Arsenal’s lead at the top of the league was trimmed by a point on Sunday after they were held to a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge by ten man Chelsea.
Another spectacular weekend of Premier League action threw up some great moments; and there was a key one in West London when Chelsea midfield lynchpin Moises Caicedo was red carded for a studs-up challenge on Mikel Merino. It was a feisty affair with three bookings in the first 12 minutes and Arsenal ended the game with six yellows to Chelsea’s one red.
Despite being down to ten men the hosts took the lead when Trevoh Chalobah glanced a header home straight after the break; and while Merino equalised for Arsenal the 11 men rarely threatened to win, with only eight shots all game. This was a fine result for Chelsea and they finished the weekend in third place, but it was the Blues’ fourth red card of the campaign.
On a sizzling Saturday Manchester City climbed up to within five points of the leaders thanks to a man-of-the match performance from local hero Phil Foden in a 3-2 win over Leeds United. Foden’s first minute opener was followed up by a Josko Gvardiol goal as the Sky Blues coasted to a half time two goal lead.
But a scrappy goal from Dominic Calvert-Lewin opened the door for Leeds, and when the former Everton man won a penalty, Lucas Nmecha converted the spot kick at the second attempt after Gianluigi Donnaruma had saved the first. After falling to Newcastle United last week it looked like Pep Guardiola’s team had blown it again until Foden found space through a packed Leeds penalty area to curl a dramatic winner into the corner.
The SBOTOP Premier League 2025 betting odds make City the biggest threat to Arsenal’s title aspirations and late winners, like this one at the Etihad, are not what the Gunners want to see.
Cottagers stun Spurs
Marco Silva’s Fulham capped off Tottenham’s miserable November as they plundered a 2-1win, scoring two goals in a chaotic opening six minutes at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. With four on the clock Kenny Tete’s deflected strike gave the visitors a surprise lead and two later a moment of real madness from Guglielmo Vicario handed the Cottagers a second. The Spurs keeper charged off his line, before leaving the ball to Fulham’s Harry Wilson who gleefully stroked it home into an empty net.
A second half bullet from Mohammed Kudus beat Bernd Leno at his near post but that was all that Spurs offered as a sizeable section of the 60,000 crowd booed off their team. This was the earliest Tottenham had conceded two goals so early in the Premier League, and one point in the month left them temporarily in tenth place, just a single point ahead of Fulham in 15th. And Spurs have the worst home record of any ever-present Premier League club over the last 12 months, accumulating a measly 14 points on home soil.
No wonder the Tottenham fans are unhappy!
In other Premier League 2025 news, after a poor start to the campaign Newcastle United made it back to back wins with a 4-1 rout away to Everton. The Toffees took on Manchester United, another stumbling giant, last Monday, beating the Red Devils 1-0 at Old Trafford with only ten men, but they couldn’t follow that fighting performance up against Eddie Howe’s Magpies who ended their winless away run in spectacular style.
The visitors raced into a four goal lead before Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall grabbed Everton a consolation goal. 35m summer signing Malik Thiaw scored the fastest goal of the season so far when he netted with just 52 seconds on the clock and Everton keeper Jordan Pickford made a howler when he let a Lewis Miley drive slip through his fingers. The in form Nick Woltemade made it three with a superb chipped finish after a flowing Newcastle move and former AC Milan man, Thiaw, rose highest to power home the fourth.
Capital comfort for Slot’s Reds
Beleaguered Liverpool headed down to East London in search of some good pre-festive cheer and they got just that as the beat West Ham United 2-0 at the London Stadium. Alexander Isak scored his first Premier League goal with a trademark first time finish and that was clearly a big moment for the Swede and his team. Cody Gakpo made it two in the second half as Liverpool coasted to victory, helped by West Ham winger Lucas Paqueta who talked his way into to a red card when he remonstrated with the referee two minutes after being booked.
Elsewhere, Aston Villa beat bottom club Wolves to move into the top four and there were wins for Brentford, Sunderland, Manchester United, Brighton and Hove Albion as all the bottom five clubs lost this weekend.
So, after another dramatic weekend of football, there was no change at either end of the league…Wolves are still bottom, Arsenal are still top; but Manchester City have chipped a point away from the Gunners lead.
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