Arsenal maintained their perfect start to the Premier League season on Saturday, opening up a three-point lead at the top as Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham all dropped points in a frustrating day for several of the league’s leading clubs.
The Gunners made it four wins from four with a 2-0 victory over newly promoted Sunderland, with Bruno Guimaraes marking his Arsenal debut goal with a stunning long-range strike before Bukayo Saka sealed the points from the penalty spot with the final kick of the match.
Arsenal were also indebted to goalkeeper David Raya, who saved a penalty from Enzo Le Fee to preserve their advantage and help Mikel Arteta’s side maintain their flawless record.
Manchester City can move back level with Arsenal when they face Manchester United in the Manchester derby at Old Trafford on Sunday.
However, Arsenal are already beginning to create separation from several of their major title rivals.
Chelsea were held to a 2-2 draw by newly promoted Hull City at Stamford Bridge, allowing Hull to maintain their unbeaten start to life back in the Premier League.
Chelsea’s attacking quality was again evident, with Morgan Rogers, Joao Pedro and Cole Palmer causing problems, but defensive lapses once more proved costly.
Rogers opened the scoring before Mohamed Belloumi struck twice for Hull, taking advantage of Chelsea’s defensive shortcomings. Joao Pedro later restored parity, but the hosts could not find a winning goal.
Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso acknowledged that his side’s entertaining performances need to be matched by greater defensive discipline.
“It’s maybe entertaining, but I hope one day you’ll say it was a boring game and we win and we don’t give these entertaining moments,” Alonso said.
Liverpool also surrendered valuable points at home, playing out a goalless draw with Fulham at Anfield.
Despite fielding a formidable attack featuring Bradley Barcola, Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak, Liverpool struggled to break down Fulham’s defence.
The result extended Liverpool’s unbeaten start under Andoni Iraola but left them six points behind Arsenal in sixth place.
“When you draw, especially at home, you can’t be happy,” Iraola said, attributing some of his team’s shortcomings to fatigue following their Champions League exertions against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday.
“Today we lacked a bit of freshness and we did not do enough offensively to make the difference.”
Tottenham’s difficult start continued as they were held to a goalless draw by Everton, leaving Spurs still waiting for their first league goal despite spending around £300 million on new players during the transfer window.
Tottenham now sit just inside the relegation zone, raising further questions about their early-season form after finishing 17th in each of the previous two seasons.
Aston Villa are also in the bottom three after Nottingham Forest secured a late 2-1 victory over them.
Liam Delap opened the scoring for Forest with a long-range effort after his move from Chelsea, before Alysson equalised for Villa. Igor Jesus then struck to give Oliver Glasner his first victory as Forest manager.
Crystal Palace’s poor start continued with a 3-2 home defeat by Ipswich. Palace were reduced to 10 men after Axel Disasi was sent off in the first half, before Zian Flemming scored in stoppage time to secure victory for the visitors.
Brentford remained unbeaten after Kevin Schade scored twice in a 2-2 draw away to Bournemouth.
With Arsenal continuing to collect maximum points while several of their major rivals stumble, the early Premier League table is already beginning to suggest that Arteta’s side could be a formidable force in the title race.