Arsenal and Manchester City remain out in front, but the Premier League title race is far from a two-horse race after a weekend in which all of the top five won.
Liverpool’s latest embarrassing defeat, 2-1 at home to Leeds, leaves the Reds with an eight-point gap to bridge to the top four.
Chelsea were the other big losers on Saturday as Graham Potter was thrashed 4-1 on his return to Brighton.
Here are three big talking points from the Premier League weekend!
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De Gea leads United to win over Hammers | 01:07
Mini Martinez a colossus for Man Utd
Lisandro Martinez’s suitability as a Premier League centre-back at just 1.75 metres (5ft 9in) tall was ridiculed amid Manchester United’s disastrous start to the season.
But the Argentine has proved the doubters wrong, with his speed, aggression and poise on the ball more than making up for a lack of height.
Martinez’s partnership with Raphael Varane has provided a solid foundation for Erik ten Hag to build on, but even without the injured Frenchman, the former Ajax man stood firm beside Harry Maguire to withstand a second-half West Ham onslaught to secure a 1-0 win on Sunday.
“He’s added so much to the team, ” former United midfielder Owen Hargreaves said on Premier League Productions. “He’s given them so much.
“His performance in this game had a big impact on Harry Maguire as well. There were so many positives for United today but defensively Martinez was fantastic. Erik ten Hag will be really pleased.”
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United have now kept five consecutive clean sheets at Old Trafford, just one fewer than they managed in the entirety of last season.
“He’s got defensive quality that I haven’t seen at Manchester United for a while,” Arsenal great Ian Wright told Premier League Productions.
“Not only his positioning but he passes the ball through the lines. He’s exactly what they’ve needed. Someone that doesn’t mess about, there’s no thrills with him it’s just bang, good challenges.
“He’s been a really, really good signing. I didn’t think he was going to be as good as he’s been.”
Ten Hag has featured in every United match this season – alongside only David de Gea, Diogo Dalot, and Bruno Fernandes.
No mercy as ‘too clever’ Potter looks ‘a bit of a fool’
Brighton’s fans and players refused to roll out of the red carpet for Graham Potter’s return to the Amex Stadium.
The Chelsea boss was subjected to boos and chants of “you’re getting sacked in the morning” by the home support, who remain upset at his decision to jump ship to Stamford Bridge last month.
“Like I said before the game, I didn’t have any expectations,” Potter said. “I have nothing to say sorry for or apologise for. I did a good job, you can see the team is a good team. I took over when they were fourth from bottom in the Premier League and were probably the third-worst team.
“There is a lot of money raised in terms of player sales and a lot of good players on the pitch. I hope for their sake, the next managers do as good a job.”
Of more pressing concern for Potter is getting the Blues’ Premier League campaign back on track.
His first defeat as Chelsea manager after nine unbeaten games had been coming after being outplayed by Brentford and Manchester United in draws before the trip to Brighton.
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But it was a host of changes that backfired that drew the most criticism of pundits.
“Well, the wing-backs – we’ve seen they’ve used a variety of wing-backs this season and when you look at their bench they’ve got [Cesar] Azpilicueta and Ben Chilwell,” Wright told Match of the Day. “But they started with [Christian] Pulisic and [Raheem] Sterling and I found that very confusing.
“And when you watch what they do, and when you look at the positions they were taking up, they weren’t really helping [Trevoh] Chalobah or [Marc] Cucurella or Thiago Silva. And what was happening was they [the centre-backs] were getting pulled all over the place.”
Potter said the tactical error made him look ‘a bit of a fool’.
“The responsibility for those two wasn’t to defend against their wing-backs, but I understand that whenever you do something and it doesn’t work you look a bit of a fool,” said Potter. “That is how it is. I have to accept that, deal with that, do better, and I’ll learn. That’s the process.”
Also on the panel, Martin Keown added: “Chelsea looked unrecognisable at the back. I think there were too many changes. It counts against you in this situation because you are trying to formulate partnerships and it’s always changing at the back.
“It was a different back three today. They are wing-backs that aren’t wing-backs. They played Raheem Sterling in a wing-back position today and I don’t think it suited in the way they played. Maybe Graham Potter was trying to be too clever.”
Victories for Tottenham, Newcastle and United mean Chelsea slip to sixth, three points adrift of the top four, and 10 behind Arsenal, who they face next weekend.
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No more home comfort for Liverpool
Despite Liverpool’s struggles this season a proud record of not having been beaten at home in the Premier League in front of fans for over five years had stayed intact until Leeds’ win on Saturday.
The visitors arrived at Anfield with manager Jesse Marsch clinging to his job after an eight-game winless run saw them fall into relegation danger.
Leeds’ determination to fight for their boss was clear as they ran 11 kilometres more than their hosts.
But a shocking defeat encapsulated the flaws of Liverpool’s season so far. Leeds were gifted the opening goal by an individual error from Joe Gomez and kept in the game by wasteful finishing from Darwin Nunez.
But Reds boss Jurgen Klopp was most annoyed by the slack defending that allowed Crysencio Summerville to fire in an 89th-minute winner unchallenged.
Klopp again pointed to injuries and a heavy fixture schedule for such a sluggish start to the season.
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The Reds are also clearly suffering a physical hangover from a 63-game campaign last season when they came so close to an unprecedented quadruple.
Currently they are a shadow of the team they once were and desperately need to limit the damage over the next two weeks to limp towards a much-needed break for the World Cup.
Former player and manager Graeme Souness told Sky Sports their midfield “just don’t have it in their legs any more”.
“Liverpool basically bullied teams before, their midfield bullied teams,” said Souness.
“And now they’re being bullied. That’s making them vulnerable at the back, and they’re not creating the same chances up front.
“Liverpool are a shadow [of the team they used to be].”
Already 14 points behind Arsenal, the title looks long gone but even a return to the Champions League via a top-four finish is becoming unlikely.
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