Premier League title race grows more and more complicated

Arsenal rose to the top of the Premier League after edging Brentford 1-0 at Gtech Community Stadium in London on Saturday. The Gunners replaced Manchester City, who were held 1-1 by Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium earlier on the day.

Though Brentford are in the second half of the Premier League standings, they made Arsenal struggle for the win. Kai Havertz, who has been under a lot of criticism since he joined Arsenal this summer, scored the only goal in this game in the 89th minute.

"That's the beauty of it. If things come easy, you don't value them. He's an example for all of us to do what you have to do when you have difficulties," Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said. "I love winning and we are top of the table and this is where we have to want to be. For me as well it was a special day – 200 games (as Arsenal manager) – and I want to say thank you so much to everybody that makes my job so enjoyable."

Arsenal almost trailed in the first half after their goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale lost the ball to the opponent inside his own area. Bryan Mbeumo would have scored for Brentford if his shot hadn’t been blocked by Declan Rice at the goal line. Then Ramsdale lost control of the ball when he tried to throw it to his teammates. A performance like his in his first start since September was far from satisfying.

"Courage. He has big courage and big personality and that's what we need," Arteta defended Ramsdale after the game.

The 1-1 result at the Etihad Stadium was likely to make neither City nor Liverpool happy. City saw their 23-game winning streak at home end and dropped to second place in the league. Liverpool only secured one win on their past 15 visits to the stadium.

At least City had one reason to be happy: Erling Haaland scored in the 27th minute for his side to take the lead. That was his 50th goal in the Premier League and it took him only 48 games to get so many goals, the fastest in league history.

Trent Alexander-Arnold tied the score at 1-1 for Liverpool in the 80th minute, making sure that they continue to follow City closely from behind.

"For us, I think it passed a test, I am not sure if it was the test," Liverpool's manager Jurgen Klopp said. "In a business where nobody has time, it is really difficult to ask for it and use it. Last year we had a team that played long together and we got completely under the wheels here [in a 4-1 defeat] and had no chance."

"Today we had a chance. I am not silly; if you ask who was more likely to win the game, it was City, obviously. We want to be ready to give them a proper game and that is what we did," he added.

City manager Pep Guardiola had an argument with Liverpool's Uruguayan striker Darwin Nunez after the 1-1 draw. Klopp came to pull Nunez away and told reporters later that he didn't understand a word they spoke.

"It's emotions. I am not sure I'm the one who should explain it to be honest, because I was absolutely not involved. Surprisingly," Klopp said. "I love them both and so I tried to calm the situation down without knowing 100 per cent what happened because I didn't understand a word."

In another game that was not closely related to the Premier League title race, Newcastle United beat Chelsea 4-1 at St. James' Park in Newcastle. Alexander Isak, Jamaal Lascelles, Joelinton and Anthony Gordon scored the four goals for the home team.

"This was the worst game of our season so far," Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino said after the loss. "We were soft in every single challenge. We did not compete. We did not show we were playing for something important. That is what makes me angry and disappointed. We need to learn in these games; what makes me very, very, very, very angry because we have to show more personality and character."

Arsenal, City and Liverpool are the top three in the Premier League with 30, 29 and 28 points, respectively. The fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur and the fifth-placed Aston Villa will play each other at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Sunday. If Tottenham (26 points) win, they will replace Liverpool in third place.