The table after two rounds looks like a typesetting error. On six points: Manchester City, Arsenal, Hull City and Chelsea. Hull. Newly promoted. Liverpool are 13th, two games, no wins, two 2-2 draws, 4-4 on goal difference. On Friday 4 September they go to Ipswich. This is not “finding rhythm”. It is already a third try to open the wins column.
How Liverpool got stuck on draws
At Anfield in week two it was 2-2 again, Nottingham Forest again. Dan Ndoye scored, Alexander Isak answered, Morgan Gibbs-White converted a penalty, Victor Muñoz equalised in the 82nd minute. First goal in a Liverpool shirt for Muñoz. Second straight game in which a vertical side has gone through them in transition. Gibbs-White is on 13 Premier League goals in calendar 2026. Iraola can see it. Forest can too: Delap is signed, and Gibbs-White is still finishing better than any new centre-forward.
Around them the picture is different. City put four past Crystal Palace and lead on goal difference. Arsenal won 1-0 at Villa Park — Saka in the 59th minute, a fifth straight season with a clean sheet in their first away league game. Chelsea outscored Brighton 4-3. Hull won 1-0 at Coventry and have not conceded in two matches. United put five past Ipswich. Tottenham and Villa are on zero.
Matchweek 3 grid
Friday: Ipswich versus Liverpool. Saturday: Newcastle–Bournemouth, Brentford–Sunderland, Brighton–Leeds, Fulham–Palace, City–Coventry, Forest–Spurs, Hull–Villa. Sunday: Everton–Manchester United and the main event, Arsenal–Chelsea. Two sides on six points, no more “we’ll settle in”. For Liverpool Friday is easier on the poster and harder on the meaning: another 2-2 and the talk about character ends. What remains is the talk about points.
