⚽️ Arsenal Takes Down Mighty Manchester City, Tops Table With Spurs

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta had never beaten his former mentor, Pep Guardiola. The Gunners hadn’t beaten Manchester City in the Premier League since December 2015. So Arsenal 1, City 0 wasn’t exactly domination from Arteta’s men. What it was, though, was a statement that City are no longer the frightening force of the past three seasons.

The Scores:

• Arsenal (H) 1, Manchester City 0: City fans will say they didn’t have Rodri, they didn’t have Kevin de Bruyne, that they lost to a freak deflection. All true. Still an L.

• Brighton (H) 2, Liverpool 2: This match had all of the thrills and spills that Arsenal/City missed. Two more goals from Mo Salah, too.

• West Ham (H) 2, Newcastle United 2: Liverpool and Newcastle both blew late leads, which doubtlessly delighted Arsenal and Spurs.

• Wolverhampton Wanderers (H) 1, Aston Villa 1: The only goals in the match were scored within two minutes of each other. The rest of the match was quite a bit less engaging.

• Luton Town (H) 0, Tottenham Hotspur 1: The Hatters played the second half up a man, making the second half goal they gave up to Spurs’ Micky van de Ven all the more galling.

• Burnley (H) 1, Chelsea 4: On one hand, Chelsea have gone from impotent to free-scoring. On the other hand…it’s Burnley.

• Everton (H) 3, Bournemouth 0: Not sure what’s harder to believe, that Everton have won twice or that Bournemouth might not survive the relegation battle.

• Fulham (H) 3, Sheffield United 1: The score actually flatters the Blades, whose only goal was turned into Fulham’s net by the Cottagers’ Antonee Robinson.

• Manchester United (H) 2, Brentford 1: United played about 95 minutes without scoring. Then Scott McTominay (not exactly prime Cristiano Ronaldo) scored twice in second half extra time.

• Crystal Palace (H) 0, Nottingham Forest 0: Two mid-table teams who, if we’re being honest, were probably just fine with a draw.

Top of the Table: [from Google]

In the email today:

Again, it’s only one win in a 38-match Premier League season. But for a title-starved Arsenal fan base, a 1-0 victory over the three-time defending league champions represents both promise of good days to come and proof of how good the Gunners are right now.

• Arsenal broke a 12-game Premier League losing streak against City.

• Gabriel Martinelli, a halftime substitute, scored the only goal of the match, highlighting his importance to Arsenal's attack.

• Mikel Arteta has now defeated all 24 Premier League teams he has faced as a manager.

• City, despite their strong start to the season, suffered back-to-back league defeats for the first time in nearly five years.

• Arsenal's win moved them above City in the league table, leveling them on points with Tottenham Hotspur.

Our take: MAN, the margins in this league are so slim. Martinelli’s shot was on target for the far corner, but City keeper Ederson had it lined up until it hit City defender Nathan Ake’s face and deflected into the near corner. In his defense, it’s likely Ake never saw the ball. Regardless, that deflection was the difference.

2) 📈 Buy or Sell

As we somehow already head into another international break, we finally have enough of a sample size to make some legitimate assessments on teams and players.

• 🟢 David Raya, keeper, Arsenal: Raya had a nervy moment or two against City, but what keeper doesn’t? At this point, he’s hammered in as Arsenal’s #1.

• 🔴 Manchester City midfielders not named Rodri or Kevin de Bruyne: Another week of City trying to create chances with the likes of Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic…another dud. And oh yes, Kovacic definitely should have been sent off against Arsenal.

• 🟢 Mohamed Salah, midfielder, Liverpool: Salah is averaging more than a point a game for Liverpool, and it’s tough to imagine where the Reds would be without him.

• 🔴 Bukayo Saka, midfielder, Arsenal: Saka is set to miss the entire international break with an injury that might need more than these next two weeks to heal.

• 🟢 Raheem Sterling, forward, Chelsea: Sterling was instrumental in his team’s thrashing of Burnley on Saturday.

• 🔴 Erik ten Hag, manager, Manchester United: McTominay’s heroics didn’t fool anyone, and the manager decided to call his whole team out rather than raise his own hand.

Our take: It really is a shame we have to wait through another international break. This week’s developments have the season poised for a compelling stretch when the league resumes.

3) ❌ Tweet of the Day: Giant 🇳🇴 Missing in Manchester

Harsh but fair. As Haaland goes, so goes City. And City have lost three of four in all competitions with Haaland kept off the score sheet each time.

4) 🗳️ Two North London Teams Top the Table

Have additional thoughts? Reply directly to this email to comment, and see if we include your response tomorrow.

5) 🔗 Links Roundup:

• ⬆️ Spurs take the league lead over Arsenal into the international break despite having the same record and goal difference because they’ve scored more goals.

• ⬇️ Pep Guardiola knows his City team is in plenty of trouble any time they have to play without Rodri.

• ↔️ Jurgen Klopp stuck up for Alexis Mac Allister after the Argentine’s error led to a goal (and ultimately a draw) with Brighton.

The newsletter today was written by Phil Keidel. Follow Phil on X @philkeidel.

Thanks for reading!