Chelsea parted ways with Enzo Maresca on Thursday, a dramatic fall from grace for the Italian who was named manager of the month for November before the club won just one of their last seven league games to fall out of the Premier League title race.
Man City ease to 3-0 win over Liverpool as Guardiola celebrates 1,000th game in style
Images from Thursday's action in the Premier League.
IMAGES from the UEFA Champions League matches played on Tuesday
Second-placed City would have reduced Arsenal's advantage to two points but instead were frustrated as their winning streak in all competitions was halted at eight.
Manchester City maintained their squeeze on Arsenal at the top of the Premier League with a 3-0 victory at Crystal Palace on Sunday, a result that keeps Pep Guardiola's side lurking two points behind the leaders and ready to pounce.
Promoted Sunderland, who have defied expectations to stay in the top half of the Premier League table, could be the worst affected with six players going to the tournament, while the likes of Fulham, Manchester United, Burnley and Crystal Palace will also have to make do without some key personnel.
Erling Haaland took his league tally this season to 11 in eight games with both goals in City's 2-0 home win over Everton -- a result that temporarily put City above Arsenal on goals scored.
Liverpool moved five points clear at the top of the Premier League with a 4-0 demolition of Bournemouth that extended their unbeaten league run to 14 games on Sunday.
A brilliantly-worked goal by Ryan Christie and a Justin Kluivert penalty gave Bournemouth shock 2-0 Premier League win at home to 10-man Arsenal.
Liverpool talisman Mo Salah and substitute Federico Chiesa struck late goals as the Premier League champions began the defence of their title by beating Bournemouth 4-2 in a thriller on the opening night of the season at Anfield on Friday.
Images from the English Premier League matches on Saturday, August 30.
Reigning Premier League champions Liverpool honour Portugal forward Diogo Jota, who died in a car crash alongside his brother Andre Silva last month, ahead of the season-opener kick-off against Bournemouth on Friday.
Substitute Gabriel Martinelli scored a late goal to help Arsenal hold Manchester City to a 1-1 draw in a blockbuster English Premier League fixture, in London, on Sunday.
It took 10 Premier League games for the first cracks to appear in Manchester City's facade last season, but Pep Guardiola got a much earlier reminder of his side's fall from grace on Saturday in another defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.
Cash on target as Villa hand Man City their first defeat since August
Crystal Palace scored a stoppage-time winner to edge Liverpool 2-1 while Manchester United and Chelsea lost by an identical 3-1 margin in the English Premier League on Saturday.
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim would have enjoyed some relative calm during the international break after backing from club co-owner Jim Ratcliffe but will find himself in the Premier League maelstrom once again at Liverpool on Sunday.
IMAGES from the Premier League matches played on Sunday
Fresh off a dominant title-winning campaign, Liverpool kick off the new Premier League season on Friday as the team to beat, as the Reds have transitioned from Juergen Klopp's high-octane chaos to a more measured possession-based style under Arne Slot.
Mohamed Salah had already clinched the Premier League Player of the Season award, the Golden Boot for most goals scored and the Playmaker award for most assists, making him the first player to win all three awards in the same season.
The Copa del Rey semi-final draw will be made on Friday.
Bournemouth defender Dean Huijsen will join Real Madrid from June 1 after signing a deal with the Spanish side until 2030.
A summary of Saturday's action in the Premier League.
Rasmus Hojlund scored an equaliser deep into stoppage time as Manchester United salvaged a 1-1 away draw at 10-man Bournemouth in the Premier League on Sunday.
Substitute Jorgen Strand Larsen scored twice in two minutes as Wolverhampton Wanderers beat fellow Premier League strugglers West Ham United 3-2 to reach the third round of the League Cup on Tuesday.
Liverpool have signed French striker Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt, the English Premier League side announced on Wednesday.
Manchester United played out a 2-2 draw against Everton in a pre-season match on Sunday.
The system, featuring three centre backs and aggressive wing backs, marked a significant departure from the traditional 4-3-3 formation and appeared to address Real's defensive frailties from a disappointing, trophyless 2024-25 campaign.
Fulham fought back from a goal down to claim a 2-1 win over Arsenal on Sunday when strikes from Raul Jimenez and Bobby De Cordova-Reid foiled Bukayo Saka's early goal.
Bryan Mbeumo hit new heights in the 2024-25 league season, finishing with 20 goals to help Brentford to a solid 10th-place finish.
Images from the Premier League matches played on Thursday
Manchester City came back from a goal down to beat Bournemouth 2-1 on Sunday to book their spot in the semi-finals of the FA Cup.
Winning back-to-back titles for the first time since 1984 is likely to prove a rather more arduous challenge for Liverpool.
City midfielder Phil Foden was not named in England coach Thomas Tuchel's squad for a pair of upcoming games, after requesting to be omitted. Foden said this week he was nursing an ankle injury.
West Ham United defender Kurt Zouma's headed goal and a Said Benrahma penalty in stoppage time sealed a 2-0 win over Bournemouth in a scrappy Premier League tussle that was marked by VAR controversy at the London Stadium on Monday.
A round-up of Saturday's action in the Premier League.
Images from Saturday's action in the Premier League.
A summary of Sunday's action in the Premier League.
The 22-year-old German is Liverpool's most-expensive signing ever, ahead of captain Virgil van Dijk who joined for 75 million pounds in 2017.
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