After a three-week intermission, the Premier League returned with a bang last weekend. Manchester City took their first steps on the field after being charged by the Premier League, but they showed signs of being distracted as they put in a statement performance against Liverpool, winning 3-0 at Anfield. Coach Enzo Maresca said his side must embrace the noise as the league's villains, having been found guilty of 114 out of 115 Premier League charges relating to financial breaches. Elliot Anderson and other players conceded that adjusting to the intimidating atmosphere was hard in the first half, but after Ryan Gravenberch's red card in the 62nd minute, they found their tempo and took control. Verdict: overreaction. City appear to be feeding off the hostility rather than being broken by it.
Elsewhere, Brighton & Hove Albion won again, Manchester United stuttered at home to Tottenham Hotspur, Fulham slumped to yet another defeat, and Florian Wirtz continued to struggle. Wirtz was the heartbeat of Bayer Leverkusen when they won the Bundesliga, but at Liverpool things have not gone smoothly. In his 39 Premier League matches since joining in June 2025, he has contributed five goals and five assists, which is not form worthy of the £116 million Liverpool spent to sign him. Verdict: not an overreaction. The forward is technically brilliant but it is not clicking at Anfield.
The piece also weighs up whether United's past success under Carrick is a mirage, whether Brighton will make the Champions League, and whether Fulham's Arbeloa will be the first coach sacked, with verdicts given on each.
Source: ESPN Soccer · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing