Liverpool maintained their spot at the top of the Premier League by beating bitter rivals Manchester United, but it was the end of a long unbeaten run for Unai Emery’s Arsenal. Here are our winners and losers from the English top-flight matches this weekend.
Winners:
Attacking football
Manchester City and Liverpool have established themselves as the two most potent attacking forces in England over the last two years or so. It is no coincidence that they are now starting to pull away into a two-horse race for the title this season. They were rampant over the weekend, as they both registered 3-1 wins over Everton and Manchester United respectively.
Liverpool
City played the first match of the weekend and momentarily leapfrogged Liverpool at the top of the standings, but the Reds were back in the lead following their massive win. Jürgen Klopp appears to have finally resolved all the issues that have held back the Anfield team from a genuine tilt at the championship.
Gabriel Jesus
It has been a rollercoaster few months for Gabriel Jesus. After leading the line for Brazil at the World Cup in Russia, the young City striker had a difficult start to the season back at his club. As he struggled for form, Pep Guardiola opted to start the season with Sergio Aguero as his first choice forward. He scored two goals against Everton, his first in the league since match day two when the Citizens played Huddersfield Town.
Losers:
José Mourinho
At just about any other top club in the world, José Mourinho would have almost certainly been shown the door by now. It appears as though that will not be the case at Old Trafford, at least not just yet. His two predecessors were fired after their respective failure to qualify for the Champions League had been confirmed. With United now a whopping 11 points behind Chelsea in fourth, it looks like a question of when – not if – the Portuguese’s under par tenure will end.
Arsenal
Southampton produced the shock of the weekend when goals from Danny Ings (two) and Charlie Austin condemned Arsenal to a 3-2 defeat. The result lifted the Saints from the relegation zone, but at the same time ended the Gunners’ 22-match unbeaten run in all competitions. It was also a bit of a blow to the top four hopes for Unai Emery’s side.
Burnley and Huddersfield
As the battle against relegation heats up, Burnley and Huddersfield find themselves in a spot of bother. The Clarets conceded a late goal from Christian Eriksen as they lost 1-0 to Tottenham at Wembley, while Newcastle United beat Huddersfield by the same score line at the John Smith Stadium. These defeats were made worse by the fact that their relegation rivals Southampton and Crystal Palace (and of course Newcastle) all won. The two sides are now ranked 18th and 19th in the standings respectively.