The World Cup break may be just around the corner, but there remains plenty of life in the Premier League campaign, as another action-packed Sunday showed.
The day was book-ended by two heavyweight clashes, with Mikel Arteta's Arsenal moving back to the top of the table by beating Chelsea in a tense London derby in the early kick-off.
Later on, Liverpool finally clinched their first away win of the Premier League campaign as Mohamed Salah tormented Tottenham.
Elsewhere, Unai Emery made a memorable start to his Aston Villa reign and Newcastle United went third by tearing Southampton apart on the south coast.
Here, Stats Perform looks through the best facts of the day.
Tottenham 1-2 Liverpool: Salah ends Red's dismal away run
Liverpool had failed to win an away Premier League game this season (D2 L3), and needed a result as the prospect of slipping 13 points behind Spurs loomed.
Jurgen Klopp's side may have struggled, but Salah's recent form has been imperious, and he handed the visitors a strong start by drilling home an 11th-minute opener.
Salah then capitalised on Eric Dier's error to double Liverpool's lead, and he has now contributed to 19 goals in 20 games for Liverpool this season (14 goals, five assists). Only last season (28) has the Egyptian recorded more goal involvements in his first 20 appearances of a campaign for the Reds.
Meanwhile, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is the 24th different away venue Salah has scored at for Liverpool in the Premier League – only Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen (both 25) have bettered that tally for the Reds.
Harry Kane ensured a nervy finish when he became the first Spurs player to score in six consecutive home Premier League appearances after the break, but Liverpool held firm to claim a huge win.
Chelsea 0-1 Arsenal: Gabriel earns Gunners another statement win
Sunday's first game saw Arsenal return to the summit with a 1-0 victory against Chelsea, becoming the first team to win 10 away games against the Blues in the competition, and just the second to win on three successive trips to Stamford Bridge (after Blackburn Rovers from 1993-94 to 1995-96).
Gabriel Magalhaes got a touch on Bukayo Saka's corner to decide a hard-fought game – all nine of his league goals for Arsenal have come from corners, and no Premier League player has scored more goals from such situations since he arrived in the division in 2020.
Chelsea looked disjointed throughout, managing just five shots as they slipped to back-to-back Premier League defeats for the first time since December 2020 (under Frank Lampard).
Arsenal, however, look like the real deal. Having beaten Tottenham and Liverpool last month, the Gunners have won three consecutive league games against 'big six' opponents for the first time since April 2012.
It was a miserable reunion with his former side for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who had just eight touches before being taken off by Graham Potter just after the hour.
Aston Villa 3-1 Manchester United: Emery makes flying start
At Villa Park, all eyes were on Emery as the Spaniard made his Premier League return just under three years after being sacked by Arsenal, and he could hardly have wished for a better start.
Leon Bailey and Lucas Digne put Villa 2-0 up within 11 minutes – the earliest point at which United have trailed by two goals in a Premier League game since October 2018 against Newcastle (10th minute).
Jacob Ramsey's own goal dragged United back into contention before he atoned by making the points safe for Villa, ensuring Emery became just the fourth coach to win his first Premier League game in charge of a team when facing the Red Devils.
On an eventful day for Ramsey, he became the fourth player in Premier League history to record a goal, an assist and an own goal in the same game, after Kevin Davies, Wayne Rooney and Gareth Bale.
United have now lost nine away league games in 2022 – their most in a calendar year since 1989 (12).
Southampton 1-4 Newcastle United: Miggy on the mark again as Magpies cruise
Eddie Howe's Newcastle have arguably been the story of the Premier League season to date, and they continued their stunning form by thrashing Southampton 4-1 at St Mary's.
Newcastle have now scored four or more goals four times in their last seven Premier League games, as often as they did in their previous 226 outings in the competition.
Miguel Almiron opened the scoring, becoming the eighth different player to net in four consecutive Premier League matches for Newcastle, and only the second non-Englishman to do so after Papiss Cisse.
Chris Wood and Joe Willock also got on the scoresheet before Bruno Guimaraes bent a 25-yard effort into the bottom-right corner, scoring his eighth goal in 28 league games for the Magpies, having netted just three times in 56 Ligue 1 outings for former club Lyon.
The result piled more pressure on Ralph Hasenhuttl, with Southampton now winless in their last 14 Premier League games against teams starting the day inside the top four (D5 L9).
Premier League rejects Man City request to delay 2025-26 season start
The Premier League has rejected a request from Manchester City to delay the start to their 2025-26 campaign to allow for more recovery time after the Club World Cup.
As 2022-23 Champions League winners, City are one of two English clubs – alongside Chelsea – to have secured a spot at FIFA's first 32-team Club World Cup, which will be held in the United States next year.
The tournament's expanded format has proven extremely controversial, provoking widespread criticism for denying players rest time during the off-season.
Players' union Fifpro has started legal proceedings against FIFA over the scheduling of the tournament, claiming the fixture schedule has become "unworkable".
The Club World Cup is set to run from June 15 to July 13, with players involved unlikely to receive substantial rest time before the domestic season begins in early August.
Speaking ahead of Saturday's Premier League clash with Fulham, boss Pep Guardiola revealed City had already seen a request to delay their opening game knocked back.
"The Premier League has not allowed us to postpone the first two games for our recovery," Guardiola said. "Thank you so much.
"I think the club asked the league to postpone one or two or three weeks so we can have a holiday after the [Club] World Cup but it is absolutely not allowed.
"Would the Premier League say yes to us? No. Absolutely not. They won't postpone these games so there will be a moment of, 'what do we do?
"I don't have an answer right now but we are going to take a decision with common sense."
Suarez: Bielsa has 'divided' Uruguay national team with tactics and approach
Luis Suarez feels Marcelo Bielsa's coaching style has "divided" Uruguay's national team, as he revealed the negative atmosphere within the camp during the Copa America.
Suarez retired from international duty last month as Uruguay's leading scorer with 69 goals, while his tally of 143 caps is only bettered by Diego Godin (161).
The veteran forward was part of the side that finished third at the Copa America in July; La Celeste's best performance at the tournament since lifting the trophy in 2011.
However, he revealed it was not a happy camp in the United States, where Bielsa's tactics and approach caused friction among the players.
Suarez said some were contemplating their international futures, while he was critical of the treatment of midfielder Agustin Canobbio, who was used as a "sparring partner".
"I will ask the fans not to take it out on the players when things go wrong," the Inter Miami forward told DSports. "Bielsa has divided the whole group because of the way he trains.
"The players will reach a limit, they'll explode. There were even team-mates who said to me they were only playing in the Copa America and nothing else.
"We all know that he doesn't like to deal with leaders or players with experience. I had to keep quiet out of respect for the national team and for the sake of coexistence. I didn't want to be part of the problem.
"A player who is one of the 26 selected for the Copa America can't be made to participate as if he were a 'sparring' partner. It's annoying. I understand Agustin. I'll support him, he's been holding back a lot.
"The staff are not allowed to come in and greet us or eat with us. Many of the players held a meeting to ask the coach to at least say: 'good morning'. He didn't even say hello. It hurts me to see what the national team is going through."
Columbus Crew v Philadelphia Union: Curtin still looking to improve road record
Despite boasting a strong road record this season, Jim Curtin still believes Philadelphia Union can do better in their final away match against Columbus Crew.
The Union lost their most recent road outing, falling 2-1 to Orlando City in midweek, but had only lost one of their previous three such games before that.
They are one of three teams currently on 37 points in the Eastern Conference, but sit 10th, below Toronto FC due to winning fewer games.
Curtin knows they need to win their last two matches and hopes they can improve on Wednesday's performance.
"I think our road record has been good enough this year," Curtin said. "Overall, at this stage of the year, as you know, the margins are razor-thin.
"We have to do a better job in the attacking end and also defending our box because the goals we concede, we could just do a lot better on it.
"Obviously, we'll look at it, try and get ready, regroup, and go against Columbus very quickly."
Meanwhile, Columbus had a four-match unbeaten streak snapped by their 3-2 defeat to Supporters’ Shield winners Inter Miami.
With three games left, they are looking to secure second in the table to give themselves a stronger playoff position.
Wilfried Nancy was disappointed by the defeat to Miami but hopes they can show their fighting spirit in what he expects to be another tough game.
"We know we're able to compete against top teams, and we showed that against Miami. The next game is going to be another story," he said.
"They may not have [Lionel] Messi, but they have good players. We have no problem with competing, and even with 10 men in the last game, we were still proactive, we were brave and courageous."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Columbus Crew – Diego Rossi
Diego Rossi scored his 12th goal of the season for the Crew on Wednesday, his fourth MLS season with 12 or more goals.
Only six players in league history have more seasons with 12 or more goals than Rossi.
Philadelphia Union – Mikael Uhre
Mikael Uhre has four goals and four assists in his last nine MLS appearances, including an assist on the Union’s lone goal on Wednesday.
Uhre has contributed to at least one goal in seven of those nine matches.
MATCH PREDICTION: COLUMBUS CREW WIN
Columbus are unbeaten in 10 straight home matches against the Union in all competitions (W6 D4), including a 3-1 win in the Leagues Cup semifinals on August 21. The Union's last win at Columbus was a 2-1 victory at Historic Crew Stadium in August 2016.
However, Columbus have lost two of their last three regular-season home matches (W1) after losing just one of their previous 24 at Lower.com Field in league play. The Crew have allowed 10 goals over the three games after letting in nine goals in its first 12 home matches this season.
Meanwhile, Philadelphia's defeat to Orlando City on Wednesday was their 13th loss of the campaign to go along with only nine wins. This will be the first time since 2017 that Philadelphia will have more losses than wins over a single regular season.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Columbus Crew – 58%
Draw – 21.8%
Philadelphia Union – 20.2%
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