Premier League matchday 9 preview: Liverpool v Arsenal, City v Brighton again, Carrick at Chelsea

Manchester City and Arsenal are level on 21 points after City's first defeat, and the match to watch is on Sunday at Anfield, where fourth-placed Liverpool host Arsenal. City play first, at home to third-placed Brighton on Saturday afternoon, three days after the two drew 2–2 in the League Cup. The round opens at Stamford Bridge with Chelsea against Manchester United, whose head coach, Michael Carrick, has been kept on for the match, and it closes on Monday night with Newcastle against Everton.

Saturday

Chelsea v Manchester United (12:30 UTC, Stamford Bridge). Chelsea, fifth on 13, lost 2–0 at home to Tottenham and have won two of their last five. United, sixteenth on seven, have won one of eight and lost 3–0 at home to Bournemouth. Sky Sports reports that the club discussed Carrick's future after that defeat and decided to give him at least this match, and that Bruno Fernandes, dropped for Bournemouth, may or may not be restored. United won the last two meetings, 1–0 here in April and 2–1 at home in September 2025; Chelsea won 1–0 here in May 2025.

Bournemouth v Leeds (15:00 UTC, Vitality Stadium). Bournemouth, thirteenth on nine, won 3–0 at Old Trafford for their second win in a row, and M. Tavernier has five goals. Leeds, seventh on 11, drew 0–0 at Sunderland, have drawn five of eight and have conceded six, the second fewest. The last two meetings both finished 2–2, here in April and at Leeds in September 2025; Bournemouth won 4–1 here in April 2023.

Brentford v Nottingham Forest (15:00 UTC, Gtech Community Stadium). Brentford, sixth on 11, drew 1–1 at Hull and have lost once; Nottingham Forest, eighteenth on six, drew 1–1 at Ipswich and have scored six, as few as anyone. Forest have won three of the last four meetings, including 2–0 here in January and 3–1 at home in August 2025; Brentford won 2–0 at Forest in May 2025.

Coventry v Sunderland (15:00 UTC, Coventry Building Society Arena). Coventry, nineteenth on six, lost 1–0 at home to Fulham and have lost six of eight; Sunderland, bottom on five, drew 0–0 with Leeds and have not won in five. They last met in the Championship in May 2025: Sunderland won 2–1 here and drew 1–1 at home four days later. Coventry won 3–0 here in March 2025.

Hull City v Ipswich (15:00 UTC, MKM Stadium). Hull City, tenth on 10, drew 1–1 with Brentford and have not won in five; Ipswich, twelfth on 10, drew 1–1 with Forest. Ipswich won both Championship meetings last season, 1–0 at home in March and 2–0 here in November 2025.

Manchester City v Brighton (15:00 UTC, Etihad Stadium). City lost for the first time, 2–1 at Aston Villa, and stay top on goal difference, +11 to Arsenal's +8; E. Haaland leads the scorers with nine. Brighton, third on 16, lost 2–0 at Liverpool but have scored 23, the most in the league. On Wednesday the sides drew 2–2 here in the League Cup and City went through 4–3 on penalties; Brighton's website says Gerónimo Rulli saved from Yasin Ayari and Lewis Dunk in the shootout. City have not beaten Brighton in the last four league meetings: 1–1 here in January, 2–1 to Brighton in August 2025, 2–2 here in March 2025 and 2–1 to Brighton in November 2024.

Tottenham v Crystal Palace (17:30 UTC, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium). Tottenham, fourteenth on nine, won 2–0 at Chelsea; Crystal Palace, seventeenth on seven, lost 2–0 at home to Newcastle and have conceded 19, the most in the league. Palace won 3–1 here in March and 2–0 here in May 2025; Tottenham won 1–0 at Palace in December 2025.

Aston Villa v Fulham (20:00 UTC, Villa Park). Aston Villa, ninth on 11, beat City 2–1 for their third win in four; Fulham, fifteenth on eight, won 1–0 at Coventry. Fulham won 1–0 at home in April; Villa won 3–1 here in September 2025 and 1–0 here in May 2025.

Sunday

Liverpool v Arsenal (16:30 UTC, Anfield). Liverpool, fourth on 15, beat Brighton 2–0 for a second win in a row, and A. Isak has six goals. Arsenal, level with City on 21, beat Everton 2–0, have won three in a row and have conceded five, the fewest in the league. Bukayo Saka was injured at Bayern Munich last week, and Sky Sports reports Mikel Arteta saying the signs were not good. Arsenal have not won any of the last four league meetings: 0–0 at Arsenal in January, 1–0 to Liverpool here in August 2025, 2–2 here in May 2025 and 2–2 at Arsenal in October 2024.

Monday

Newcastle v Everton (20:00 UTC, St. James' Park). Newcastle, eighth on 11, won 2–0 at Crystal Palace; Everton, eleventh on 10, lost 2–0 at Arsenal and have lost two in a row in the league. They met in the League Cup on Thursday, when Everton won 3–1 at home. Everton have won the last two league matches here, 3–2 in February and 1–0 in May 2025; Newcastle won 4–1 at Everton in November 2025.

The table before the round

#	Team	P	GD	Pts
1	Manchester City	8	+11	21
2	Arsenal	8	+8	21
3	Brighton	8	+16	16
4	Liverpool	8	+3	15
5	Chelsea	8	+2	13
6	Brentford	8	+5	11
7	Leeds	8	+3	11
8	Newcastle	8	−2	11
9	Aston Villa	8	−3	11
…
16	Manchester United	8	−3	7
17	Crystal Palace	8	−10	7
18	Nottingham Forest	8	−4	6
19	Coventry	8	−9	6
20	Sunderland	8	−8	5

City play on Saturday and Arsenal on Sunday. Four sides are level on 11 points from sixth to ninth, and the bottom five are separated by two points, with Coventry and Sunderland meeting on Saturday.

Numbers to know

• E. Haaland leads the scorers with nine; A. Isak of Liverpool has six, João Pedro of Chelsea and M. Tavernier of Bournemouth five each.
• Brighton have scored 23, the most in the league, and have a goal difference of +16.
• Arsenal have conceded five, the fewest; Crystal Palace 19, the most.
• Forest, Coventry and Sunderland have scored six each, the fewest.
• United have one win from eight matches; Coventry have not drawn any of theirs.

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

Sources for the context: Sky Sports, Sky Sports, Sky Sports, Brighton & Hove Albion.