By Robert Wheeler
- Man City beat Fulham to briefly go top of the league
- Arsenal defeated Chelsea to return to the summit
- Liverpool and Spurs play out a seven-goal thriller
UK – Manchester went top of the Premier League briefly after defeating Fulham. However, Arsenal beat Chelsea to return to the summit of the division.
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Man City go top briefly
With Arsenal not playing until Tuesday, Manchester City went top of the Premier League with a 2-1 victory over Fulham. Erling Haaland got City off the mark from the penalty spot after Tim Ream brought down Julian Alvarez in the box. It was Haaland’s 50th goal in all competitions this season, which is a feat that no player has managed since before the Second World War.
Carlos Vinicius equalised with a smart finish but it was City’s Alvarez who stole the show. Having won the penalty earlier on, the Argentine then netted the winner with a fantastic strike from outside the box.
Pep Guardiola‘s side is now second after Arsenal’s 3-1 victory over Chelsea but City do still have two games in hand on the Gunners. They will return to the top of the division if they beat West Ham United on Wednesday.
As for Fulham, they are now 10th in the division, with European football now likely to be out of reach. Marco Silva‘s side have had a promising season but their infamous defeat to Manchester United in the FA Cup and their mixed results of late has been disappointing.
Arsenal return to the top
With Manchester City’s win putting them top of the league, the pressure was on Arsenal to beat Chelsea to return to the top for now. Playing against Frank Lampard‘s side was either going to be a great game to play given the Blues’ current form or it could have been a banana skin that would have surely ended any of the Gunners’ title hopes.
In the end, it was a comfortable 3-1 victory for Mikel Arteta‘s side. Martin Odegaard struck twice both from Granit Xhaka’s crosses to give them a two-goal lead. Gabriel Jesus then bundled the ball in to make it three before halftime.
Noni Madueke got one back for Chelsea in the second half but it ended up being just a consolation goal. Lampard’s side is now an embarrassing 12th in the division. Even Crystal Palace who were threatened with relegation before Roy Hodgson took over are now above them.
Arsenal is back at the top but it could be the last time we say that. City play one of their game in hand against West Ham on Wednesday and that could be the game where Guardiola’s side put one hand on the trophy.
Liverpool and Spurs thriller
Tottenham Hotspur fans would have had a sense of deja vu from their last away match against Newcastle when they went three goals down at Anfield within the opening 15 minutes. Curtis Jones and Luis Diaz both scored tap-ins before Mohamed Salah converted from the penalty spot to give Liverpool a comfortable lead.
Harry Kane got one back just before halftime to give Ryan Mason‘s side a glimmer of hope. Heung-Min Son and Cristian Romero both struck the woodwork after the break before Son finally found the back of the net to make it 3-2. Spurs then got a late equaliser when Richarlison headed in from Son’s free-kick. The Brazilian celebrated wildly in front of the away supporters thinking that he had rescued a point.
However, a mistake from Lucas Moura allowed Diogo Jota to score the winner. The Portuguese forward made it 4-3 and he possibly should not have been on the pitch after his high foot on Oliver Skipp could have been deemed a red card.
Jurgen Klopp‘s side leapfrogged Spurs into 5th place in the league and they remain with an outside chance of finishing in the top four. Qualifying for the Champions League would rescue what would have been a very disappointing season for the Reds.
Predictions vs actual results:
| Rob’s prediction | Actual result |
| Fulham 3-0 Man City | Fulham 2-1 Man City |
| Arsenal 2-0 Chelsea | Arsenal 3-1 Chelsea |
| Liverpool 1-2 Tottenham | Liverpool 4-3 Tottenham |
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