The Arne Slot honeymoon period is shockingly over after Liverpool lost at home to Nottingham Forest on Saturday. Slot entered the match with the chance to become the first Premier League manager ever to have his side not concede a goal in his first four matches in charge. Instead, Slot became the first Liverpool manager to lose at Anfield to Nottingham Forest since 1969. Callum Hudson-Odoi scored the second half goal which kept Nottingham Forest undefeated and left the Anfield faithful stunned. A lackluster performance by Liverpool was entirely unexpected but perhaps attributable to the international break activity of most, if not all, of its front-line players. Some of those players rejoined the club as late as Thursday. In any event, Liverpool appeared outworked by the visitors and the Reds were unable to penetrate the low block which Forest expertly deployed.
Liverpool dropped to fourth in the table with Newcastle crashing the top four party in third after the Magpies’ 2-1 comeback victory at St. James Park over visiting Wolverhampton. Wolves took a first half lead and impressed for much of the match before Newcastle goals in the 75th minute and 80th minute dashed any hope of a surprising upset.
Arsenal is in sole possession of second place in the table after a 64th minute goal by defender Gabriel proved the winner over Tottenham Hotspur in the north London derby. The Gunners were playing without two of their stars as Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice were absent from the heart of the lineup due to injury and suspension, respectively. The Gunners came away with a gutty win which saw a joint Premier League record seven yellow cards just in the first half. The victory should give the Gunners further confidence as they approach next weekend’s match with table leading Manchester City. Meanwhile, The defeat to Arsenal was bitter for Tottenham Hotspur which has now lost matches on either side of the break as the club and is floundering in 13th place in the table with just one win from the first four matches. Losing to undermanned Arsenal was clearly a missed opportunity for Manager Ange Postecoglou who has yet to win against Arsenal. His side continued its susceptibility to opponents’ set pieces, center back Cristian Romero being the guilty party this time who switched off on Gabriel’s goal. Gabriel’s winning header from Bukayo Saka’s corner kick was almost predictable given the difficulties Spurs has had in defending set pieces dating to last season when 16 such goals were conceded. Three of the last four goals Arsenal has scored against Tottenham Hotspur have come from set pieces. Frustration among Spurs supporters is now growing with Manager Ange Postecoglou who has yet to defeat not just Arsenal but also either of London rivals West Ham or Chelsea.
Sunday’s match had outsize significance for Arsenal which has little margin for error to keep pace with Manchester City in the title chase. Erling Haaland had two goals in the 2-1 Manchester City over Brentford, making the striker the first player to score nine goals in the first four matches of a Premier League season. Brentford initially surprised the Citizens on Saturday with a goal by Yoane Wissa just 23 seconds into the match, the fastest Premier Legue goal of the season so far. Normalcy was restored, however, when Haaland first converted a penalty kick for the equalizer and then scored what would ultimately be the winner before the half was over. Haaland is averaging more than a goal a match in his Premier League career and is one goal short of the century mark across all competitions in now his third season with Manchester City. The Norwegian would have further chances to punctuate the win with a third consecutive hat trick, but two goals was all there was to be for the prolific striker on the day.
Four wins from four in the @premierleague as @ErlingHaaland continues his amazing scoring form! 💪
— Manchester City (@ManCity) September 14, 2024
Highlights 👇 pic.twitter.com/T7eN5asIC5
Ollie Watkins, meanwhile, ended his goal scoring drought in style with a brace in Aston Villa’s dramatic 3-2 comeback victory over Everton. The Toffees took a two-goal lead for a second consecutive match before Watkins brought his side level with his brace. The winner for Aston Villa came in the 76th minute when super sub Jhon Duran unleashed a strike from long range to undo the Toffees, who lost after building a two-goal lead for a second straight match. Aston Villa moved level on points with fourth place Liverpool. Everton is rock bottom in the league as the Toffees are yet to capture a point and are even worse on goal differential than the struggling Saints of Southampton.
The Saints joined Everton as the only two clubs to have lost all four of their matches when the newly promoted side fell tamely at home 3-0 to Manchester United. Southampton missed an early penalty kick and went down to 10 men late in a match where they were outclassed by a Manchester United side which had been embarrassed in a 3-0 loss to Liverpool last week. The Saints proved just the right medicine for the Red Devils and their embattled Manager Erik ten Hag. Even serial underperformer Marcus Rashford had a goal in the easy victory.
While Southampton languishes in the relegation zone, the other promoted sides each captured their second point of the young season. Leicester arguably should have secured all three points against Crystal Palace after taking a two-goal advantage. Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta narrowed the margin, however, with a 47th minute goal just one minute after Leicester had extended the lead. After the early second half fireworks the game settled down and it looked like Leicester might have its first win of the season. Leicester substitute Conor Coady, however, egregiously wiped out a Palace attacker in the box two minutes into injury time. Mateta then stepped up to convert the equalizer as the French striker made a statement shortly after his club recently added another striker in Arsenal’s Eddie Nketiah.
Brighton was yet another club who managed only a point in a home draw to a promoted side. The Seagulls were continually frustrated in a goalless draw with feisty Ipswich Town. The Tractor Boys hunkered down defensively and rode six saves, two of the game saving variety, from goalkeeper Arijanet Muric to grind out the point. The newly promoted side managed just one attempt on the Brighton goal as the focus was on successfully grounding the Seagulls.
Another deadlock occurred in the London derby between Fulham and West Ham where the two sides played to a 1-1 draw at Craven Cottage. West Ham stole their point in the 95th minute of play when Danny Ings, an 82nd minute substitute, found the net.
The Hammers will host another London derby next weekend when an energized Chelsea side visits London Stadium. The Blues took a number of positives away from a 1-0 win over Bournemouth on Saturday. Much of the match was dominated, however, by referee Anthony Taylor who awarded a Premier League record 14 yellow cards for play, which while aggressive, did not meet the eye test for a historic level of misbehavior. Chelsea won for a second time on the road this season as goalkeeper Robert Sanchez made a penalty save in what was perhaps his best performance between the sticks for Chelsea. The Blues may also have found an answer on the left wing. Jadon Sancho, Borussia Dortmund star and Manchester United villain, immediately generated excitement upon his halftime substitution. Raheem Sterling, now at Arsenal, Mikhailo Mudryk, now deep on the bench, and recently acquired and first half starter against Bournemouth Pedro Neto have all failed to give Chelsea a threat on the left wing in the manner that Noni Madueke has recently provided on the other side of the pitch. Sancho teases of being the answer as he frequently dazzled with his agility and footwork before delivering the through ball which led to the winning goal. The recipient of that ball was the oft injured Christopher Nkunku who weaved past three Bournemouth defenders to deposit the 86th minute winner after entering the match in the 79th minute for starter Nicolas Jackson. The oft injured Nkunku scored 58 goals across all competitions in his last two seasons at RB Leipzig before missing most of his first season at Chelsea with injury. The play of Sancho and Nkunku gives Chelsea Manager Enzo Maresca a lot to think about on how he constructs his forward line versus the Hammers next week.
