Arsenal are now 12/5 in bwin’s Premier League outright winner odds after their 2-0 victory over Brighton at the Emirates Stadium sent them top of the table.
Gabriel Jesus’ back-post header from close-range broke the deadlock before a cool Kai Havertz finish wrapped up the three points for Arsenal, who also became the first team to prevent Brighton scoring in a league game this season.
Boss Mikel Arteta admits his side needed too many chances to beat Brighton but was pleased with the maturity and intelligence which secured victory.
“We have great players that can define games and finish actions,” said Arteta. “We needed too many – especially in big spaces – too many situations to finish the game.
“That was the fear, especially after half-time, that it could be one of those days because the moment you give something to this team they’ll take it.
“We had to be patient but at the same time we had to be really determined against this team.
“The second you have doubts against this team they open you up, they start to frustrate you and dominate with the ball. We didn’t do that.
“We didn’t allow them to do that. We showed a lot of maturity and a lot of intelligence. This game against them requires them to be really intelligent.”
Liverpool eased to 11/4 after their failure to score for the first time since April cost them top spot as Manchester United secured a goalless draw.
Jurgen Klopp’s side had an eye-watering 34 shots across the match and United goalkeeper Andre Onana made eight saves but the hosts could not find a way through.
Reds skipper Virgil van Dijk told Sky Sports: “If you see how we played the game, how we obviously had most of the ball and created some opportunities, I think there was only one team that were trying to win the game.
“Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. So, that’s why it’s frustrating because we want to win every game of course but especially if we play against a team like them.”
Lewis – We are disappointed
Manchester City eased to 11/8 in bwin’s Premier League outright winner odds after being held to a 2-2 draw by Crystal Palace at the Etihad Stadium.
City had dominated possession and appeared in complete control after Jack Grealish put them ahead in the 24th minute and Rico Lewis added a 54th-minute finish.
Palace fought back to reduce the deficit via Jean-Philippe Mateta with just under a quarter of an hour of normal time to go before Michael Olise converted from the spot in the fifth minute of stoppage time to secure a point for the visitors.
It is the fifth time in six league games Pep Guardiola’s men have dropped points, having also drawn with Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham and lost to Aston Villa prior to last Sunday’s 2-1 win at Luton.
Lewis admitted he could not fully savour his first Premier League goal.
The 19-year-old told City’s official website: “We are very disappointed with the result, it’s unfortunate with the performance we put in.
“We were so good in terms of controlling the game and scoring two goals but at the end of the day we’ve not got the result we came for.
“The people in that dressing room want to win every single game. It’s football and stuff can happen that you don’t expect and that’s what happened.”
Aston Villa stayed in third place, a point behind Arsenal, after late goals from Alex Moreno and Ollie Watkins secured a dramatic late 2-1 victory at Brentford.
Keane Lewis-Potter had opened the scoring for the hosts but the game turned on its head after Brentford defender Ben Mee was dismissed for flying into Leon Bailey in the 71st minute – referee David Coote upgrading to a red card after seeing the incident on the pitchside monitor.
Moreno equalised in the 77th minute with Watkins completing the turnaround eight minutes later before Villa midfielder Boubacar Kamara was also shown a red card deep into stoppage time for violent conduct.
Boss Unai Emery, whose side are 11/1 for the title, told the club’s website: “Let’s keep going. We are moving on because on Friday we will face Sheffield (United) at home and it’s a new challenge. We have to try to keep consistent across 38 matches.
“We are in day 17 with two matches before we complete the first half of the season. We have to be consistent.”
Tottenham were cut to 25/1 after a 2-0 win at Nottingham Forest.
Goals from Richarlison and Dejan Kulusevski helped Spurs overcome the second-half dismissal of Yves Bissouma to make it back-to-back wins for the first time since October.
Postecoglou told Sky Sports Premier League: “We had to deal with a lot of things we don’t normally have to deal with. Just great character.
“We had some adversity obviously to go down to 10 men. Some of our football was good as well, so a bit of everything.
“For the most part we stayed pretty calm and composed. We always had an outlet, we always looked dangerous, which meant we just didn’t camp ourselves in there. So really pleased.”
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