Manchester United are rooted in the Premier League relegation zone despite a dramatic late rally to rescue a 4-4 draw against Aston Villa.
Arsenal have rarely hit top gear but a 1-0 win over Hull stretched their lead at the top to five points over surprise challengers Brighton, while slumping Manchester City suffered a shock loss at Nottingham Forest.
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Liverpool climbed into fourth with a 3-1 win at Crystal Palace that could spell the end of Pierre Sage’s short reign in charge of the Eagles during the international break.
Scroll down for the biggest talking points from the weekend’s Premier League action!
Forest pull off big upset | 02:57
CRUNCH TIME FOR CARRICK
A rollercoaster afternoon at Old Trafford did little to clarify Michael Carrick’s future as United manager.
The Red Devils demonstrated their powers of recovery to twice come back from two goals down against Villa, as they also did to beat Roma 3-2 in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Yet an eight-game run without a Premier League win has plunged the 20-time English champions into the relegation zone for the first time at this stage of the season in 40 years.
“It’s obviously difficult for the manager. Under pressure, no doubt. He talks a lot but doesn’t say much. I don’t know if that’s a tactic. Like a politician,” former United captain Roy Keane said on Sky Sports.
“He keeps saying we need to tighten up and there’s things we need to work on, but they better get moving on that.
“It’s the worst start in how many years; all these stats aren’t very good. If you keep giving up goals and chances, it’s just going to continue.
“What are we expecting to change over the next few weeks and months? What are they working on? They need to do a lot better than that.
“I admire people who are maybe casual. I wish I was casual like that! I see Carrick, and he’s like, ‘We just have to tighten up’. I’m going, ‘Tighten up? You should be banging heads!’”
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Carrick was handed a stay of execution until the upcoming international break to turn things around.
The former United midfielder was bullish that he will still remain in charge when his side make the trip to face Liverpool in two weeks’ time.
“We understand the situation; we haven’t won enough games. But I expect to move forward and keep working on things we’ve been working on, showing a lot of the good in the game today, tighten up on a few mistakes and win football matches,” Carrick said in a tense exchange with a reporter after Sunday’s draw at Old Trafford.
Now the focus turns on his employers to make the call on his future, with former Newcastle boss Eddie Howe and ex-Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann among the candidates to take over if Carrick is sacked.
“You can keep changing the manager and thinking that’s going to be the answer. But this has been proven now over eight managers in 12 years – that’s not the answer,” United great Gary Neville said on NBC.
“Michael could leave, Michael might stay, we don’t know. The ownership don’t have a clue what to do.
“It’s rinse and repeat. (Ruben) Amorim, (Erik) Ten Hag, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Carrick, Jose Mourinho, Louis van Gaal, David Moyes, Ralf Rangnick – some of them are world-class managers who have had success; there are a lot of promising young managers there, ex-players who know the club as well.
“None of it has worked because if you recruit badly, if you’ve got a poor performance department, a poor recruitment department, you’ve not got leadership that is strong right through the spine of the football club, you will fail.
“Every organisation in the world will fail if you’ve not got an aligned leadership from top to bottom – your board and your ownership right the way through to the person who is stood on the pitch trying to play football.
“There are real issues within that football club; you’ve got people doing those jobs who have never done those jobs before in senior positions.”
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Everton storm into Premier League top 5 | 01:01
FIESTY VILLA KEEP MAKING HEADLINES
If Manchester United do move on Michael Carrick, Liverpool great Jamie Carragher said recently on The Overlap that the Red Devils would be mad to not try pry Unai Emery away from Aston Villa.
Carragher stressed that United will always a bigger club and that did not set well with the powers that be in Birmingham.
Villa threatened to sue Carragher and he responded with an apology before penning a column in The Telegraph about the saga that overshadowed a huge week for the Villans with trips to Barcelona’s Camp Nou and Old Trafford.
“My suggestion that the people in charge at United should consider a move for the Aston Villa manager if they consider him the best in class has not been welcomed at Villa Park, and I get why,” Carragher wrote.
“But I cannot stray from my opinion that if I were an executive at one of the elite European clubs and had a managerial vacancy, Unai Emery would be near the top of my wanted list.”
Villa were furious once again in the aftermath of the 4-4 draw.
Emery stormed off in disgust down the tunnel before the match was over after United’s 96th minute equaliser went in, and then was fired up in his post-match interview.
There was conjecture about Patrick Dorgu’s goal, the eighth of the game, as to whether Villa’s goalkeeper Suzuki Zion was impeded by his opposite number Senne Lammens, who came up for the corner.
Formed United captain Roy Keane brushed away concerns on Sky Sports, saying “football is a contact sport” and the goal should be allowed to stand.
While Villa’s director of football operations Damian Vidagany unloaded on social media.
“To put in context this convenient narrative of ‘contact sport’ we’ve been told by referees during the summer that this season to go to unbalance or push the GK on purpose on the six-yard box was not going to be allowed anymore,” he wrote.
“Lammens not even look at the ball, went straight to do a contact with the hip over Zion.
“Having said that we played good match and we must do better than last six minutes. We will do and we will improve.
“But the rules are the rules and must be respected. That is a fact.”
REALITY SINKS IN FOR CITY
Manchester City’s third consecutive Premier League defeat dealt another blow to their title hopes — if they were even really in the race to begin with.
Enzo Maresca made a flawless start to the daunting task of succeeding Pep Guardiola.
The Italian became the first coach to win his first seven Premier League matches in charge of a new club.
Two of those victories came after City were found guilty on over 100 charges of breaking financial rules.
But the uncertainty surrounding City has bled into unconvincing performances on the pitch.
Maresca bemoaned his side’s inability to match Forest’s intensity at the City Ground.
Maintaining the motivation of his players to try and chase down Arsenal at the top of the table is a huge challenge for the City boss when even good results might count for little.
Unless City overturn the initial ruling on appeal, they are expected to be handed a severe points deduction that could even result in relegation from the English top-flight.
“That is a sore one,” former Liverpool and Tottenham star Jamie Redknapp said on Sky Sports. “It gives you the feeling in terms of who can challenge Arsenal: I just don’t see one.
“Right now, the one I would point to is Brighton – and I never thought I’d be saying that at the start of the season.
“You’ve got William Saliba coming back for Arsenal. The players they have defensively…you will never see Arsenal looking as open as City looked.
“I don’t see anything other than Arsenal running away with it at this point. They are just so much better than everyone else in every single area.”
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MANAGER ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK
Pierre Sage may win the unwanted race to become the first Premier League manager of the season to be sacked after Palace sank to the bottom of the table.
The Eagles inability to defend set pieces has been a consistent scourge of Sage’s short reign and cost his side again at Selhurst Park.
A positive first-half performance was undone when Alexis Mac Allister headed in Dominik Szoboszlai’s free-kick and Liverpool never looked back.
“I think that would have been one of the best Crystal Palace performances this season. Liverpool won 3-1 away from home but their goalkeeper was their best player. That tells you how well Palace did,” Liverpool great Jamie Carragher said on Sky Sports.
“But I don’t think you can hang your hat on the performance, especially with a new guy into the Premier League. He’s really struggled so far.
“I don’t think you can take the risk as an owner when you think of the finances involved. Palace – 14 seasons in the Premier League, we don’t expect them to be (bottom). They’re an established Premier League club.
“I think the decision will be made, unfortunately for Pierre Sage. I think Palace will have a new manager the next time they play in the Premier League.”
In an ominous sign for the Frenchman, Palace chairman Steve Parish missed Thursday’s Europa League draw against Hoffenheim after travelling to New York to meet with the club’s owners.
A two-week international break offers the perfect chance for Palace to make a change, particularly with huge games against relegation rivals Coventry and Hull to come next.
Sky Sports have reported that former Tottenham boss Thomas Frank, the man who replaced Ange Postecoglou, is firming as the leading candidate to take over.
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