Trouble at the Top

Arsenal have ended their winning run, keeping the Premier League title still at arm’s length. They are among the other top teams struggling to catch Liverpool and Manchester City.

Liverpool defeated Cardiff City 4-1, with goals from Salah (10′), Mané (66′, 87′) and Shaqiri (84′). This took them to the top of the table with 26 points.

It was then the job of the other top teams to keep in reach. Chelsea, without Hazard even playing, crushed Burnley 4-0 to reach 24 points. Morata, Barkley, Willian and Loftus-Cheek were all on the scoresheet.

Arsenal was meant to continue their winning run, which was 11 games strong, to remain on the same points as the Blues. However, their busy game schedule had clearly caught up with them.

The Gunners drew 2-2 with Crystal Palace after foolishly conceding two penalties! They ended their own winning streak and are now 4 points away from the top of the table because of it.

Manchester City humbled Tottenham with a single goal from Mahrez in the 6th minute. Not only did City catch up to Liverpool in points, they went top of the table on goal difference while keeping Spurs outside of the top four.

Tottenham are not even the worse off. Manchester United are down at 8th place, and this is after having defeated Everton 2-1.

The title race has been highly thought to be a competition between Liverpool and Manchester City. However, could other teams prove that this is not the case?

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And it continues

Most teams seem to have a trend that they have set for themselves and can not break. The results of the Champions League and Europa League matches proves this.

Manchester City continue being the pride of Manchester after they defeated Shakhtar Donetsk 3-0. They are currently topping group F and, with the spectacular football they are playing, it does not look like they will be moving from that position.

Mourinho, on the other hand, is still struggling to keep United afloat. His team lost 0-1 to Juventus after conceding a goal to Dybala. Perhaps the worse thing about it all was that it was Ronaldo, a former United legend, who assisted the goal.

Tottenham also failed to win their Champions League match, drawing 2-2 with PSV Eindhoven. Spurs are 3rd in group B and only have 1 point. It is extremely unlikely that they will progress into the knockout stages.

Instead, they will end up in Europa League, a competition in which the London clubs are excelling in. Having won their Premier League match against Leicester (3-1) to enter into the top four, Arsenal continued their winning spree.

The Gunners remain top of group E after defeating Sporting 1-0, with a goal from Welbeck in the 77th minute. They have now won 11 games in a row in all competitons.

Chelsea are also topping their group, and very comfortably at that. A hattrick from Loftus-Cheek secured their win against BATE Borisov.

Generally, the teams doing well can not stop performing well; but those performing poorly seem stuck in a rut. Mourinho, without a doubt, is now a very frustrated manager.

Barkley Back at it Again

Mourinho’s Manchester United failed to win a brutal battle against Chelsea. This was all down to Barkley, a player that has been key in the Blues’ recent matches. Mourinho, of course, was not impressed.

Rüdiger gave Chelsea the lead against United in the 21st minute, and the Blues carried this lead into second half. With the dominance the home team had shown during the first half, many thought that they would wrap up their victory in the second half.

This was not the case. United actually came from behind to take the lead after Martial scored the equaliser in the 55th minute and followed it up with another goal in the 73rd. Mourinho was overjoyed, but he did not celebrate too much in order to show respect to the fans of his former team, Chelsea.

However, when Barkley scored the equalising goal for the Blues in the final minute of extra time, the fans were over the moon and did not hesitate to show it. In fact, the over exaggerated celebration of one of the Chelsea staff members caused Mourinho to react furiously and engage in a heated confrontation.

It is never easy when top teams face each other. Everyone gets very emotional. Although, all is excused because that is the spirit of football!

Tight at the Top

After a great performance by the top Premier League clubs last weekend, the race for the Premier League title has become even more intense. Although many might still think the race is still only between Manchester City and Liverpool, the table does not present that picture.

Manchester City went up against Liverpool in a tough battle to be top of the PL table. However, the game ended without a goal being scored by either side. As Chelsea defeated Southampton 3-0,with goals from Hazard, Barkley and Morata, they are now joint at the top of the table on 20 points with Manchester City and Liverpool!

Arsenal, who had a rough start to the season, are now just two points below these three teams. This is due to an astonishing 5-1 victory over Fulham, with goals from Lacazette, Ramsey and Aubameyang.

Tottenham are also on the same points as Arsenal, having won their match against Cardiff. Even they stand a chance at top four and are well in reach of the Premier League title.

Manchester United are the only top team that are not in the race at this time. Mourinho has come under a lot of criticism. Luckily, his team managed to come back from being 2-0 down against Newcastle to winning the match 3-2. This sort of turnaround shows that there is still hope for United.

At this stage, it would be best to keep an open-mind. Of course City could go on to win the title again, but their competitors are stronger this season! It will not be an easy ride.

The Struggle is Real

Once again, we have English teams that are struggling to compete in the Champions League. Apart from Manchester City, no other Premier League team managed to win their match.

Manchester City came from behind to defeat Hoffenheim 2-1. Belfodil gave City’s opponents the lead in the very first minute of the match!

However, the shock was dealt with well by Aguero who equalised for City in the 7th minute. Silva eventually managed to net the winner in the 87th.

Unfortunately, Manchester United failed to do the same. They ended their game against Valencia with a goalless draw. United are still in the top two of group H, but such a result has served to increase the pressure on manager Mourinho.

Liverpool almost managed to maintain a draw against Napoli, until they conceded a very late goal. Insigne netted a goal for Napoli in the 90th minute, allowing Liverpool’s opponents to steal all three points from the game!

Unsurprisingly, Barcelona crushed Tottenham 4-2. Coutinho gave Barcelona the lead in only the second minute of the match. Despite goals from Kane and Lamela, the famous Messi was still netting goals for Barcelona up until the 90th minute.

Spurs still have no points, and it is looking unlikely that they will progress to the next stage of the Champions League. If this becomes the case, they will be joining Arsenal and Chelsea in the Europa League.

This might not be such a bad thing. Both the Gunners and the Blues have been performing well and are topping their groups. Chelsea defeated MOL Vidi 1-0 with a goal from Morata in the 70th minute; and Arsenal, using mostly academy players, defeated Qarabag 3-1! Incredible!

Perhaps the Chanpions League is just too big a test for the Premier League teams. The Europa League, however, is definitely not.

Closer than ever

The race for the Premier League title has become more intensified. Some top teams have been dropping points; while others have been gaining.

Chelsea had to face off against Liverpool, a team who had gone unbeaten in the Premier League up until this match. Hazard was quick to give the Blues the lead in the 25th minute.

However, they were unable to hold on to it. Sturridge eventually equalised for Liverpool in the 89th minute! Although Liverpool did not lose the match, they dropped points for the first time.

They allowed Manchester City to catch up to them on the table. Manchester City joined Liverpool on 19 points after defeating Brighton 2-0, with goals from Sterling and Agüero.

Arsenal also managed to defeat Watford 2-0, after being given the lead through an own goal. They are now only four points off the top of the table.

Even Tottenham is in the top four after Kane netted two goals against Huddersfield. The only top team not in the race at the moment is Manchester United.

Manchester United have 10 points and are sitting at 10th place on the Premier League table after losing 3-1 to West Ham! It has been a terrible start to the season for Mourinho’s team.

This Premier League season will clearly not be easy. For this reason, the race for the title will be very exciting and very rewarding.

Football League Triumphs for the London Clubs

Both Arsenal and Chelsea won their English Football League match. Chelsea’s win proved even more triumphant as they had to face off against Liverpool.

Arsenal destroyed Brentford 3-1 in the third round of the Carabao cup. The first goal was scored by Welbeck in the 5th minute. He also went on to score the second.

Judge managed to claim a goal back for the oppostion. However, this was overshadowed by Arsenal’s final goal, which Lacazette netted in extra time.

Sturridge expectedly gave Liverpool the lead in the 58th minute. However, this did not phase Chelsea, who made a stunning comeback.

Emerson netted the equaliser for the Blues in the 79th minute and Hazard scored the late winner in the 89th. This was a shocking turnaround, which every Blues’ fan would rejoice over.

Arsenal and Chelsea are now into the fourth round of the EFL Cup. Although, the Blues should not take a breath yet; they have to face Liverpool again in the Premier League this weekend.

Wide Open

Liverpool now remain the only club to have not lost any points after six games. Chelsea ended their winning streak with a goalless draw against West Ham.

Manchester United also drew their weekend match. Despite scoring a goal, United conceded a goal against Wolves and could not recover.

The struggles of these two clubs were seemingly not felt by the other big teams, who won their matches effortlessly. Arsenal defeated Everton 2-0; Manchester City destroyed Cardiff in a 5-0 extravaganza; and Liverpool even crushed Southampton 3-0.

It is clear that the Premier League is very unpredictable. With teams rising and falling, the race for the title might even be more intense than we first thought.

Good Start

Both Arsenal and Chelsea won their first Europa League match of the season, against Vorskla Poltava and PAOK Salonika respectively.

The Gunners won their match by scoring four goals and conceding only two. Aubameyang scored two out of the four goals, while Welbeck and Özil netted the rest.

Chelsea, on the other hand, only used a single, early goal to claim their win. Willian netted the winning goal in the 7th minute of the match.

Both London clubs have shown that they have the potential to go far in this competition. Whether that will affect how they perform in the Premier League as the football season intensifies is currently unknown.

New Competition

Manchester United and Manchester City both played their first Champions League match of the season against Young Boys and Lyon respectively.

Despite the pressure Young Boys put on United at the start of the match, they failed to score a goal. In fact, it was not long before they conceded a goal and kept on conceding.

Pogba gave United the lead in the 35th minute. He then doubled this lead after converting a penalty in the 44th. The final goal was netted by Martial in the second half.

Manchester United might have been victorious, but City could not say the same. They conceded two goals in the first half, and only managed to get one goal back in the second half.

It could be taken into consideration that City’s manager, Pep Guardiola was serving a touchline ban and could not give directions to his team. Instead, he watched woefully from the stands.

Manchester United are perching at the top of group H, above Juventus on goal difference; whereas, City are sitting at the bottom of group F. It is clear that playing in Europe is a completely different ballgame to playing domestic matches.