaign with a 3-1 defeat at home to Crystal Palace and Sadio Mane scored both goals of the match in Liverpool’s win at Chelsea while Neal Maupay scored twice for Brighton, who finished the match with 10 men, as they enjoyed a 3-0 victory at Newcastle. Burnley took the lead but lost 4-2 at Leicester and West Ham lost 2-1 at Arsenal while on Monday a single goal gave Aston Villa a home win against 10-man Sheffield United who had a penalty saved and Manchester City began their season with a 3-1 win at Wolves.  

Week 3 – Manchester United were pegged back to 2-2 in stoppage time at Brighton but converted a winning penalty awarded by VAR after the final whistle while Chelsea, who were 3 down at half time thanks to a brace from Callum Robinson, scored a last-minute equaliser at West Brom for the Premier League’s first draw of the season. An early goal gave Southampton all 3 points at Burnley and Leeds United enjoyed the same result with a late goal at Sheffield United while Crystal Palace lost 2-1 at home to Everton. Leicester City converted 3 spot kicks, 2 by Jamie Vardy who claimed a hat-trick, as Manchester City took an early lead but were pummelled 5-2 on their own patch while Wolves were hammered 4-0 at West Ham for whom Jarrod Bowen stuck twice and a controversial last-minute penalty gave Newcastle a 1-1 draw at Tottenham. On Monday Aston Villa were 3-0 winners at Fulham while Arsenal took the lead at Liverpool but ended the night 3-1 losers.  

Week 4 – In a weekend of freak results, Mo Salah scored twice for Liverpool at Aston Villa who took the champions apart 7-2 with a hat-trick from Ollie Watkins and a double from Jack Grealish while Manchester United, who were later reduced to 10 men, converted a first-minute penalty but were trashed 6-1 by Tottenham for whom Heung-min Son and Harry Kane scored 2 apiece at Old Trafford. Leicester City lost 3-0 at home to West Ham United while Crystal Palace were beaten 4-0 at Chelsea with Jorginho succeeding twice from the penalty spot and Manchester City drew 1-1 at Leeds United. James Rodriguez netted a brace for Everton who stay at the top of table with a 4-2 home win over Brighton while Arsenal defeated Sheffield United 2-1 at the Emirates and 2 goals from Callum Wilson helped Newcastle to a 3-1 win at home to Burnley. West Brom lost 2-0 at Southampton and Fulham fell 1-0 at Wolves.

Week 5 – Everton, who finished the match with ten men, dropped their first points of the season in a 2-2 draw at home to Liverpool while Chelsea took a 3 goal lead with the help of a double from Timo Werner, but were pegged back to 3-3 by their visitors from Southampton and Arsenal lost 1-0 at Manchester City. Manchester United came from an early own-goal down to win 4-1 at Newcastle United with 3 goals in the last minutes of the match while a Harry Kane brace helped Tottenham to an early 3-0 lead against West Ham who began their comeback with 8 minutes remaining and earned a 3-3 draw with the last kick of the match with a bullet into the top corner. Fulham drew 1-1 at Sheffield United as did Brighton, who finished with 10 men, with a last-minute penalty at Crystal Palace while Aston Villa broke the deadlock with a stoppage-time goal at Leicester. On Monday evening Leeds were beaten 1-0 at home to Wolves and Burnley played a goalless match at West Brom.

Week 6 – Aston Villa’s perfect run was ended abruptly at home to Leeds united on Friday evening with a hat-trick from Patrick Bamford. On Saturday, Manchester City drew 1-1 at West Ham while Manchester United and Chelsea drew blanks at Old Trafford and there were 2-1 wins for Crystal Palace at Fulham who ended the match with 10 players and for Liverpool who came from behind at home to Sheffield United. On Sunday, 10-man Everton lost 2-0 at Southampton while Arsenal, who had a goal controversially disallowed, lost 1-0 at home to Leicester and Newcastle drew 1-1 at Wolves. In the Monday matches, West Brom drew 1-1 at Brighton and Tottenham were 1-0 winners at Burnley.

Week 7 – On Friday evening, Crystal Palace ended the match with 10 players having lost 2-0 at Wolves while on Saturday a single goal gave Manchester City a win at Sheffield United, Chelsea scored 3 times without reply at Burnley and Liverpool came from behind to beat West Ham 2-1 at Anfield. On Sunday, Aston Villa mounted a comeback with 3 goals but lost 4-3 to Southampton with James Ward-Prowse having netted a double for the visitors while Arsenal were 1-0 winners at Manchester United and a brace from Callum Wilson gave Newcastle a 2-1 home win over Everton while Brighton lost 2-1 at Tottenham. On Monday evening, West Brom lost 2-0 at Fulham and Leeds suffered a crushing 4-1 defeat at home to Leicester for whom Youri Tielemans scored twice.

Week 8 – The fixtures began on Friday with a goalless draw between Brighton and Burnley followed by a 2-0 win for Southampton at home to Newcastle. On Saturday, Bruno Fernandes scored twice as Manchester United came from a goal down to win 3-1 at Everton while Leeds United were pummelled 4-1 at Crystal Palace and Chelsea bounced back from an early setback at the Bridge to defeat Sheffield United 4-1 while Fulham failed to level from the spot after hosts West Ham United had broken the deadlock in stoppage time. On Sunday, Liverpool drew 1-1 at Manchester City while Arsenal were embarrassed 3-0 at home to Aston Villa, for whom Ollie Watkins netted twice, and there were 1-0 wins for Tottenham with a late goal at West Brom and for Leicester at home to Wolves.  

Week 9 – Tottenham defeated Manchester City 2-0 in London against the run of play to end the week top on goal difference ahead of Liverpool who were 3-0 winners at home to Leicester while Chelsea won 2-0  at Newcastle and Aston Villa lost 2-1 at home to Brighton who ended the match with 10 men. A single goal from a retaken penalty gave Manchester United all 3 points at home to West Brom and Arsenal’s failure to score continued as their ten men drew 0-0 at Leeds while West Ham scored a single goal to win at Sheffield United. Dominic Calvert-Lewin netted a brace in Everton’s 3-2 win at Fulham while on Monday evening Crystal Palace lost to an early goal at Burnley and Southampton drew 1-1 at Wolverhampton wanderers.

Week 10 – Two goals in the last 2 minutes on Friday evening gave Newcastle a win at Crystal Palace while on Saturday, having missed a penalty, Brighton converted a stoppage-time spot kick to earn a 1-1 draw at home to Liverpool. Riyad Mahrez claimed a hat-trick as Manchester City battered Burnley 5-0 at the Etihad while there were 1-0 wins for Leeds United at Everton and West Brom at home to Sheffield United. On Sunday, Edinson Cavani completed his double with the winner in stoppage time as Manchester United came from 2 down at half time to win 3-2 at Southampton while Tottenham drew 0-0 at Chelsea and Arsenal were beaten 2-1 at home to Wolves. On Monday, Fulham celebrated a 2-1 victory at Leicester and West Ham enjoyed the same result at home to Aston Villa.