Arsenal have opened up a three-point lead at the top of the English Premier League after this weekend's matches. Champions Liverpool have lost their fourth game in a row. Liverpool were beaten 2-1 by Manchester United, their first win at Anfield since 2016.

This must have been a huge relief for under-pressure coach Ruben Amorim. Arsenal beat Fulham 1-0 with the help of their strong defense and remained at the top of the table. Erling Haaland was once again the man of the match for Manchester City. His two goals helped City beat Everton 2-0. How was the week for the Premier League? AFP's analysis in three points.

What happened to Liverpool?

Liverpool have lost four games in a row for the first time since November 2014, and this naturally raises the question of what the club's millions of dollars spent at the start of the season were worth? Liverpool  invested an incredible $600 million in new players in the last 'transfer window' just to strengthen their attack.

But Alexander Isak, who was brought in for a record fee, and Florian Wirtz have not yet been able to open their goal account. And in the meantime, a big weakness has suddenly been seen in Arne Slott's defense. Slott had only conceded five goals in the first 12 games since he came in as the new coach last season. At that time, he was new, Jurgen Klopp had just left.

So he prepared the defense with some traditional thinking. But this time, after exactly 12 games in the league, Liverpool have already conceded 17 goals. Slott now has enough options in attack. Slott also played five forwards in the last half hour of the game against United. But this has upset the balance in the team. When everyone's attention was on the attack, Harry Maguire scored the decisive goal and he was completely 'unmarked' at that time.

After Brian Mbumo scored early, Cody Gakpo equalized for Liverpool. ‘I think we gave United a second goal too easily,’ said Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk. ‘We were focused on getting back into the game. So we were trying to score the winning goal. But we conceded another goal. That was the worst moment for us.’

Arsenal’s another one-goal victory

Arsenal’s history is one of success made possible by a strong defensive line. When Arsenal won the league in 1989 and 1999 under George Graham, a phrase was born and that was, ‘1 for Arsenal.’ At Highbury, exactly such one-goal victories were made many times. This time, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal are perhaps even stronger defensively.

That is why they have conceded just three goals in their first 11 games in all competitions this season, a record performance in the club’s history. Arsenal did not allow a single attack against them while stopping Fulham. Arsenal's performance in the previous match was similar, completely neutralizing the opposing team's attack.

Arteta himself is happy with the team's performance and this is natural. He says, 'I am happy with the way the team is playing now. I think it shows the mentality of the team and the habit of playing well anyway. The way the players playing up front are chasing the ball, so it increases the pressure on the opposing team. It makes the opposing players completely nervous.' A single goal scored by Leandro Trossard against Fulham was enough for the victory.

The strong start of the 'Black Cats'

Not much, even three years ago, Sunderland was in the third division of the English football structure. Now this team is causing a stir in the Premier League. This club is called the 'Black Cats'. They have also left behind their Saudi-invested neighbors Newcastle United and have assimilated it in the process, a record-breaking strong start in the Premier League.