England's League Managers' Association has revealed that the average tenure of a Premier League manager is now little more than two seasons, with 11 of last year's 20 starters already kicked out.
Tottenham Hotspur's tenacious chase of leaders Chelsea continued as they claimed a 12th consecutive Premier League home win with a 4-0 rout of Bournemouth on Saturday to cut the gap to four points.
Premier League champions Liverpool maintained their 100 per cent start to the season with a 3-1 win against Arsenal at Anfield on Monday leaving them level on nine points with pacesetters Everton and Leicester City.
Match-by-match facts and statistics ahead of the Premier League fixtures on April 28-30
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday
Liverpool opened up an eight-point lead at the top of the Premier League with an emphatic and hugely impressive 3-1 win over defending champions Manchester City.
Harry Kane may have had his thunder as England's brightest young strike hope stolen of late by Jamie Vardy but Tottenham Hotspur's own home-polished jewel sparkled once more on his 100th appearance for the club on Saturday.
Summary of all that transpired on and off the football field
Manchester City squandered a gilt-edged opportunity to close the gap on Premier League leaders Chelsea when they let slip a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at home to struggling Burnley on Sunday.
Barcelona crashed out of the Champions League following a 3-0 defeat at Bayern Munich on Wednesday, failing to make it past the group stage of the competition for the first time since the 2000-01 season.
Arsenal and Manchester City meet at The Emirates on Saturday when both teams will seek to roar into life after making spluttering starts to their Premier League campaigns.
On a day of frenetic spending that took the Premier League total to a record far above one billion pounds ($1.29 billion), Antonio Conte's side also missed out on two of their other targets - Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Fernando Llorente.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Ibrahimovic was forced off with a muscle problem with 11 minutes remaining, and the Swede was pictured sitting on the bench with an ice pack strapped to the back of his left leg.
A weekend of surprise results across Europe's big leagues saw Bayern Munich's unbeaten run come to an end, Napoli knocked off top spot in Serie A and Manchester City toppled in the Premier League where Leicester City are the new leaders.
It was not a day for FA Cup romantics as Manchester United scrambled past Sheffield United and minor league Eastleigh came within a whisker of causing the third round's only genuine shock.
IMAGES from Europa League matches played on Thursday.
Images from EPL matches played on Saturday.
Brighton and Hove Albion scored late to earn a 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace. Sheffield United and Fulham also drew 1-1 as both teams picked up their first points.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
Manchester United replaced Manchester City as Premier League leaders with Wayne Rooney ending an 11-match run without a league goal in his side's comfortable 3-0 win over Sunderland at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Spoils were shared in two huge Premier League derbies, Chelsea's cracking start continued with a 3-0 win over Aston Villa and Wayne Rooney produced a Jekyll and Hyde display in a nervy Manchester United victory on Saturday.
Spoils were shared in two huge Premier League derbies, Chelsea's cracking start continued with a 3-0 win over Aston Villa and Wayne Rooney produced a Jekyll and Hyde display in a nervy Manchester United victory on Saturday.
The Premier League kicked off in unique fashion on Saturday as an own goal by Tottenham Hotspur's Kyle Walker gave Manchester United a 1-0 victory in an undistinguished season opener at Old Trafford.
Manchester United dropped further down the table after losing 5-3 against newcomers Leicester City. Barcelona and Real Madrid scored 13 goals between them during a memorable La Liga weekend, when Cristiano Ronaldo netted a hat-trick.
Of all the managerial dilemmas facing Manchester United's Jose Mourinho after three success defeats, the future of his captain Wayne Rooney is by far the most pressing. The England captain, deployed in a central midfield role this season, has been a peripheral figure in a team struggling to gel and his lacklustre performance in the 3-1 defeat at Watford on Sunday led to widespread calls for him to be dropped. Rooney mustered one shot, did not play a single through ball and created only two chances for team mates with the nine corners and free kicks he took.
Arsenal ended Leicester City's brief stay at the top of the Premier League on Sunday despite being held to a 0-0 draw at Stoke City after Manchester United's Wayne Rooney struck late for a 1-0 win at Liverpool.
Premier League Swansea City fell victims to the first major giant-killing of the FA Cup third round on Sunday when they lost 3-2 away to League Two (fourth tier) side Oxford United.
Messi, whose deal expires in 2021, had called his side "weak" and "inconsistent" after they lost the league title to Real Madrid.
Tottenham Hotspur climbed to third with a 3-1 win over Southampton while Chelsea hung on to fourth spot, above Arsenal on goal difference, despite a 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday
IMAGES from the English Premier League match played between Arsenal and Chelsea at Emirates Stadium in London on Sunday.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field
Frank Lampard could make an emotional appearance against former club Chelsea this weekend as his new employers Manchester City host Jose Mourinho's side in an early showdown between the Premier League's heavyweights. Catch all the action.
The contest for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award promises to be one of the most competitive ever with the likes of Usain Bolt, Cristiano Ronaldo and Andy Murray vying for top honours.
Manchester City are top on goal difference, with Chelsea second and Liverpool dropping to third, two points ahead of Arsenal, who routed Fulham 5-1.
Arsenal delivered a brutal lesson in fast-paced Premier League football to beat Liverpool 4-1 on Saturday, maintaining their faint title aspirations and almost certainly dashing their opponents' hopes of a top-four finish.
Manchester United's calamitous week hit rock bottom as Bournemouth famously consigned them to a 2-1 defeat on Sunday and, to rub salt into the wounds, neighbours Manchester City moved back to the top of the English Premier League.
Images from the English Premier League matches on Saturday.
Images from Day 2 of the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, on Tuesday.
