Dyche’s dream start and title challengers stutter – 5 things from Premier League

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Everton enjoyed a new manager bounce with victory over Premier League leaders Arsenal at Goodison Park, before title rivals Manchester City also suffered a defeat at Tottenham.

Liverpool’s troubles continued with defeat at Wolves, while the pressure mounted on Southampton boss Nathan Jones with another defeat.

Here, the PA news agency take a look at five things we learned from the weekend’s action.

Dream start for Dyche

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New Everton boss Sean Dyche found the right mix of energy and persistence to kickstart the team in his first match in charge on Saturday. While tougher tests lie ahead – starting with the Merseyside derby at Anfield – Everton fans will at least have been given some hope from the way Dyche’s reorganised side, which included the recalled Abdoulaye Doucoure, saw off the Gunners with a second-half goal from James Tarkowski.

Record-breaker Kane gives City the Blues

Manchester City could have cut the gap on leaders Arsenal to two points with victory at Tottenham on Sunday afternoon. However, it was Spurs captain Harry Kane who took the headlines. Kane’s strike on 15 minutes saw him move past Jimmy Greaves’ mark to become Tottenham’s record goalscorer with 267 and so limit the damage for their north London rivals.

Arteta to go back to basics

While only a second league defeat of the season for Arsenal, Mikel Arteta was left facing more questions about whether his squad can last the distance in the title race after failing to match Everton’s intensity at Goodison Park. Arteta, though, will stay focused on what took his young team into pole position in the first place and “start to do the basic things right” again when they host in-form Brentford next weekend.

Reds troubles rumble on

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp offered no excuses after his side came up short again, slumping to a 3-0 defeat at relegation-battlers Wolves. The Reds sit 10th in the table and 11 points adrift of the Champions League places. Starting with the visit of Everton, Klopp’s men now face a run of games which could well define the final direction of their stuttering campaign, as a trip to Newcastle is followed by the first leg of their Champions League tie against Real Madrid.

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Saints boss under fire

The pressure continued to mount on Southampton boss Nathan Jones on the back of another lacklustre defeat when his bottom-of-the-table side were beaten at Brentford. The patience of Saints fans is starting to wear thin, with the vocal travelling support venting their ire at the 3-0 loss. The former Luton boss maintains he will “live or die by my own philosophy” from here on in.

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