Arsenal won the league last season and share top spot. Most such champions lost it.
Arsenal, the Premier League champions, and Manchester City both have 21 points after eight games. Arsenal play at Liverpool on Sunday 1 November.
What happened
Andoni Iraola’s side host the champions, kick-off 4.30pm, with Liverpool six points behind joint-leaders Arsenal and Man City.
Arsenal and Manchester City both have 21 points after eight games of the 2026-27 Premier League. Arsenal won the league last season. Liverpool are fifth, six points behind, and play Arsenal at their Anfield ground on Sunday at 4.30pm.
Liverpool coach Andoni Iraola, in his first season at the club, said it would still be too early to talk about a title race, even with a win over Arsenal. “I said before, it’s still October”, he said. Liverpool have won seven of their last eight games in all competitions.
Arsenal will be without two attacking players for some games. Bukayo Saka has a thigh injury and is not expected back until after the international break. Max Dowman, 16, misses the games against Liverpool, Hull and Newcastle after a red card in a cup game.
Manchester City were found guilty on of most of the 134 charges the Premier League brought over its money rules. The punishment is not yet decided and could include taking points away. City have appealed, and the appeal can take up to 12 weeks, with a decision 30 days after the hearing.
The season ends on Sunday , when all 20 clubs play their last game at the same time.
Sources: Sky Sports, BBC (2), The Independent, The Guardian (2, 3, 4), Premier League
The Pattern
We looked for cases where the champions of one of the five biggest leagues in Europe were level on points at the top after eight games, while another club up to six points behind had won its last two league games. The leagues are in different countries, but the race works the same way in each: every club plays every other club home and away, and the club with the most points at the end wins. We found nine such seasons since 1997, three in England, two each in Italy, France and Spain. The champions won the league again in three. (The Guardian; The Guardian)
Show the other 7 cases
The Read
The past points against Arsenal keeping the title. In three of the nine seasons the champions won again. Each time the winner was one of the clubs level at the top after eight games, and the club chasing behind on a winning run never won. The champions always finished in the top three, and in the top two seven times. In seven of the nine seasons the title was certain before the last day.
There are reasons for doubt. In those nine seasons no club level at the top faced a possible points deduction, as Manchester City do now, although City’s appeal may delay any punishment until the end of the season or later. Six of the nine seasons come from Italy, France and Spain, and none came from Germany. Arsenal are without Saka for some weeks, and Liverpool have won seven of their last eight games.
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