Football writer Ben Bloom analyses an incredible weekend of Matchweek 12 action in which there were big wins at the top and bottom of the table.
After a pause for the final international break of 2024, the Premier League returned with a bang over the weekend as Liverpool opened up an eight-point lead at the top of the table.
Their cause was aided by Manchester City's shock 4-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, which also allowed Chelsea, Arsenal and Brighton & Hove Albion to gain ground in the battle for second place.
At the other end of the table, Wolverhampton Wanderers made it successive victories to climb out of the relegation zone, while Ruben Amorim had to settle for a draw in his first match in charge of Manchester United.
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The weekend’s action began with a match that highlighted why Chelsea could launch a title challenge and proved to be the end of Steve Cooper’s tenure at Leicester City.
Cooper was dismissed the day after this defeat, which left his side one point and two places above the relegation zone on their return to the Premier League.
Jordan Ayew’s stoppage-time penalty was all Leicester had to show from a match in which they were clearly second best. The result also extended Ayew's dismal record against Chelsea to 17 defeats from the 17 times he has played against them – the most a player has faced an opponent with a 100 per cent loss record in the competition’s history.
Enzo Fernandez scored his first Premier League goal since February, and took his tally of assists to five in three matches across all competitions when he set up Nicolas Jackson for his seventh league strike of the season.
Since May, only Erling Haaland (18) has scored more times in the Premier League than Jackson (11).
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Joao Pedro won the praise of his head coach Fabian Hurzeler for being the "difference" against AFC Bournemouth, as the Brazilian put in yet another excellent performance in a Brighton shirt.
He scored one goal and assisted another, making him the first Brighton player to achieve that feat in consecutive Premier League matches, having done the same when coming off the bench in the Seagulls' win against Man City.
Joao Pedro's goal v Bournemouth
Some brilliant build up before @DeJesusOfiicial gave us the lead! 🔥
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) November 23, 2024
Our @MonsterEnergy Moment of the Match. ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/9JZQ3kvL9V
Joao Pedro has started only four league matches this season due to an ankle injury, but he now has 29 goal involvements in 46 appearances since joining Brighton from Watford in 2023.
"Every team has a player that makes the difference," said Hurzeler.
"He made the difference for us - he proved that in the last game and he proved that today."
The win - which came despite playing the last 31 minutes with 10 men after Carlos Baleba’s sending off - was Brighton’s fourth since the start of October; only Liverpool have collected more than their 13 points during that period.
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After a tricky period leading into the recent international break, Arsenal looked like their old selves as Bukayo Saka again starred in a comprehensive victory, their biggest in the league so far this season.
The England international scored one and assisted another to take his Premier League goal involvements to 12 (four goals, eight assists) this season - only Mohamed Salah (16) has more.
Saka’s opener, created by captain Martin Odegaard, was the first time the pair have linked up for a goal since February, and they showed throughout the match how important their combined presence could be following the Norwegian’s return from injury.
The win was rounded off by Ethan Nwaneri who, at the age of 17 years and 247 days, became Arsenal’s second-youngest Premier League goalscorer behind Cesc Fabregas (17 years 113 days).
Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya was largely a spectator, with Nottingham Forest failing to register a single shot on target for the first time in a Premier League match since April 2023.
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Everton failed to score for the third successive match, despite playing more than half of this encounter against 10 men.
That's hardly the most encouraging statistic when Sean Dyche’s side are about to enter a devilish run of December fixtures against Man Utd, Wolves, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Man City.
The Toffees had 27 shots - their most without scoring in a Premier League match since 2016 - but only five were on target, and really just one of those gave Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken any cause for concern.
Flekken's highlights v Everton
That first save 😮💨An outstanding display, Mark Flekken 🧤🇳🇱 pic.twitter.com/BWAZsEY9Cd
— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) November 23, 2024
Only one team (Southampton, with nine) have netted fewer than Everton’s 10 goals this season and, worryingly, they have now failed to score in six of their 12 league matches.
Brentford were reduced to 10 men shortly before half-time when Christian Norgaard was dismissed for a challenge on Jordan Pickford.
Thomas Frank's side dug in and held on to claim their first away point of the season.
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If Matheus Cunha had previously managed to stay under the radar of any Premier League supporters, this was the day he announced himself to all.
After falling behind to Alex Iwobi’s early strike, Wolves hit back through two Cunha contenders for Budweiser Premier League Goal of the Season, while the Brazilian also assisted another goal for Joao Gomes.
Goncalo Guedes added a fourth in stoppage time as Wolves climbed out of the relegation zone.
But it was Cunha who stole the show with two equally brilliant, and entirely contrasting, finishes to take his recent haul to four goals and three assists in Wolves’ last four matches.
Cunha's goals v Fulham
The pass. The control. The finish.
— Wolves (@Wolves) November 23, 2024
🇧🇷😍 pic.twitter.com/BQzwfhKWjV
Matheus Cunha is him.
— Wolves (@Wolves) November 23, 2024
🇧🇷🎯 pic.twitter.com/RYAWQbwFzx
Cunha seems to excel on the road, scoring 71 per cent of his 21 Premier League goals in away matches - the highest percentage of any player with more than 20 goals in the competition.
"There’s no limit to where he can get to, ability-wise," said head coach Gary O’Neil.
"He’s going to stay at Wolves for as long as possible, but after that there’s no limit to where he can go."
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Fresh from signing a new two-year deal to remain at Man City beyond this season, Pep Guardiola suffered one of the heaviest defeats of his tenure.
City's biggest loss in any competition since 2003, it ended their long unbeaten run at the Etihad Stadium that stretched back to November 2022 and spanned 52 matches.
It also means Guardiola’s side have now lost their last five matches across all competitions, making them the first reigning English top-flight champions to do so since Chelsea in 1956.
City were totally outplayed by a superb Spurs performance in which James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski starred.
Maddison scored the first two goals inside 20 minutes, before Pedro Porro and Brennan Johnson compounded the hosts' humiliation in the second half.
After losing at home to Ipswich Town in Matchweek 11, Saturday's win continued a rollercoaster season for Spurs in which they have alternated victory with defeat in their last seven matches.
Spurs' last seven results
| MW | Result | MW | Result |
| 6 | v Man Utd (W) 3-0 | 10 | v Aston Villa (W) 4-1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | v Brighton (L) 3-2 | 11 | v Ipswich (L) 2-1 |
| 8 | v West Ham (W) 4-1 | 12 | v Man City (W) 4-0 |
| 9 | v Crystal Palace (L) 1-0 |
City have conceded 1.42 goals per Premier League match this season - in only one other campaign under Guardiola have they conceded more than one goal per match.
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It was not always smooth sailing, but a Salah-inspired Liverpool came from behind to extend their lead at the top of the table to eight points, ahead of hosting second-placed Man City this Sunday.
Salah scored for a fifth consecutive league match, adding two more goals to a bulging tally of 10 in the Premier League this season.
The performance overall was below Liverpool’s best and they had to fight back to claim a turnaround victory after Adam Armstrong and Mateus Fernandes had twice put Southampton ahead.
Arne Slot’s side were aided by the kind of calamitous individual mistakes that have blighted this campaign for the Saints, who stay bottom with only four points.
Russell Martin’s side have made eight errors directly leading to goals this season - more than any other Premier League club.
They have also now become the eighth team in top-flight history to lose at least 10 of their first 12 league matches.
Worryingly, none of the previous seven sides who did that avoided relegation.
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The Amorim era could not have started better, with Marcus Rashford scoring after only 81 seconds to give Man Utd the lead at Portman Road.
At that point, the new head coach must have wondered what all the fuss was about.
But United soon found themselves in a familiar plight, with Ipswich increasingly growing into the game after Omari Hutchinson scored his first goal since joining permanently in the summer.
Indeed, the visitors were indebted to a couple of fine Andre Onana saves that denied Liam Delap.
Assisted by wing-back Amad Diallo, Rashford’s goal was his first in eight matches. It also means that he has now scored under six different Man Utd managers (Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Ralf Rangnick, Erik ten Hag and Amorim) - more than any other player for the club.
Ipswich’s Expected Goals (xG) tally of 1.75 was their highest of the season, but the wait for a home win since their return to the Premier League goes on.
