Brighton - Liverpool 3-0
More injury problems fell Jurgen Klopp’s way ahead of this contest, with Darwin Núñez ruled out of this contest as well as Virgil van Dijk. As has become the pattern of late though, his side were ineffective in midfield and surrendered control and possession to the Seagulls. Chances flowed for the hosts as they cut through at will, with Trent Alexander-Arnold on hand to deny Solly March an opener.
Alexis Mac Allister, Kaoru Mitoma and Evan Ferguson all squandered efforts to break the deadlock before the break. VAR was also on hand to give Liverpool a reprieve, overturning the award of a penalty after Alisson felled March due to an offside in the build-up. The Reds might have been lauded in recent years for their irrepressible attack, but they failed to register a single shot on target before half-time.
After withstanding waves of pressure before the break, the visitors were completely undone upon the restart, conceding twice within the first eight minutes of the second half. Joël Matip was caught in possession in his own half and the Seagulls swooped, with Mitoma slotting in March for a tap-in. The Reds’ implosion continued as Ferguson slotted in March to provide a glorious finish into the far corner, leaving Allison with no chance of stopping it.
The scale of the Reds’ injury woes were laid bare when in his efforts to change the game, Klopp could only turn to youngsters Ben Doak and Harvey Elliott in forward positions. The latter had a huge chance to get his side back in it, but could only drag wide before Cody Gakpo’s effort was smothered by Robert Sánchez.
De Zerbi’s men responded in kind by putting the game firmly beyond Liverpool. A quick throw-in caught the Reds cold, before March fed Danny Welbeck to score his first PL goal of the season. The former England man showed tremendous composure to hook the ball over Joe Gomez and slot beyond Alisson for a romping victory. The Seagulls leapfrog Liverpool with the win, leaving Klopp’s men seven points adrift of the top four as pressure begins to grow.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Solly March (Brighton & Hove Albion)
Everton - Southampton 1-2
The game kicked off amid unrest on Merseyside, with the Toffees’ board of directors instructed not to attend because of a “real and credible threat to their safety and security.” That led to an eerie atmosphere inside Goodison, but the game eventually got going, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Mohammed Salisu having shots saved at either end.
Everton were shading it, and they duly took the lead before the break as Amadou Onana rose highest to powerfully nod home Demarai Gray’s corner. Alex Iwobi nearly doubled the lead minutes later with a curling effort that drifted just wide, while the Saints almost grabbed an undeserved equaliser in injury time, only for Jordan Pickford to superbly tip Ward-Prowse’s shot onto the post.
The midfielder made no mistake after half-time though, levelling less than a minute into the second period as he slotted into the bottom corner after skipping past Ben Godfrey’s tackle. The Blues were undeterred though, and nearly restored the lead when Calvert-Lewin’s deflected effort rattled the bar.
Godfrey then came close when meeting Onana’s deep cross, only to find the side-netting from a tight angle, and Everton were made to pay for those missed chances as Ward-Prowse grabbed his second of the afternoon with a brilliant 25-yard free-kick. The result means the Toffees, who saw a late Tarkowski shot cleared, are without a win in nine and are now joint bottom of the table with Southampton.
Flashscore Man of the Match: James Ward-Prowse (Southampton)
Nottingham- Leicester 2-0
The stage for an intense 100th league East Midlands derby was set at the City Ground as Nottingham Forest and Leicester came into this grudge match level on 17 points in the Premier League (PL). Inevitably, the energetic pre-match atmosphere carried onto the pitch in the early stages and Forest’s confidence after a seven-match unbeaten run at home showed when an unmarked Ryan Yates headed just past the post, before the forward dragged a shot wide minutes later.
After riding the early pressure, Leicester grew into the occasion in an attempt to end their run of three consecutive PL defeats and Harvey Barnes squandered a glorious chance as he volleyed wide from close range. Momentum then shifted in the Foxes' favour and Youri Tielemans’ deflected shot nearly wrong-footed Dean Henderson before bouncing wide of the post.
After half-time, Leicester continued to look dangerous as they targetted a first league double over their rivals since 1971/72 with Barnes missing another huge opportunity after going one-on-one with Henderson, as the attacker curled wide. The spurned chances came back to haunt the Foxes and Johnson capped a rapid Forest counter-attack by rounding Danny Ward and tapping into the net. As the only PL side yet to gain a point from losing positions this season, Leicester faced a tough test in the closing stages and Forest sealed the points as Morgan Gibbs-White played in Johnson, who controlled in the area and fired past Ward.
Steve Cooper’s Forest side eventually held out to notch back-to-back home wins over Leicester as the Reds overtake their Midlands rivals in the table. Brendan Rodgers’ side are now winless in 17 of their last 18 trips to the City Ground and four consecutive league defeats will have the Foxes looking over their shoulder at the relegation zone.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Brennan Johnson (Nottingham Forest)
Wolves - West Ham 1-0
Wolves came into this match-up having only defeated bottom-six sides at the start of each round of fixtures, a stat which offered some encouragement with struggling West Ham in town. The hosts dominated the ball early on, but both sides were finding clear-cut scoring opportunities hard to come by. The Hammers grew into the contest as the half progressed, and perhaps came closest to finding a first-half goal when Vladimír Coufal’s effort beat Lukasz Fabiański, but couldn’t make its way past the retreating Hugo Bueno.
Julen Lopetegui’s side were forced to come from behind in their last two matches, but a goal straight after break put an early end to that streak. Michail Antonio had done well to earn a corner for West Ham, but an incisive counterattack eventually broke to Daniel Podence, who struck low and hard to open the scoring.
With David Moyes’ job security becoming more precarious by the minute, West Ham were left indebted to the woodwork with 15 minutes to play when Rúben Neves rattled the crossbar before an offside Rayan Aït-Nouri struck the post on the rebound.
The visitors rallied in search of an equaliser, but captain Declan Rice was left disappointed, receiving little more than a yellow card on his birthday, as his side slumped to yet another PL defeat. A late Wolves disallowed goal ultimately mattered little, with the Londoners having now lost eight of their previous 11 PL away trips, allowing Wolves to leapfrog them in the table as the Hammers slip into the relegation zone.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Nélson Semedo (Wolverhampton Wanderers)