With the upcoming international break approaching, which will give the English Premier League clubs an opportunity to evaluate what they have provided, the first ten rounds of the season revealed a champion who does not intend to give up his throne, and competitors who are so far unable to catch up with him.
The matches on Saturday, November 7, came to consolidate this impression.
According to “The Athletic” network, the Arsenal machine continued its regular work, achieving a practical victory with an unanswered goal over its guest, Hull City, before the value of the victory was enhanced by Manchester City’s faltering in the evening match.
City lost to its host Nottingham Forest by three goals to one, widening the gap between it and Arsenal to six points.
While Manchester City's level collapsed and it suffered three consecutive defeats, Arsenal continued to collect points, achieving its fifth victory in a row.
Suddenly, it seemed as if the 2025-2026 season had not even ended.
But not everyone in North London is happy.
Tottenham Hotspur's encouraging series of results came to an abrupt halt, after they lost 1-0 to Leeds United.
The match sparked widespread anger, after Jayden Bogle escaped punishment for a reckless intervention on Matthijs Till, despite a long review by the video assistant referee technology.
Saturday's program concluded with Fulham and Newcastle United drawing with one goal each, a result that, at least, prevented mounting pressure on Matthias Jaisse before a two-week hiatus.
What happens to Marisca and Manchester City?
Stuart James: Individual mistakes have become a habit
The most obvious point to start from is individual errors, which have become a recurring feature in Manchester City's matches.
The sight of Joshko Gvardiol losing the ball under pressure after less than six minutes against Nottingham Forest was no surprise.
It was also not surprising to hear that Mark Guehi was replaced at halftime, after the player had suffered very difficult weeks.
Coaches will always say that the responsibility for defeat is collective, and this is of course true, but we cannot ignore the fact that Manchester City’s three consecutive defeats in the English Premier League all witnessed rudimentary errors.
Against Aston Villa, Nicholas Jackson took advantage of mistakes by Guehi and goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
The following week, Yassine Ayari took advantage of Matthews Nunez's confusion and loss of control of the situation.
Against Nottingham Forest, Jair Cunha received a gift that he did not hesitate to exploit.
Of course, it is also difficult to ignore the possibility that there is a much larger problem contributing to the team's decline.
The club has been found guilty of violating the Premier League's financial rules over a period of nine years, and there is a realization that what the team achieves this season may eventually become worthless.
Phil Buckingham: Is this really different from last season?
Is what we are seeing now really different from what happened last season?
Manchester City suggested that it had become more solid, after opening the season with seven consecutive victories, but the same weaknesses that spoiled its attempt to compete for the title last season reappeared in recent weeks.
The defeat against Nottingham Forest once again revealed the fragility of the defence.
The three goals that City received at the City Ground were very bad for a team that aspires to win the title.
The second goal was a stark example, after Liam Delap was allowed to advance the ball from his team's half without any real confrontation.
City signed Mark Guehi in January with the aim of adding more strength and cohesion to the defence.
But his substitution after 45 minutes of heavy and slow performance was very telling.
Perhaps more than any other player, Guehi embodies Manchester City's continuing difficulties in dealing with counter-attacks.
Greg O'Keefe: City's midfield lost the physical battle
Football is not about physical effort alone, but when battles rage in the midfield in the English Premier League, strength and drive certainly help.
After Oliver Glasner publicly admitted that his team was not achieving the required balance between discipline and freedom, he decided to raise the level of ferocity and pressure against Manchester City.
The Nottingham Forest coach succeeded in extracting a strong, physical and confrontational performance from his players, which Manchester City could not deal with.
In many ways, Enzo Fernandes and Elliot Anderson form an ideal duo in midfield, possessing a wide range of skills that qualifies them to win any battle.
But that did not happen on Saturday evening.
Ryan Yates and Schafer Schlager outperformed them in running, tackles, and physical struggles, despite the huge financial cost of forming a duo in City's midfield.
This may be an indication of a problem facing Mariska.
But the Italian coach also has a depth in the squad that most European clubs would envy.
If Fernandes and Anderson begin to show signs of fatigue as a result of the effort they exerted during the World Cup last summer, Marisca can use Ayoub Bouadi, Mateo Kovacic, or Nico O'Reilly to revitalize the midfield.
It is too early to say that Manchester City's midfield has become a real problem, especially since the question marks surrounding the defense seem much greater.
But if City want to keep the pressure on Arsenal until the end in the title race, they cannot allow losing control of midfield to become a recurring habit.
Is Arsenal's defense the deciding factor in the title race?
Greg O'Keefe: The Konsa deal has proven its value
If there were previous doubts about Arsenal exaggerating in paying 55 million pounds, or about 73.5 million dollars, to sign Ezri Konsa, those doubts have now been largely dispelled.
Another victory in the English Premier League after a difficult battle, and another clean sheet.
Mission accomplished.
By signing one of the strongest defenders in the English Premier League from outside the group of clubs competing for the title, Arsenal succeeded in transforming an already strong defense line into a system that is almost impossible to penetrate.
Konsa gave coach Mikel Arteta a great deal of reassurance in the absence of William Saliba, after he integrated wonderfully into the heart of the defence.
Against Hull City, who continues to perform at impressive levels, Konsa was solid again.
His exceptional performance can be summed up in a set of remarkable numbers.
He won all five aerial duels he competed in, and the two ground duels he participated in.
He also recorded 12 defensive contributions, and completed 51 out of 53 passes, with an accuracy rate of 96 percent.
Saliba returned to full group training this week, but Arteta will not feel any pressure to accelerate the French defender’s return, as long as his replacement performs at this level.
Phil Buckingham: Brighton's defeat became a stunning exception
Arsenal's 3-0 defeat to Brighton in mid-September remains one of the most surprising Premier League results of the season.
The reason is not that Brighton won, as they are an innovative team that has many ways to achieve victories.
But the real surprise was when Arteta's team conceded three goals.
If we exclude that exceptional match, we will find that Arsenal's defense conceded only two goals during nine matches in the English Premier League.
The 1-0 victory over Hull City, the fourth in a row without conceding a goal, reaffirms why Arsenal will remain the team that others must catch up in the title race.
Arsenal may not be the most creative attacking team in the league, but their rivals cannot imitate their ability to achieve victories while keeping frequent clean sheets.
And all this is happening while William Saliba has not yet returned from injury, even though he was probably the best centre-back in the English Premier League last season.
Stuart James: The champion's defense has become stronger
Arsenal's defense was already difficult to break down last season.
The team conceded only 27 goals in the English Premier League, eight fewer goals than any other team.
But Arsenal took their defensive solidity to a new level this season.
The success of the defending champion is based on solid defensive foundations.
This means that the limited attacking effectiveness of the team, which scored only 15 goals in ten league matches, does not represent the problem that it could have become in other circumstances.
Certainly, Arsenal fans would love to see their team produce more aggressive attacking performances more frequently.
But the bad news for the rest of the Premier League clubs is that Saliba is only just starting to regain his fitness.
Yes, Arsenal's best defender is yet to feature this season.
Konsa deserves great praise in this context, after he seamlessly integrated into Arsenal's defense alongside Gabriel, and performed close to his best levels.
His defensive intervention against Morgan Rogers was perhaps the scene that best summarizes his impact since his move to Arsenal.
What can we conclude from Tottenham's situation?
Stuart James: A step backwards and a lack of character
The defeat against Leeds United represented a step backwards for Tottenham, both in terms of result and performance.
This was especially evident in the second half, when Leeds outperformed Roberto De Zerbi's team in terms of physical strength, vitality and impulsiveness.
Tottenham lacked the personality and toughness needed to compete, lost too many tackles, and conceded a bad goal.
As for his offensive danger, it was almost non-existent.
This is not entirely surprising when the team's top scorer is a centre-back, Jan-Paul van Hecke.
Hence the question arises: Where will Tottenham's goals come from this season?
It is understandable that the club is frustrated by the controversial incident between Bogle and Till.
Bogle could easily have been sent off, but he didn't even get a yellow card.
However, it was striking that De Zerbe did not begin his evaluation of the match by talking about this refereeing farce linked to video technology.
Rather, the Tottenham coach said simply: “We did not play like a big team.”
Greg O'Keefe: The attacking trio let De Zerbe down
When De Zerbe starts thinking about why Tottenham's momentum has stalled at Elland Road, it's best to start with a front three.
The Italian coach made adjustments to the team's offensive appearance during recent matches, and these changes achieved some success.
But his tactical experiments did not succeed against Leeds.
His selection of Omar Marmoush in the advanced striker position, with Matthijs Till and Mohamed Quddus on the sides, seemed strong on paper.
But the trio failed to achieve the desired harmony.
According to Opta data, Marmoush shot only one ball on goal, and touched the ball only three times inside the Leeds penalty area.
The performance of his two attacking teammates was not much better.
On the left side, Quddus struggled to leave his mark on the match, and only shot one ball during the 83 minutes in which he participated.
As for Till, he gave a limited-impact performance, before he was forced to leave the field injured following Bogle’s controversial intervention.
Even after the participation of substitutes Dominic Solanke, Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur, Tottenham succeeded in creating only one great opportunity, according to Opta’s definition, compared to four great chances for the home team.
It seems that Tottenham may need to consider signing an outright striker during January if it wants to save its season, which is oscillating between improvement and decline.
Phil Buckingham: A painful defeat... but it is not the end of the road
It was a very bad result for Tottenham.
Leeds dominated the second half, and deserved the victory that lifted coach Daniel Farke's team above Tottenham in the standings.
De Zerbe appeared disappointed, as expected, after the match.
But this setback should not be a fatal blow to the team's season.
A lot has changed since the last international break, when Tottenham ended their matches with a 3-2 loss to Aston Villa.
At the time, the team had collected only two points from its first five matches.
Tottenham again seemed the target of ridicule and criticism.
But taking ten points from his next five matches, including an excellent 2-0 win over Chelsea, changed the narrative surrounding his season.
Defeat at Elland Road will certainly be painful.
But it does not necessarily mean that Tottenham is heading towards a new season of suffering, if it is able to improve its offensive performance, just as it has already succeeded in developing its defensive system.
