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31 August 2026

If this weekend had been a film, Manchester United would surely have been the opening scene in which everything starts going badly wrong.

The match that defined the weekend

Goals have been a regular feature whenever Chelsea and Brighton meet in recent times, with their last eight meetings producing an average of 4.25 per game.

There were seven more at Stamford Bridge this weekend, with Chelsea emerging victorious in a thriller.

The Blues tore into Brighton early and surged into a three-goal lead within 32 minutes, but Malick Yalcouye's strike pulled Brighton back into the contest. A Joao Pedro own goal then made things more uncomfortable for Chelsea, before the composed Cole Palmer restored their two-goal cushion. Pascal Gross scored a late consolation for Brighton, but Chelsea did enough to hold on for the points.

Remarkably, Xabi Alonso's side had only 26% possession.

Player of the weekend

Rayan Cherki is absolutely mesmerising to watch when he is in this kind of form.

The Frenchman seized control of the game as Manchester City cruised past Crystal Palace on Friday evening, producing the sort of display that makes people wonder what his ceiling might actually be.

His first goal came after he glided through the Eagles defence with nimble footwork before guiding in a clever finish. Cherki then smashed home a second from the edge of the area to knock the stuffing out of Palace, just moments after the hosts had worked their way back into the game. With Cherki's dancing feet and Erling Haaland's ruthless efficiency, it would be unwise to rule City out of the title race.

Manager of the weekend

Credit where it is due, Sergej Jakirović has made a dream start to the season with Hull City. Some felt the Tigers were destined for relegation after their surprise promotion last term, but Hull are second with maximum points from two matches.

Jakirović's team followed up their upset win over Manchester United with a hard-earned victory at Coventry City, taking the points in an early six-pointer against fellow promoted opposition. It is still early in the campaign, but Hull could hardly have asked for a better beginning. They are yet to concede a goal since going up.

The weekend's antagonist

It is not entirely clear why Brighton supporters decided to boo former favourite Joao Pedro after what had seemed a fairly amicable departure, but the Chelsea forward was not prepared to ignore it.

After receiving a frosty welcome from the travelling Seagulls fans, Pedro made a point of celebrating in front of them after scoring for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. He followed his trademark celebration by pointing at the Club World Cup badge and then showing them the score.

It was perfect pantomime-villain behaviour.

The result/event nobody saw coming

There had been an expectation that Liverpool would respond this weekend after an unconvincing draw at Newcastle in Andoni Iraola's debut. The Reds hosted Nottingham Forest at Anfield, with the visitors having lost at home to Leeds on the opening weekend.

Just as they did last weekend, Liverpool went behind twice before eventually salvaging a result, but they remain without a win under Iraola. It is too early to write any team off, but at present Liverpool do not look like a side capable of challenging the leading teams.

Perhaps, though, this latest setback should not have come as such a shock. Liverpool are now winless against Nottingham Forest at Anfield across three successive Premier League seasons, after Forest ended a 55-year wait for a win at Liverpool in 2024.

Someone who didn't get the headlines

Nico Gonzalez only joined Newcastle in midweek, but he was thrown straight into the side against Spurs this weekend.

Up against the man he replaced this summer, Sandro Tonali, Gonzalez was full of class in an impressive win in North London. The Spaniard carried himself with authority, constantly demanded the ball, and displayed his wide passing range with several superb cross-field deliveries.

His 48 completed passes were the most by a Newcastle debutant in the Premier League since Tonali in August 2023, which was also 48.

The single moment dominating Monday's football conversation

Should it have been ruled out? Was it deliberate handball? Are the handball laws still a mess?

Manchester United's second goal against Hull City has had everyone talking after Harry Maguire handled in the build-up before firing in, with the ball taking a wicked deflection off Jacob Greaves.

A quirk in Premier League rules meant Maguire's goal was allowed to stand because his initial shot had been heading off target. But with doubts over whether the handball was accidental, and with Maguire directly involved in scoring immediately after handling the ball, it has opened up an entirely new debate around the laws of the game.

The storyline carrying into next weekend

Tottenham Hotspur have thrown everything at the transfer market this summer. After back-to-back 17th-place finishes, the North London club have broken their transfer record twice, set a new high for summer spending, and will have completed the four most expensive signings in the club's history in this single window once Iliman Ndiaye's £60m move from Everton is finalised.

However, that spending spree has not brought immediate results and Roberto De Zerbi has major problems to solve.

After last week's disaster at Brentford, Spurs slumped to a second consecutive defeat against Newcastle. It is the first time the club have lost their opening two matches of a league season without scoring since 1974-75. They finished 19th that season...