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Ranking All 20 Premier League Teams’ Performances on Matchday 10

Shocks and upsets dominated the weekend’s action heading into November’s international break.
Andrew Headspeath|
Liam Delap (middle) downed former club Manchester City with a brilliant brace of goals.
Liam Delap (middle) downed former club Manchester City with a brilliant brace of goals. | Ritchie Sumpter/Nottingham Forest FC/Getty Images

Ten games down and if you thought you had the Premier League figured out this season, you might want to think again.

England’s top tier signed off for the November international break with the kind of topsy-turvy, accumulator-busting weekend of action that proves there is very rarely any point in making predictions.

Everton marked a landmark occasion for David Moyes with a win on Friday to kick off the weekend, while Chelsea and Manchester City’s hopes of serious title challenges took a further battering. Liverpool bounced back from last weekend’s defeat, Arsenal avoided being another surprise result (just) and Man Utd vs. Aston Villa offered up some industrial strength Barclays.

Ranking Criteria

  • Performance: This is the crux of the exercise: How well did each team play when considering the flow of a game divorced from the final score. If it was simply a judgement of scoreboard statistics you may as well go straight to the table.
  • Expectations: Not all results are equal. Teams that upset the odds with their display are rewarded more favorably.
  • Venue: As the behind-closed-doors season of 2020–21 proved, playing in front of your home fans is a huge advantage, so any away results are given a little extra bonus.

20. Man City (3–1 Loss vs. Nottingham Forest)

Joško Gvardiol and Jair Cunha
Another error-strewn performance from City. | Nigel French/PA Images/Getty Images

The traveling Manchester City Defensive Error Extravanganza rolled into Nottingham this weekend, with Joško Gvardiol taking the lead and Elliot Anderson and Marc Guéhi in supporting roles.

Three losses in a row is humiliating for Enzo Maresca, with patience wearing very thing among fans. In fairness, his team are playing like they have other things on their mind.

19. Chelsea (1–0 Loss vs. Sunderland)

Xabi Alonso
Remarkably, Chelsea have lost three in a row to Sunderland. | Stu Forster/Getty Images

Another worrying defeat in which João Pedro was badly missed. None of Chelsea’s midfield or attack won a duel or a tackle in the opening 20 minutes, while the defense hardly fared much better.

Levi Colwill’s substitution at half time felt like a mercy killing from Xabi Alonso after he gave away the penalty.

18. Brentford (2–0 Loss vs. Brighton)

Igor Thiago
Igor Thiago’s red compounded a terrible day out for Brentford. | Adam Davy/PA Images/Getty Images

Not a great way to celebrate your 200th Premier League match, Brentford were second best all over the park against Brighton and recorded not one single shot on target.

Igor Thiago’s red card may have been relatively soft, but—as the cliché goes—he gave referee Michael Oliver a decision to make.

17. Tottenham (1–0 Loss vs. Leeds)

Mathys Tel
Mathys Tel suffered a “bad injury” in the defeat. | George Wood/Getty Images

After three wins in a row, this was Bad Spurs once again, with Roberto De Zerbi unable to find a solution for his team’s toothlessness in attack.

Tottenham dominated possession at Elland Road but took just seven shots and created just 0.72 xG.

16. Ipswich Town (2–1 Loss vs. Bournemouth)

Gary O'Neil
Gary O'Neil was candid about his side’s shortcomings. | Richard Calver/Getty Images

It’ll be cold comfort to Gary O'Neil that this was yet another weekend in which Ipswich weren’t outclassed overall, but still ended up without a win (or even a draw).

O’Neil bemoaned the silly errors that led to both goals, putting it bluntly: “If you give the ball to the opposition number nine twice, then it’s going to be difficult. So that was basically the story of the game, really.”

15. Coventry (3–1 Loss vs. Everton)

Frank Lampard
Frank Lampard’s side threw away their lead. | Mark Cosgrove/News Images/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Wasteful and not for the first time this season, Frank Lampard’s side were undone in a second-half flurry, despite matching Everton for most of the evening.

Lampard was, justifiably, left rueing two un-awarded penalty appeals including one for James Tarkowski tugging on Caleb Yirenkyi’s hair.

“They’re saying it's not enough of a pull and I think it’s a hard area to be in. What is a hair pull?” The manager asked existentially.

14. Crystal Palace (3–1 Loss vs. Liverpool)

Yéremy Pino
Yéremy Pino was a bright spark for Palace | Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside/Getty Images)

Crystal Palace were pretty serviceable for large sections against Liverpool, with Yéremy Pino a busy, bar-clanking presence in attack.

The Eagles had more possession (54%) and only one shot fewer than their opponents (19), but once the goals went in, Pierre Sage’s team— devoid of confidence—fell to pieces. This feels like the end of the line for the increasingly hangdog-looking Frenchman.

13. Aston Villa (4–4 Draw vs. Man Utd)

Unai Emery was probably the only man at Old Trafford to turn his back on the action ahead of the final whistle, heading down the tunnel two minutes before the end after Patrick Dorgu’s ultra-dramatic equalizer was allowed to stand.

On one hand, scoring four times and getting a point away at Manchester United isn’t a terrible thing, but, on the other (much bigger) hand, throwing away a two-goal lead with only stoppage to go against this Manchester United is.

12. Fulham (1–1 Draw vs. Newcastle)

Rodrigo Muniz
Rodrigo Muniz scored his first of the season. | Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

A draw at Craven Cottage felt like a fair result for two teams still unsure of who they are and what they are doing.

The action was condensed into the final ten minutes with the goals from Jacob Murphy and Rodrigo Muniz followed up by very smart saves from Bernd Leno and Lukás Hornícek.

11. Newcastle (1–1 Draw vs. Fulham)

See above, but marginally better for Newcastle because it was away from home.

Matthias Jaissle called it “a step in the right direction,” in the kind of post-match interview befitting of a match this forgettable.

10. Man Utd (4–4 Draw vs. Aston Villa)

In the immortal words of Sir Alex Ferguson: football, bloody hell.

It’s hard to rationally assess United’s bonkers comeback at Old Trafford, which was simultaneously brilliant and terrible. So, perhaps it’s better to just stuck it mid-table and move on.

9. Hull (1–0 Loss vs. Arsenal)

Noni Madueke of Arsenal battles for possession with Nobel Mendy of Hull City
Hull battled gamely but left with nothing. | James Gill/Danehouse/Getty Images

Hull were not expected to get anything away at the champions ... And they didn’t. But, for a while, it looked like they just might.

Konstantinos Tzolakis made nine saves, Elliot Stroud looked lively on the counter and the Tigers offered more evidence that they can mix it at this level.

8. Arsenal (1–0 Win vs. Hull)

Technically a win, yes, but not much to cheer on a frustrating, bore-fest at the Emirates, with captain Martin Ødegaard poking home in the second half to save some Gunners’ blushes.

“We need to be much more chaotic,” Mikel Arteta surmised post-match.

7. Everton (3–1 Win vs. Coventry)

A damp and dreary Friday night fixture came alive in the second half, with Everton jolted into action by Yan Gboho’s opener.

Thierno Barry made up for earlier profligacy with two fine headers, then turned provider for Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s late smash.

The win marked David Moyes’ 592nd match in charge of the Toffees—a joint club record.

6. Bournemouth (2–1 Win vs. Ipswich Town)

The Cherries toughed it out to resist a late fightback in Suffolk and secure their fourth Premier League win on the spin (and eight in all competitions).

The perma-smiling Evanilson also bagged for a fifth consecutive Premier League match.

5. Leeds (1–0 Win vs. Tottenham)

Leeds may have got a touch fortunate with Jayden Bogle escaping a red card for his studs-heavy challenge that ended Mathys Tel’s afternoon, but they were still good for the win.

The victory ended a five-match winless run for Daniel Farke’s men, and—more curiously—a Premier League-record setting 22-match run of failing to get three points from a 3 p.m. kick-off.

4. Liverpool (3–1 Win vs. Cyrstal Palace)

Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz, Bradley Barcola.
The Reds’ expensive boys were on form. | Steve Bardens/AMA/Getty Images

You see Florian? You can do it. Liverpool’s under-pressure playmaker paid back just a little more of the transfer fee with a goal, assist and string-pulling performance against a beleaguered Palace.

Pleasingly for the Reds, all three of their nine-figure men got goal involvements, while Andoni Iraola’s men are the last side still unbeaten on the road in 2026–27.

3. Brighton (2–0 Win vs. Brentford)

Are Brighton genuine title contenders? The Seagulls comfy victory in the Battle of the B’s did absolutely nothing to dispel that unlikely notion, with Diego Gómez once again scoring a screamer and the evergreen Pascal Groß once again running the show.

2. Sunderland (1–0 Win vs. Chelsea)

While Chelsea’s pitiful defense once again pulls focus, space must be left to appreciate the human battering ram that is Brian Brobbey, who gleefully exposed the Blues’ obvious weaknesses to help secure a vital, pressure-alleviating win for the Black Cats.

1. Nottingham Forest (3–1 Win vs. Man City)

With City condemned to three straight Premier League losses, this was the weekend Glasnerball finally came good for Forest.

The Tricky Trees were at their trickiest in the fog at the City Ground, with goalscorers Jair Cunha and Liam Delap in monstrous form despite the hosts boasting just 22% possession.

You will do well to find a more satisfying finish all season than Delap’s thumped second on the counter to seal the shock win.

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Andrew Headspeath
ANDREW HEADSPEATH

Andy Headspeath is a Real Madrid correspondent for Sports Illustrated FC. Originally from the UK, the weather, culture and soccer lured him to Spain over a decade ago where he lives with his wife, son and two untrainable dogs. A player of unspeakably limited talents and only one fully functional knee, he has more than a decade's experience in a wide variety of editorial roles within sports media, from match reporting to in-depth feature writing and interviews. He specializes in soccer history and culture, as well as—of course—La Liga.

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