Manchester City lose again, United go nine games without a win, and Arsenal can go top at Anfield on Sunday
Brighton won 1-0 at the Etihad and Chelsea beat ten-man Manchester United 2-0 on Saturday. City and Arsenal both have 21 points; Arsenal have played a game fewer and visit Liverpool at 17:30 CET.
Manchester City lost a second Premier League game in a row on Saturday, beaten 1-0 at home by Brighton, three days after they had beaten the same opponents on penalties in the Carabao Cup at the same ground. Across London, Chelsea beat Manchester United 2-0 at Stamford Bridge after Lisandro Martínez was sent off. The two results reshape the top of the table before Sunday’s game between Liverpool and Arsenal.
City still lead with 21 points from nine games, but Arsenal also have 21 from eight, and a win at Anfield on Sunday at 17:30 CET would take them above City. Brighton are third on 19 points, two behind City. Chelsea moved up to fourth on 16, above Liverpool on 15, who have a game in hand.
Brighton do it again at the Etihad
Brighton’s goal came in the 11th minute. From a free kick, Lewis Dunk played the ball down the right to Diego Gómez, City’s Matheus Nunes failed to cut out the low cross, and the ball ran off Maxim De Cuyper to Yasin Ayari, who scored from close range, ESPN’s report says.
City had chances to level and did not take them. Iliman Ndiaye headed wide with the goalkeeper beaten, later hit the post, and put another shot into the side-netting. Late in the game City wanted a penalty when a low cross appeared to strike Dunk’s hand, but referee Craig Pawson gave nothing. Brighton’s head coach Fabian Hürzeler had made no secret of wanting to put Wednesday right: his side had led twice in the cup tie before losing the shootout, and ESPN described him as having a “stated desire for revenge”. He got it.
City, coached by Enzo Maresca, began the season with seven straight league wins. They have now lost two in a row, and they go to Leipzig in the Champions League on Wednesday 4 November at 21:00 CET before a trip to Nottingham Forest on Saturday 7 November at 18:30 CET.
United unravel after the red card
At Stamford Bridge the game turned in three minutes. Morgan Rogers put Chelsea ahead in the 50th, running through a static United defence and lifting his finish over goalkeeper Senne Lammens. Around the hour Martínez was booked for a foul on Rogers, and in the 63rd minute he raised an arm to the face of Wesley Fofana inside the United penalty area. After a video review the referee gave a second yellow card, so Martínez was sent off, and a penalty. Cole Palmer scored it in the 64th minute, his 50th Premier League goal for Chelsea, according to Sky Sports.
Before that United had been in the game. Bruno Fernandes, restored to the side after being dropped, missed a free chance from Bryan Mbeumo’s cross in the first half, and Amad Diallo was twice denied by Chelsea’s goalkeeper Mike Penders. Chelsea’s Estevão had a goal ruled out for offside and then forced a full-stretch save from Lammens.
“We found a way of unravelling in the second half,” United’s head coach Michael Carrick told Sky Sports. Of the red card he said: “It just gave them a lift.” Carrick was confirmed in his job only on Friday, as we reported, and Sky Sports says his future is in doubt again after this.
Chelsea’s head coach Xabi Alonso called it “a mature performance” and added: “I am very demanding. We can do better.”
The numbers behind United’s week
United have now gone nine games in all competitions without a win, three draws and six defeats, which Sky Sports says is their longest such run since September 1984. They have failed to win any of their first seven away games this season, the first time that has happened since 1973-74, and they have not kept a clean sheet, a game without conceding, in any of their nine league matches. They are 16th on seven points, one point above the relegation places.
Chelsea, for their part, recorded their first home league win without conceding in 13 matches, and have two clean sheets in their last three league games.
What comes next
Liverpool v Arsenal kicks off at 17:30 CET on Sunday 1 November at Anfield. Newcastle host Everton on Monday 2 November at 21:00 CET. United play Roma in the Champions League on Tuesday 3 November at 21:00 CET, then host Aston Villa on Sunday 8 November at 17:30 CET. Chelsea go to Sunderland on Sunday 8 November at 15:00 CET.
Kick-off times come from the fixture feed used across this site and can still change.
- Chelsea 2-0 Man Utd: Lisandro Martinez sees red as Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer pile pressure on Michael Carrick, Sky Sports. Read 06:58 CET, 1 Nov 2026.
- Man City 0-1 Brighton (Oct 31, 2026) Game Analysis, ESPN. Read 07:02 CET, 1 Nov 2026.
- Chelsea 2-0 Man Utd (Oct 31, 2026) Game Analysis, ESPN. Read 06:56 CET, 1 Nov 2026.
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