Football writer Ben Bloom analyses the incredible action of Matchweek 13.
A weekend that might have major repercussions for the Premier League title race ended with Liverpool increasing their lead at the top of the table to NINE points by beating Manchester City to extend the reigning champions’ winless run.
There were also victories for Arsenal and Chelsea, who now lead the chasing pack on 25 points apiece, while Ruben Amorim enjoyed his first Premier League win with Manchester United.
None of the bottom seven clubs were triumphant, with a draw insufficient to take Southampton off the foot of the table.
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That draw meant Brighton & Hove Albion finished a Premier League day in the top two for the first time ever after three or more matches in a season.
Fabian Hurzeler’s side, who are in fourth place following Sunday's results, took the lead through a 29th-minute header from Kaoru Mitoma; the Japan international has now netted in back-to-back Premier League matches.
Brighton scored with their first attempt on target, and Southampton repeated the trick when Flynn Downes netted his maiden top-flight goal just before the hour mark.
The visitors then thought they had taken a lead through Cameron Archer, but it was controversially ruled out for offside.
That left them adrift on just five points at the bottom despite ending a run of nine straight Premier League away defeats.
High-flying Brighton do not now play a side in the Premier League’s top seven until the new year.
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Brentford continued their extraordinary home form with a Kevin Schade-inspired thrashing of Leicester City.
The Foxes' incoming manager Ruud van Nistelrooy watched from the stands and was powerless to prevent Schade becoming only the second Brentford player (after Ivan Toney) and fourth German (following Jurgen Klinsmann, Fredi Bobic and Andre Schurrle) to score a Premier League hat-trick.
Leicester had taken a lead through Facundo Buonanotte’s fourth league goal of the season, but Yoane Wissa quickly equalised before Schade hit three.
The result means Brentford still have more home points than any other team - 19 from seven matches - while they remarkably sit second-bottom of the away-form table.
The Bees have won more Premier League home matches this season (six) than in the whole of the last campaign (five), and are the only team to have scored more than 20 goals at home this season (22).
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Perhaps the lack of goalmouth action should have come as little surprise, with this being the fifth consecutive match between Crystal Palace and Newcastle United that was scoreless at half-time.
There was not a single shot on target during that opening half at Selhurst Park – the first such occasion in the Premier League this season.
That Newcastle took the lead through a Marc Guehi own goal meant they became the first team since June 2020 to score in a Premier League match without having a shot on target.
In fact, they attempted just one shot all match.
That own goal looked like being enough for an unlikely victory until Daniel Munoz scored a stoppage-time equaliser to help Palace climb out of the bottom three.
The Eagles' tally of nine points from the opening 13 matches still represents their worst start to a Premier League season for six years.
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The Chris Wood show continued at the City Ground where the New Zealander scored the only goal to take his Premier League haul to nine for the season.
His 49th-minute penalty means he is now Nottingham Forest’s joint-top goalscorer in their Premier League history with 24.
He is also one of only two players to be the top scorer for two different clubs in the competition. Wood leads the way for Nott'm Forest and Burnley, while Alan Shearer does the same for both Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle.
Since Nuno Espirito Santo’s first Premier League match in charge of Forest last December, only Erling Haaland (25) and Cole Palmer (23) have scored more than Wood’s 20 goals.
This win also featured Forest’s fifth clean sheet of the season – only league leaders Liverpool have kept more (seven).
Ipswich Town remain in the relegation zone, with their poor record at the City Ground continuing. They are now winless in their last 15 league trips there.
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Justin Kluivert made history as the first player to ever score a hat-trick of penalties in a Premier League match.
The last time any player scored three spot-kicks in an English top-flight match was in 1957 (Ken Barnes for Man City).
All of the penalties converted by Kluivert were all won by team-mate Evanilson. The first was one of three goals scored in a hectic opening eight minutes, in which the visitors took a 2-1 lead.
Jorgen Strand Larsen equalised for Wolverhampton Wanderers in the fifth minute and also scored in the second half, but his goals were in vain as the hosts again paid for their defensive troubles.
Gary O’Neil’s side have scored 22 times in the Premier League this season – more than all but five teams in the division - but their 32 goals conceded is seven more than Southampton at the bottom.
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The first half at the London Stadium was a case of blink and you’ll miss it, with all seven goals coming before the break. It was only the fourth time as many goals had been scored before half-time of a Premier League match.
Arsenal’s tally of five came courtesy of five different scorers for the second successive match in all competitions, but Bukayo Saka was again the standout player.
Saka became only the second person to score and assist in four different Premier League encounters in 2024/25 (alongside Mohamed Salah), and be directly involved in 15+ goals in the competition this season (also with Salah).
He now has 10 assists for the season in Arsenal’s 13 matches, making him the fourth quickest to have reached double figures after Harry Kane (11 matches in 2020/21), Cesc Fabregas (12 in 2014/15) and Mesut Ozil (12 in 2015/16).
The match also featured Gabriel's third league goal of the season. Since his debut in 2020, the Brazilian has scored 17 times in the Premier League – six more than any other defender.
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Recent fortunes continued at Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea extended their unbeaten Premier League run to five matches while Aston Villa’s winless streak stretched to eight in all competitions.
Nicolas Jackson’s habit of opening the scoring – he has done so more times than anyone except Nott'm Forest’s Wood this season – resumed with his 18th goal involvement in his past 21 matches.
Enzo Fernandez then volleyed in for his second goal in as many matches, having scored only three in his first 56 appearances for Chelsea.
Victory was rounded off by a sensational finish from Cole Palmer, who has now reached 30 Premier League goals for Chelsea in 46 matches – only Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (41 matches) did so quicker.
Palmer's goal v Aston Villa
Cole doing what Cole does best. 🥶#CFC | #CHEAVL pic.twitter.com/TMIKBKr9Lj
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) December 1, 2024
It was a day to forget for Villa, who are now down to 12th in the table and lost goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez at half-time to a hand injury.
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All of the goals in Amorim’s first Premier League victory came from two sources that would have seemed highly unlikely just a couple of weeks ago.
Marcus Rashford scored twice to take his Premier League tally under Amorim to three – as many as he managed in his previous 23 appearances.
Amorim also handed a rare start to Joshua Zirkzee, who also repaid the head coach's faith with two goals.
Defeat continued a wretched period for Everton, who are without a win in five Premier League matches and have not scored in their last four, since 26 October – their longest barren run since 2005.
No top-flight side have scored fewer than their 10 goals (also Southampton) this season.
Worryingly, Sean Dyche’s side have to face Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Man City this month, but only after Wednesday's massive match against fellow strugglers Wolves.
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A week after shocking Premier League champions Man City with a 4-0 win, Tottenham Hotspur’s inconsistency yet again reared its head as they were held to a home draw by Fulham.
Ange Postecoglou’s team have failed to win back-to-back league encounters in their last eight matches, with their struggles often exhibited immediately after midweek UEFA Europa League ties.
Since beating Man Utd following their first European fixture, Spurs have failed to win each of their subsequent four matches after a continental clash.
They took the lead soon after half-time through Brennan Johnson’s sixth league goal of the season, but Fulham’s equaliser was reward for their multiple chances.
It came from substitute Tom Cairney, who was then sent off with seven minutes remaining for a challenge on Dejan Kulusevski.
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Pep Guardiola defiantly held up six fingers to the goading Liverpool fans in reference to the number of Premier League titles he has won with Man City, but his side’s staggering run without a win has now stretched to seven matches in all competitions.
The reigning champions fell 11 points off the pace as the hosts further extended their advantage at the top of the table to nine – their biggest margin as leaders since the final day of their victorious 2019/20 campaign.
Arne Slot's team took the lead after 12 minutes through Cody Gakpo, before Salah confirmed victory from the penalty spot late in the second half.
It was the 36th time Salah has both scored and assisted in one Premier League clash, matching Wayne Rooney for that particular record.
City endured their longest wait for a first shot in a Premier League match since 2010, spanning 39 minutes from kick-off. They managed only two efforts on target throughout the afternoon at Anfield.
