Premier League break: Man City perfect, Fulham’s Nigerian duo still waiting

The Premier League has gone quiet for an unusually long international break, and the table it leaves behind makes for interesting reading, especially if your weekend football revolves around the Super Eagles in England.

At the top, Manchester City are perfect: five matches, five wins, 15 points. They signed off with a wild 5-3 win over Sunderland at the Etihad on Sunday, 20 September. Arsenal, the defending champions, are second on 12 points after their own perfect start ended with a 3-0 defeat at Brighton, where Pascal Gross, Charalampos Kostoulas and Chema Andrés scored. Brighton sit third on 10.

Fulham’s Nigerian pair

For Nigerian fans, Craven Cottage has been the main watch, and it has been a frustrating start. Fulham drew 1-1 with Manchester United on 20 September. Calvin Bassey, who played the full 90 minutes, sparked the opener when he won the ball from Matheus Cunha, drove forward and saw his shot saved, only for Lisandro Martínez to turn the ball into his own net in the 63rd minute. Cunha levelled in the 89th minute with a deflected strike from distance.

Alex Iwobi started and was replaced in the 71st minute. The draw leaves Fulham 19th with two points, still without a league win after five games, which Complete Sports noted is the club’s longest winless start to a league season since 2020-21. Only Tottenham Hotspur are below them, bottom on two points after a 3-2 home defeat by Aston Villa.

Elsewhere, Brentford thumped Chelsea 3-0 on the Friday night, Liverpool won 1-0 at Bournemouth, Newcastle beat Hull City 2-1 and Coventry City claimed their first win since returning to the top flight, 1-0 at Nottingham Forest.

Iwobi has swapped club duty for country duty during the break, and set up George Ilenikhena’s equaliser in Nigeria’s 2-1 AFCON 2027 qualifying win over Madagascar in Uyo. Fulham will hope the break helps them find that elusive first win.

What next: The league returns on Saturday, 10 October. Arsenal host Leeds at 12.30pm, Fulham visit Ipswich Town at 3pm and Manchester United host Spurs at 5.30pm, all the same time in Nigeria. The pick of the weekend is Liverpool v Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday, 11 October at 4.30pm.