Arsenal went to the top of the Premier League on Saturday, beating West Ham United, 2-0, before Liverpool fell to back-to-back league defeats as they lost to Chelsea, 2-1.
Tottenham moved up to third thanks to a hard fought 2-1 win away to Leeds United and there were wins too for Bournemouth and Manchester United on a packed day of action.
The Gunners went top of the table at 5pm on Saturday as they completed a comprehensive 2-0 win at home to Nuno’s West Ham United. Declan Rice opened he scoring against his old team to silence the boo boys in the away end, reacting to guide the ball home after a shot from Eberechi Eze had been blocked. Bukayo Saka doubled the lead, on his 200th appearance for Arsenal, from the penalty spot, after Jurrien Timber had won the spot-kick.
West Ham weren’t really at the races as the Gunners had 69% possession and won the shot counts by 21 to four, and five to nil on target. Nuno has work to do with the Hammers stuck in the relegation places, but there was a note of disappointment too for Arsenal as captain Martin Odegaard picked up another injury, to become the first player in Premier League history to be substituted in three consecutive starts… before half time. He has only just recovered from a niggling shoulder problem and this time Odegaard picked up a knee injury.
It’s hugely frustrating for the player and his teammates so, for Odegaard’s sake let’s hope he has a better run of fitness soon.
Arsenal had done their job and then they looked across to West London where Chelsea capped off a triumphant day for London’s Big Three. Liverpool were hoping to bounce back from two losses, to Crystal Palace and Galatasaray, and the Merseysiders’ task became harder when Moises Caicedo unleashed a thunderbolt which flew into the top left corner, but Cody Gakpo’s second half equaliser looked to have stopped the rot.
That was until, with seconds left on the clock, Brazilian teenager Estevao ghosted in at the far post to slide home an angled drive and lift the roof off Stamford Bridge. Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca ran down the touchline to celebrate with his players and was bizarrely red carded for his show of joy; but nothing could stop the party at the Bridge when the final whistle came.
The SBOTOP Premier League 2025 betting odds backed Liverpool to retain their title, but this race has just been blown wide open.
Deflected strikes are just fine for Tottenham
Thomas Frank’s Spurs moved up the third place as they avoided slipping on a banana skin up at Elland Road, but they needed some help from a couple of deflections. Mathys Tel opened the scoring when he took a pass from Mohammed Kudus and his shot flicked of Pascal Struijk and flew into the net, but then the lively Noak Okafor levelled for Leeds from close range. As the game switched from end to end it could have gone either way, but it was the Londoners who nicked it when Kudus shot, Stuijk deflected and the ball settled again in the net. It was Kudus’ first league goal for Spurs, and now he has made five goal contributions in his first season at Tottenham.
And, in other Premier League 2025 news, Manchester United picked up another win which, before Sunday’s games, took them up into the top half of the table on ten points, remarkably only six off the top. Mason Mount and Benjamin Sesko, with his first goal at Old Trafford sealed the points against the Black Cats, who were short of answers against a side which has talent, but has underachieved. With three league wins now in the bag, Manchester United manager Ruben Amorin needs his team to find consistency.
Cherries are getting ripe
Bournemouth briefly went up to second place in the table on Friday night thanks to a stunning late comeback to beat Fulham 3-1. The Cherries finished Saturday in fourth place following the wins for the North London pair, but only two points behind leaders Arsenal. The Cottagers, without injured strikers Raul Jimenez and Rodrigo Muniz, went ahead through Ryan Sessegnon but Bournemouth soon levelled, as the in-from Antoine Semenyo ran along the bi-line before squeezing the ball past Bernd Leno in the Fulham net.
Bournemouth had the momentum and when they went ahead, it was a scorcher, as Justin Kluivert curled a 30 yard strike into the top corner. Semenyo completed the comeback in stoppage time to make it fours wins and two draws from six, while back-to-back losses dropped Fulham into the bottom half.
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