Premier League matchday 5 preview: Brighton host Arsenal, City face Sunderland, and the bottom two meet at Tottenham

Two perfect records, and the harder test of the two is on Saturday afternoon: Arsenal, who have conceded once in four matches, go to Brighton, who have scored thirteen, more than anyone. Manchester City host Sunderland on Sunday. Below them, Leeds and Hull City — third and fourth after four rounds, which nobody predicted — play Crystal Palace and Newcastle; and the round opens on Friday with two unbeaten sides, Brentford and Chelsea, at the Gtech. At the other end, Tottenham, who have not scored a league goal this season, host Aston Villa, who have one point.

Friday

Brentford v Chelsea (19:00 UTC). Brentford are unbeaten — one win, three draws — and have conceded four; Chelsea, fifth on seven, have scored ten and conceded nine, and drew 2–2 with Hull last time out. Brentford have not beaten Chelsea in the last five meetings: two Chelsea wins, three draws, including 2–2 here a year ago.

Saturday

Tottenham v Aston Villa (11:30 UTC). Seventeenth against nineteenth. Tottenham have two points, no goals and five conceded; Villa have one point, one goal and seven conceded, after losing 2–1 at home to Nottingham Forest. Villa have won four of the last five meetings, including 2–1 at this ground in October and in the FA Cup in January; Tottenham won the most recent, 2–1 at Villa Park in May.

Brighton v Arsenal (14:00 UTC, Amex). The division's top scorers against its meanest defence: Brighton's thirteen goals include five at Coventry last weekend; Arsenal's one goal conceded came in four matches. Arsenal have won the last three meetings — 1–0 here in March, 2–1 and 2–0 in the League Cup before that — after two 1–1 draws.

Everton v Ipswich (14:00 UTC). Everton are unbeaten with three goals conceded; Ipswich have won two and lost two and conceded ten, but won 3–2 at Crystal Palace last time out. The last meeting here, in May 2025, was 2–2; Everton won 2–0 at Ipswich the season before.

Newcastle v Hull City (14:00 UTC, St James' Park). Newcastle lost 4–1 at Leeds on Monday and are twelfth on five; Hull are unbeaten — two wins, two draws — with two goals conceded, and fourth. These two have not met in the league since January 2015, when Newcastle won 3–0 at Hull; the last meeting at St James' Park, in September 2014, was 2–2.

Nottingham Forest v Coventry (16:30 UTC, City Ground). Forest won at Villa; Coventry have lost all four, scored none and conceded ten. Their last meetings were in the Championship in 2020–22, Forest winning three of four.

Sunday

Bournemouth v Liverpool (13:00 UTC, Vitality). Bournemouth have drawn three and lost one and are still without a win; Liverpool have won one and drawn three, the last of them 0–0 with Fulham. Bournemouth won the last meeting 3–2 in January; before that Liverpool had won four in a row, including 4–0 and 2–0 here.

Leeds v Crystal Palace (13:00 UTC, Elland Road). Leeds scored four against Newcastle and are third; Palace have conceded eleven, the most in the division, and lost their last two. Leeds won 4–1 here in December; the return in March was 0–0. Palace's last win at Elland Road was 5–1, in April 2023.

Manchester City v Sunderland (13:00 UTC, Etihad). City have won four from four, the last of them the derby with ten men; Erling Haaland has four goals, the most in the division. Sunderland lost 2–0 to Arsenal. The two league meetings last season were 3–0 to City and 0–0.

Fulham v Manchester United (15:30 UTC, Craven Cottage). Fulham are eighteenth with one point and have lost three in a row; United lost the derby and are thirteenth. Fulham have not beaten United in the last five meetings — United won 3–2 in February, and the last two at Craven Cottage were 1–1 and 1–0 to United.

Table watch

After four rounds, counting Monday's Leeds–Newcastle:

#	Team	P	GD	Pts
1	Arsenal	4	+7	12
2	Manchester City	4	+6	12
3	Leeds	4	+4	8
4	Hull City	4	+3	8
5	Brighton	4	+8	7
6	Chelsea	4	+1	7
7	Brentford	4	+3	6
…
17	Tottenham	4	−5	2
18	Fulham	4	−3	1
19	Aston Villa	4	−6	1
20	Coventry	4	−10	0

If Arsenal win at Brighton and City beat Sunderland, the gap to third is at least four points after five rounds. A Brighton win takes them to ten, two behind Arsenal. At the bottom, Tottenham v Villa and Coventry's trip to Forest are the weekend's chances of a first win for the five sides without one.

Numbers to know

• Haaland has four goals; seven players have three, among them Bukayo Saka, who plays at Brighton, and Kevin Schade, who plays Chelsea on Friday.
• Seven clubs are unbeaten after four rounds: Arsenal, City, Leeds, Hull, Brentford, Liverpool and Everton.
• Five are without a win: Bournemouth, Tottenham, Fulham, Aston Villa and Coventry. Three of them play each other or Forest this weekend.

The full round with kick-off times in your time zone is on the Premier League page.