The Big 6 Review: Chelsea and Arsenal thrashed by “B” teams

September 21, 2026 Olaoluwa Nwobodo 1 Comment

This episode of the Big 6 Review is more exciting…or more horrifying depending on who is reading. You see, Chelsea and Arsenal became talking points after losing 3-0 to Brentford and Brighton respectively. Of course, they weren’t the only losers, but 3-0 losses have a way of taking the headlines. Liverpool finally recorded a second win of the league season, and Man City won against Sunderland the hard way.

Manchester United needed a win after a shaky start, but they ended up working hard for a lucky deflection from a Mattheus Cunha shot to leave with…one point. These performances are significant, because they’d stick in fans’ minds for three whole weeks. Let’s get into it.

Manchester United: Lammens saved Carrick’s blushes

Cunha has gotten praise for Man United’s point, and that’s not surprising because without his goal, he would have been on the losing side. The Red Devils took a lot more shots (29), but created fewer big chances than the home side, despite taking over 50% more shots.

Manchester United ranks 6th for Big chances in the league, but ranks first for shots taken. This reflects in their goal numbers, as Michael Carrick’s men have scored the joint 5th most goals. In addition to being poor at shooting, the away side has also been subpar, which would explain why the team has won only once this season.

FT: Fulham 1-1 Manchester United

Manchester City: Not pretty, but still 5 wins in 5

Many predicted Man City to struggle this season, but going into the first international break, Enzo Maresca’s men are the only ones with all wins from five. These wins haven’t been pretty, but they have been wins. Against Sunderland, the FA Cup champions struggled, but they showed why it’s important to have players who can score goals.

Brian Brobbey held Man City’s feet to the fire, scoring a hat-trick and leveling the game twice. However, Maresca’s men refused to quit. Rayan Cherki, Enzo Fernandez, Antoine Semeyo and Erling Haaland appeared on the scoreboard to get the Cityzens a fifth goal of the season.

FT: Man City 5-3 Sunderland

Arsenal: Bambozzled at the Amex

Arsenal had won all games until they met Brighton & Hove Albion at the Amex Stadium. The seagulls have been playing well, but the Gunners didn’t realize how well. Right from kickoff, Fabian Hurzeler’s men stepped on the champions’ throats and didn’t let up.

By half time, the home side was 2-0 up. Arsenal had as many answers after the break as they did before. The seagulls weren’t just better in open play chances, they were better in set pieces as well. The home side was well prepared, and their shooting was impeccable.

FT: Brighton 3-0 Arsenal

Tottenham: Survived relegation…only to be dead last 5 games in

Spurs are having quite a strange season. Roberto De Zerbi came in with everything on the line, trying to save the club from relegation. He did. However, after five games in the new season, his team’s horrible shooting is costing the club points.

Against Aston Villa, shooting separated both sides, with the away side scoring three goals from six shots and one big chance. Unai Emery’s men didn’t score in the last 45 minutes, and didn’t need to, as Spurs simply couldn’t produce as many goals.

De Zerbi’s men have only scored twice in the league this season, and both goals came in this game, in Gameweek 5. No one can accuse the Italian of not signing a striker, but the problem is far from being fixed.

FT: Tottenham 2-3 Aston Villa

Liverpool: No one can complain about three points

Liverpool was not impressive against AFC Bournemouth. It was a special occasion for Andoni Iraola, going back to his former club and having to play against them. He got the job done, however.

Chance creation in this game was far from what the Reds would have wanted, but they’d appreciate Alexander Isak’s winner. Iraola is working through some issues with the squad, and he’s buying more time with these wins.

FT: Bournemouth 0-1 Liverpool

Chelsea: Getting worse defensively

Chelsea has been shaky out of possession since Gameweek 1, but these problems usually reduce with time. Not in the Blues case. For Xabi Alonso, the team has gotten worse.

Alonso’s men were the top scorers in the league as of two weeks ago, now they rank joint third, but also have a negative goal difference. Against Brentford, the away side could not get a goal, and unfortunately, could not protect theirs either.

To put in context the difference in quality of chances from both sides, this statistic will shock you. There was not much difference in shots taken between Chelsea (12) and Brentford(13), but each shot from the Bees averaged 0.20 xG, while visitors’ was 0.07.

Alonso’s men were well beaten, and the Spaniard has three weeks to figure out how to make the team respectable out of possession, otherwise he won’t get time to “implement his ideas”, whatever those are.

FT: Brentford 3-0 Chelsea

Conclusion

This international break is longer than usual. For those that won, they’d enjoy it a lot more. For those that got thrashed, they’d have three weeks to stew in the embarrassment. Chelsea and Arsenal obviously cannot wait to get a chance to respond, but the former should be more focused on why they lost. It’s still early, but Spurs look unconvincing. Iraola has three weeks to work on the players fitness, and Man City will try to find out why they gave up so much against Sunderland. See you in the next one.