Premier League fans' verdict: Man United's victory over Arsenal was breathtaking while Swansea are heading down to the Championship

  • Arsenal lost 3-1 against Manchester United at the Emirates on Saturday
  • Manchester City maintained their eight-point lead at the top of Premier League  
  • Chelsea and Liverpool kept up their push for a top four spot on Saturday
  • Tottenham drew 1-1 with Watford as they dropped more points in top four race 

Another fascinating weekend of Premier League action saw Manchester United somehow manage to hold off Arsenal, while Manchester City maintained their big advantage at the top of the table. 

Chelsea and Liverpool kept up their push for a Champions League spot but Tottenham dropped even more points, drawing to Watford at Vicarage Road.

Here, Sportsmail gets the fans' verdicts following the latest weekend of action...

Manchester City beat West Ham 2-1 on Sunday to maintain their eight-point lead in league

Manchester City beat West Ham 2-1 on Sunday to maintain their eight-point lead in league

CHELSEA


Andy Seaby (Chelsea Daft)

Overall a good performance ahead of a big game against Atletico Madrid to win our Champions League group.

A slow, laboured start and some sloppy defending cost us a clean sheet but Dwight’s Gayle’s goal woke us up.

From that moment Chelsea played at a higher tempo, got their passes going and started to cause the visitors plenty of problems.

Eden Hazard and Alvaro Morata working in tandem were on the front foot and both scored in the first half to put Chelsea in front at half time.

Chelsea played out the second half and if anything should have scored more than the third from Eden Hazard front penalty spot.

Star man: Eden Hazard

NEWCASTLE

Tom Bore (Read Newcastle)

Defeat at Stamford Bridge was expected but the manner in which it came will disappoint most Newcastle fans. While the Magpies looked strong in possession in stages, the individual errors leading to the Chelsea goals made for a disappointing watch.

Jamaal Lascelles’ presence at the back is sorely missed and the sooner he returns to first-team action the better. 

All eyes look to Leicester at home next. After his performance today, Dwight Gayle to start ahead of Joselu would seem almost certain.

Star man: Karl Darlow

Eden Hazard starred in Chelsea's 3-1 win over Newcastle, scoring the hosts' opening goal

Eden Hazard starred in Chelsea's 3-1 win over Newcastle, scoring the hosts' opening goal

 

BRIGHTON

Simon Cox (Brighton Fans)

On paper it’s a tonking but in reality the scoreline is harsh.

Our two best moves ended up in Liverpool goals, such was the pace of their counter-attack, and Coutinho was unstoppable.

The only thing that annoyed me was conceding the first from a simple set-piece. At least we still created plenty of chances.

We must put this behind us and make amends at Huddersfield.

Star man: Izzy Brown

LIVERPOOL

Dave Usher (The Liverpool Way)

The line-ups change but the easy wins just keep on coming. Jurgen Klopp seems to be getting the hang of this rotation thing now.

It seems that as long as either Sadio Mane or Mohamed Salah are on the field Liverpool can score three, four, five and maybe even more.

Roberto Firmino has had to take a back seat to the ‘Dangerous Brothers’ as well as the imperious Philippe Coutinho, but Firmino’s form of late has been terrific so it was nice to see him get his reward with a couple of goals.

Liverpool are flying right now.

Star man: Roberto Firmino 

Roberto Firmino scored twice as Liverpool strolled past Brighton on Saturday afternoon 

Roberto Firmino scored twice as Liverpool strolled past Brighton on Saturday afternoon 

 

EVERTON

Joel Parker (Toffee Analysis)

Two victories, two clean sheets, six goals in the space of a week, how things have changed. 

Allardyce kept the same team (rightly so) after a huge win in midweek and after a uneventful first half, two great goals from Sigurdsson and Calvert-Lewin put us ahead. Amazing assists too. 

If Allardyce keeps this system, we can easily push for a high finish... only Anfield next!

Star man: Dominic Calvert-Lewin

HUDDERSFIELD

Harry Greenwood (Better Than Klopp)

Will we ever score away from home? The same old story with Town on the road, as we were the dominant side in the first half, but no end product.

Slow out the blocks yet again, Everton scored straight after the break, and Town were chasing the game yet again.

Two moments of quality decided the game, the flick to set up Sigurdsson, and Rooney’s ball through for the second.

Town need to become more of an attacking threat away from home or relegation looms.

Star man: Danny Williams 

Sam Allardyce enjoyed a winning start as Everton manager as they beat Huddersfield 2-0

Sam Allardyce enjoyed a winning start as Everton manager as they beat Huddersfield 2-0

 

LEICESTER

Phil Simms (LCFC World)

Leicester rise continued in a feisty game against in-form Burnley.

The Foxes found the early pace and Gray — rejuvenated Gray under Puel — scored the only goal of the game.

Burnley dominated possession in the first period but couldn’t muster a goal. The second saw plenty of chances for the Foxes but they needed to be more clinical.

Star man: Marc Albrighton

BURNLEY

Tony Scholes (Up The Clarets)

When things go wrong they certainly go wrong. That was very much the case today, losing to a soft goal scored early in the game and then, worse still, losing the impressive Robbie Brady to what looks likely to be a long-term injury.

While we have played better, this was a decent enough performance and we could so easily have got something from the game.

But three points from two away games this week is fine, we are still in a good position with plenty to look forward to.

Star man: Johann Berg Gudmundsson

Leicester's rise in the Premier League continued after their narrow 1-0 victory over Burnley

Leicester's rise in the Premier League continued after their narrow 1-0 victory over Burnley

 

STOKE

Martin Smith (The Oatcake Fanzine)

On a day when only the result mattered we did what we had to do and won. It wasn’t a great performance but it was enough to beat Swansea and that was good enough for a relieved Stoke support, especially as we had to come from behind to win.

The travelling Swansea fans were giving their former player Joe Allen some grief and that was bad news for them because, along with Xherdan Shaqiri, he’s been our best player for the past few weeks and delivered another man of the match display.

The result takes a lot of heat off under-pressure manager Mark Hughes but that won’t last if we don’t build on it in the weeks to come.

Star man: Joe Allen

SWANSEA

Declan Terry (Read Swansea)

Swansea slumped to the bottom of the Premier League and it’s no less than where they deserve to be.

We’re the worst team in the division, and a run of six defeats in the last seven is atrocious. There’s only one place we’re heading - and that’s the Championship.

The Swans started well at Stoke, but failed to contain Peter Crouch and gifted the hosts a quick-fire lead right before half-time, which was definitely preventable. We offered little threat in the second-half and didn’t really want it in the end. It’s not all Paul Clement’s fault but I wouldn’t object if he was to be dismissed.

Star man: Wilfried Bony 

Swansea are rooted to the bottom of the Premier League after their 2-1 defeat by Stoke

Swansea are rooted to the bottom of the Premier League after their 2-1 defeat by Stoke

 

WATFORD

David Anderson (Golden Pages Fanzine)

We would have beaten Tottenham had referee Martin Atkinson not denied us two huge penalty shouts.

The first-half challenge on Richarlison would have been a foul anywhere else on the pitch, and Eric Dier’s hand was undeniably in an unnatural position when he blocked Richarlison’s cross late on.

That said, Davinson Sanchez was probably unfortunate to have been sent off for an elbow on Richarlison which, despite looking painful, also seemed accidental.

It says something about the level of our performances this season that this result feels disappointing.

Star man: Christian Kabasele

TOTTENHAM

Barnaby Slater (The Football Republic)

Another disappointing result in a run of poor form for Spurs, but at least some encouragement in the desire and fight shown when we went down to 10 men following Davison Sanchez’s naive elbow.

Watford have made great strides this season under Marco Silva, so a draw when a man down at Vicarage Road is not to be sniffed at, but the reality now is we’re in a real dogfight to make top four this season.

Going into our new stadium in the Europa League would not be the introduction it deserves.

Star man: Son Heung-min 

Tottenham dropped more points on Saturday after they drew 1-1 with Watford

Tottenham dropped more points on Saturday after they drew 1-1 with Watford

 

WEST BROM

Alex Newton (Read West Brom)

Albion’s first clean sheet in 11 games was one of the only few positives to take away as Palace stopped Pardew from winning his first game as Baggies boss.

Despite the change of manager it still felt Tony Pulis was hanging over The Hawthorns with a subdued atmosphere and lacklustre football.

There’s a lot of deadwood in the Albion squad that must be cleared in January if they want to stay in the Premier League.

Evans and Gibbs are two of the best footballers West Brom have ever had, and Sam Field will be a star in the future. Swansea away is huge next week.

Star man: Sam Field

CRYSTAL PALACE

Jay Crame (The Eagles Beak)

We could have done with all three points but Hodgson has made us a tough team to beat.

One loss in six is real progress and moving off the bottom of the table is a confidence booster in itself with plenty of fixtures coming up from which we should pick up more points.

Continued improvement but still a work in progress.

Star man: Julian Speroni 

Alan Pardew's first match in charge of West Brom ended in a 0-0 draw against Crystal Palace

Alan Pardew's first match in charge of West Brom ended in a 0-0 draw against Crystal Palace

 

ARSENAL

Peter Wood (Le Grove)

Losing 3-1 at home to United isn’t often a result to be painted in praise. However, Arsenal delivered a weird form of glorious failure on Saturday. 

Two unusual individual errors from Mustafi and Koscielny derailed the result early on, but the team fought back with exceptional passion, Lacazette giving the home fans hope, but sadly it wasn’t enough in the end.

Arsenal can be proud of themselves, only the brilliance of David De Gea and Lady Luck prevented a better result. On another day, that’s a win for Arsenal. Doesn’t help the table, but at least we were in the fight.

Star man: Alexandre Lacazette

MANCHESTER UNITED

Sam Peoples (The Peoples Person)

That was the best game of football I have seen Manchester United play since Sir Alex retired.

It was breathtaking, David de Gea is the world’s best goalkeeper and finally we beat a top-six team away under Jose Mourinho.

Bring on City — albeit without Paul Pogba.

Star man: David de Gea 

Manchester United kept some pressure on neighbours City after beating Arsenal 3-1

Manchester United kept some pressure on neighbours City after beating Arsenal 3-1

 

BOURNEMOUTH

Peter Bell (Cherry Chimes)

Despite not getting a clear penalty in the first half, for Boufal’s poor challenge on Adam Smith, the Cherries did well to go a goal up with a smart finish from Ryan Fraser.

The Saints were better second half and Charlie Austin’s leveller was no surprise.

But it was good to see a bit of fight from Eddie Howe’s side again and they’ll need more of that in December. We can only hope Jermain Defoe scores soon, too.

Star man: Ryan Fraser

SOUTHAMPTON

Aidan Small (Fresh Saints)

Bertrand worked the left wing superbly throughout, Austin did what Austin does best (score goals) and Redmond made an impact from the bench with an assist.

However, Steven Davis isn’t a defensive midfielder. He’s superb on the turn and at his best with positional freedom, so why did we hand him the responsibility of plugging the midfield alongside Romeu? It was a wonderful opportunity to bed Hojbjerg into the side.

With all things considered, a draw was probably a fair result - both teams had spells of dominance and missed clear-cut chances.

This was a fantastic opportunity to truly build upon on our last two performances.

Star man: Ryan Bertrand 

Bournemouth and Southampton drew 1-1 on Sunday in the south coast derby

Bournemouth and Southampton drew 1-1 on Sunday in the south coast derby

 

MANCHESTER CITY

Steven Allweis (View From A Blue)

This was very much the story of the last few games. The first half was slow, laboured and frustratingly flat - and it’s odd that we seem to be waiting for the opposition to shock us before we spark into life.

Jesus made a huge difference in the second half, giving us another option for a forward pass and creating a buzz.

The winner didn’t arrive as late as it did against Southampton, but it wasn’t any easier on the heart!

Star man: Gabriel Jesus

WEST HAM

Michael Oliver (Read West Ham)

West Ham knew that they would be defending for most of the game but the surprise was that they did so effectively for much of the game.

Moyes’ injury-hit side soaked up considerable Man City pressure in the first half but were a threat on the break, carving out a couple of genuine opportunities before Ogbonna broke the deadlock.

City’s relentless pressure was too much to handle as goals from Otamendi and Silva helped them grab the win, but Moyes can be proud of the determination and organisation his side showed at the back. It’s a building block for sure.

Star Man: Adrian

David Silva scored late on as City came from one goal down to beat West Ham 2-1 at the Etihad

David Silva scored late on as City came from one goal down to beat West Ham 2-1 at the Etihad