Premier League Week 2 Results: Liverpool Wins Thriller At Newcastle; Chelsea Runs Amok On West Ham; Arsenal Punishes Leeds; Spurs Topple Manchester City; Everton Christens New Stadium With Win Over Seagulls; Burnley Bursts Sunderland Bubble; Palace and Forest Draw their Grudge Match; Manchester United Draws At Fulham

A valiant Newcastle effort went for naught on Monday when sixteen-year-old Rio Ngumoha scored deep into stoppage time to give Liverpool a 3-2 victory at St. James’s Park. The venerable stadium was electric for a Monday night football clash between the Magpies and a club which has largely ruined the Magpies’ summer off the pitch. First, Liverpool beat them to striker Hugo Ekitike. Now, Newcastle’s Alexander Isak is demanding to join Ekitike at Liverpool in a stand-off with Newcastle ownership which is getting nastier by the day. Liverpool has had one bid rejected but is fully expected to come sniffing once more. Isak is meanwhile training away from his teammates and has not been present on matchdays. Hopefully, he was watching on television on Monday, or he will have missed the match of the season so far.

Ryan Gravenberch put Liverpool ahead early with his first goal since May of 2024, his 35th minute blast catching a slight deflection off a Newcastle defender and leaving Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope flatfooted. Things then got uglier for Newcastle on either side of the halftime break. First, the Magpies’ Anthony Gordon was red carded in first half stoppage time for a violent challenge on Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk. Ten-man Newcastle was then victimized by an Ekitike goal just seconds into the second half. Newcastle’s task was looking impossible until Bruno Guimaraes halved the deficit with a 58th minute header where the Brazilian midfielder clearly outmuscled Liverpool defender Milos Kerkez. Kerkez has not looked good in early days for the Reds, a situation which bears monitoring.

Rocked by the Guimares goal, Liverpool seemed to lose composure and cede control of the match to the undermanned Magpies. Newcastle substitute striker, 21-year-old William Osula scored an equalizer in the 88th minute to seemingly complete a remarkable comeback. Liverpool was not finished, however. Rio Ngumoha became the youngest goal scorer in Liverpool history at just sixteen years old when he silenced St. James Park in the tenth minute of stoppage time to provide a final dramatic turn on the evening and give Liverpool the 3-2 victory. Ngumoha became the fourth youngest goal scorer in Premier League history to steal Osula’s and Newcastle’s magic moment. Liverpool notched a second straight victory, but the defending champions have cause to worry about a defense that squandered two goal leads in each of those wins.

There was far less suspense when Chelsea’s attack erupted at London Stadium in a 5-1 Friday demolition of West Ham. Former Chelsea Manager Graham Potter could only look on in shock as his club was far too slow in reaction and footspeed to cope with Chelsea in a decidedly one-sided London derby. West Ham’s Lucas Paqueta offered false hope for the Hammers when the Brazilian thundered home a goal from distance in the sixth minute of play. That was it for the Hammers though as Chelsea rained in five consecutive goals. West Ham supporters first voiced their frustrations and then voted with their feet as Chelsea ran out the clock after its fifth goal in the 54th minute of play. The question now is how soon Potter may be on his way out after his side has allowed eight goals in two opening Premier League losses. Chelsea’s Cole Palmer watched the goal fest from the bench after feeling a muscle tweak during warmups. Eighteen-year-old Estevao Willian got the start in place of Palmer and proved well up to the task. Estevao’s assist, when Enzo Fernandez scored Chelsea’s third goal of the match, made him the youngest player in Chelsea history to notch a Premier League assist. Another new signing, Joao Pedro, scored his first Premier League goal for the club as Chelsea’s new additions made their presence known.

The other rout of the Premier League weekend saw Arsenal make easy work of Leeds in a 5-0 whitewash. New top gun Viktor Gyokeres scored twice in a match which saw 15-year-old Max Dowman become the second youngest player to appear for Arsenal. The celebratory mood at the Emirates began with the pre-match introduction to the crowd of Eberechi Eze, the former Crystal Palace midfielder who seemed on his way to rival Tottenham Hotspur before Arsenal intervened and steered him to the Emirates. A near perfect day for the Gunners, however, was marred by injuries to Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard. Early concerns as to the severity of the damage to Saka’s hamstring were somewhat alleviated by scans taken the next day. Still, the England international could be out for weeks while Odegaard is a question mark for this coming Sunday’s massive match versus Liverpool.

Even while faring poorly in this transfer window, Tottenham Hotspur has so far succeeded on the pitch under new manager Thomas Frank. Spurs defeated Manchester City 2-0 on Saturday for a second consecutive victory out of the gate for the north London club. Spurs has not conceded a goal yet this season while scoring five of its own as Richarlison and Brennan Johnson have formed a potent combination up front for Manager Frank. Johnson’s opening  goal for Spurs on Saturday was his second of the season. Richarlison assisted on Johnson’s goal a week after the former Everton man helped himself to a brace versus Burnley. Manchester City goalkeeper James Trafford had a rough game at the Etihad, gifting one of the goals on a misplaced pass and being very fortunate in another instance when caught out of position well outside his net and colliding with a Manchester City player. Tolerant officiating allowed the former Burnley keeper to escape both a goal and a red card on the latter play but Spurs’ summer signing Joao Palhinha was quick to find the net and capitalize on Trafford’s other gaffe.

While Thomas Frank is undefeated so far at Spurs, his replacement at Brentford earned his first victory with the Bees’ 1-0 home win over Aston Villa. Former Bee forward Bryan Mbeumo has moved on to Manchester United, and his former running mate Yoane Wissa was left out of Saturday’s squad by new Manager Keith Andrews because of the noise surrounding Wissa’s own transfer demand. Instead, it was new signing Dango Ouattara who scored the winner on Saturday for the Bees. The former Bournemouth player was added to the squad just last week for a club record purchase amount to replace the departed Mbeumo. Aston Villa, meanwhile, failed to score for a second consecutive week. Including the final match of last season, Villa has failed to score in three consecutive Premier League matches for the first time in five years.

Wolverhampton is the other Premier League side which has not scored this season after a 1-0 loss to Bournemouth. Goal prospects for the tame Wolves attack were not helped on Saturday when a red card reduced the side to ten men in the 49th minute.

Everton and Burnley both recovered from scoreless opening weekends to each find the net twice in victories over Brighotn and Sunderland, respectively. The Toffees christened their new Hill Dickinson Stadium in grand fashion by defeating the Seagulls 2-0 as Jack Grealish assisted on both goals in his first start for the Toffees. The England international is on loan at Everton this season after receiving only seven Premier League starting assignments for Manchester City last season. Burnley, meanwhile, threw cold water over the euphoria created by Sunderland’s opening week success and as the Clarets responded to their own opening week frustration by defeating the Black Cats 2-0 at Turf Moor. Jaidon Anthony and Josh Cullen took turns assisting on each other’s goals in the Claret victory.

Fulham is yet to win but has salvaged a point with second half equalizers in each of their two matches. Substitute Emile Smth Rowe scored in the 74th minute on Sunday to offset an earlier Fulham own goal to draw with Manchester United 1-1 at Craven Cottage. Rodrigo Muniz, the victim of this week’s own goal, had been the hero a week earlier when his 97th minute delivered a similar 1-1 scoreline versus Brighton. Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandez missed a penalty on Sunday after an odd physical collision with the referee as he prepared to take the kick. The draw ended a string of eight consecutive victories for the Red Devils at Craven Cottage and leaves the Red Devils winless after two matches. No Manchester United player has scored this season, leaving frustrated supporters to wonder why expensive striker signing Benjamin Sesko has yet to start a match.

Nottingham Forest is playing Europa League football this season at the expense of Crystal Palace which was disqualified from the competition due to a violation of multi-club ownership rules. Supposedly, that issue was self-servingly brought to the attention of UEFA by Forest. There was thus plenty of bad blood when the two sides met at Selhurst Park on Sunday. The clubs ground to a 1-1 draw as yet another common issue hovered over the day’s result. Despite each side taking major strides under their present managers, the tenures of both Nottingham Forest Manager Nuno Espirito Santo and Crystal Palace Manager Oliver Glasner are in question. Santo has publicly disclosed a rift between him and owner Evangelos Marinakis. Glasner, meanwhile, is in the last year of his contract and is highly regarded by other European clubs. The Austrian manager is frustrated with his club’s transfer policies which saw Michael Olise leave last summer, Eberechi Eze leave last week and Marc Guehi and Adam Wharton still at risk of leaving this summer. The manager also cannot be pleased with ownership’s bungling of UEFA multi-club ownership rules which deprived Glasner of a return to the Europa League which he won with Eintracht Frankfurt. Crystal Palace Chairman Steve Parish risks losing the manager to a bigger club. The Eagles need to demonstrate support for Glasner with their transfer actions before the window closes.  

Premier League Week 2 Preview

Things are not going great for Graham Potter. Once regarded as an up-and-coming managerial star after leading Brighton to its highest ever Premier League point total, Potter’s next step was a disaster, not all of his own doing. The chaotic early days of an ownership change at Chelsea was not the right environment for Potter’s step onto the larger stage of a top six club. With a revolving door roster and owners anxious for a quick payoff on their massive investment in young players, Potter was unable to deliver. He was sacked before the end of his first season as Chelsea manager with the Blues floundering in 11th place in the Premier League table. Potter spent more than a year and a half recharging and looking for just the right opportunity to redeem himself. He may have chosen wrong when he took over West Ham this past January. Potter returns to Stamford Bridge Friday with his Hammers having won only five times in 19 Premier League matches under his charge. 

The poor guy is again very much on the hot seat after newly promoted Sunderland decisively defeated the Hammers last weekend. Potter’s opposite number on Saturday meanwhile, seems to have Chelsea back on track. Manager Enzo Maresca led the Blues back to the top four last season, ensuring a return to Champions League football. In just the past 90 days, the Italian manager has also won the Europa Conference League and the Club World Cup. His players can thus be forgiven for their unimpressive opening draw with Crystal Palace last week which saw neither club find the net. Chelsea’s attacking futility was a bit surprising given significant spending this summer, including the purchase of two new strikers in Joao Pedro and Liam Delap. Another goose egg Friday at London Stadium would mark the first time since the 1995/96 season that Chelsea would have failed to score in its opening two matches. Joao Pedro will relish this opportunity to score his first Premier League goal as a Chelsea player, having scored a career best six goals in his previous encounters with the Hammers. 

Transfer drama continues to hang like a cloud over these opening weeks of the Premier League season. The nastiest piece of business, or non-business, has been the rift between Alexander Isak and Newcastle over the striker’s demand for a move to Liverpool. The striker referenced broken promises by ownership in an explosive social media post this week and will again be nowhere to be seen when the Magpies host, you guessed it, Liverpool. Angry Newcastle supporters blame Liverpool for being complicit in the Isak affair. The Toon army is a bit hypocritical about the whole matter, however, as their club is trying to pry Yoane Wissa from Brentford. Wissa is also inactive for the Bees’ match versus Aston Villa as he has also tossed his toys out of the pram, demanding a move to the Magpies. Wissa has also deleted all references to his current employer from his social media. 

Isak and Wissa’s behavior stands in stark contrast to the more professional situation at Crystal Palace where Eberechi Eze and Marc Guehi were both on the pitch versus Chelsea last weekend despite swirling transfer rumors. Eze was even ready to play in the Conference League Thursday for the Eagles before a lightning move by Arsenal has Eze now undergoing a medical on Friday to seal his transfer to the Gunners. Arsenal’s preemptive move, prompted in part by an injury sustained by Kai Havertz, was shocking for Tottenham Hotspur which thought it had reached agreement with Eze and Crystal Palace. Spurs, however, were left at the altar as the English international chooses to play for his boyhood club. 

After being outmaneuvered by archrival Arsenal and having earlier in the window failed to secure Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White, Spurs Chairman Daniel Levy is once again under fire for his negotiation strategy. Tottenham Hotspur Manager Thomas Frank is left to patch together a midfield which is without both Dejan Kulusevski and James Middleton due to long term injuries. Tottenham Hotspur faces a difficult visit to Manchester City on Saturday while Arsenal is home to Leeds. Crystal Palace, meanwhile, hosts Nottingham Forest. Having held onto their midfield creator in Gibbs-White and having smashed Brentford last week, the Tricky Trees may be feeling better about the immediate future than their Crystal Palace counterparts. 

Saturday’s clash between Burnley and Sunderland could have long term consequences as a six-point swing could loom large in the relegation battle to come between these two newly promoted sides. Sunderland takes to the road after trouncing West Ham at the Stadium of Light last weekend. Burnley limps home after a humbling beating at Spurs. 

Everton were losers to the third promoted squad, Leeds, last weekend. This week against Brighton, however, the Toffees will be buoyed by home supporters enjoying the inaugural match at Everton’s new Hill Dickinson Stadium at Bramley Moore Dock. The Toffees new home should be filled to its 52,888 capacity as a new era dawns on Merseyside. 

Manchester United fans are hoping for a new era to start under Manager Ruben Amorim. The Portuguese Manager was forced to play with a roster unsuitable to his style last season. A remaking of the roster was kickstarted this summer by spending spree which has introduced new stars to the club such as Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko. The remade Red Devils played well in an opening 1-0 loss to Arsenal and now travel to Fulham which was curmudgeonly in the transfer market this summer, much to the chagrin of Manager Marco Silva. The only signing to date for the Cottagers is a backup goalkeeper. 

Bournemouth and Wolverhampton each allowed four goals in opening weekend losses. Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo, however, scored two for the Cherries and put a scare into Liverpool. The homestanding Cherries seem the more dangerous side in this tilt versus Wolves. 

Premier League Week 1 Results: Black Cats Return With Smashing Win; Liverpool Survives Scare To Defeat Cherries; Arsenal Edges Manchester United; Spurs Spoil Burnley Return; Manchester City Tames Wolves; Chelsea Stymied At Home; Nottingham Forest Swats The Bees; Aston Villa And Newcastle In Punchless, Goalless Slog

Sunderland returned from its lengthy Premier League absence to delight supporters at the Stadium of Light with a commanding 3-0 win over West Ham. After eight years away from topflight football, the Black Cats teased that they may stay awhile. Sunderland scored three times in the second half to break open a tightly contested match and secure the first topflight August win for the Black Cats since 2010. Sunderland’s impressive showing  contrasted with that of Burnley which performed more like the “one and done” promoted sides of recent Premier League seasons.

Tottenham Hotspur swept past the Clarets 3-0 as Richarlison scored twice to give Manager Thomas Frank a victory in his first Premier League match for the club. Burnley looked very much like the yo-yo club that has either been promoted or relegated in each of the last four seasons.

Leeds, also newly promoted, was more competitive than the Clarets and came away with all three points at Elland Road, defeating Everton 1-0  on an 84th minute penalty kick. Lucas Nmecha converted the try for the Whites that resulted from a handball in the penalty area by Everton’s James Tarkowski. A tame Everton attack managed just one shot on target for the match. The hope for all three promoted sides is the clear weakness of some of the returning Premier League sides.

Brentford said goodbye to the highly regarded Thomas Frank and replaced him with a huge question mark. Keith Andrews had never been a first team manager before his debut in charge of the Bees on Sunday. Andrews served as set-piece coach under Frank, and it was ironically off a corner kick that Nottingham Forest scored in the fifth minute of a 3-1 victory over the Bees. Chris Wood scored the opener and would score a second goal as the Tricky Trees took a commanding three-goal advantage by halftime. Brentford’s untested new manager may not get a fair chance this season due to  transfer departures. The move of last season’s leading scorer, Bryan Mbeumo, to Manchester United is a major blow which will be compounded should fellow forward Yoane Wissa, scorer of 19 Premier League goals for the Bees last season, leave as well. Wissa was held out of the Bees’ opening match amid transfer speculation.

Chris Wood scored 20 Premier League goals last season, finishing as the league's fourth-highest scorer 😮

Straight back to business 🤷 pic.twitter.com/rOB94v7NdK

— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) August 17, 2025

Unlike Andrews, Wolverhampton Manager Vitor Periera had a wealth of experience as a manager in far flung leagues in Europe, Brazil, China and Saudi Arabia before taking his first Premier League head job in December of last year. Wolves were in the relegation zone when ownership pulled the emergency cord and brought in Periera to replace Gary O’Neil. It proved the right move as Wolves finished a comfortable 12 points above the drop line. This off season has not been kind, however, for the Black Country squad. Departures of key players such as Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouri Lead raise the specter of a potential relegation fight. A 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Manchester City on Saturday had Periera emphasizing the need for new signings after the match. Manchester City, meanwhile, is already getting contributions from some of its new team members. Tijjani Reijnders notched a goal and an assist in his Premier League debut while new signing Rayan Cherki scored the Citizens’ fourth goal of the match versus Wolves. Returning stalwart Erling Haaland scored two of the Manchester City goals as he looks to recapture his crown as the league’s premier goal scorer. Haaland was third in the Golden Boot chase last season to top scorer Mohamed Salah and runner-up Alexander Isak. Haaland and Salah have each topped the league twice in the last four seasons, Salah jointly claiming a Golden Boot with Son Heung-min in 2021/22 before Haaland finished on top the next two seasons.

Salah notched his first goal of this campaign in a 4-2 Liverpool win over Bournemouth on Friday. The spotlight for the Reds, however, was on newly acquired striker Hugo Ekitike and the Frenchman delivered. Ekitike scored Liverpool’s opening goal of the season and assisted Cody Gakpo’s goal which gave Liverpool an initial 2-0 advantage at Anfield. Then things got interesting when Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo scored two goals in 11 minutes of the second half to knot things up. Substitute Federico Chiesa calmed the anxiety of the Anfield crowd with his 88th minute goal to regain the lead for Liverpool and Salah closed things out with his stoppage time goal.

Newcastle, meanwhile, clearly misses wantaway striker Isak who continues to demand a transfer to Liverpool and is currently training apart from his Magpie teammates. Manager Eddie Howe watched his Newcastle side fail to convert on Saturday even after Aston Villa went down to 10 men in the 66th minute of a goalless draw. Fortunately for Newcastle, Aston Villa were also toothless in attack as evidenced by the failure of Unai Emery’s men to launch a single shot in the first half of play. No Premier League home side had failed to attempt a first half shot in more than a year. Both Newcastle and Aston Villa would seem to need better options in attack before this window closes. For Newcastle, that could mean a reconciliation with the unhappy Isak.

Arsenal hoped to have solved its striker problem when the Gunners signed Sporting CP ace Viktor Goykeres this summer. That looks to still be a work in process after the Swedish striker did not attempt a shot, created no chances and made only four passes in 60 minutes before being substituted out in Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford. Arsenal still took the three points on a first half header by left back Ricardo Caliafore, gifted by accommodating Manchester United goalkeeper Altay Bayindir who weakly pushed the ball to Caliafore when deflecting an Arsenal corner. Manchester United suffered its 15th  league defeat in Manager Ruben Amorim’s 28 matches in charge. Sunday’s loss came even as Amorim’s squad looked much improved and outplayed Arsenal for much of the game.

Like Arsenal, Chelsea did not see much return from recent investment in the striker position on Sunday. New additions Joao Pedro and then substitute Liam Delap had little impact up top in the Blues’ goalless draw with Crystal Palace. Chelsea had just three shots on target for the match and were fortunate that a first half goal by Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze on a free kick was chalked off. Eze’s goal was disallowed for the positioning of teammate Marc Guehi relative to the Chelsea wall under an obscure, seldom enforced rule. Both Eze and Guehi could have played their last match for the Eagles as both are expected to move on during the current transfer window. Those departures could seriously damage the trajectory of a Palace side which is now unbeaten in its last ten matches, a run which includes winning both the FA Cup and Community Shield. Crystal Palace will be playing in Europe this season, albeit in the Conference League after an ownership glitch deprived them of an earned Europa League berth.

Brighton and Fulham, meanwhile, are two mid-table clubs which would like to emulate Crystal Palace’s recent success. The two clubs played to a 1-1 draw at Brighton on Saturday when Fulham “super sub” Rodrigo Munoz stunned the Seagulls with a 96th minute equalizer. Munoz leads the Premier League with seven goals as a substitute since the beginning of last season.