Arsenal go five clear as City lose a third in a row and Man Utd sit 18th

Arsenal go into the international break five points clear at the top of the Premier League after a weekend in which Manchester City lost a third league game running and Manchester United stayed in the bottom three despite two goals in stoppage time. Here are four things we learned from matchday 10.

Arsenal win narrowly again

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard settled a tight game against Hull in the 72nd minute, reacting first after goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis had saved from Noni Madueke. Arsenal now have 27 points from 10 games (nine wins, one defeat), equalling their best start under Mikel Arteta, set in 2022-23, and only four sides in Premier League history had more at this stage, according to figures quoted by Sky Sports. Their 15 goals are fewer than Brighton's 26 or City's 21 in our table, but they have conceded only five and kept seven clean sheets in 10 league games. The first half brought another VAR row: referee Farai Hallam went to the monitor for Nobel Mendy's pull on Kai Havertz's shirt, then gave offside instead of a penalty. Former Premier League referee Mike Dean told Sky Sports: "It should have been a restart with a penalty, not an offside." Arteta said: "We haven't got any clarity yet about the situation."

City's slide reaches three defeats

Manchester City won their first seven league games under Enzo Maresca and have now lost the next three. Nottingham Forest beat them 3-1 at the City Ground on Saturday. Jair Cunha robbed Josko Gvardiol to score after six minutes, Liam Delap made it 2-0 on 18 minutes and, after Rayan Cherki pulled one back early in the second half, Delap scored again on 73 minutes. Sky Sports says City are the first top-flight side in 122 years to follow seven opening wins with three defeats. Maresca said his team "didn't match the intensity". It was Forest's first home league win of the season, and Delap, who had scored once in his first eight games for the club according to BBC Sport, now has three goals for Forest. City are third on 21 points, six behind Arsenal. Brighton are second on 22 after beating Brentford 2-0 on Sunday, with goals from Diego Gomez and Pascal Gross; Brentford striker Igor Thiago was sent off after 23 minutes.

United rescue a point but stay 18th

Manchester United were 2-0 down to Aston Villa after four minutes, through Alysson and Nicolas Jackson. Bruno Fernandes's penalty and Youri Tielemans's goal against his former club levelled it before half-time, but John McGinn's penalty and Leon Goretzka's strike put Villa 4-2 up by the 53rd minute. Substitutes Joshua Zirkzee (90+2) and Patrick Dorgu (90+6) then made it 4-4. The point leaves United 18th on eight points, one behind Coventry in 17th: their lowest position after 10 top-flight games since 1986-87, according to BBC Sport and Sky Sports. It is also an eighth league game without a win, which Sky Sports calls a club record in the Premier League era. Asked about his future, head coach Michael Carrick said: "I expect to move forward and keep working on things we've been working on." Villa manager Unai Emery said he was "angry for the situation, not with the players". Villa are 10th on 13 points.

Sunderland climb off the bottom, Palace take their place

Sunderland beat Chelsea 1-0 on Sunday, Enzo Le Fee scoring a 36th-minute penalty after Levi Colwill brought down Brian Brobbey. The win lifts Sunderland to 19th on eight points, level with United, and drops Chelsea to fifth on 16. Crystal Palace replace Sunderland at the bottom on seven points after a fourth league defeat in a row, 3-1 at home to Liverpool. Alexis Mac Allister, Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak scored for Liverpool, who move up to fourth on 18, before Palace substitute Eddie Nketiah converted a stoppage-time penalty. According to BBC Sport, Palace head coach Pierre Sage's position is under serious threat, with Thomas Frank and Sean Dyche among the names the club are weighing up to succeed him. Two points separate Palace from Nottingham Forest and Coventry, both on nine points in 16th and 17th.