As regular scheduled Premier League weekends go, this was far from the norm.
For a start, there was no Saturday lunchtime encounter to kick things off.
That fans were then treated to the unusual sight of Sunday evening games, not one either but two, was another unusual occurrence.
The upshot of it all though is that, despite the change of scheduling, fans were still treated to Premier League 2024 highlights aplenty and stories to make you sit up and take notice (and yes, there is still a Monday evening encounter to come).
For a start, did anyone see Arsenal drawing a blank and dropping more points at home to spirited Everton?
The Gunners, the side this SBOTOP writer tipped for title glory in early September, are not in the race as it stands and, while they have had bad luck with defensive injuries and the absence of their captain Martin Odegaard for much of the first part of the campaign, they should still have more points in the bag.
That they failed to capitalise on leaders Liverpool dropping points at home will only further infuriate Mikel Arteta and his players.
On saying all of that, the Cottagers deserve credit after emerging from a contest I billed as their acid test with a point.
They had already gone in front through Andreas Pereira’s clever 11th-minute finish before Liverpool left back Andrew Robertson saw red for a professional foul six minutes later.
The home side showed plenty of character with 10 men for the remaining 70 plus minutes and deservedly drew level shortly after the restart through Cody Gakpo.
Yet the composure of the west Londoners, as well as their own character, was evident, firstly as they retook the lead through substitute Rodrigo Muniz; secondly as they held off a home charge after Diogo Jota had equalised.
A fair scoreline, it also ensured Marco Silva’s men continued their fine form which includes recent draws with Spurs and Arsenal.
As it stands, some will argue the league table tells a story about power shifts.
Certainly, a top 10 featuring Fulham, Bournemouth, Brighton and Nottingham Forest is nothing like the division was 10 years ago.
It’s particularly open because clubs appear to be having great difficulty stringing victories together. Winning runs are sporadic. The rate of back-to-back successes has dropped sharply. Spurs are a fine example — losing to Ipswich Town one day, annihilating Manchester City the next.
Will any of those sides stay there?
I suspect one will and that could well be Forest as they followed up a notable success at Old Trafford with a late, late show in the battle of the Midlands big boys.
First, centre back Nikola Milenkovic headed home to level with his second goal in two games, before substitute Anthony Elanga’s late strike secured a sixth win in nine games for the men from Nottingham.
It capped late drama in a game of a number of key moments, including Jhon Duran on target again after he was handed consecutive starts for the first time in the Premier League.
There was also a contender for save of the season as Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez produced a superb reflex save to prevent Nicolas Dominguez putting Forest in front, clawing the ball off the line.
That he let the equaliser slip through his grasp later on did put a dampener on the evening for Unai Emery’s men as they could not hold on.
The resurgence of those two clubs in the Midlands is the polar opposite to another and Wolves bid farewell to manager Gary O’Neil on Sunday morning.
While hardly a surprise, his 17-month tenure in the Black County does require some context.
That he took over from Julen Lopetegui less than a week before the start of last season with the club in disarray and managed to guide them to safety is something for which he deserves credit.
Furthermore, when Wolves again sold key men this summer and failed to replace them, he was on a hiding to nothing.
Finally, it was only on Monday night, following a 2-1 defeat at West Ham, that club chairman Jeff Shi said the club was behind O’Neil.
If that was genuine, how could he change his mind so quickly, even if their late defeat at home to Ipswich on Saturday leaves the Black Country club 19th, four points from safety.
The big match of the weekend was between two out of form sides, two teams needing a serious pick-me-up.
Of course, one victory (for either team) could not mask what had gone before, but defeat in the Manchester derby would mean more bad news for someone.
For so long, the Premier League 2024 betting odds suggested it would be United who. in a poor spectacle, trailed at the Etihad Stadium until two minutes from time.
Then something special happened as they secured a victory which Red Devils will cherish for years to come.
The question has been asked before, what does this Manchester City express, other than the self-evident maths that the richest club in the richest league with the best manager, all put together without jeopardy or personal interest or financial risk, will inevitably succeed.
Now, after an eighth defeat in 11 matches, we are about to see what they are really made of. Was this a one-off or is this, unlike the aforementioned top 10, a genuine power shift?
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