I wasn't supposed to play and I wasn't allowed to do certain jobs, said Hampton, who crossed the second city divide to join Villa from Birmingham City in the summer. In his latest Sky Sports column, Paul Merson assesses his former club Arsenal's start to the season, questions who pulls the strings in the transfer market - Mikel Arteta or Edu? There used to be a time when Bale could not win a Premier League game and was a figure of ridicule, being on the fringes of the Spurs first team. How he turned his fortunes around. My take on it would be that up until yesterday given the circumstances, to be still just about in the title race, I don't think Liverpool have been that bad as champions. Sloppiness at the back from Liverpool almost let Palace in at the end of the first half, but it was early on in the second period where the Eagles got a goal back courtesy of Odsonne Edouard. Steven Gerrard's stats as Rangers manager They also matched Celtic's 107-year-old clean-sheet record, and won back-to-back Old Firm derbies. West Ham came out with more intensity after the break and Moyes made a triple substitution just before the hour with Antonio among those making way, probably with one eye on Liverpool's visit at the weekend. They're entitled to their opinion' In his first press conference after signing for the club, Trippier downplayed any suggestion that financial reasons were involved in his decision to move to Newcastle. Footage of Auld and his fellow European Cup winners was played on the big screen, accompanied by renditions of Auld Lang Syne and You'll Never Walk Alone. The Chelsea man was clearly affected by the red shirts bearing down on him, his panicked first touch allowing Sancho to sprint through on goal and beat Edouard Mendy. The Tigers went ahead in the 15th minute when George Honeyman swung in a corner from the left and Ryan Longman flicked on. Decisive Arteta takes Auba gamble'Mikel Arteta is proving to be a very decisive manager, especially with his dealings with certain players, none more so than Aubameyang. Sky Sports News understands the Tottenham hierarchy were angry at the thought of the game being postponed and believe there is not currently a coronavirus outbreak at Arsenal. Cheikhou Kouyate and Wilfried Zaha remain in Cameroon on international duty for the tournament while James McArthur and James Tomkins are still absent due to injuries. After picking up 12 points from the opening five games, Brighton are since winless in their last six, earning only five points. It was Arteta's centre-backs who came up with the goods, with Gabriel Magalhaes nodding the winner early in the second half after Rob Holding had opened the scoring from Bukayo Saka's 38th-minute corner. The midweek draw against Young Boys was an anomaly - a completely new XI filled with fringe and youth players was the ideal chance for Rangnick to get to know his squad, but did little to tell us how United had progressed thus far under the interim coach. Brewster scored his first goal for the U21s from the spot 10 minutes in after the Sheffield United striker had been fouled by goalkeeper Leo Besson in the box. The German centre-half tested Vicente Guaita from long range with a fierce, dipping effort that forced the Spaniard to tip the ball around the post, and makeshift left wing-back Malang Sarr saw his outswinging effort swerve wide of the far post. The defender, who moved to Tynecastle in October 2020 after being released by Hull, is out of contract at the end of the season.

	Team	Events	Wins	Draws	Losses	Goal difference	Points
1	Manchester City	22	18	2	2	41	56
2	Chelsea	22	12	7	3	28	43
3	Liverpool	20	12	6	2	34	42
4	West Ham United	21	11	4	6	12	37
5	Arsenal	20	11	2	7	8	35
6	Tottenham Hotspur	18	10	3	5	3	33
7	Manchester United	19	9	4	6	3	31
8	Wolverhampton Wanderers	20	9	4	7	2	31
9	Brighton & Hove Albion	20	6	10	4	0	28
10	Leicester City	18	7	4	7	-2	25
11	Crystal Palace	21	5	9	7	-1	24
12	Southampton	21	5	9	7	-8	24
13	Brentford	20	6	5	9	-6	23
14	Aston Villa	19	7	1	11	-5	22
15	Everton	19	5	4	10	-10	19
16	Leeds United	19	4	7	8	-16	19
17	Watford	19	4	2	13	-14	14
18	Norwich City	21	3	4	14	-35	13
19	Newcastle United	20	1	9	10	-23	12
20	Burnley	17	1	8	8	-11	11