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Premier League weekend wrap-up: Arsenal benefit as Man City, Liverpool falter
A wild round of matches has come to a close, with several bigger names falling to lesser-fancied opposition.
However, Premier League leaders Arsenal were not among those who underperformed this weekend as the Gunners claimed a fourth-straight league victory.
Here are some of the bigger talking points from Matchweek 9.
Arsenal grind out another win
Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images
The old adage of "they don't ask how, they ask how many" certainly applies to this season's Arsenal side, who have seemingly perfected footballing pragmatism en route to their current first place standing in the Premier League.
Arsenal have relied heavily on set-pieces to pick up points, and on Sunday they lived by their idealogy as an Eberechi Eze strike following a free-kick was the difference in the Gunners' 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace.
It's not only their proficiency from dead balls that have boosted the north Londoners to their current perch but also their defensive mastery, as Arsenal have allowed just three goals in nine league matches thus far.
Their opponents have put just one shot on target over the past three games, which is a certain recipe for success.
And the cherry on top is that Manchester City and Liverpool, seen as Arsenal's biggest challengers for the title this season, both lost over the weekend, which put Mikel Arteta's men four points clear.
Bournemouth are legit?
As noted, the top of the table has seen a bit of a shake-up with defeats suffered by Man City and Liverpool, along with Chelsea and the aforementioned Crystal Palace.
That opened up an opportunity for lesser lights to step up, with both Sunderland and Bournemouth moving into the top four after victories over the weekend.
The Cherries, specifically, are turning heads as they've lost just once all season long — and that was on the first weekend of the season when they lost 4-2 to Liverpool in a match that was even until the final moments.
Since that Aug. 15 loss, Bournemouth have won five games and drawn three in the league, including victories in two of their last three.
This week's victim was the hapless Nottingham Forest, but don't let that take away from the brilliant campaign by Andoni Iraola's men thus far. They'll take that confidence into massive matches against Man City (Nov. 2) and Aston Villa (Nov. 9).
Can anyone else score for Man City?
Ed Sykes/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images
Speaking of Man City, they ran out frustrated losers in a 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa in which Pep Guardiola's side doubled their opponents in shots and shots on target.
However, they came away with nothing to show for it except a painful collision with a post on an offside goal from Erling Haaland.
The striker was held scoreless for the first time in 13 matches for club and country, and the rest of his team were unable to step up in his stead. Haaland leads the Premier League with 11 goals, nearly double the next best players (Antoine Semenyo and Igor Thiago, with six goals each), which is fantastic for the Norwegian.
However, City only have 17 league goals as a team, showing just how heavily they rely upon the 25-year-old to find the back of the net on their behalf.
It's not an issue when Haaland is scoring at will, but it is definitely an issue when he is not, and Guardiola will need to figure it out quickly.
How to watch the Premier League in Canada
Soccer fans in Canada can watch every Premier League match during the 2025-26 season on DAZN.
With Fubo Sports on DAZN, Canadians can catch Premier League action as well as Serie A. Additionally, DAZN is the home of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League, Bundesliga, and more.
For pricing information and to sign up to watch, click here.
