Manchester United great Paul Scholes has said he is scared about the club's future and believes they could spiral into decline in the same way rivals Liverpool did in the 1990s.
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.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has been named the Premier League manager of the month for February, while in-form Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane picked up his fourth player of the month award.
Substitute Alexandre Lacazette ended his goal drought as Arsenal secured their first English Premier League win since New Year's Day with a 4-0 victory over Newcastle United at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. Lacazette had gone nine games in all competitions without a goal before he found the target with a mis-hit shot in the final moments of the game. The win moves Arsenal up to tenth position and will give them hope they can make a late push towards European qualification for next season.
Liverpool finished 2016 second in the Premier League with a 1-0 victory over third-placed Manchester City on Saturday.
There will be no seismic shifts in the balance of the world's richest football competition if the first weekend of the new Premier League season is anything to go by.
Here are five talking points from the weekend's action:
Champions Manchester City have won their last 10 home league matches scoring a total of 36 goals.
Swansea went ahead five minutes before the break when an attempt to clear by Liverpool's 75 million pounds ($104.88 million) defender Virgil Van Dijk landed at the feet of Mawson who swept the ball home for his sixth league goal this season.
IMAGES from the EPL matches played on Sunday.
With less than a month of the Premier League season left it remains Chelsea's title to lose but Tottenham Hotspur defiantly stayed in contention by grinding out a 1-0 victory at Crystal Palace on Wednesday.
Leicester City were give a Premier League reality check when the unlikely leaders lost 1-0 at Liverpool on Saturday after Manchester United slumped to a third consecutive league defeat to pile more pressure on manager Louis van Gaal.
Everton have 36 points from 26 games
Aaron Ramsey indulged his new goalscoring habit on his return to his boyhood club as Arsenal opened up a seven-point lead at the top of the Premier League with a 3-0 victory at Cardiff City on Saturday.
Premier League title race looks poised to be one of the most thrilling in years.
West Ham United's hopes of avoiding relegation suffered a cruel blow as an own goal by midfielder Tomas Soucek and Harry Kane's first goal since December condemned them to a 2-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday.
Everton yet to receive clarification after City game postponed: Ancelotti
Arsenal climbed back into the Premier League's top four for the first time since December when they won 2-1 at West Bromwich Albion thanks to two goals from Tomas Rosicky despite having defender Per Mertesacker sent off on Saturday.
Premier League leaders Liverpool took a huge step towards becoming English champions for the first time in 24 years when they defeated third-placed Manchester City 3-2 at Anfield on Sunday for a ninth successive win.
The following are talking points from the weekend's Premier League action:
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Wednesday.
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini says the race for the Premier League title is not just a battle between themselves and local rivals Manchester United.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
With nine days remaining before the transfer window closes for the season, around 93 million pounds has been spent by English clubs on new signings.
Wayne Rooney proved he was worth his weight in gold to Manchester United with a man of the match performance in a 2-0 win at Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday.
Manchester City tightened their stranglehold at the top of the Premier League on Wednesday by trouncing bottom club West Bromwich Albion 3-0 as nearest rivals Manchester United suffered a chastening 2-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur.
Barcelona and Atletico Madrid maintained their perfect records in La Liga while Premier League club Arsenal dropped points but returned to the top of the table.
Manchester City blew a two-goal lead and had Ederson sent off in a dramatic 3-2 defeat at Wolves on Friday.
Manchester United retained the Premier League title on Sunday when they won 2-0 at Wigan Athletic.
Manchester United and Arsenal enjoyed emphatic home wins over Wigan Athletic and Southampton respectively on Saturday to join Chelsea and Manchester City in the top four and give the Premier League table a familiar feel.
Speculation about a possible transfer to Premier League rivals Arsenal has unsettled LeicesterCity winger Riyad Mahrez, manager Claudio Ranieri has said.
England striker Daniel Sturridge, who has not played since the end of August, is back in training and could return to the Liverpool side soon, manager Brendan Rodgers said on Thursday.
Arsenal beat Manchester United 1-0 to keep the Premier League title race wide open on Sunday with Aaron Ramsey's second-half winner cheered almost as loudly by Chelsea's fans as Arsenal's.
Liverpool won the Champions League under Benitez in 2005 and were runners-up last year, but they have struggled in England.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
The Chelsea captain said he should be fit for the Champions League final after he suffered an arm injury in the final league game.
Upcoming fixtures in the English Premier League.
Wayne Rooney's return for Manchester United after injury has been delayed with manager Alex Ferguson saying the striker may be sidelined for a further two weeks.
Following is a match by match look at the English Premier League's weekend fixtures:
Alvaro Negredo and Sergio Aguero combined to help ManchesterCity bounce back from their Bayern Munich mauling by beating Everton 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium in the Premier League on Saturday.
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