Matchweek 5 shook up the top of the Premier League. Arsenal arrived on the south coast with four wins from four and left Brighton after a 3-0 defeat. Manchester City survived a wild afternoon against Sunderland to preserve their perfect start, while Manchester United needed a late equaliser just to leave Fulham with a point.
The pre-match prices at 888STARZ made the favourites fairly clear in several of those games. The weekend did a good job of reminding everyone how quickly those labels can disappear once the football starts.
Brighton 3-0 Arsenal: a perfect start ends with a heavy blow
Until Saturday, Arsenal’s opening month had been almost flawless: four games, four wins.
They were also clear favourites at Brighton, priced at 1.76 compared with 4.88 for the hosts.
Ninety minutes later, none of that mattered.
Pascal Gross opened the scoring, Charalampos Kostoulas added another before half-time and Chema Andres finished the job after the break. It was Arsenal’s first dropped points of the season — and their heaviest defeat in three years.
Arsenal saw plenty of the ball but did very little with it. Brighton were sharper when the spaces appeared and fully deserved the margin of victory.
Manchester City 5-3 Sunderland: perfect points, imperfect afternoon
City now have 15 points from 15.
That sounds comfortable. The match against Sunderland certainly wasn’t.
Antoine Semenyo scored twice and Erling Haaland eventually settled matters late on, but Brian Brobbey’s hat-trick kept Sunderland alive far longer than the pre-match 1.32 on a City win suggested they would be.
For City, the important part is simple: another three points and sole possession of first place heading into the break.
For Enzo Maresca, there was also plenty to review defensively. Scoring five at home is one thing. Allowing a newly promoted side to score three of their own makes the afternoon considerably less straightforward.
Fulham 1-1 Manchester United: Cunha rescues a point at the death
United failed to win again.
The visitors started as 2.07 favourites and finished with 29 shots, yet spent most of the second half staring at another defeat after Lisandro Martinez’s own goal put Fulham ahead.
The escape arrived in the 89th minute, when Matheus Cunha’s effort took a deflection and found the net.
United have just five points after five matches.
Those 29 shots look much more impressive on a stats page than the overall performance did on the pitch. There was plenty of shooting, but very little control. United head into the break with another result that raises more questions than it answers.
Two More Results Worth Talking About
Brentford 3-0 Chelsea
What started as an uncomfortable evening for Chelsea eventually became a rout.
Jaidon Anthony, Igor Thiago and Fabio Carvalho all scored after half-time as Brentford recorded their first home victory over Chelsea since 1938.
Chelsea had been slight favourites at 2.49, with Brentford at 2.80. Once the second half began, there was very little on the pitch to justify that gap.
Bournemouth 0-1 Liverpool
No shock here.
Liverpool were 2.23 favourites and left the south coast with all three points after Alexander Isak scored the only goal in the 57th minute.
It was hardly Liverpool at their most spectacular, but after a few uneven weeks, the result mattered more than the performance heading into the international break.
All Premier League Matchweek 5 Results
| Match | Result |
| Brentford — Chelsea | 3-0 |
| Tottenham — Aston Villa | 2-3 |
| Brighton — Arsenal | 3-0 |
| Everton — Ipswich | 1-0 |
| Newcastle — Hull | 2-1 |
| Nottingham Forest — Coventry | 0-1 |
| Bournemouth — Liverpool | 0-1 |
| Leeds — Crystal Palace | 0-0 |
| Manchester City — Sunderland | 5-3 |
| Fulham — Manchester United | 1-1 |
There was plenty happening away from the headline games too.
Aston Villa finally picked up their first win of the season with a 3-2 victory away at a Tottenham side still waiting for their first. Coventry also claimed their first points since returning to the Premier League, beating Nottingham Forest 1-0 through Jay Dasilva’s winner. It was the club’s first Premier League victory in 25 years.
Five rounds in, one fact stands above the rest: Manchester City are the only side yet to drop a point.
Arsenal have suffered their first serious setback, Chelsea have been hit by a painful 3-0 defeat and Manchester United’s start is once again beginning to look uncomfortable.
The next round will tell us who made the best use of the break.
UEFA Champions League