Premier League: Saturday results & Sunday/Monday predictions – Gameweek 6
After a brief pause for some Carabao Cup ‚fun‘, the Premier League has returned – and boy have we had some cracking games already.
Title contenders Chelsea and Manchester City had the chance to send a message to the rest of the league when they met early on Saturday, and it was the latter who did just that with a narrow win at Stamford Bridge.
There were also impressive wins for Aston Villa, West Ham and Everton, while Brentford held Liverpool to a thrilling 3-3 draw. Leicester, Burnley, Watford and Newcastle also shared the spoils in their respective games.
Sunday offers up a north London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham, before the action is rounded off by bitter rivals Crystal Palace and Brighton on Monday night – which should be played out in front of a raucous Selhurst Park crowd.
Manchester City made their title intentions known as they walked all over Chelsea en route to a comfortable 1-0 victory.
Pep Guardiola’s men dominated the game from start to finish and could have easily had a few goals, but they had to settle for Gabriel Jesus‘ scrappy strike early in the second half to deliver all the points.
Chelsea did not even manage a shot on target and lost Reece James to an ankle injury early in the second half. A bad day at the office.
Read the player ratings for Chelsea vs Man City here.
Manchester United had plenty of shots on goal but could not find a way through Aston Villa, who snatched the victory late in the day thanks to a strike from Kourtney Hause.
Hause’s goal wasn’t the end of the fun, however, as United were awarded a late penalty which was surprisingly taken by Bruno Fernandes, who fought off Cristiano Ronaldo to keep his place as the team’s first-choice taker.
The result? He skied it over the bar. Awkward.
Read the player ratings from Man Utd vs Aston Villa here.
Everton put a difficult week behind them with a 2-0 win over Norwich, who are now rooted to the bottom of the table with six defeats out of six.
The victory ensures the Toffees‘ 100% home record this season remains intact, and was handed to them by a first-half penalty from Andros Townsend and a second half goal from Abdoulaye Doucoure.
The hosts were good value for their win, but Daniel Farke is still scratching his head and wondering how he’ll bring to an end a streak of 16 successive Premier League defeats.
Read the player ratings from Everton vs Norwich here.
West Ham fought back from a goal down to beat Leeds 2-1 at Elland Road, courtesy of a dramatic late winner from Michail Antonio.
The home side had taken the lead through Raphinha, who punished a costly Tomas Soucek error with a terrific low drive into the corner.
But David Moyes‘ Hammers were the better team for much of the game, and despite Illan Meslier making a string of saves, got back on terms via a deflected Jarrod Bowen effort. They then sealed the points at the death, with Antonio superbly taking Declan Rice’s pass into his stride before coolly skipping through on goal to score.
Read the player ratings from Leeds vs West Ham here.
Jamie Vardy had an eventful day to say the least at King Power Stadium – scoring twice as well as netting an own goal in a 2-2 draw with Burnley, who had a Chris Wood winner ruled out for offside in added time.
Vardy opened the scoring at the wrong end, glancing home a Burnley corner, before he atoned from his mistake with a typical run in behind and low finish.
The Clarets pulled ahead again soon after through a superb Maxwel Cornet effort, but Vardy was again on hand to level in the second half – rounding Nick Pope before slotting home from an acute angle. Wood thought he’d won it for the visitors, only to see the flag go up and deny Sean Dyche’s side their first three points of the season.
Read the player ratings from Leicester vs Burnley here.
Watford and Newcastle played out an entertaining 1-1 draw at Vicarage Road, which saw another late winner ruled out for offside.
The visitors were hot out of the blocks and took the lead through a blockbusting Sean Longstaff effort – although having watched the replay, goalkeeper Ben Foster will be bitterly disappointed that he didn’t shovel his powerful drive around the post.
Ismaila Sarr responded for Watford with less than 20 minutes remaining, continuing his hot streak of form with a firm header at the back post, before Josh King thought he’d won it with his first goal for the club – only to see his effort ruled out for offside.
Read the player ratings from Watford vs Newcastle here.
Brentford continued their sensational start to the season as they twice came from behind to a earn 3-3 draw with leaders Liverpool.
Thomas Frank promised prior to kick off that his team would attack Liverpool, and so it proved as they took the game to Jurgen Klopp’s side, They were rewarded with the game’s opening goal, tapped in at the back post by Ethan Pinnock after good work from Sergi Canos and Ivan Toney.
Diogo Jota levelled soon after for the Reds, and they hit the front nine minutes into the second half through Mohamed Salah – his 100th Premier League goal for the club. Vitaly Janelt got Brentford swiftly back on terms but they were soon behind again, this time after a wonderful finish from Curtis Jones.
But a well-deserved point was claimed eight minutes from time, as Yoane Wissa climbed off the bench to coolly dink over Alisson in front of a boisterous full house.
Read the player ratings from Brentford vs Liverpool here.
When is it being played? Sunday 26 September, 14:00 (BST)
Where is the match being played? St Mary’s Stadium
TV channel? BT Sport 1 (UK), Peacock Premium (US), DAZN (Canada)
Highlights? BT Sport YouTube Channel (UK), Match of the Day 2 (BBC – UK)
Referee? Andy Madley
VAR? Paul Tierney
15th will host 16th when Wolves make the trip to the south coast to meet Southampton in Sunday’s opener.
Despite being higher up in the table, Southampton are still searching for their first win of the campaign and are on a run of four straight draws, the last two of which have both been 0-0.
Wolves, on the other hand, have lost four of their opening five games but have at least picked up three points. With both sides struggling, expect the spoils to be shared.
Prediction: Southampton 1-1 Wolves
When is it being played? Sunday 26 September, 16:30 (BST)
Where is the match being played? Emirates Stadium
What TV channel is it on? Sky Sports Main Event (UK), fuboTV (US), DAZN (Canada)
Highlights? Sky Sports YouTube Channel (UK), Match of the Day 2 (BBC – UK)
Referee? Craig Pawson
VAR? Stuart Attwell
It’s derby season as Arsenal and Tottenham continue their legendary rivalry in Sunday’s headline game.
Both sides are in pretty uninspiring form, but form almost always goes out of the window in north London derbies and these two are about as tricky to predict as any side you’ll find across Europe.
These derbies always produce goals, controversy and a boatload of drama, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Read 90min’s preview of the game here.
Prediction: Arsenal 2-2 Tottenham
When is it being played? Monday 27 September, 20:00 (BST)
Where is the match being played? Selhurst Park
What TV channel is it on? Sky Sports Main Event (UK), fuboTV (US), DAZN (Canada)
Highlights? Sky Sports YouTube Channel (UK)
Referee? Andre Marriner
VAR? Chris Kavanagh
High-flying Brighton go in search of their fifth win of the campaign when they head to Selhurst Park to meet Patrick Vieira’s Crystal Palace.
Graham Potter’s men have exceeded expectations so far this year, picking up four wins from five games, and they’ll fancy their chances of adding three more points against a Palace side who haven’t figured themselves out thus far.
Memories of their 3-0 win over Spurs were abruptly dismissed when Palace fell 3-0 to Liverpool last time out. There might not be as many goals in this one, but the visitors may edge a cagey affair.
Prediction: Crystal Palace 1-2 Brighton
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