A surprising loss for Manchester United and dropped points by Leicester City in the latest round of midweek fixtures has blown the title race wide open yet again.
United were in action against Sheffield United on Wednesday when they were beaten 2-1 in what was only the Blades’ second league win of the season.
Former Manchester City player Kean Bryan put the visitors ahead before Harry Maguire equalised against his former club.
The score was only level for ten minutes though, as Ollie Burke netted the winner to hinder United’s title hopes.
City capitalised on the help from their former player to go top of the league with a game in hand on their rivals, beating West Brom 5-0.
Ilkay Gundogan continued his superb form with a brace, which was added to by Joao Cancelo, Riyad Mahrez and Raheem Sterling.
The gap between Liverpool and United was closed on Thursday night, as Jurgen Klopp’s side beat Tottenham 3-1.
After a month without a goal in the league, Roberto Firmino, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Sadio Mane all netted to push the Reds back into the top four.
Leicester missed the opportunity to go level in first place with City, only drawing 1-1 against Everton.
The Toffees were actually on track to make the top four after James Rodriguez’s opener, but an equaliser from Youri Tielemans prevented their rise into the Champions League spots.
Elsewhere, Thomas Tuchel took charge of his first game as Chelsea manager, drawing 0-0 with a very defensive Wolves side.
Another London club fared better in their midweek fixture, as Arsenal came from behind to defeat Southampton 3-1.
Despite losing to the Saints last weekend in their FA Cup encounter, and Stuart Armstrong giving them an early lead this time out, strikes from Nicolas Pepe, Bukayo Saka and Alexandre Lacazette handed the Gunners all three points this time.
West Ham briefly moved into the top four before the Liverpool and Spurs game after beating Crystal Palace 3-2.
Tomas Soucek scored twice in the first half, which was added to by Craig Dawson as the Hammers overcame Palace goals from Wilfred Zaha and Michy Batshuayi.
In a similar result, Burnley beat Aston Villa 3-2 to ease their relegation worries.
Strikes from Ollie Watkins and Jack Grealish were not enough for Villa, who were outdone as Ben Mee, Dwight McNeil and Chris Wood netted for the Clarets.
Another key game in the battle against relegation was Fulham versus Brighton, which ended 0-0 in a poor result for both sides.
Finally, Leeds put an end to their three match winless run with a 2-1 victory against Newcastle.
Raphinha and Jack Harrison scored either side of Miguel Almiron’s strike to seal all three points for Marcelo Bielsa’s side.
By Ali Pollock
