Manchester City, the reigning Premier League champions, faced a surprising setback when they lost 2-1 to Wolverhampton Wanderers (Wolves) on September 30, 2023. At the same time, Liverpool had a challenging match against Tottenham, where they ended up with only nine players but still fought hard, eventually losing 2-1.
For Manchester United, things took a turn for the worse as they suffered a 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace at Old Trafford. Meanwhile, Arsenal moved closer to the top of the league with a comfortable 4-0 victory over Bournemouth.
Manchester City had been off to a perfect start in the Premier League, winning their first six games of the season as they aimed to make history by claiming four consecutive top-flight titles. In contrast, Wolves had struggled with just four points from their first six matches. However, Wolves surprised everyone by defeating the champions at Molineux.
The match saw an own goal by Ruben Dias put Wolves in the lead, but City managed to level the score through Julian Alvarez’s free-kick. Wolves, though, remained a threat on the counter-attack and secured the win when Hwang Hee-chan scored 25 minutes from time.
City’s manager, Pep Guardiola, watched the game from the stands due to suspension and commented, “We have to do more, but even when we win, we have to do more. Today, we were not at our best.”
Liverpool had an opportunity to take the top spot after City’s loss. However, their challenge became much harder when Curtis Jones was shown a red card after just 26 minutes for a reckless tackle. Despite being down to 10 men, Liverpool managed to level the score through Cody Gakpo’s goal. However, their troubles continued when Diogo Jota received two quick yellow cards, leaving them with only nine players. In the end, Tottenham secured a late victory when Joel Matip scored an own goal.
Tottenham’s win propelled them into second place in the league, just one point behind City. They maintained their unbeaten record in the Premier League under manager Ange Postecoglou.
Manchester United’s struggles continued as they experienced their worst-ever start to a Premier League season, currently sitting in 10th place. Crystal Palace defeated United 1-0, with Joachim Andersen’s stunning first-half volley being the difference.
Arsenal’s 4-0 win against Bournemouth moved them up to third place in the league. Bukayo Saka opened the scoring, and Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz, and Ben White added to the goal tally.
In another remarkable match, Aston Villa triumphed 6-1 over Brighton, with Ollie Watkins scoring a hat-trick. This victory allowed Villa to climb into fifth place on goal difference.
Luton secured their first-ever Premier League win with a 2-1 victory over Everton, and Sheffield United remained at the bottom of the table after a 2-0 defeat to West Ham, with goals from Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio sealing the win for the Hammers.