Arsenal's Flawless Start Continues with 2-0 Victory

Arsenal’s perfect title defence rolled on with a ruthless 2-0 win at Sunderland, lit up by a thunderbolt from Bruno Guimaraes and sealed by Bukayo Saka’s ice-cold penalty. Around them, the supposed challengers stumbled.

Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham all failed to win at home. The gap at the top is small on paper. It feels bigger already.

Guimaraes stunner keeps Arsenal flawless

Arsenal arrived at the Stadium of Light with three wins from three and the look of champions who know exactly what they’re doing. They left with a fourth straight victory, a three-point cushion over Manchester City, and another statement of control.

They needed their goalkeeper first. Enzo Le Fee stepped up from the spot with Sunderland sensing an upset, but David Raya guessed right and pushed away the penalty to preserve Arsenal’s perfect defensive record. The escape jolted Mikel Arteta’s side into life.

Just over two minutes later, Guimaraes silenced the home crowd with a moment of pure quality. Picking the ball up from distance, the Brazilian unleashed a vicious, rising drive that arrowed into the top corner for his first Arsenal goal. One swing of his right boot, and the champions were in charge.

Sunderland hung in and kept the scoreline respectable, but Arsenal never really loosened their grip. With the final kick of the game, Saka stepped up from the spot and buried his penalty, wrapping up another composed, clinical win.

City can haul themselves level on points if they win the Manchester derby at Old Trafford on Sunday. Yet four games in, Arsenal are the only side with a flawless record, and a gap is already forming between them and the rest of the supposed contenders.

Alonso’s Chelsea thrill, but can’t shut the door

At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea delivered the same chaotic mix that has followed them under Xabi Alonso: sparkling in attack, fragile at the back, and punished again in a 2-2 draw with newly-promoted Hull.

The front three of Morgan Rogers, Joao Pedro and Cole Palmer flickered and flared, pulling Hull around and creating chances. Chelsea have now scored 16 times in five games against top-flight opposition under Alonso. They’ve also conceded 12.

“Maybe entertaining,” Alonso admitted, “but I hope one day you’ll say it was a boring game and we win and we don’t give these entertaining moments.” His side now sit five points off the top.

Hull arrived as the last team in the Premier League yet to concede this season, but that proud record disappeared inside seven minutes when Rogers drilled in at the near post. Hull’s response was sharp and ruthless. Chelsea’s slack defending invited trouble and Mohamed Belloumi accepted the gifts, striking twice before half-time to turn the game on its head.

Chelsea eventually hit back after the break. Just after the hour, Joao Pedro met a Palmer cross and lashed it into the top corner to level. The momentum was theirs, the pressure constant, but the winner never came. Hull dug in, extended their unbeaten start and stayed third in the table. Their honeymoon back in the Premier League shows no sign of ending.

Liverpool flat, Fulham dig in for Arbeloa

Anfield expected a response, a statement, something to match Liverpool’s unbeaten start under Andoni Iraola. Instead, they got a flat 0-0 against a Fulham side still finding their feet under Alvaro Arbeloa.

Liverpool’s forward line looked frightening on paper: Bradley Barcola, Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak, three £100 million players leading the charge. On the pitch, they never quite connected. Fulham, with a defence that has leaked goals, held firm and walked away with their first point of the Arbeloa era. The home crowd made their feelings clear with boos at full-time.

“When you draw, especially at home, you can’t be happy,” Iraola said, pointing to the toll of Wednesday’s Champions League battle with Atletico Madrid. “Today we lacked a bit of freshness and we did not do enough offensively to make the difference.”

Liverpool sit sixth and already trail Arsenal by six points. The margin is recoverable. The performance will worry them more.

Tottenham toothless, pressure rising

Tottenham spent big to make sure the struggles of the last two seasons, both ending in 17th place, would not be repeated. The goals were supposed to flow. They haven’t.

Another game, another blank. A goalless stalemate with Everton kept Spurs just inside the relegation zone and extended a barren run in front of goal that is starting to define their season. The money has been spent. The chemistry hasn’t arrived.

Delap delivers as Forest sting Villa

At the other end of the table, Aston Villa’s problems deepened. Still searching for lift-off, they were hit late by Nottingham Forest, who took revenge for last season’s Europa League semifinal defeat with a 2-1 win.

Eyebrows were raised when Forest agreed a club-record £45 million fee with Chelsea for Liam Delap after he failed to make the grade at Stamford Bridge. This was the kind of afternoon that quietens the doubters. Delap stepped up from range and drilled a precise strike into the bottom corner to open the scoring, a finish that underlined exactly why Forest paid up.

Villa finally found their first league goal of the season through Alysson, who levelled to give the visitors hope. It didn’t last. Igor Jesus struck to restore Forest’s lead and secure Oliver Glasner’s first win as Forest boss.

Palace rocked, Ipswich refuse to blink

Glasner’s former club Crystal Palace continue to stumble. A 3-2 home defeat to Ipswich deepened their early-season malaise and underlined the visitors’ refusal to be overawed by anyone.

Palace’s task became far harder when Axel Disasi saw red in the first half, handing Ipswich both space and belief. The visitors pressed, probed and finally stole it at the death. Zian Flemming, still waiting for his moment in a Tractor Boys shirt, chose stoppage time to score his first goal for the club and snatch all three points.

Schade saves Brentford

On the south coast, Brentford’s unbeaten start survived another test as Kevin Schade struck twice in a 2-2 draw at Bournemouth. The hosts pushed, Brentford refused to fold, and Schade’s double kept Thomas Frank’s side ticking along quietly in the background.

Four games in, the table already has a familiar split. Arsenal look sharp, ruthless and ahead of schedule. The rest are chasing, stumbling, or still trying to work out exactly what kind of team they want to be.