Three weeks into the Premier League season, Arsenal and Manchester City are the only teams left with perfect records.
City probably has the easier case to explain. They have Erling Haaland, an absurd amount of talent around him and nine points despite not playing especially well in two of their three games.
Arsenal made the more convincing statement this weekend.
The defending champions fell behind Chelsea after only 77 seconds, then spent much of the next half hour overwhelming a team that entered the weekend unbeaten and had scored seven goals in its first two games. Arsenal came back to win 2-1, giving them three victories that have looked completely different from one another.
Hull City remains the early surprise. The promoted side finally dropped points but still has not conceded a goal through three Premier League games.
At the other end of the table, Tottenham and Aston Villa somehow still have not scored.
Ipswich Town 0-2 Liverpool
Goals: Alexander Isak 6’, 9’
Liverpool finally earned Andoni Iraola his first Premier League victory, and it took less than ten minutes for Alexander Isak to put the game away.
Cody Gakpo created both goals. On the first, he picked up the ball well outside the penalty area and played Isak behind the Ipswich defense for a powerful finish at the near post. Three minutes later he found Isak again, this time allowing the striker to turn inside the box and finish past Kjell Scherpen after the goalkeeper came off his line.
After spending the first two weeks repeatedly chasing games, Liverpool finally had the luxury of protecting an early advantage. Ipswich improved after the disastrous start and kept the score respectable, but never created enough to seriously threaten the result.
New signing Bradley Barcola also made his Liverpool debut off the bench, while the Reds recorded their first clean sheet of the season.
This was not necessarily proof that Liverpool’s early defensive issues are fixed. Ipswich provided a much easier test than Newcastle or Forest.
It was proof that Isak remains a pretty useful solution when things are not complicated.
Newcastle United 2-2 Bournemouth
Goals: Marcus Tavernier 9’, Malick Thiaw own goal 35’; Harvey Barnes 37’, Jacob Ramsey 88’
Bournemouth has now led all three of its Premier League matches.
It has won none of them.
They were excellent for much of the first half at Newcastle, repeatedly disrupting the buildup with an aggressive press. Alex Scott was particularly influential in midfield, helping create Tavernier’s opener before a chaotic sequence eventually ended with Thiaw turning Scott’s cross-shot into his own goal.
The problem was what happened immediately afterward.
Only two minutes after going 2-0 ahead, Bournemouth allowed Harvey Barnes to cut inside and curl an excellent shot into the far corner. That gave Newcastle a route back into a game they had barely participated in.
Jacob Ramsey eventually completed the comeback in the 88th minute after Bournemouth failed to clear a cross.
Marco Rose’s team has now become the first in Premier League history to score first in each of its opening three games without winning any of them. They have dropped seven points from winning positions.
That is obviously a problem.
The strange part is that Bournemouth has played considerably better than a two-point total would suggest.
Manchester City 1-0 Coventry City
Goal: Erling Haaland 25’
Manchester City is 3-0-0.
This was not exactly a demonstration of why.
Coventry nearly took the lead early after several mistakes in City’s buildup, including one sequence where Taiwo Awoniyi intercepted a poor pass and dragged his shot wide. City eventually settled and Haaland headed in Antoine Semenyo’s cross for his 300th club goal.
The most notable lineup development came before kickoff. New signing Enzo Fernández was supposed to start on the bench only days after joining from Chelsea, but Nico O’Reilly injured his back during warmups and Fernández was pushed immediately into the lineup.
He looked comfortable enough, helping start the move for the goal and adding another passing option alongside Rayan Cherki.
Coventry refused to disappear. Jack Rudoni forced an excellent save from Gianluigi Donnarumma and Ellis Simms did the same late in the game as City struggled to put the result away.
Frank Lampard was probably justified in believing Coventry deserved something.
City got the three points anyway.
Opening weekend required two late goals against Bournemouth. Palace was much more convincing. Coventry was another grind.
Nine points is still nine points.
Brentford 1-1 Sunderland
Goals: Vitaly Janelt 57’; Enzo Le Fée 82’ penalty
Sunderland had the better of the first half and probably should have led.
Dan Ballard had a goal ruled out because Kevin Danso was standing offside in the goalkeeper’s line of sight, while Le Fée hit the post and Sunderland had two other shots blocked close to goal.
Brentford was also forced into an early change when captain Nathan Collins suffered a calf injury.
Keith Andrews responded aggressively at halftime, making three substitutions at once. The changes worked. Brentford became much more assertive and eventually went ahead when Janelt controlled a bouncing ball and finished.
Then Sunderland’s bench answered.
Wilson Isidor came on and later drew a penalty when Keane Lewis-Potter held him at the back post. Le Fée converted with eight minutes remaining.
This was one of the weekend’s better examples of both coaches affecting the game.
Sunderland had the stronger initial plan. Brentford changed the matchup at halftime. Sunderland then found another answer from its own bench.
A draw felt about right.
Brighton 1-1 Leeds United
Goals: Jayden Bogle 15’; Luka Vušković 71’
Leeds probably should have had this game finished by halftime.
They were much sharper than Brighton during the opening hour and repeatedly found ways through the home midfield. Dominic Calvert-Lewin had multiple opportunities, Ao Tanaka hit the crossbar and later had a goal ruled out for a narrow offside.
The legitimate breakthrough came after Calvert-Lewin’s header was saved, Tanaka collected the rebound and squared for Bogle to tap in.
Brighton barely threatened for most of the first hour.
Then the game completely changed.
Luka Vušković headed in Maxim De Cuyper’s corner in the 71st minute, and suddenly Brighton began creating chance after chance. Fabian Hürzeler’s team produced 17 second-half shots and nearly stole all three points late.
Leeds should be encouraged by remaining unbeaten through three games.
They should also be annoyed.
A Premier League team rarely gets an hour of control like this away from home. When it happens, you have to turn it into more than one goal.
Fulham 2-3 Crystal Palace
Goals: Josh King 11’, César Palacios 42’; Tyrick Mitchell 35’, 54’, Ben Chilwell 77’
Fulham had nearly 65 percent possession and took 25 shots.
They also lost their third consecutive game.
Josh King put Fulham ahead with a deflected strike before Palace equalized against the run of play through Tyrick Mitchell. César Palacios restored the lead shortly before halftime after King’s dummy opened space in the box.
Then things got weird.
Mitchell scored his second when his hopeful falling volley somehow found its way through Gonzalo García and into the net.
Fulham never really recovered from that mistake.
Palace sensed the momentum change, and deadline-day signing Ben Chilwell came off the bench to volley home the winner only minutes after entering.
Palace did lose Eddie Nketiah at halftime and Mitchell later went off injured, so the comeback required some improvisation from Pierre Sage.
Fulham’s larger concern is becoming difficult to ignore.
They have played stretches of genuinely decent attacking soccer under Álvaro Arbeloa. They have also conceded seven goals and taken zero points.
At some stage the process has to produce results.
Nottingham Forest 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham finally earned a point.
They still have not scored.
Spurs had more of the ball but failed to put a shot on target. Nottingham Forest came closest to actually winning the game when Neco Williams appeared to score in the 66th minute, only for VAR to rule the goal out because the ball had touched his hand immediately beforehand.
The decision was controversial in real time, although an additional camera angle released afterward supported the handball call.
Roberto De Zerbi gave Savio his first league start and continued trying different combinations in attack, but the results remained the same.
Three games.
Zero goals.
Spurs has enough attacking talent that this cannot continue forever. The more concerning part is how little it currently creates from the possession it does have.
Against Brentford, Spurs was overwhelmed before it could establish control. Newcastle sat deeper and waited for opportunities. Forest gave Tottenham more of the ball.
None of those approaches has produced a Tottenham goal.
Hull City 0-0 Aston Villa
Hull’s perfect record is gone.
The clean-sheet streak is not.
The promoted side has now played Manchester United, Coventry and Aston Villa without conceding once.
Villa actually created several decent opportunities in this game, which represents progress after generating almost nothing in its opening two matches. George Hemmings finally recorded Villa’s first shot on target of the season in the 13th minute. John McGinn and Emiliano Buendía then wasted better chances after halftime.
Hull came closest to scoring.
Mohamed Belloumi struck the crossbar with an excellent second-half effort, while Mohamed-Ali Cho and Oli McBurnie created problems late.
Hull is not controlling games through possession or overwhelming opponents with attacking talent.
They are organized, physical and extremely difficult to create clean chances against.
Seven points through three matches is already a huge start toward survival.
Villa’s side is less encouraging.
Three games, one point, zero goals.
At least they finally got a shot on target.
Baby steps.
Everton 2-2 Manchester United
Goals: Bryan Mbeumo 46’, Tyrique George 83’, Benjamin Šeško 88’, Ainsley Maitland-Niles 90+6’
This game took about 80 minutes to become interesting and then crammed nearly everything into the finish.
United had the better of a quiet first half, with Bruno Fernandes hitting the crossbar and Matheus Cunha wasting another good opportunity.
Only 62 seconds after halftime, Mbeumo finally broke through. He collected Kobbie Mainoo’s pass on the right, drove directly through Everton’s defense and finished beyond Jordan Pickford.
Everton responded late through Tyrique George, who somehow found the top corner from an extremely tight angle.
United then appeared to have stolen the game anyway. Šeško started the move by finding Fernandes, continued his run into the box and headed Luke Shaw’s cross past Pickford in the 88th minute.
Still not done.
Deadline-day signing Ainsley Maitland-Niles came off the bench for his Everton debut and scored a spectacular equalizer from distance with virtually the final kick of the match.
United will be furious.
They had the lead twice in the second half and should have been able to manage either advantage.
Everton deserves credit for making sure they couldn’t.
Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea
Goals: Morgan Rogers 2’; Kai Havertz 25’, Martin Ødegaard 50’
This was the first real heavyweight matchup of the new Premier League season.
It was also Arsenal’s most convincing performance so far.
Chelsea struck after only 77 seconds when Arsenal failed to fully clear a Reece James free kick and Morgan Rogers volleyed the loose ball into the bottom corner. It was the first goal Arsenal had conceded all season.
Their response was excellent.
Arsenal increased the pressure immediately, won the physical battles through midfield and spent most of the next 25 minutes forcing Chelsea backward. Havertz eventually equalized by drifting across the top of the box without being closed down and finishing low past Emiliano Martínez.
Arsenal nearly added another during the same spell, with Calafiori having a goal disallowed after Ezri Konsa was ruled offside earlier in the sequence.
Chelsea recovered late in the half and Pedro Neto struck the post.
Then Arsenal took the lead almost immediately after halftime.
Christos Tzolis delivered from the left, Havertz cleverly dummied the ball and Ødegaard arrived behind him to finish.
From there the game looked much more like last season’s Arsenal.
They stopped chasing the third goal with the same aggression, protected the middle and forced Chelsea to create something exceptional. Estêvão nearly did in the 89th minute, but David Raya tipped his shot over the bar.
Chelsea was competitive.
Arsenal was better.
That distinction matters because the first two victories left some room for qualification. Coventry is a promoted team. Villa still hasn’t scored.
Chelsea entered this game looking like a real contender.
Arsenal fell behind after 77 seconds and then reminded them who won the league last season.
Five Takeaways From Matchweek 3
1. Arsenal Are The Team To Beat
Three games is obviously not enough to decide anything.
But Arsenal has now won three completely different matches.
They comfortably handled Coventry. They ground out a 1-0 road win at Aston Villa. Then they fell behind immediately against Chelsea and responded by taking control of the game.
The Chelsea performance is the most meaningful because the opponent could actually punish mistakes.
Arsenal made one almost immediately.
Then they spent most of the afternoon looking like the better team anyway.
The depth also continues to stand out. Tzolis assisted the winner. Havertz scored and created the decisive opening with his dummy. Ezri Konsa and Bruno Guimarães give Arteta options that were not available during previous title races.
The champions look settled.
Everyone else is still figuring things out.
2. Manchester City Is Perfect Without Playing Perfectly
City has nine points, which is ultimately the point of all this.
The performances have been much less consistent.
They needed an 84th-minute equalizer and stoppage-time winner against Bournemouth. They were excellent at Crystal Palace. Then Coventry created enough opportunities to make the 1-0 win uncomfortable.
Maresca is still changing the structure and integrating major additions. Fernández was thrown directly into the starting lineup this weekend, while Iliman Ndiaye and Ayyoub Bouaddi are also learning their roles.
And Haaland keeps scoring while everyone else figures it out.
That is a useful luxury.
3. Hull Is No Longer Just a Fun Opening-Weekend Story
The Manchester United upset was easy to dismiss as one strange game.
Then Hull won at Coventry.
Now they have held Aston Villa scoreless.
Seven points from three games would be impressive enough. Three consecutive clean sheets is the more interesting part.
Hull is not simply sitting 11 players behind the ball either. They have shown enough counterattacking threat that opponents cannot attack recklessly, and Belloumi came closest to deciding the Villa game.
The relegation fight will eventually test their depth.
For now, they have already banked seven points that nearly everyone expected them to spend months trying to collect.
4. Tottenham and Aston Villa Have Real Attacking Problems
Between them, Spurs and Villa have played six Premier League matches.
They have scored zero goals.
Tottenham at least has a plausible explanation. De Zerbi is integrating a heavily rebuilt team and several attackers have dealt with fitness issues.
That explanation only goes so far when you fail to record a shot on target at Nottingham Forest.
Villa’s problem is different. They have lost major pieces from last year’s team and are still figuring out how the replacements fit, but their attacking numbers are astonishingly poor.
Hemmings’s tame attempt at Hull was their first shot on target of the entire league season.
Three games is a small sample.
Zero goals is still zero goals.
5. Bournemouth Is Better Than Its Record
Bournemouth has two points.
They could reasonably have seven or nine.
They led Manchester City until the 84th minute, Everton until stoppage time and Newcastle 2-0.
The recurring late collapses deserve criticism, particularly because they are no longer isolated incidents.
But the easier conclusion would be that Bournemouth is bad.
The performances suggest almost the opposite.
Rose has them pressing aggressively, Scott looks excellent in midfield and they are consistently creating advantages against good opponents.
They just have to learn how to keep them.