Villa stun Chelsea with comeback victory
The latest comeback win by Aston Villa has highlighted coach Unai Emery's remarkable record of turning around games that has put his side firmly in the Premier League title race.
After Saturday's 2-1 win at Chelsea - their 12th in 13 league matches - Villa have claimed 18 points from losing positions so far this season, more than any other team.
And it's not just this year that the Spaniard has been impacting games with his decision-making: across the last three seasons, Villa have won more points from matches in which they were losing than any other Premier League team, according to data firm Opta.
In the 58th minute on Saturday, with Chelsea 1-0 up and looking in control, Emery gambled on a triple substitution, bringing on Watkins and more attacking firepower in the form of winger Jadon Sancho along with midfielder Amadou Onana.
Five minutes later, Watkins pounced on a through ball by Morgan Rogers to beat Robert Sanchez in the Chelsea goal.
Buoyed by their equaliser and their change of personnel, Villa looked transformed from the side that was pinned back by their hosts for most of the first hour.
In the 84th minute, Watkins - hoping for a place in the England World Cup squad next summer - met a corner by Youri Tielemans with an angled header that left Sanchez with no chance.
"He's a tactical genius," Watkins said when asked by Sky Sports about Emery's ability to change the momentum of matches.
The coach himself tried to sound a bit less effusive. "It's something, of course, that makes us proud of everything we are doing," Emery said when asked about Villa's ability to turn losing situations into victories.
He sought to play down his side's chances of winning the title, despite their blistering form.
"I am not feeling it," Emery said. "I am feeling we competing very well, and we are now the third in the league with two teams, Manchester City and Arsenal, wow."
But with the season only halfway through, Villa - who struggled badly at the start of the campaign - need to show more consistency, he said.
Villa face league leaders Arsenal in London on Tuesday.
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca had to face questions about much less impressive statistics for his young side who have dropped 11 points from winning positions in home Premier League matches this season – four more than any other side.
"We need to understand why when we concede a goal we struggle a bit to manage the game," the Italian told reporters.
He was left to rue Chelsea's failure to build a bigger lead before Villa's fightback.
"By the time they scored the goal I think we should have scored two-three goals," Maresca said.
Arsenal edge Brighton; reclaim top spot
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard's first club goal of the season helped his side beat Brighton and Hove Albion 2-1 at home on Saturday to return to the top of the Premier League table.
For the second week running, Arsenal kicked off having been displaced by Manchester City earlier in the day and they responded once again to the challenge although what appeared on paper a routine win was fraught with late nerves.
Odegaard's season has been disrupted by a knee injury but the Norwegian showed his trademark precision in the 14th minute to drive a left-footed shot low past Brighton keeper Bart Verbruggen to give Arsenal a deserved lead.
Mikel Arteta's side were totally dominant and doubled their lead with a Georginio Rutter own goal in the 52nd minute - the Frenchman getting a touch to a Declan Rice corner.
Brighton had offered next to nothing as an attacking force until Diego Gomez slammed in a rebound in the 64th minute after Yasin Ayari's shot came back off the post.
The visitors came on strong late on and would have equalised had Arsenal keeper David Raya not produced a stunning save to keep out Yankuba Minteh's curling effort.
It was an anxious finish but Arsenal held on to reach 42 points from 18 games with City, who beat Nottingham Forest earlier, on 40. Brighton, winless in five, stay 12th.
Should Arsenal go on to claim the title for the first time since 2004, the narrow wins they have become so adept at grinding out will likely be a huge factor.
Since losing in stoppage time to Aston Villa, they have secured three successive wins - a last-gasp 2-1 victory over bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers, last weekend's 1-0 win at Everton to grab top spot back from City and Saturday's win over Brighton.
In reality, they should have spared themselves any jitters against Brighton as they spent most of Saturday in control.
Odegaard's goal, set up by a pass from Bukayo Saka, was scant reward for Arsenal's first-half display and they would have been comfortable had Verbruggen not made saves from Martin Zubimendi, Rice and Viktor Gyokeres.
One worry for Arteta was the sight of his side dropping deeper and deeper after conceding and they needed Raya's brilliance on his 150th Arsenal appearance to somehow touch Minteh's goal-bound shot over the crossbar.
Another was an injury for Riccardo Calafiori in the warm-up which meant Rice had to play as a makeshift full back.
On the plus side, it was another three points and key defender Gabriel came off the bench in the second half for his first appearance since early November after injury.
Liverpool condemn Wolves to climb into top 4
Liverpool beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 on Saturday to climb into the top four in the table and condemn Wolves to an unwanted record for the longest winless start in Premier League history with 18 games.
Ruthless strikes from Ryan Gravenberch and Florian Wirtz a minute apart in the first half secured victory for the holders to leave them on 32 points after 18 matches, 10 behind leaders Arsenal.
Wolves' nightmare season continued with just two points gained, a staggering 16 points from safety.
Wolves did well to frustrate Anfield fans before Gravenberch finally struck in the 41st minute. Jeremie Frimpong worked his way around two Wolves defenders before cutting it back to the Dutch midfielder who fired into the bottom corner.
Reds fans were still celebrating when Wirtz scored his first goal in Liverpool colours a minute later, latching onto Hugo Ekitike's through ball before poking past goalkeeper Jose Sa.
"I was confident that I would score one day," said the Germany midfielder, who was signed from Bayer Leverkusen in June. "I just know that it will come and I try to keep going like that.
"We played a brilliant first half," he added. "We want to be there and be on top of the table. It's not been an easy start for us but we're doing better and getting the points."
Wolves pulled one back in the 51st when Tolu Arokodare's header was saved by Alisson Becker, but Santiago Bueno was there to finish the rebound.
Liverpool seemed rattled after the visitors' goal, but Wolves could not find an equaliser in a loss that saw them break Sheffield United's record of longest winless Premier League start set in 2020-21.
The all-time English record for a top-flight winless start is held by Bolton, who failed to win any of their first 22 games in 1902-03. Unsurprisingly, they finished last and were relegated from the First Division.
Wolves' second half will give Rob Edwards' struggling side some confidence as the teams were level on four shots on target each.
The Reds squandered several chances to pad their lead in the second half. Curtis Jones had a shot from distance that Sa dove to save. Moments later, Wirtz cut the ball back for Gravenberch but he sliced his shot wide. And Cody Gakpo lashed a shot just over the net in injury time.
Liverpool have now won three successive Premier League games and are seven games unbeaten in all competitions.
"Happy because in football it's about results," Liverpool boss Arne Slot told Sky Sports. "So many times this season, our performances have been good without the results. Today a large part of the game I liked, but there were definitely also parts of the game I didn’t like. The end product of it all, a win, is what I like."
Liverpool were missing talisman Mohamed Salah, who is playing for Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations, and record British signing Alexander Isak, who is expected to miss two months after undergoing surgery for a broken leg.
The game was the first meeting between the two teams since the July 3 death of Diogo Jota, who played for Wolverhampton before joining Liverpool, and two of the late player's children walked out of the tunnel with Liverpool captain Virgil Van Dijk as matchday mascots.
Gravenberch celebrated his goal with Jota's shark celebration.
Manchester City down Forest
Manchester City beat Nottingham Forest 2-1 to move provisionally to the top of the Premier League table after Rayan Cherki grabbed a goal and assist away at The City Ground on Saturday.
The French midfielder first threaded the pass for City's opener before striking an 83rd-minute winner from a set-piece to secure their eighth straight victory across all competitions.
The result moved City to 40 points, one ahead of Arsenal who face Brighton & Hove Albion later on Saturday. Forest remain in 17th place, nervously looking over their shoulder at a five-point gap between them and the relegation zone.
"When the games come we need just one thing: to win. We take the points because the championship is so long and so hard, so today is a big win," Cherki told TNT Sports.
"It's good for the team because the game was not simple."
City dominated possession in a goalless first half but struggled to break down Forest's compact defensive shape, with striker Erling Haaland largely isolated up front.
Forest's best chance fell to Morgan Gibbs-White, who failed to convert Callum Hudson-Odoi's cross from behind the defence early in the game.
The breakthrough came within three minutes of the restart when Cherki slipped the ball through for Tijjani Reijnders and the Dutchman fired home from an angle to make it 1-0.
But City's lead lasted only six minutes as Forest launched a swift counter-attack that ended with Igor Jesus crossing for Omari Hutchinson, who took his shot first-time and beat Gianluigi Donnarumma to score his first goal for the club.
Forest sensed victory but squandered chances when Jesus and Nicolo Savona both shot over, while at the other end Phil Foden's effort was well saved by goalkeeper John Victor.
City's sustained pressure finally paid off when Josko Gvardiol headed down a corner kick for Cherki, who took it on the half-volley and sent a low drive from the edge of the box into the back of the net to restore their lead.
Forest's loss also extended Sean Dyche's winless record against Pep Guardiola to 17 Premier League games, the longest winless streak for a manager against another in the league.
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