The Premier League takes a near three-week break as we enter a four-game international window. So, what have we learned from the opening five matches of the season? Premier League champions Arsenal were looking fairly unstoppable in the opening weeks of the season.
A win over Brighton on Saturday would have given the Gunners a club-record equalling eighth consecutive win in all competitions to start the season. But that all ended with a 3-0 loss at Amex Stadium on Saturday. The Gunners had not lost a league game by more than one goal, let alone three, since October 2024.
It was their heaviest defeat in the league since May 2023 when they lost 3-0 to the same opposition. "That's not going to take away what the team has done and the boys have done in the last six or seven weeks since coming back from the World Cup," said boss Mikel Arteta. "What we've done, the way we've competed and the amount of games we've won has been remarkable - but this is a big lesson for all of us to understand what it takes to win at this level." Brighton humbling 'a big lesson' for Arsenal - Arteta Many wondered if Manchester City would experience a post-Pep Guardiola slump when the legendary boss left after a decade.
Things did not start too well under Enzo Maresca, with the Community Shield defeat by Arsenal. But they have won all five games in the Premier League - and seven in a row in all competitions - after Sunday's entertaining 5-3 win over Sunderland. That takes them three points clear of Arsenal.
"In the press conference before the game, I said I expect a very tough game," said Maresca. "Then we also conceded two or three goals but we have learned a lot in these eight weeks and this is good." Perfect 24 hours as Man City put pressure on Arsenal Brighton and Brentford, two clubs who have never won a major trophy, have continued to impress this season. Fabian Hurzeler's Brighton enjoyed that 3-0 win over Arsenal to see them sit third in the table, only two points behind the Gunners.
Brighton have won at home against the reigning Premier League champions in each of the last three seasons. Star player Pascal Gross laughed and said "no" when BBC Sport asked him if Albion were in the title race. Meanwhile, just one point below them in the table are Keith Andrews' Brentford.
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