Facing Tottenham, Bayern Munich and Chelsea inside a week – a run any side would find an extreme test – and earning two wins and a battling draw cannot be considered anything other than a positive return but Arsenal may be left feeling they could have done even better.
After superb performances in beating rivals Spurs before dispatching Bayern at the Emirates, Sunday’s match with Chelsea was always going to be difficult with recovery time limited.
And preparations were further hit with key centre-back William Saliba ruled out with a knock picked up in training – the France international set for more tests.
Given that context, a 1-1 draw secured through Mikel Merino’s header to leave the Gunners five points clear at the top of the table is far from a poor result. But having seen his side play against 10 men for the majority of the match following Moises Caicedo’s red card, manager Mikel Arteta also admitted an opportunity to extend the lead further had been missed.
“It’s been a big week, starting with the derby,” he said. ” Then to play Bayern Munich three days later [and] we lost players in those games.
“Today, for example, we had to play a partnership [in defence] that we never played before in a really difficult match.
“The captain is still not here (Martin Odegaard), the nine is still not here (Viktor Gyokeres), Kai (Havertz) is still not here, We lost Leo (Trossard) in midweek as well, But the team had to react to that.”
Odegaard and Gyokeres did come off the bench for the Gunners in the second half at Chelsea.
“I think overall it’s been a really positive week because the difficulty was immense,” added Arteta.
“But I have this flavour that today we should have and we could have won the game and we haven’t. That’s a learning point from it.”
Mikel Merino rescued Arsenal as the Premier League leaders battled to a 1-1 draw at 10-man Chelsea in a bad-tempered London derby.
Chelsea midfielder Moises Caicedo was sent off for a crude foul on Merino late in the first half at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
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Despite Caicedo’s dismissal, Trevoh Chalobah headed Chelsea into a second half lead, but Merino’s second half leveller ensured Arsenal emerged with a point from a bruising encounter between the title rivals.
Arsenal are five points clear of second-placed Manchester City, who beat Leeds United on Saturday, and sit six points above third-placed Chelsea.
When the dust had settled on a contest of relentless intensity, Arsenal were left to rue a missed opportunity to extend their lead over Chelsea in the title race, while the Blues were relieved to avoid a damaging defeat.
Arsenal remain the favourites to win their first Premier League crown since 2004, but Chelsea’s combative display suggested they could emerge as the biggest threat to the Gunners’ title aspirations.
Arsenal are unbeaten in 17 games in all competitions, winning 14 of those matches, while Chelsea have gone seven matches without losing in all competitions.
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca had played down his young side’s title hopes, but they went toe to toe with Arsenal, who were without injured centre-back William Saliba.
A thunderous first half included a rash of bookings as both teams tried to impose themselves.
Gunners midfielder Martin Zubimendi hauled down Reece James, Chelsea left-back Marc Cucurella crunched into Bukayo Saka, Mosquera pole-axed Joao Pedro and Riccardo Calafiori cynically tugged James.
Saka almost exacted immediate revenge on Cucurella with a stinging strike that Robert Sanchez saved at his near post.
Sanchez saves a shot from Saka [Justina Tallis/AFP]
Teenage sensation Estevao Willian started for Chelsea after his star role in their 3-0 midweek win over Barcelona.
The 18-year-old could not replicate his stunning goal against Barca however as he lashed over from 9 metres (10 yards) to squander Chelsea’s first serious chance.
Enzo Fernandez tested Arsenal keeper David Raya from the edge of the area as Chelsea began to exert pressure on the visitors’ reshuffled defence.
The war of attrition turned ugly in the 38th minute when Caicedo caught Merino on the ankle with a nasty foul that was upgraded from a booking to a dismissal after a VAR review.
It was the Blues’ sixth red card in all competitions this season.
Caicedo and Merino lie on the ground after the Chelsea midfielder’s foul [Ryan Pierse/Getty Images]
The Ecuador midfielder’s premature exit was followed by a dangerous Hincapie elbow on Chalobah, provoking Chelsea cries for a red card that went unheeded.
Gabriel Martinelli nearly added to Chelsea’s angst on the stroke of half-time with a fierce blast that forced a fine save from Sanchez.
Arsenal arrived as the best set-piece team in the league with 10 goals in 12 matches.
But Chelsea ranked second with eight and Chalobah grabbed their ninth in the 48th minute.
It was a goal straight from the Arsenal playbook as James curled a corner to the near post and Chalobah rose highest inside the six-yard box to glance his header into the far corner.
Arteta responded by sending on Martin Odegaard and Noni Madueke, who was jeered and barraged with chants of “Chelsea reject” on his return to his former club.
The Arsenal changes reaped an instant reward as Merino snatched the 59th minute equaliser.
Saka danced past Cucurella with a mesmerising run and cross, picking out Merino for a powerful close-range header that flashed past Sanchez.
It was Merino’s fourth goal this season as Arteta once again used the Spain midfielder as a makeshift striker.
A frantic finale featured Sanchez making superb stops to deny Saka and Merino, but Arsenal could not land the knockout blow.
Chelsea’s captain Reece James told Sky Sports that he was “disappointed” not to come away with the three points but that the sending off limited his side.
“Arsenal have been on the top for the last few years. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Their midfield is tough. We done what we could today to play our game and hurt them off the ball,” he said.
He added: “[Maresca] changed the formation slightly, and he knew they were going to come at us. So we tried to soak up the pressure, and then try to catch them [on the counter].
“I am proud of the boys. It was electric at the Bridge today. We are happy to take the point.”
Merino said Arsenal were also disappointed not to get the win.
When you wear this shirt, you want to win every game.” he told Sky Sports. “This is a really tough stadium to come and take a point. We could have done things better but the team showed good mentality.”
Elsewhere on Sunday, Liverpool’s record signing Alexander Isak scored his first Premier League goal for the Reds as the under-pressure football champions earned a much-needed 2-0 win at West Ham United.
Manchester United ended Crystal Palace’s nine-month unbeaten home run with a 2-1 comeback victory, Aston Villa climbed into the top four with a 1-0 victory over lowly Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Brighton won 2-0 at Nottingham Forest to go fifth.
Cole Palmer is fit to play for Chelsea against London rivals Arsenal in Sunday’s Premier League game at Stamford Bridge.
The 23-year-old forward fractured his toe when stubbing it on a door last week and subsequently missed the wins over Burnley and Barcelona.
The England international has struggled with injury this season and featured only five times across all competitions.
“He is available to start,” said Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca.
“Everyone is happy, the team-mates are happy, we are all happy and the most important thing is Cole is happy because a footballer wants to play games and make the sessions every day.
“He is our best player, we are happy he is back. We need to give him time to be 100% fit. He has done fantastic in the past and no doubt he is going to do very good for this club in the future.”
Who: Arsenal vs Bayern Munich What: Matchday 5, League Phase, UEFA Champions League Where: Emirates Stadium, North London, England, UK When: Wednesday at 8pm (20:00 GMT) How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 17:00 GMT in advance of our text commentary stream.
English Premier League leaders Arsenal host the German Bundesliga’s top-ranked team Bayern Munich in a heavyweight UEFA Champions League (UCL) matchup of the two frontrunning European mega clubs on Wednesday.
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The sides are also ranked No 1 and No 2 in the current UCL standings, with both clubs protecting perfect records in the League Phase of the competition.
Here is all to know ahead of their top of the table clash at Emirates Stadium:
Who have Arsenal and Bayern Munich beaten so far in the UCL League Phase?
After four matchdays in the League Phase, Bayern Munich sits top of the standings with four wins and a maximum 12 points against Chelsea (3-0), Pafos (5-1), Club Brugge (4-0) and most recently, a victory over reigning UCL champions Paris Saint-Germain (2-1) away in France on November 4.
Arsenal is second on the table, equal with their German rival on points (12) and goal difference (+11). Their four wins have come against Athletic Bilbao (2-0), Olympiacos (2-0), Atletico Madrid (4-0) and Slavia Praha (3-0).
The only other team remaining in the competition with a perfect 4-0 record is Inter Milan.
Will Odegaard play against Bayern Munich?
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard is a strong possibility to play against Bayern Munich in what would be his first match since injuring his knee in early October.
The Norwegian midfielder participated in training on Tuesday afternoon and is expected to be in the squad.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta confirmed Odegaard is under consideration for Wednesday’s fixture.
“He [Odegaard] was very close for the previous game. We are hopeful that tomorrow [Wednesday] he can be in the squad as well.”
Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard during training at the Arsenal Training Centre, London Colney, UK on November 25, 2025 [Peter Cziborra/Action Images via Reuters]
Where did Arsenal and Bayern Munich finish in last season’s Champions League?
The Gunners reached the semifinals of the Champions League for the first time since 2008–09, upsetting Real Madrid in the quarterfinals (5-1 on aggregate) before losing to eventual champion Paris Saint-Germain.
Bayern Munich’s UCL campaign came to an end at the quarterfinal stage with a closely contested defeat to Inter Milan (4-3 on aggregate).
Form guide: last five matches
Arsenal: W-W-W-D-W (Premier League, most recent result last)
Bayern Munich: W-W-W-D-W (Bundesliga, most recent result last)
Head-to-head: Arsenal-Bayern Munich
The sides last played on April 17, 2024, with Joshua Kimmich’s 63rd-minute header handing Bayern Munich a 1-0 quarterfinal victory (3-2 on aggregate) over Arsenal in the Champions League, sending the Germans through to the last-four of the 2023-24 competition.
In total, the sides have played against each other 14 times, with Bayern dominating the historical matchup:
Bayern Munich – 8 wins
Arsenal – 3 wins
Draws – 3
Arsenal’s team news
Arsenal will line up against Bayern without a recognised striker, with Kai Havertz (knee) and Viktor Gyokeres (hamstring) still rehabbing injuries.
Gabriel Jesus will also be held back from the Champions League fixture, although the Brazilian forward is back in full training after undergoing knee surgery.
“He is quite close, to be fair, and earlier than we expected,” Arteta said.
“In the next few days, he is going to have another step to make with a game that we are going to organise for him. After that, he is just going to be knocking on the door.
Kimmich, the player who buried Arsenal the last time they played back in 2024, was a question mark at the beginning of the week after sustaining a knock picked up during the FIFA international break, but is believed to be ready to play on Wednesday.
Explosive winger Luis Diaz is suspended for the Arsenal clash. The Colombian might be replaced by rising 17-year-old star Lennart Karl, who became Bayern’s youngest-ever Champions League scorer when he started against Brugge on October 22.
Injured duo Jamal Musiala and Alphonso Davies will be unavailable for selection.
Bayern manager Vincent Kompany will again lead the line with English international Harry Kane, who returns to his home city of London for this fixture.
Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane, centre, and Nicolas Jackson, second from right, during training at the Bayern Munich Training centre in Munich, Germany, on November 25, 2025 [Angelika Warmuth/Reuters]
I know from experience there are certain games where, if you are the player who makes the difference, the fans never forget it.
I had been a Liverpool player for more than three years when I scored my first winner for them against Manchester United in 2000. I was used to being asked for autographs and people talking to me, but that goal against our biggest rivals suddenly elevated everything to a different level.
I was now the player who had scored that goal for us, and against them. It was like people saw me in a different way, and certainly thought more highly of me, because I had given them this joy in a fixture that meant so much to them.
It will be the same for Eze now and the immediate effect of his hat-trick is that, in the next few games, he will be so full of confidence he will feel like he can try anything because he cannot do anything wrong.
Whenever he next walks out on the pitch, whether it’s against Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday or Chelsea in the Premier League next weekend, he will feel he has the fans 100% behind him, because they adore him now more than ever.
It will be the same whenever he gets on the ball, too. You know the fans love you and that transfers to your game. You are thinking “give me the ball, what am I going to do next?” The feeling is amazing, and he will want to express himself and show the world how good he is.
That’s the buzz you get and it applies to any player scoring a hat-trick in a game of this size, but it always means a bit more when you are a fan of the team you do it for – it really does.
You feel a warmth from the supporters it is very hard to get if you’ve not grown up knowing it yourself.
I’d been at Old Trafford as a Liverpool fan watching them play there, so I understood what beating United meant to our supporters, the same as Eze will know what beating Spurs means to Arsenal fans.
What he did on Sunday will live with him forever, and the supporters will know he gets it too.
What a day it turned out to be for boyhood Arsenal fan Eze.
Before the match Tottenham manager Thomas Frank joked “who?” when questioned about how close Eze was to becoming a Spurs player in the summer. Those words certainly came back to haunt him.
A first senior hat-trick is a big landmark in itself, let alone a first treble in Premier League north London derby history.
Eze signed for Arsenal in a deal worth £67m and is starting to cement himself as one of the first names on the teamsheet for manager Mikel Arteta.
When he signed for the Gunners there were questions about where he would fit into the side but, after an injury to captain Odegaard, Eze has taken his opportunity with both hands.
The 27-year-old has taken time to settle as he got used to a different role in this Arsenal team than the one he was used to at Crystal Palace, but he has already started to deliver big moments.
He provided an excellent pass for Gabriel Martinelli’s stoppage-time equaliser against City, scored the winner against Palace and now has a first senior hat-trick against rivals Tottenham.
Eze provides something different to the rest of the Arsenal forwards and his unpredictability adds another edge to Arsenal’s forward line.
The Gunners have another two big games coming up, with matches against Bayern Munich and Chelsea, but Eze will relish the challenge given the form he is now in.
“That’s him. He had two days off after the England camp and after day one he wanted to train,” Arteta said.
“He wanted to come back and improve and ask questions. When you have such a talent and such an intelligence and then you add that willingness to be better and practise, these things happen.
“When I spoke to Thomas Tuchel (about him) I said how good is he? He said to me one of the best I have seen. I rate him one of the best in terms of talent. If we add in now his work rate, willingness to play for this team and the joy I sense when he is the building we have a special player there.”
No English player has been involved in more goals that Eze in 2025 in the Premier League. Only Erling Haaland (25), Mohamed Salah (23), Bryan Mbeumo (21) and Antoine Semenyo (18) been involved in more Premier League goals than the Arsenal number 10 (18 – 10 goals, eight assists).
“I know how much this move from Crystal Palace meant to him and what a performance from him. Best player on the pitch,” former Crystal Palace forward Clinton Morrison told BBC Radio 5 Live.
In his BBC Sport column, ex-Premier League manager Tony Pulis looks at the value of defending properly and how Mikel Arteta and Thomas Frank find a balance between scoring goals and stopping them.
There is some fierce competition for that crown but, statistically, the Gunners are right up there.
Nearly a third of the way through the campaign, they are conceding 0.45 goals per game. If they maintain that rate they will concede 17 goals over the 38 games.
Chelsea’s 2004-05 title-winning side hold the record at 15, with Arsenal’s vintage in 1998-99 conceding 17, but finishing trophyless.
The next tightest defence is the 2007-08 Manchester United side and Liverpool in 2018-19, who both conceded 22 goals.
There is a long way still to go for Arsenal, but if the backline of Jurrien Timber, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes and Riccardo Calafiori – with keeper David Raya behind them – stay fit and solid, then they’ve got every chance of being talked about among this quartet.
That is a big if though, with fears Gabriel could be sidelined until January after being injured on Brazil duty, while Italy international Calafiori also has a problem that needs to be assessed.
The Gunners also have the best defensive record in Europe’s top five leagues this term, with the fewest goals conceded, fewest shots on target faced and most clean sheets.
They have allowed only 21 shots on target in the Premier League this season, including three across their last five matches. Their average of 1.9 shots on target faced per game is the lowest since Opta’s records began in 2003-04.
You have to go back to September and October 1987 for the last time Arsenal bettered this season’s record of four successive league games without letting in a goal.
That came under manager George Graham in an era that inspired the famous “1-0 to the Arsenal” chant to serenade a team with the kind of defensive resilience that Arteta’s men are replicating.
Sunderland’s strikes, from Dan Ballard and an injury-time Brian Brobbey equaliser, denied them the chance to beat Manchester United’s Premier League record of 14 consecutive clean sheets, achieved back in 2008-09.
Meanwhile, Liverpool are the record holders for clean sheets in the Premier League era across all competitions, having gone 11 straight games without conceding under Rafael Benitez in 2005-06.
Former Arsenal centre-back Martin Keown, who was part of the club’s 1998-99 side, wrote in his BBC Sport column: “We can see with our own eyes how good the defence is.
“The only thing missing from their CV is trophies.
“If they could be champions, they reach that elite level alongside these past title-winning teams.”
He will stay in London and not travel to Lille for the Tunisia match on Tuesday.
Gabriel has formed a key part of the Arsenal defence as they top the Premier League table, having conceded just five goals in 11 league games.
The Gunners are next in action when they face north London rivals Tottenham on 23 November, before welcoming Bayern Munich in the Champions League the following Wednesday.
Another Arsenal defender, Riccardo Calafiori, has left the Italy squad.
Brazil manager Carlo Ancelotti says Gabriel will be assessed on Sunday after the Arsenal defender suffered a groin injury in a friendly win over Senegal in London.
The 27-year-old pulled up off the ball just before the hour mark and received treatment to his right thigh before being substituted.
Gabriel has formed a key part of the Arsenal defence as they top the Premier League table, having conceded just five goals in 11 league games.
The Gunners face North London rivals Tottenham on 23 November before welcoming Bayern Munich in the Champions League the following Wednesday.
“Bad? I don’t know. He had an injury in his adductor,” said Ancelotti. “The medical staff has to check tomorrow.
“We are really sorry for this, really disappointed. When a player has an injury, you hope they can recover well and soon.”
Brazil beat Senegal 2-0 at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium through goals from Chelsea’s teenage winger Estevao and Manchester United midfielder Casemiro.
Meanwhile, Italy boss Gennaro Gattuso says Arsenal defender Riccardo Calafiori has left the international camp.
He did not play in Italy’s World Cup qualifying win over Moldova on Thursday, having been following an individual training programme for load management.
“We tried Calafiori, he had a few issues,” Gattuso told Sky Sports Italia, external before Italy’s match against Norway on Sunday.
“I thank him for his commitment. He stayed here for a week, he could have played perhaps, but it wouldn’t have been fair to him or Arsenal.”
A source told BBC Sport that Calafiori has not returned to Arsenal for any treatment.
No arguments were settled about the Rogers-Bellingham conundrum on this night, other than to confirm the childhood friends from the Midlands are giving Tuchel the most pleasant of selection headaches.
The betting would still be on Bellingham starting the World Cup, but Rogers has made his mark. Bellingham is likely to start against Albania in Tirana, so it is now over to him.
Manchester City’s Foden is an outsider to force his way into that discussion, but there is no doubt he made a big impression on Tuchel with a lively 25-minute cameo, forcing his way through dangerous central areas, where the head coach wants him, creating several moments of danger as well as setting up Eze’s goal.
Kane is, understandably, an immovable object as England’s spearhead, but Foden is clearly in Tuchel’s thinking as he said: “He was excellent. You can see he is full of confidence. He showed it.
“I like to have him in centre of pitch in close connection with other players. He did well. It is a big ask to challenge Harry at the moment. He is in the shape of his life. But to be an accomplice and share some minutes, then he is an option.
“You can see he is full of confidence. You can see it in the first minutes when you meet him. You feel he is light and he is smiling. His movements are a joy to watch, you can see he is competitive.”
England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, yet to concede a goal in World Cup qualifying and with a record 10th successive clean sheet, also echoed the benefits of Tuchel’s squad strength.
He said: “It just gives us variety, and everyone knows how great Harry is at coming down low to get the ball and start spraying balls. Phil Foden comes on and nearly gets two goals. It’s great to have those options going forward.
“We have got the depth as team England. You have to be playing well and Jude is playing well at his club. It’s his first camp since the summer. He has come on tonight and made a massive impact.
“You have to give that credit to Morgan, he has come in the last few games and stepped up. The manager has put the trust in him even though we have someone like Jude and Phil on the bench. We have a lot of options. It’s about being team England sticking together moving forward.”
Foden’s Manchester City team-mate Nico O’Reilly made an accomplished senior debut at left-back, a position still up for grabs, while Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa grows in stature with every game, a genuine contender for a place in central defence with John Stones and Marc Guehi.
Rashford faces competition on the left flank, especially from Newcastle United’s Anthony Gordon, missing here with a hip injury, as well as Arsenal’s Noni Madueke when he is fit again, but his renaissance at Barcelona has put him back in the frame.
He had moments at Wembley, especially with some superb sleight of foot, but both he and Tuchel would have wished for better end product. He still has work to do to keep rivals at bay.
The scenery for England’s World Cup auditions now shifts to Tirana against Albania on Sunday – with it all still to play for in the battle for places.
Manchester City celebrated Pep Guardiola’s 1,000th game in management with a statement 3-0 win over Liverpool to close to within four points of Premier League leaders Arsenal.
Erling Haaland shrugged off missing an early penalty on Sunday to head in his 99th Premier League goal before Nico Gonzalez’s deflected effort and a wonder strike from Jeremy Doku confirmed City’s status as Arsenal’s major title rivals.
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Liverpool have now lost four of their last five league games to leave the defending champions down in eighth, eight points off the top.
Arsenal’s 10-game winning run came to an end in a 2-2 draw at Sunderland on Saturday and Guardiola’s men took full advantage in the battle of the two sides that have dominated English football’s Premier League over the past decade.
Even if decisions went against Arne Slot’s men, this was another display of how far they have fallen since cruising to a 2-0 win at the Etihad in February.
The Reds showed signs of a revival in beating Aston Villa and Real Madrid in the past eight days, but had no answer to the slickness of a rejuvenated City, who have won 11 of their last 14 games in all competitions.
Conor Bradley shut down the threat of Madrid’s Vinicius Junior on Tuesday, but was given a torrid time by the pace and trickery of Doku down City’s left.
Early in the first half, Doku made the most of Ibrahima Konate’s clearance off Bradley to round Giorgi Mamardashvili before his trailing leg was clipped by the Georgian goalkeeper.
Referee Chris Kavanagh was initially unmoved, but pointed to the spot after a VAR review.
Haaland has struck 28 times already this season for club and country, but has yet to score for City from the penalty spot in 2025-26.
Mamardashvili redeemed himself by getting down low to his left to turn the Norwegian’s penalty to safety to briefly lift the mood among the Liverpool players and travelling support.
City remained in control of the game, though, as Rayan Cherki’s effort was deflected wide before Mamardashvili turned Doku’s strike after another mazy run into the side netting.
Haaland has only failed to score in two of his 18 appearances this season, and duly delivered with a looping header to meet Matheus Nunes’s wicked delivery at 29 minutes.
Pep Guardiola marked his 1,000th game in management in style [Michael Regan/Getty Images]
Liverpool thought they were level nine minutes later, when van Dijk’s header from a corner arrowed into the far corner.
However, Andrew Robertson ducked out of the way of his captain’s effort and was deemed to have interfered with Gianluigi Donnarumma from an offside position.
Instead of going in all square, City rubbed salt in the wounds of Liverpool’s perceived injustice.
The visitors were slow to get out from a corner, and Gonzalez had time to take aim before his shot deflected off van Dijk to wrong-foot Mamardashvili.
Liverpool only had themselves to blame for not getting back in the game early in the second period as Cody Gakpo blazed over with the goal gaping at the end of a fine move involving Mohamed Salah and Bradley.
But Doku fittingly rounded off arguably his best performance in three seasons at City to seal a statement victory.
The Belgian jinked inside the leaden-footed Konate before curling into the top corner from outside the box.
Salah summed up Liverpool’s day and season so far when he dinked wide a glorious chance 10 minutes from time.
Despite the visitors’ need for goals, Slot left 125-million-pound ($165m) striker Alexander Isak on the bench for the entire match due to his lack of match fitness.
The decision to tear up the squad that coasted to the title with a near 450-million-pound ($692m) spend in the transfer window looks more misguided by the game as Liverpool find themselves in a battle just to make the top four rather than the title race.
After the game, Doku told Sky Sports that he was very happy with the team’s performance.
“It is always good for the confidence [to dominate a match], but I have great players around me. That gives me the feeling that I have to do more in every game and every day I want to improve,” he said.
Van Dijk said Liverpool struggled to recover from a difficult first half.
“Our pressing just wasn’t good enough; it should have been better. We need to find more consistency. Losing hurts, always, but 3-0 especially,” he said.
“There were some good moments in the game, but you play Man City at home, who can make it very difficult. The focus should be on reflecting on this when we come back and then fight again.”
Earlier on Sunday, Aston Villa thrashed Bournemouth 4-0 to move into seventh place in the Premier League. But Newcastle United’s poor domestic form continued as they slumped to defeat at Brentford.
Nottingham Forest ended a winless Premier League run stretching back to the first weekend of the season as they came from behind to beat Leeds United 3-1 at the City Ground.
Crystal Palace and Brighton and Hove Albion shared the spoils in a dour 0-0 draw at Selhurst Park.
The English Football League has criticised the “undermining” of the Carabao Cup after it was forced to compromise on the date of Crystal Palace’s quarter-final because of fixture congestion.
Palace will now face Arsenal in the last eight at Emirates Stadium on Tuesday, 23 December at 20:00 GMT.
The other three quarter-finals take place the previous week but the Eagles’ commitments in the Uefa Conference League – they host Finnish club KuPS at Selhurst Park on 18 December – has left them with four games in nine days.
Palace host Manchester City on 14 December and are away to Leeds on 21 December, either side of the KuPS game.
A statement from the EFL was critical of the “expansion of European cup competitions” which it believes was “implemented without adequate consultation with domestic leagues”.
The EFL said it had “shown a willingness to compromise” but scheduling conflicts are “now entirely unavoidable”.
“To continue making endless concessions only serves to undermine the reputation of the EFL Cup,” said the statement.
“It also challenges the traditional scheduling of the English football calendar and strength of our domestic game.”
Uefa’s European calendar now stretches across 10 midweeks, rather than the six of two seasons ago, with the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League each given a standalone week for exposure.
It has caused a huge logistical headache, with the third round of the EFL Cup having to be seeded and played across two weeks to keep clubs in the Champions League and Europa League apart.
Palace boss Oliver Glasner said last week it would be “irresponsible” if the club were forced to play two games in three days.
The EFL said it shared the “frustration and concern” of managers and players concerning the congested programme which deprived clubs of the “necessary time for preparation” and ability to “field their strongest line-ups” in the EFL Cup.
Boxing Day fixtures have been a long-standing tradition in English football but this year the only Premier League game will be Manchester United’s home match with Newcastle United (20:00 GMT).
