With City pulling out and Chelsea set to leave, while Liverpool's players posted a shared Twitter message saying they want no part of the new league, the ESL project looks doomed.
The abusive hand gesture Jack Wilshere directed at ManchesterCity fans this month was a reaction to jibes about his children, the Arsenal and England midfielder explained on Tuesday.
Manchester City needed Gareth Barry's stoppage-time winner to earn a 1-0 win at home to bottom club Reading on Saturday and exert some pressure on Premier League leaders Manchester United.
Images from Saturday's action in the English Premier League.
Swansea City beat Arsenal 3-2 to deny super-sub Thierry Henry a magical return to the Premier League and Mark Hughes made a losing start as manager of struggling Queens Park Rangers on Sunday.
Newcastle United made light work of north-east rivals Sunderland as Alexander Isak's double secured a 3-0 win and a place in the FA Cup fourth round at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has admitted that the entire nation is relishing the prospect of Leicester City lifting the Premier League title this season.
Eight wins and a draw in their last nine games had seen Leicester emerge as the closest pursuers of runaway leaders Liverpool but they went down 3-1 at the Etihad despite taking an early lead through Jamie Vardy. Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
IMAGES from the Premier League matches played on Sunday.
Images from Saturday's Premier League action.
Wenger dropped Rob Holding for the visit to Stoke, preferring Shkodran Mustafi alongside Nacho Monreal and Sead Kolasinac at the back.
France defender William Gallas has been stripped of the Arsenal captaincy after criticising his team mates, French media reported on Friday. France Football magazine's website (www.francefootball.fr) said Gallas had also been left out of the squad for Saturday's Premier League match at Manchester City. Arsenal declined to comment on whether Gallas had been removed as club captain.
Darwin Nunez came off the bench to score twice as Liverpool snatched a sensational 2-1 Premier League win at Newcastle United on Sunday.
Liverpool opened up a seven-point gap at the top of the English Premier League with a 1-0 win at Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday, while Arsenal's poor away form continued with a 1-0 defeat at West Ham United.
Irresistible Chelsea go into the Christmas round of fixtures knowing they can end the year by re-writing the record books.
Leicester keeper Schmeichel defends under-fire De Gea
Spanish midfielder Santi Cazorla would be happy to sign a new contract with Arsenal despite local media linking him with a move to La Liga side Atletico Madrid.
Former Arsenal star Alexander Hleb says he made a mistake by leaving the Emirates to join Barcelona in 2008, and expressed regret at turning his back on managerial 'great' Arsene Wenger.
Arsenal beat Brighton and Hove Albion 3-2 to reach the FA Cup fifth round.
Against a background of supporter discontent over the form of Wenger's team as the Frenchman decides his future, with a protest outside the ground before kick-off urging the manager to leave his post, Arsenal were nervy from the start.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
Arsenal captain Mikel Arteta will be out for the next three months after having a "successful" operation on the left ankle that has kept him sidelined since late November, the club said on Thursday.
Chelsea beat Arsenal 3-2 in a pulsating London English Premier League derby on Saturday with defender Marcos Alonso scoring an 81st-minute winner after the Gunners had fought back from an early 2-0 deficit.
Roundup of the Champions League matches played on Wednesday night
If there is one thing that still riles Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, it is the suggestion that his English Premier League success is down to money. After City were cleared of breaking UEFA's Financial Fair Play rules by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which overturned the club's two-year European ban, the Spaniard was in a fiery mood as he railed against the idea that cash was behind the club's two Premier League titles.
Earlier this season Arsenal great Henry, who scored 175 Premier League goals for the club, said Sanchez had been Wenger's "best signing in the last six years".
The 27-year-old Belgium international had joined City squad last week after helping his country progress to the World Cup semi-finals in Russia.
Manchester City's Premier League title defence fell apart at the seams in a 3-1 defeat to Southampton on Saturday when goalkeeper Joe Hart committed a howler and Gareth Barry scored a bizarre own goal.
Arsenal missed their chance to go back to the top of the Premier League after being forced to play with 10 men for much of the game against London rivals Chelsea on Sunday.
Arsene Wenger has "no doubt" he will still be the manager of Arsenal next season despite pressure from the club's supporters to end his 20-year stay with the north London side. A run of just two wins from their last nine games in all competitions has seen the Gunners knocked out of the Champions League last-16 for a sixth successive season and exit the FA Cup in the quarter-final, losing to Watford at the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal's dismal form has severely dented their hopes of ending their 12-year wait for the Premier League title, as they trail leaders Leicester City by 11 points with a game in hand.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Sunday.
Alexis Sanchez and Olivier Giroud were on target as Arsenal won 2-0 at Southampton on Wednesday to move up to fifth in the Premier League and fuel their hopes of a late push for the top four.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday
Petr Cech will return in goal for Arsenal at HullCity on Saturday after missing the 1-1 Champions League draw at Paris St Germain in midweek.
A round-up of Saturday's action in the Premier League.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola congratulated local rivals Manchester United on securing the services of striker Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal even though the Chilean international has not formally completed his transfer.
Leicester City were left in touching distance of a fairytale first Premier League title on Sunday after Leonardo Ulloa's double helped them outclass Swansea City at a delirious King Power Stadium.
Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright has launched a scathing attack on the club's manager Arsene Wenger, saying he could not make a case for the Frenchman to extend his reign beyond this season.
Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech believes that the Gunners need to stop silly losses against the teams they are expected to beat if they want to progress in the Premier League.
Barcelona suffered their first league defeat of the season when they went down 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao while Arsenal stayed clear at the head of the Premier League.
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