The Big 6 Review: Arsenal found Chelsea to be easier than Coventry City

In Gameweek 3, Arsenal continues to win, Tottenham is still yet to score a goal, and Liverpool has finally recorded the first win of the 2026/27 campaign. Welcome to the Big 6 Review. Let’s get into it.

Liverpool: Isak’s finishing saves the day

Alexander Isak stood tall, literally and figuratively, against Ipswich Town. Not only did he score two needed goals for a previously winless Liverpool, he did it in a true striker’s fashion. His finishing has always been top-of-the-shelf, but he has never quite hit the goal volume expected of his technical abilities. 

Against the newly-promoted Ipswich, Andoni Iraola’s men delivered a solid 2-0 win, and while some players could certainly have done better, he’d still be happy with the performance. 

FT: Ipswich Town 0-2 Liverpool

Manchester City: Rushworth says no, Haaland says yes

Erling Haaland should have walked away with more than two goals on the day, getting into clear goalscoring positions several times. The Coventry City keeper, Carl Rushworth, refused to give up more than one goal. Antoine Semenyo also left his mark on the game, supplying the excellent cross that Haaland converted. 

Man City continues to win games, even though the goal margin is not what fans are used to. Haaland also created chances for teammates, but the Enzo Maresca-led side repeatedly tried and failed to convert chances.

Haaland, meanwhile, now officially has 300 club goals (384 games), reaching it faster than Kylian Mbappe (398) and Cristiano Ronaldo (499). Lionel Messi reached that milestone in 365 games.

FT: Man City 1-0 Coventry City

Tottenham: Still goalless in three games

As someone put it “Tottenham got every player they wanted except Cody Gakpo” in the just concluded transfer window. Yet, the struggling Big 6 club has gone three league games without a goal, which has to be a record in itself. 

The game was as unimpressive as the scoreline, though it had its moments. Nottingham Forest managed to squeeze the ball over the line, but it was correctly disallowed for handball. The game was even, with Oliver Glasner’s men even creating more than the visitors.

This match was worse for Roberto De Zerbi’s men because they had new signings like Omar Marmoush, Sandro Tonali, and Savinho in the starting lineup. Mateus Fernandes and Mykhailo Mudryk came off the bench.

FT: Nottingham Forest 0-0 Tottenham

Manchester United: When Bruno Fernandes cannot be superman…

If you look closely you’d see that some Man United fans are no longer talking about Michael Carrick with the same adulation as last season. This is because the reality is beginning to dawn on them. Allow me to explain:

You see, it turns out that when you qualify for the Champions League off the back of one player playing Superman, Ironman, and Green Lantern all at once, serious fixes have to be made in the transfer window to make sure a team as big as this doesn’t become so dependent on one player anymore. 

In the transfer window, the Red Devils got several central midfielders, and just one midfielder that can reasonably be called a defensive midfielder…and he came injured. Man Utd has not been dazzling this season, and they have struggled to retain possession and control games.

Of course, against a naturally stubborn Everton side, this was going to be significantly problematic. Carrick’s men took the lead twice, and their hosts pegged them back…twice.

Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko produced the goods for the Red Devils, and two substitutes, Tyrique George and Ainsley Maitland-Niles scored for Everton. 

FT: Everton 2-2 Man United

Arsenal: An easier game than against Coventry

Arsenal conceded at one of the better times to concede: very early in the game. Conceding in the second minute gives you time to still recover, and recover, they did. In fact, the Gunners enjoyed the game so well that they had more joy in this game than they had in their two previous games. Keep in mind, one of those games was against a newly promoted side. 

Let’s do a little comparison. Let’s call it…did Arsenal have an easier time against a newly promoted side, or against Chelsea? 

• Big chances? Arsenal created four against Chelsea, one against Coventry
• Shots on target? Took nine against Chelsea, seven against Coventry

In fact, Arsenal created more big chances against their London rivals (4), than they did against Coventry and Aston Villa combined (3). They also took more shots on target against them (9) than they did against Coventry and Villa combined (8). 

What’s more? They’d only get better from here. This result means Mikel Arteta’s men are, so far, doing an excellent title defense, winning all three games so far, and conceding only once.

FT: Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea 

Chelsea: Alonso, fix the defense…now

Chelsea’s defensive problems remain, and it’s only a matter of them before it starts costing them heavily. Xabi Alonso’s men lead the Premier League in goals scored after three games, but they also rank second highest for goals conceded. 

This means that while they’re good at creating scoring chances, they are equally as bad at preventing them. The Blues gave up two goals against Fulham, three against Brighton, and now another two. It seems it doesn’t matter who the opponent is, Chelsea is equally open.

This is particularly concerning because the Blues have only just started playing the best teams in the league. Alonso’s work is cut out for him. He has full weeks between games to work on the issues, something he wouldn’t have had if Chelsea played in Europe this season.

FT: Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea

Conclusion

Champions League kicks off this week, and all except one of the abovementioned big 6 teams will feature. The Premier League is the strongest it has ever been, and the Big 6 now have a more difficult time staying in the top six.

Man City and Arsenal have continued to win games, Tottenham has remained scoreless and Chelsea’s defense is still so open that non-chances turn into big chances with just one pass. See you in the Big 6 Review for Gameweek 4, to see if the Blues are any close to fixing their unstructured mess.