by The Atlantic Digest Sports Desk
Saturday, September 6, 2026
Manchester City remain the Premier League’s only unbeaten, maximum-points side after Matchweek 4, grinding out a narrow win over Coventry City on a Saturday that was otherwise defined by a striking number of drawn games, seven of the nine fixtures played across Friday and Saturday finished level, and by Chelsea and Arsenal both maintaining perfect records heading into Sunday’s headline clash between them.
Today’s results
Newcastle United 2-2 Bournemouth
Brentford 1-1 Sunderland
Brighton & Hove Albion 1-1 Leeds United
Fulham 2-3 Crystal Palace
Manchester City 1-0 Coventry City
Nottingham Forest 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur
Hull City 0-0 Aston Villa
(Friday’s early kickoff: Ipswich Town 0-2 Liverpool)
Match analysis
Manchester City’s win over Coventry was tight rather than dominant, a single goal enough to make it three wins from three and stretch their perfect start to the season. It’s the kind of result title-chasing sides need to be able to grind out even when the performance isn’t at its sharpest, and City remain the division’s only side yet to drop a point.
The day’s most eye-catching result came at Craven Cottage, where Crystal Palace beat Fulham 3-2 in a five-goal thriller, Palace’s first win of the campaign after opening with two straight defeats, while Fulham’s loss leaves them rock bottom, level on points with Coventry as the only two clubs yet to register a single point this season.
Elsewhere, draws were the theme of the day. Newcastle twice came from behind, or gave up two separate leads, to draw 2-2 with Bournemouth. Brighton and Leeds shared the points 1-1, as did Brentford and Sunderland. Nottingham Forest held Tottenham Hotspur goalless, a result that will concern Spurs considerably more than Forest, leaving Tottenham winless and second-bottom alongside Aston Villa, who themselves were held 0-0 by newly promoted Hull City.
Liverpool’s 2-0 win at Ipswich on Friday was the standout victory of the round, moving Jürgen Klopp’s successors back into the top half after an otherwise underwhelming start to the campaign.
Premier League table after Matchweek 4
Pos | Club | W | D | L | Pts
1 | Manchester City | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9
2 | Hull City | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7
3 | Arsenal | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6
3 | Chelsea | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6
5 | Brentford | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5
5 | Liverpool | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5
5 | Newcastle United | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5
5 | Leeds United | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5
9 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4
9 | Everton | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4
9 | Sunderland | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4
12 | Manchester United | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3
13 | Crystal Palace | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3
13 | Ipswich Town | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3
15 | Bournemouth | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2
15 | Nottingham Forest | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2
17 | Aston Villa | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1
17 | Tottenham Hotspur | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1
19 | Fulham | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0
19 | Coventry City | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0
Note: Arsenal and Aston Villa’s fixture from August 31 (Arsenal won 1-0) has been factored into the table above; Aston Villa’s home draw with Hull today was a separate, later fixture, meaning Villa have now played four matches to some rivals’ three at this early stage of the season, which explains their position despite limited goal difference concerns.
What to watch on Sunday
Two outstanding Matchweek 4 fixtures remain: Everton host Manchester United, with the bookmakers’ model giving United a 45.9 percent win probability against Everton’s 27.8 percent, and Arsenal welcome Chelsea in the round’s genuine heavyweight clash, a meeting between the division’s two remaining sides with maximum points aside from City, with Arsenal favoured at 56.5 percent to Chelsea’s 19.4 percent. A Chelsea win or draw would keep them level with or ahead of Arsenal on points; an Arsenal win would open a three-point gap between the two and leave Manchester City alone at the summit by a full four points heading into the international break.
