Premier League matchday 9: Arsenal win at Anfield, Brighton beat Manchester City

Arsenal won 1–0 at Liverpool on Sunday with Kai Havertz's goal on 16, and Manchester City lost 1–0 at home to Brighton the day before, so the gap at the top is three points: Arsenal on 24, City on 21, Brighton on 19. Chelsea beat Manchester United, down to ten men from the 63rd minute, 2–0, and Tottenham beat ten-man Crystal Palace by the same score. On Monday Everton won 1–0 at Newcastle. Ten matches brought 21 goals: five home wins, three away wins and two draws, and four players were sent off.

Saturday lunchtime

Chelsea 2–0 Manchester United had a goal by Matheus Cunha for United cancelled by VAR on 34. Morgan Rogers scored on 50 from Roméo Lavia's pass; VAR confirmed a penalty for Chelsea on 61, Lisandro Martínez was sent off on 63 and Cole Palmer converted the penalty on 64. A goal by Estêvão was cancelled by VAR on 71. Chelsea had 19 shots, ten on target, and United's goalkeeper made eight saves. United have one win in nine league matches and are 17th. Martínez's red was a second yellow, Sky Sports reports, for raising an arm to Wesley Fofana's face three minutes after his first booking; asked whether he expected to be in charge against Roma in midweek, Michael Carrick said: "Yeah."

Saturday afternoon

Bournemouth 2–0 Leeds had a goal by Dominic Calvert-Lewin for Leeds cancelled by VAR on 14. Evanilson scored on 31 from Justin Kluivert's pass, and Amine Adli, on as a substitute on 88, made it 2–0 on 90+4 from Eli Kroupi's, another substitute. Bournemouth have won three in a row.

Brentford 2–0 Nottingham Forest came from one shot on target. Nikola Milenković turned the ball into his own net on 30, and Igor Thiago scored on 76 from Jaidon Anthony's pass, four minutes after Anthony came on. Nottingham Forest had 58 per cent of the ball and 15 shots, one on target, and have one win in nine.

Coventry 3–1 Sunderland was 3–0 after 52 minutes: Tatsuhiro Sakamoto scored on 17, Taiwo Awoniyi on 37 and Jack Rudoni on 52 from Victor Torp's pass. VAR confirmed a penalty for Sunderland on 63 and Enzo Le Fée converted it on 67; Omar Alderete was sent off on 90+9. Coventry have won three of their last five and, Sky Sports notes, climbed out of the relegation zone; Sunderland are bottom with five points.

Hull City 2–2 Ipswich swung both ways. Florentino Luís put Ipswich ahead on 22 from Abdoul Ouattara's pass, Tim Iroegbunam equalised on 58 from Oliver McBurnie's and McBurnie scored himself on 68. Julio Enciso equalised on 74 from Azor Matusiwa's pass. Ipswich had 62 per cent of the ball; Hull City have drawn five of their nine matches.

Manchester City 0–1 Brighton was settled on 11, when Yasin Ayari scored from Maxim De Cuyper's pass. City had 62 per cent of the ball, 21 shots and eight corners, and Brighton's goalkeeper made seven saves. City, who won their first seven matches, have lost two in a row, for the first time in the league since August 2025, according to Sky Sports. It was Brighton's first win at the Etihad after 16 attempts there, the club reports, four days after City knocked them out of the Carabao Cup on penalties on the same ground.

Saturday evening

Tottenham 2–0 Crystal Palace was played against ten men from the 13th minute, when Jean-Philippe Mateta was sent off for serious foul play after a VAR check upgraded his card. Archie Gray scored on 25 from Mohammed Kudus's pass and Jan Paul van Hecke on 73. Tottenham had 79 per cent of the ball, 34 shots and 19 corners; Palace had two shots, one on target. Mateta's foul was a late tackle on Micky van de Ven, first given as a yellow card and changed to a red after a VAR review; he misses Palace's next three league matches, Sky Sports reports, and Spurs have won three league matches in a row for the first time since February 2025.

Aston Villa 1–1 Fulham began with a penalty for Aston Villa, confirmed by VAR on 13, which John McGinn missed on 16. Nicolas Jackson scored on 39 from Johan Manzambi's pass, and Fulham equalised on 64 when Villa's goalkeeper Zion Suzuki was credited with an own goal. Fulham had 55 per cent of the ball and five shots on target to three.

Sunday

Liverpool 0–1 Arsenal turned on Havertz's goal on 16, from Declan Rice's pass. Liverpool had 56 per cent of the ball and 17 shots but none on target; Arsenal had three. It was Arsenal's fourth league win in a row and, Sky Sports reports, their first win at Anfield in 14 years; Havertz's goal made him the top-scoring German in Premier League history. Mikel Arteta said his side were "extremely proud", having come into the match after a defeat to Fleetwood, and Liverpool's Andoni Iraola said Isak should have had a penalty for "a clear, clear pull".

Monday

Newcastle 0–1 Everton turned on Thierno Barry's goal on 49, which VAR confirmed. Jacob Ramsey was sent off for Newcastle on 90+8. Newcastle had 17 shots, two on target; Everton had five on target and move up to seventh. It was Everton's first away league win of the season and their second win over Newcastle in four days, Sky Sports reports, and Newcastle were booed off at half-time and full-time.

The table after matchday 9

#	Team	P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	Arsenal	9	8	0	1	+9	24
2	Manchester City	9	7	0	2	+10	21
3	Brighton	9	6	1	2	+17	19
4	Chelsea	9	5	1	3	+4	16
5	Liverpool	9	4	3	2	+2	15
6	Brentford	9	3	5	1	+7	14
7	Everton	9	3	4	2	0	13
8	Bournemouth	9	3	3	3	+1	12
9	Tottenham	9	3	3	3	0	12
10	Aston Villa	9	3	3	3	−3	12
11	Hull City	9	2	5	2	+1	11
12	Leeds	9	2	5	2	+1	11
13	Newcastle	9	3	2	4	−3	11
14	Ipswich	9	3	2	4	−4	11
15	Fulham	9	2	3	4	−2	9
16	Coventry	9	3	0	6	−7	9
17	Manchester United	9	1	4	4	−5	7
18	Crystal Palace	9	2	1	6	−12	7
19	Nottingham Forest	9	1	3	5	−6	6
20	Sunderland	9	1	2	6	−10	5

Arsenal lead City by three points and Brighton by five; Brighton have the best goal difference, +17. The points race shows City, unbeaten through seven matchdays and top after five, overtaken by Arsenal since their two defeats, and Brighton, on four points after three matchdays, winning five of the last six. At the bottom, Sunderland are a point behind Forest and two behind United and Palace.

Numbers to know

• Erling Haaland leads the scorers with nine, three ahead of Alexander Isak.
• Arsenal have conceded five goals in nine matches, the fewest; Brighton have scored 24, the most.
• Four players were sent off: Martínez, Mateta, Alderete and Ramsey.
• Three goals were cancelled by VAR, and one penalty was missed, by McGinn.
• Liverpool and Palace managed one shot on target between them, Palace's.

Next up

Matchday 10 opens on Friday 6 November with Everton v Coventry at 20:00 UTC. On Saturday 7 November, Leeds v Tottenham kicks off at 12:30 UTC, Arsenal v Hull City and Fulham v Newcastle at 15:00 UTC, and Nottingham Forest v Manchester City at 17:30 UTC. On Sunday 8 November, Brighton v Brentford, Crystal Palace v Liverpool, Ipswich v Bournemouth and Sunderland v Chelsea kick off at 14:00 UTC, and Manchester United v Aston Villa closes the round at 16:30 UTC. The full round is on the Premier League page.

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