Match reports:
Updated
The final whistles have sounded around the land. Man City have puled out another victory thanks to Raheem Sterling; Wayne Rooney scored a brilliant hat-trick to give Everton renewed hope as Sam Allardyce prepares to take charge, and give West Ham the sort of feeling that Sunderland fans got to know all too well last season; Arsenal thrashed Huddersfield, whose away blues go on; Burnley’s rise continues thanks to excellence by Robbie Brady; and Mohamed Salah shines again for Liverpool, springing off the bench to help himself to another two goals. This Premier League lark is a doddle to him. Here are the final scores:
Arsenal 5-0 Huddersfield
Bournemouth 1-2 Burnley
Chelsea 1-0 Swansea
Everton 4-0 West Ham
Man City 2-1 Southampton
Stoke 0-3 Liverpool
GOAL! Man City 2-1 Southampton (Sterling 90+6)
He’s done it again! Sterling snatches victory with a magnificent curler from long range! That’s his fifth winning goal of the season and further proof that he is world class!
I’ve just seen a replay of Rooney’s third goal. It really is a marvel.
Man City are streaming forward in search of a winner but so far Southampton are a darn good dam.
“Arsenal scored five, Man United scored four yesterday so I’m hoping for a goal feast on Saturday, but am prepared for a 0-0 with a big red bus packed at one end,” sighs Kelvin.
Results:
Arsenal 5-0 Huddersfield
Bournemouth 1-2 Burnley
Chelsea 1-0 Swansea
GOAL! Stoke 0-3 Liverpool (Salah 81)
Salah pinches the ball off Pieters and runs through at Grant before finishing with ease. Egypt for the World Cup.
Updated
“With Wayne Rooney scoring a hat-trick, the message to Gareth Southgate from Goodison Park today is clear,” announces Matt Emerson. “Drop Joe Hart.”
GOAL! Everton 4-0 West Ham (Williams 78)
The Welshman heads into the net, confirming a delightful evening for him and his beleaguered team. It’s not that sort of feelgood factor that David Moyes intended to bring after joining West Ham. Unsworth for England.
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GOAL! Stoke 0-2 Liverpool (Salah 77)
Having only recently come off the bench, the Egyptian does what he always does. Now the question is: can Liverpool not do what they often do, and hold on for the win?
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GOAL! Man City 1-1 Southampton (Romeu 75)
Delph gets lost under a cross, Boufal cuts the ball back to Romeu, who lashes it into the net! Are City about to drop points for only the second time this season? Might Southampton even snatch the win?
Updated
“Next manager to be sacked in the Premier League ... David Moyes?” wonders David Bertram.West ham’s next three fixtures are against Chelsea, Man City and Arsenal.
GOAL! Arsenal 5-0 Huddersfield (Giroud 88)
Kolasinac juggles his way into the box but doesn’t get the chance to cown his trickery with a goal, because the ball runs away from him and Giroud whacks it into the net instead.
Updated
GOAL! Motherwell 1-1 Celtic (Sinclair pen 88)
Brendan Rodgers: still unbeatable.
Penalty to Celtic
McGregor goes down during a goalmouth scramble and the ref points to the spot. It’s a perfect chance for Celtic to maintain their unbeaten record ...
GOAL! Everton 3-0 West Ham (Rooney 66)
Rooney bags his hat-trick by spanking the ball into the net from inside his own half! In the 66th minute and just a couple of days before the World Cup draw .... the message is clear, right Gareth Southgate?
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Aguero misses a chance to secure victory for City, heading inches over after a freekick by De Bruyne.
GOAL! Bournemouth 1-2 Burnley (King 74)
Defoe feeds King, who smacks the ball into the net to give Bournemouth hope of an unlikely comeback.
Updated
GOAL! Motherwell 1-0 Celtic (Lustig of 78)
A major shock on the cards in Scotland, where Celtic have 12 minutes to save their mighty record of invincibility!
With 15 minutes to go at the Emirates, Huddersfield are on the ropes, and there’s no sign of Arsenal relenting. This could get obscene...
Here’s how things stand at the moment:
Arsenal 4-0 Huddersfield
Bournemouth 0-2 Burnley
Chelsea 1-0 Swansea
Everton 2-0 West Ham
Stoke 0-1 Liverpool
Man City 1-0 Southampton
Updated
Penalty to West Ham!
Williams takes down Sakho .... but Pickford saves Lanzini’s spotkick. Oh, David Moyes!
“Just in reply to how Real etc will deal with Robbie Brady next year, I imagine it will much in the same way the likes of Brazil and Germany will deal with him at next summer’s World Cup,” spews Barry McAuley, who never dreams and has no compassion.
GOAL! Arsenal 4-0 Huddersfield (Ozil 72)
After two assists in two minutes, Ozil treats himself to a goal, dinking the ball over Lossl after a cute pass by Ramsey. They’ve been far too good for Arsenal, who coped well for much of the first half but have now folded.
Updated
GOAL! Arsenal 3-0 Huddersfield (Sanchez 70)
Ramsey releases Ozil down the right. The German floats a cross into the centre, where Sanchez sweeps it effortlessly into the net from 10 yards. That’s victory for Arsenal.
GOAL! Arsenal 2-0 Huddersfield (Giroud 68)
That’s a lovely goal! Kolasinac helps the ball in-field to Ozil, triggering a sequence of one-touch passes that culminated with Giroud tapping in from close range.
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GOAL! Bournemouth 0-2 Burnley (Brady 65)
A brilliant move concludes with a wonderful strike by Brady, with his right foot! His left is a wand, and apparently his right is a bazooka! He absolutely boomed that into the net from over 20 yards. How are the likes of Real and PSG going to cope with that in next season’s Champions League?
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GOAL! Man City 1-0 Southampton (Van Dijk og 47)
De Bruyne pings in a wicked in-swinging freekick and both Otamedi and Van Dijk go for it. One of them gets a touch to help the ball into the net: Otamedi wheels away as if it is his goal, but the replay suggests the nick might have come off Van Dijk.
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Lovely work by Kolasinac, danching in-field from the left wing and then offloading to Sanchez. The Chilean blasts just over the bar.
Sanchez nips the ball through to Giroud. The Frenchman is offside but the linesman does not raise his flag, so Giroud shimmers around the keeper .... and shoots against the post!
Here are the scores so far:
Arsenal 1-0 Huddersfield
Bournemouth 0-1 Burnley
Chelsea 1-0 Swansea
Everton 2-0 West Ham
Man City 0-0 Southampton
Stoke 0-1 Liverpool
GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Swansea (Rudiger 55)
Chelsea have broken through at last, thanks to a splendid header by Rudiger after a shot by Pedro was deflected into the air.
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51 min: A long ball into the box puts Arsenal in trouble. Kachunga retrieves it and lays the ball back for the incoming Mounie, whose shot from 16 yards loops into the air. Cech tries to bat it over the bar .... but he bats it against the bar!
49 min: another superb bloc by Schindler, this time denying Giroud after a lightning counter by Arsenal.
48 min: Swansea’s Renato Sanches is very much down on his luck at the moment. He’s working hard but nothing is coming off for him, even rudimentary sideways passes. It’s painful watching him suffer. On the other hand, Swansea are still annoying Chelsea by holding on to the 0-0, and Conte is seething in the stands, which is, in fairness, quite amusing.
47 min: Sanchez wriggles his way into the box and then tees up Ozil, who takes a touch before trying to slot the ball into the corner of the goal from 10 yards. But it’s blocked by a defender. By the way, Lacazette was replaced at half-time by Giroud.
45+1 min: Can drives a short wide from 20 yards.
44 min: De Bruyne tries to edge City in front just before half-time but his long-range shot is deflected wide for a corner. Southampton continue to frustrate Guardiola’s team.
43 min: Mane races through one-on-one with Grant ... and fires just wide! That should have been 2-0 to Liverpool.
39 min: Shaqiri bangs the freekick into the wall. Dismal.
38 min: Mignolet booked for clattering into Diouf just outside his box, moments after Solanke and Firmino went close for Liverpool. Stoke are furious that Mignolet was not sent off, but all they gave is a freekick on the edge of the area. The key thing is to make sure they get it on target, for there’s no telling what Mignolet will do next ...
35 min: Lemina nutmegs Kompany and then tries to lash the ball past Ederson at the near post. The keeper bats it out for a corner. And from the corner Yoshida comes close to scoring, whacking over from close range! City have been dominant but Southampton have had two glorious chances to score.
Stoke have switched formation: they’re no longer playing with a back three, instead with four. And they already look more comfortable.
Half-times:
Arsenal 1-0 Huddersfield
Bournemouth 0-1 Burnley
Chelsea 0-0 Swansea
Updated
GOAL! Everton 2-0 West Ham (Rooney 28)
A cool finish by Rooney brings joy to Everton. And misery to poor David Moyes.
Updated
Sending off!
Chelsea’s manager, Antonio Conte, has been banished to the stands for mouthing off at the officials. Pity the sap who’s going to have to sit besides Conte for the rest of this game, especially if Chelsea don’t penetrate Swansea’s increasingly pesky defence.
37 min: Arsenal get sloppy, giving the ball away in their own half - they’ve done that several times in the last few minutes. Quaner swaps passes with Mounie as Huddersfield try to take advantage. But Koscielny hurls himself in front of Quaner’s 16-yard shot.
GOAL! Bournemouth 0-1 Burnley (Wood 33)
Brady skins Francis and whacks a low ball into the six-yard box. Wood rewards that fine play with an emphatic finish to give Burnley a much deserved lead. Europe, the Clarets are on their way back ...
Updated
“My heart bleeds for Aaron Alexanders problem,” confides Loz Jones. “I’ve got Hazard as captain and Salah as vice-captain, it can’t get much worse than that.” Unless, of course, they both come on and get sent off ....
GOAL! Stoke 0-1 Liverpool (Mané 18)
Gomez pulls the ball back from the byline and Mane clips it over the keeper! Liverpool have the lead but Stoke cry injustice: they’re saying the ball had gone out of play before Gomez got it. They may be right but there’s nothing to be done about it now.
Updated
GOAL! Everton 1-0 West Ham (Rooney 18)
Hart saves Rooney’s spotkick ... but the former England man nods the rebound into the net!
Updated
Penalty to Everton!
Hart pulled Calvert-Lewin down...
32 min: Schindler comes to Huddersfields rescue again by deflecting a shot by Kolasinac wide.
30 min: Long leads a counter-attack for Southampton and wins a corner, from which Van Dijk heads against the bar! Then City rip straight down the other end and go close through Walker.
29 min: A lovely turn by Sanchez for Arsenal. But the Chilean can’t get off a shot from 15 yards because Schindler pokes the ball away from him with a superb tackle. Meanwhile, Rangers have gone 2-0 up at home to Aberdeen.
27 min: Brady feeds Wood, as Burnley attack again at Brounemouth. Wood slips the ball through to Hendrick, whose shot is blocked by Cook.
24 min: At the Etihad, Southampton are digging trenches just outside their box. Let’s see how long they can hold out against City. “How about some sympathy for those of us who have Salah, Liverpool’s top goalscorer as our fantasy league captain, and he’s benched against the second worst defence of the league?! Oh, Jurgen!” sobs Aaron Alexander.
22 min: “Massacocu” has just put in a good cross for West Ham, according to Paul Merson on Sky Sports.
20 min: As Swansea continue to hold on at the Bridge, Huddersfield threaten at the Emirates. Mooy’s freekick from the left is headed over the bar by Jorgensen.
18 min: Simon Mignolet is captaining Liverpool today, by the way, I don’t expect him to hold on to the armband. Literally.
17 min: Fabregas clips a lovely pass through to Alonso, who smashes the ball across goal. Mawson nods it over.
15 min: Burnley are continuing to impress at Bournemouth, where they’ve gone close to opening the scoring again. Wood headed over after a good move involving Bardsley and Brady.
13 min: Arsenal are in their groove. They’re passing very slickly and things are looking ominous for the visitors, although they have, in fairness, looked quite enterprising on the counter.
9 min: OK, Swansea aren’t looking so comfortable any more, all thanks to Willian, who’s fired a vicious ball across the face of goal. Fabianski was in trouble and Christensen almost got on the end of it, but in the end the ball fizzed a couple of inches past the far post.
7 min: Swansea are looking comfortable in the early stages at Stamford Bridge. That’s fine for them, but no good for those of us who have Morata as their fantasy league captain.
5 min: Tarkowski makes an uncharacteristic error i the heart of the Burnley defence, and suddenly Callum Wilson has a chance to score. But Mee hurtles across to make a tremendous saving tackle.
Burnley have come close to opening the scoring at Bournemouth, hitting the crossbar already.
GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Huddersfield (Lacazette 2)
Well, there goes Huddersfield’s new-fangled plan for away matches! They’re undone within two minutes, courtesy of a lovely flicked pass by Ramsey and a typically smart finish from Lacazette.
Updated
1 min: Huddersfield make a bright start at the Emirates, with Mooy releasing Mounie down the right before Ramsey concedes a corner. Cech punches it clear.
The kickoffs at Arsenal, Bournemouth and Chelsea are imminent. The others will follow 15 minutes later.
“Methinks Mark Hughes has erred in starting the aging big man with the good touch,” msues Justin Kavanagh. “Surely he should have waited until Liverpool were three or four goals ahead—i.e. when they’re at their most vulnerable?”
Here’s how my tea leaves are looking. How are about yours?
Arsenal 3-0 Huddersfield
Bournemouth 1-1 Burnley
Chelsea 4-0 Swansea
Everton 2-3 West Ham
Man City 3-1 Southampton
Stoke 1-2 Liverpool
Man City v Southampton
Man City: Ederson; Walker, Otamendi. Kompany, Delph; Sterling, Fernandinho, Gundogan, De Bruyne; Aguero, Jesus
Subs: Bravo, Danilo, D Silva, Mangala, B Silva, Diaz, Zinchenko
Southampton: Forster; Yoshida, van Dijk, Hoedt, Cedric, Højbjerg, Romeu, Lemina, Bertrand; Redmond, Long.
Subs: McCarthy, McQueen, Boufal, Tadić, Austin, Davis, Gabbiadini.
Updated
Stoke v Liverpool
Something appears to have given Mark Hughes the impression that Liverpool’s defence is vulnerable to aerial attack - so in comes Peter Crouch for his first league start of the season. Meanwhile, Jürgen Klopp has rotated his team again, restoring Mane and Firmino but dropping Coutinho and Salah. Solanke gets his first start.
Bournemouth v Burnley
Bournemouth: Begovic; Francis, Steve Cook, Ake, Daniels; Ibe, Surman, Arter, Pugh; King, Callum Wilson.
Subs: Boruc, Gosling, Afobe, Adam Smith, Lewis Cook, Defoe, Fraser.
Burnley: Pope; Bardsley, Tarkowski, Mee, Ward; Gudmundsson, Defour, Cork, Brady, Hendrick; Wood.
Subs: Taylor, Vokes, Barnes, Westwood, Lindegaard, Long, Arfield.
Chelsea v Swansea
Antonio Conte has decided to rest Eden Hazard and Cesar Azplicueta. If you can’t do that for a home match against this Swansea side, then you never can.
Chelsea: Courtois; Rudiger, Christensen, Cahill; Zappacosta, Fabregas, Kante, Alonso; Willian, Morata, Pedro.
Swansea: Fabianski; Naughton, Mawson, Sung-yueng, Olsson; Carroll, van der Hoorn, Sanches, Roque; Bony, Ayew
Arsenal v Huddersfield
In a bid to end a sorry streak on the road, David Wagner has made big changes to his Huddersfield lineup and formation. It looks like he’s going to try a three-man central defence, matching Arsenal’s system. Meanwhile, Arsene Wenger has brought Ozil back in.
Arsenal: Cech; Koscileny, Mustafi, Monreal; Bellerin, Ramsey, Xhaka, Kolasinac; Ozil, Lacazette, Sanchez
Subs: Ospina Mertesacker, Coquelin, Wilshere, Iwobi, Welbeck, Giroud
Huddersfield: Lossl; Cranie, Schindler, Jorgensen; Hadergonaj, Quaner, Hogg, Mooy, Lowe; Mounié, Kachunga
Subs: Green, Smith, Ince, Whitehead, Malone, Williams, Depoitre
Preamble
Hello and welcome. Today’s Premier League fixtures contain some intriguing duels. Lookit:
Arsenal (4th) v Huddersfield (13th)
Bournemouth (14) v Burnley (7)
Chelsea (3) v Swansea (19)
Everton (17) v West Ham (18)
Man City (1) v Southampton (11)
Stoke (15) v Liverpool (6)
So what are the likely results and ramifications from that lot? The first one looks a banker, doesn’t it? Arsenal have won every home match this season and are up against a Huddersfield team who haven’t so much has scored away since the opening day of the season. This is a prime opportunity for Arsène Wenger’s team to open up a little gap between themselves and Tottenham Hotspur, whose main domestic aim for the season has been reduced to chasing a Champions League spot. David Wagner, meanwhile, is still searching for the right formula for away matches and needs to find it soonish if Huddersfield are to remain above the danger line.
The teams competing with Arsenal for a Champions League berth include Burnley, European Cup quarter-finalists in 1961. Will they advance the prospect of a ‘Breturn’ by winning on the south coast today? And will Liverpool, having omitted key players against Chelsea, feel the benefit of Jürgen Klopp’s curious ways at Stoke? An is any Premier League club more curious at the moment that Stoke? Four and half years into Mark Hughes’ reign, Stoke seem undefinable and incomplete: they’re capable of rousing moments but mostly they seem adrift and it would be no surprise if they sunk into the relegation quicksand.
Which brings us on to Everton and West Ham, two of Europe’s wealthiest, worst-run clubs. Can David Moyes inspire the east Londoners to victory at his old stomping ground before Sam Allardyce comes in to try to make sense of the mess at Goodison Park? He’s certainly not going to get a better opportunity to win any time soon, not with the three matches after the visit to Everton being against Man City, Arsenal and Chelsea.
As for Man City, they’re out to try to regain their eight-point lead at the top of the table. They’ve been slightly below par in recent outings, and vulnerable at the back, so a sensation is not out of the question if iSaints are on song. But chances are City will go on another merry spree.
