Давид Раяагийн чухал хаалт болон Бруно Гимараесын гоолын ачаар Арсенал Сандерлендыг 2-0 харьцаатай буулган авч, лигийг итгэл төгс тэргүүлж байна.
Премьер лигийн аварга Арсенал Сандерлендын талбайд зочлохдоо Давид Раяагийн торгуулийн цохилт хаасан гайхалтай тоглолт болон сэлгээгээр орж ирсэн Бруно Гимараесын дебют гоолын ачаар 2-0-ээр хожлоо. Микел Артета шүүгчийн шийдвэрт сэтгэл дундуур байсан ч түүний баг улирлын турш ялагдалгүй цувралаа үргэлжлүүлж байна. Нөгөө талд Тоттенхэм Эвертонтой 0-0-ээр тэнцсэнээр дөрөв дэх тоглолтдоо дараалан гоол оруулж чадсангүй бөгөөд хөгжөөн дэмжигчдийн зүгээс шүүмжлэлд өртөөд байна.
Ливерпүүл талбайдаа Фулхэмтэй 0-0-ээр тэнцсэн бол Челси Халл Сититэй 2-2-оор тэнцэж, хамгаалалтын алдаатай тоглолтоо үргэлжлүүллээ. Астон Вилла Ноттингем Форестэд 1-2-оор хожигдсон бөгөөд уг тоглолтод Иан Маатсен бэртэл авчээ. Кристал Палас Ипсвичэд 2-3-аар хожигдох үед Аксель Дисаси улаан хуудас авсан байна.
Шинээр дэвшсэн Ипсвич болон Халл Сити багууд хүснэгтийн эхний наймд бичигдэж, олон хүний таамаглалыг эвдэн амжилттай тоглож байна. Хэдийгээр улирлын эхэн үе ч гэсэн тэдний үзүүлж буй тоглолт Премьер лигт үлдэх боломжтойг харуулж байна. Ирэх даваа гарагт Лидс Юнайтед болон Ньюкасл Юнайтедын тоглолт болох бол өнөөдөр Манчестер Юнайтед, Манчестер Ситигийн дерби тулаан болно.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
This felt like a significant result for Arsenal. In the second half against a spirited Sunderland side, they conceded a penalty when Ezri Konsa appeared to grapple with Dan Ballard. It was a decision that incensed Mikel Arteta, who described it as “unacceptable” in his post-match press conference and left the champions facing the prospect of defeat at the Stadium of Light.
David Raya had other ideas. Enzo Le Fee struck a perfectly good penalty, low to Raya’s left, but the Spanish goalkeeper had anticipated it and plunged down tot tip the ball onto the base of the post. It was a stunning save. Even more remarkable: 121 seconds later, Arsenal were ahead, with Bruno Guimaraes scoring a debut goal from outside the area, having come off the bench at half-time.
Sunderland threw everything at Arsenal, but the champions stood firm. Can anyone stop them this season?
Their north London rivals Tottenham, however, endured another tough afternoon, failing to score for a fourth straight game as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Everton. At the final whistle, boos echoed around the Tottenham Stadium.
Liverpool and Chelsea, two other sides who came into the season full of optimism, were also held to frustrating home draws. Andoni Iraola’s side still do not look like they are clicking and could not find a way past Fulham at Anfield, while Chelsea continued to attack with verve and defend catastrophically in their 2-2 draw with Hull.
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery was furious after his side’s defeat to Nottingham Forest, believing James McAtee should have been sent off for the challenge that left Ian Maatsen injured. In Crystal Palace’s defeat to Ipswich, Axel Disasi was sent off for a reckless challenge on Jack Clarke.
Amid the goals and the controversy, the two least-fancied promoted teams continue to impress. At the end of the day, Ipswich were sitting in eighth and Hull in third and might have a better chance of staying up than many expected.
This is the latest Premier League Forum, in which writers from The Athleticgive their views on the weekend talking points so far, and you can join the discussion in the comments.
This time, they discuss whether anyone can stop Arsenal defending their title, whether Spurs are in trouble again and if Ipswich and Hull might stay up.
Let us know your views and what else you noticed from the weekend’s action so far.
Game week 4 results so far…
Aston Villa 1-2 Nottingham Forest
Bournemouth 2-2 Brentford
Chelsea 2-2 Hull City
Crystal Palace 2-3 Ipswich Town
Liverpool 0-0 Fulham
Tottenham 0-0 Everton
Sunderland 0-2 Arsenal
Can anyone stop Arsenal?
Ahmed Walid: No.
While every other contender is still sorting their weaknesses and adapting to a new manager, Arsenal already have a strong base and have added to it by signing Christos Tzolis, Bruno Guimaraes and Ezri Konsa.
With a fully fit Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz — who only started one Premier League game together last season — stopping this team is harder than it seems.
This is a side with no clear weakness, proficient in all phases of play, and has the individual quality to win any match even if they aren’t at their best.
With Bukayo Saka back and fit, Arsenal look unstoppable (Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Dan Sheldon: The strength of Arsenal’s squad is undeniable, and their win over Sunderland, which saw Bruno Guimaraes come off the bench to break the deadlock, is evidence of that.
It wasn’t Arsenal’s best performance, but they scored twice, kept a clean sheet and maintained their unbeaten start to the season.
But if anyone is going to be able to catch them, which, over the course of a 38-game campaign seems unlikely, then it will likely be Manchester City.
In Erling Haaland, Enzo Maresca’s Manchester City has the firepower to blow teams away, but they are getting used to life without Pep Guardiola, whose exit left a huge void, and that, along with their squad, is why Arsenal will be difficult to stop.
Greg O’Keeffe: Arsenal have come through a couple of difficult Premier League games, at home to Chelsea and now the Stadium of Light, and still their defence looks fearsome.
Chelsea and Sunderland — not to mention Napoli in the Champions League — all posed different and exacting challenges, but Mikel Arteta’s men are imperious.
Their spine is built of top players operating at their best, with goalkeeper Davd Raya’s penalty save in the second half proving pivotal.
Bruno Guimaraes is fitting in just nicely, and getting that long-awaited title over the line seems to have dimmed not an ounce of Arteta’s intensity (he fumed afterwards about the decision to award Sunderland the spot kick).
Manchester City will push them all the way, and Enzo Maresca’s extra firepower might just make the difference, but it’s only the men from the Etihad who look capable of making the Gunners sweat as they mount their convincing case for a title defence.
Only Erling Haaland and Manchester City look capable of keeping pace with the champions (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Are Spurs in trouble again?
Dan Sheldon: All that money spent in the summer, yet not a single goal scored in six hours of Premier League football is nothing short of an embarrassment.
If there was any momentum heading into this season, buoyed by the promise of a respected coach in Roberto De Zerbi, and significant investment in the transfer window, then it left the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.
And it left to a chorus of boos as the club’s supporters let their feelings be known.
Although the table currently says otherwise, Spurs should still have more than enough quality to avoid a repeat of 2025-26, but the onus is on De Zerbi to solve their myriad problems sooner rather than later.
Greg O’Keeffe: Everton didn’t spend a penny on strikers, they even ended the transfer window in a goalscorer deficit.
It’s well known that Tottenham, at least on paper, had a far more ambitious summer. They are committed to forking out £60million ($81.2m) on Omar Marmoush, and spent more on attackers such as Savio. They also boast the experience and prowess of Dominic Solanke.
Somehow on Saturday evening, though, Marmoush did not manage a single shot on target in his 77 minutes on the field, and his team tested Jordan Pickford directly just twice as their goalless pain continued.
Roberto De Zerbi gave Mathys Tel some impromptu coaching at the final whistle (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
It was David Moyes’ side who had the greater expected goals too (1.17 to the hosts’ 0.64).
Last week Marmoush said his new team should “not be too hectic” or “pressured” to score goals, and eventually they would arrive. He also had glowing praise for the manager, Roberto De Zerbi.
But after another hapless blank, the pressure on Tottenham to start scoring will only become greater.
De Zerbi didn’t waste a second at the final whistle, running onto the pitch to give Mathys Tel some coaching. He will need to expedite those lessons if he is to convince the booing fans they are not, somehow after all that lavish recruitment, in for another difficult campaign.
Ahmed Walid: Yes, and they need to sort their attack and high press quickly.
Tottenham struggled to break down Everton’s defence, which follows weak attacking performances against Brentford, Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United — even if they had bright spells in the latter.
Meanwhile, the high press was dysfunctional once more against David Moyes’ side, as was the case in the defeats against Brentford and Newcastle.
Time is needed for this newly assembled team to gel, but without goals — and consequentially wins — pressure is added on a squad that is clearly devoid of any confidence.
Despite the millions of pounds spent, it’s ironic that Spurs’ best player in their four Premier League games has been Rodrigo Bentancur.
Rodrigo Bentancur has been Tottenham’s best player this season (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Ipswich and Hull were favourites for relegation. Can they stay up?
Greg O’Keeffe: Selhurst Park is a notoriously difficult place for away teams, and yet there went promoted Ipswich — boldly sealing victory at the death and finishing the day in eighth place.
Hull City pulled off an even more surprising result, grabbing a well-deserved point from an encounter at Stamford Bridge which they navigated with confidence and ambition.
Sergej Jakirovic’s defensively tough side are now third. Tigers fans may want to print off the league table right now, because while it may not get much better for them this season in terms of league position, it serves as further tangible proof that their many doubters before a ball was kicked this season were premature.
Zian Flemming looks an astute signing for Ipswich (Ben Roberts Photo/Getty Images)
For Gary O’Neill’s side, Zian Flemming always felt like a smart signing. His first goal for the club since his deadline-day move bodes well, as does the patient and potent manner in which they sought the win when other promoted teams may have settled for a point.
It’s early days but you’d be a brave man to bet against at least one of these two, if not both, leveraging their bright starts into survival.
Dan Sheldon: The Premier League is seemingly bucking what was becoming a worrying trend.
In the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons, the three promoted teams were all relegated at the end of the campaign, which was the first time in the league’s history that this had happened in consecutive years.
Sunderland and Leeds United bucked that trend in 2025-26, and Ipswich Town and Hull City have shown early signs that they will, too.
It has been a tough start for Coventry City, rooted to the bottom of the table, but their fellow promoted teams have shown enough quality in the opening matches that survival is more than possible.
Ahmed Walid: Maybe — it’s too early to tell.
Hull City and Ipswich Town have put in positive performances, with clear ideas of what they want to do on and off the ball.
The problem, though, is that the rest of the league is stacked with individual talent.
Even if Fulham and Crystal Palace have endured tough starts to the season, they have the player quality and experience to edge Hull, Ipswich and Coventry City.
It’s always good to remember that Hull were third in the Premier League table in late October 2008, and only managed to avoid relegation on the final day of that season.
What next?
Manchester has become one of the most talked-about cities in the world in recent months and today the city hosts its first derby of the season. Enzo Maresca’s side travel to Old Trafford with a 100 per cent record as the transition to the post-Pep era appears to be going smoothly.
Michael Carrick has had a more challenging start to the season, after that surprising defeat to Hull in their first game, but there have been positive signs in recent performances that United are finding their stride.
In the earlier kick-off, Frank Lampard is looking for his first Premier League point as his Coventry side host free-scoring Brighton.
On Monday, Matthias Jaissle’s Newcastle travel to Elland Road to face Daniel Farke’s Leeds, with both sides unbeaten in their first three games.
Premier League fixtures
Sunday Sep 12
Coventry City v Brighton & Hove Albion (2:00pm BST/9:00am ET)
Manchester United v Manchester City (4:30pm BST/11:30am ET)
Monday Sep 13
Leeds United v Newcastle United (8:00pm BST/3:00pm ET)
