Arsenal became the highest-profile casualties of the FA Cup third round as the 14-time winners lost 1-0 at Nottingham Forest, but Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur avoided early exits after scares against lower-league sides on Sunday.
Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United both sealed comeback victories to boost their European qualification hopes.
Antonio Conte's increasingly fractious relationship with Tottenham Hotspur came to an end with the English Premier League club announcing they had parted ways with the Italian on Sunday.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
English champions and runners-up since the league restarted in the 1946-47 season after World War Two:
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 climbed to the top of the Premier League table with a 2-1 victory over struggling Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.
Middlesbrough were rewarded for beating Manchester City with a trip to FA Cup holders Arsenal while Chelsea's conquerors Bradford City host Sunderland or Fulham after the fifth round draw on Monday.
Liverpool have the joint biggest lead in top-flight history at this stage of the campaign and no team has ever failed to win the title with an advantage of this size. Already there is talk of Liverpool going through the league entire season unbeaten -- matching the 'The Invincibles' of Arsenal in 2003/04 and Preston North End in 1888/89.
Images from Saturday's third round matches in the FA Cup.
City were due to open their season against Aston Villa and United against Burnley but those games will be moved.
Arsenal's defence of the trophy ended with something of a whimper as Mikel Arteta's side struggled with repeatedly sloppy defending.
Man City to face Spurs in League Cup
FA Cup holders Arsenal have been drawn against runners-up Hull City, a repeat of last year's enthralling final, in this season's third round after the draw was made on Monday.
IMAGES from the EPL matches played on Sunday.
Champions Liverpool were ripped apart 7-2 at Aston Villa and Manchester United were humiliated 6-1 at home by Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday in one of the most astonishing days of Premier League results.
Images from English Premier League matches played on Sunday.
Three months after the last ball was kicked, the Premier League emerges from the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic this week for what will be a 92-match slog to the finish.
IMAGES from the Premier League matches played on Saturday.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
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.
Joint-leaders Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool both dropped points on a busy day of English Premier League action as Leicester City and Southampton narrowed the gap in what is shaping up to be one of the most open title races for years.
Tottenham Hotspur opened a five-point lead at the top of the Premier League with a 2-1 victory at Crystal Palace as their unbeaten start to the season continued on Friday.
United down Newcastle after Saints stun Chelsea on a dramatic night in the English Premier League.
Arsenal manger Arsene Wenger remains on the hunt for striking options for his injury-hit squad despite being boosted by the return of forward Olivier Giroud for Monday's English Premier League clash at Aston Villa.
All eyes will be on Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal when he takes his team to Derby County for an FA Cup fourth-round tie on Friday with the fans' boos from their home defeat by Southampton still ringing in his ears.
Among other transfer news globally, defender Rahul Bheke joins Mumbai City FC while Locatelli completes Juventus move.
Images from Sunday's action in the Premier League.
English Premier League leaders Manchester City and Chelsea slugged out a magnificent 4-4 draw at Stamford Bridge.
Tottenham Hotspur hammered 10-man Aston Villa 4-0 in the Premier League on Sunday thanks to four second-half goals, allowing them to close the gap with their Birmingham rivals to two points in the chase for Champions League football next season.
The result moves Chelsea up to eighth in the Premier League table with 30 points, while Wolves are 13th with 23 points.
Aston Villa and Sheffield United players and referee Michael Oliver took a knee at kickoff in support of the "Black Lives Matter" movement as the Premier League season restarted
Manchester City to beat second-tier Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 and reach the FA Cup quarter-finals but Jose Mourinho's problems piled up as his Tottenham Hotspur side were bundled out in a penalty shootout by Norwich City.
Goals from Curtis Davies and Robert Koren earned HullCity a place in the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 2-1 replay win at home to Brighton and Hove Albion on Monday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
There were, however, no eye-catching major deals in the final 24 hours of transfer activity for European clubs which continues the trend of recent January windows.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
The United fans, who celebrated the victory at the end of the game with the manager and players, have not been the source of criticism of Solskjaer -- indeed the Norwegian has enjoyed strong backing from supporters who attend games at Old Trafford and those who travel away.
Liam Delap, the son of former Stoke City defender Rory, scored the opener for Pep Guardiola's side in the 2-1 win at the Etihad Stadium
The following are three talking points from the weekend's Premier League action: