It was another weekend which best summed up the ultra-competitive nature of English football and the Premier League.
West Ham were bouncing after seeing off Sunderland on Saturday lunchtime.
In what was probably their best first half display of the season, Nuno Espirito Santo saw his side march into a 3-0 lead at the break as a thumping header from Crysencio Summerville, a calmly taken penalty from Jarrod Bowen (his 103rd involvement – goal or assist – for the club a fine feat indeed) and a pinpoint strike from Mateus Fernandes had the home fans in raptures.
Three points sealed, even after Brian Bobbey’s consolation header for the Wearsiders midway through the second half, moved the Hammers to within two points of exiting the bottom three.
By the way, the fact this was only Sunderland’s fifth league defeat since being promoted demonstrates what a superb season they are enjoying.
Fast forward little over 24 hours though and those associated with West Ham could be forgiven for feeling miserable again as Nottingham Forest, the side directly above them, went to Brentford and returned home with all three points.
That returned their cushion over West Ham to five points as a goal both early on and late on did the damage against the high-flying Bees.
Brentford did dominate possession but had few have opportunities of their own and Igor Jesus’s 12th minute volley and a reminder of what talent Taiwo Awoniyi has – the substitute notching his first league goal for a year – 11 minutes from time ensured Sean Dyche and his players were smiling once again.
Faling further behind, Burnley and Wolves continue to battle at the bottom, despite the SBOTOP Premier League 2026 betting odds being heavily stacked against them.
The smart money suggests both will go down but they once again highlighted just how they have bags of character, despite their clear disadvantages compared to some of their counterparts.
The Clarets’ 2-2 draw at home to Spurs was a case in point.
Cristian Romero is proving to be a true captain for Spurs and, not for the first time this term, he rescued a point for his team with a last gasp goal.
His 89th minute header was a deserved equaliser in a contest which showed why manager Thomas Frank – supposedly under pressure – must be tearing his hair out.
His side dominated large chunks of the game, as they should, but switched off at crucial times against the spirited hosts for whom goalkeeper Martin Dubravka again illustrated his class.
As mentioned on these pages not so long ago, boss Scott Parker may be finding the going difficult in the top flight but he deserves respect for making his side competitive in virtually every match so far this term.
Hot on the heels of draws with Manchester United and Liverpool, here was another such display against an opponent on a different stratosphere financially.
His team may be underachieving to the degree that the away fans’ angrily chanted at full-time that Frank would soon be getting sacked – a level of discontent which appears to make his situation unsustainable – but they would do well to remember the astute Dane has only been at the club since the summer.
Meanwhile, Wolves were never expected to come away from the Etihad Stadium with anything and, in truth, they never laid a glove on Manchester City.
Manager Rob Edwards has overseen a slight improvement over the past month though and, despite the undoubted gulf in class, they battled throughout, keeping the score down to two first half goals from Omar Marmoush and Antoine Semenyo – his third in four since his £65 million move from Bournemouth.
Talking of the Cherries, they will naturally be much poorer without the Ghana international but they still have manager Andoni Iraola who, since taking over in the summer of 2023, has mightily impressed and, despite regularly selling key men, he is still them deliver some of the most dramatic Premier League 2026 highlights you are likely to see.
A last-gasp 3-2 victory over Liverpool on Saturday evening was the stuff of dreams for the south coast club with Amine Adil pouncing in the fifth minute of stoppage time to end Liverpool’s 13 match unbeaten run and send the home fans wild.
After Romero and Adil, there was another late goal as a contest which could have gone either way saw Fulham edge Brighton in a match between two teams who dream of qualifying for Europe.
Harry Wilson’s 92nd minute free-kick was his latest moment of magic and sealed a 2-1 win which moved them up to the lofty heights of seventh.
Chelsea are in fifth after a 3-1 win at Crystal Palace who, like some other clubs, are now seeing fatigue and being stripped of their best players catch up with them.
My final word goes to Aston Villa.
Unai Emery has worked wonders at the club but, given they have lost their captain John McGinn and Boubacar Kamara in the past few weeks – and the fact they were in Europa League action in Turkey on Thursday night – it was always a big ask to expect them to triumph on Tyneside for the first time in 20 years.
Not an issue. Emiliano Buendia and Ollie Watkins were the men on target as Villa moved level on points with City in second and just four points off the top after Manchester United won dramatically at leaders Arsenal.
Villa have neither the resources nor the financial strength to keep up with those two but their achievements are no less impressive. The fact Emery’s men have won more points on the road than any other Premier League side for a reason this season is a statistic which speaks for itself.
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