2025/26 Premier League MW3 Recap: Saturday’s Matches in Review

2025/26 Premier League MW3 Recap: Saturday’s Matches in Review

The Premier League’s third Saturday of the 2025/26 campaign came with many surprises, a close run-in and an expected result.

The day begun with a London Derby between the two closest clubs in the capital, moved on to four 3 o’clock starts where Manchester United hosted Burnley in a must-win, Sunderland hosted Brentford in what was anticipated to be a very meaningful fixture come May, Spurs looked to continue their perfect start versus Bournemouth, and Everton headed to Molineux.

The day then came to an end in a rainy Yorkshire, where Leeds sought for another win and successful 90 minutes at home. Here is everything that happened on Saturday.

Chelsea 2-0 Fulham

The Blues continued their unbeaten start, as they came out on top in the West London Derby in a match that was plastered with some controversial officiating.

Chelsea lost summer signing Liam Delap early on in the first half, which adds to the Blues’ ongoing injury crisis.

Referee Robert Jones didn’t make himself the most adored on the field by the visiting fans from the start, with his controversial decision to rule out Josh King’s 21st minute goal which proved a turning point in the game.

Rodrigo Muniz was judged to have stepped on Trevoh Chalobah in the build up, something that seemed to have been something of a natural action however, when looking back at the challenge later on.

João Pedro then continued his impressive form in front of goal, striking in his second goal of the season in the ninth minute of first half stoppage time, heading in from an Enzo Fernández corner.

The Argentine midfielder then added his own name to the scoresheet just 10 minutes into the second half from the penalty spot. This came after Jones believed that Ryan Sessegnon had handled the ball in the box, leaving manager Marco Silva livid.

Enzo Maresca’s World Champions now enter the international break unbeaten, with a trip to Brentford coming up in a fortnight before their Champions League return comes in a form of a trip to Munich.

Manchester United 3-2 Burnley

Bruno Fernandes once again came up clutch for the Red Devils saving them from another embarrassment, as Burnley get back to losing ways.

Ruben Amorim would have been beyond fuming had they not won the game, accumulating a solid 3.54 xG, achieving 26 shots to Burnley’s six, but the scoreline suggests United certainly made hard work of it.

The first half was relatively quiet aside from a bit of luck for the hosts, with Casemiro heading the ball off the crossbar before ricocheting off the back of Josh Cullen for United’s first of the afternoon. Three minutes later, however, Matheus Cunha had to depart with a hamstring injury – which causes worrying times for Amorim.

In the second half, Lyle Foster thought he got Scott Parker’s side back into the game with his 55th minute strike, only for Bryan Mbeumo to become United’s first actual Premier League goalscorer of the season just two minutes later.

In the 66th minute, the luck swung the way of the Clarets, as Altay Bayindir was this time at fault for an error, parrying Loum Tchaouna’s half-way shot to Jaidon Anthony who struck the ball in the net, but not before hitting both Kobbie Mainoo and Bayindir himself again.

As the match entered stoppage time, it looked as though Parker’s team would earn a well-fought point before Anthony turned from hero to zero, fouling Amad Diallo in the box, resulting in Fernandes keeping the points in Manchester.

With Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool all in the coming weeks, the Red Devils head into the international break with a crucial victory.

Sunderland 2-1 Brentford

The Black Cats earned their second win of the season, bouncing back from disappointing results against both Burnley and Huddersfield last week.

Sunderland have now won both of their home games so far this season, and the win also lifts them to sixth for now, leaving Brentford sitting precariously two points above the drop zone.

It was a match where both teams had their moments, and it was a matter of who could take them. In a cagey game where the result could prove crucial in nine months time, it just needed that something to open up the game.

That came in the form of a Robin Roefs penalty save on the hour mark as a result of Reinildo Mandava pulling Nathan Collins to the ground, resulting in Kevin Schade having his penalty superbly saved.

With 13 minutes left on the clock, Igor Thiago bagged another goal this season, as he converted Frank Onyeka’s delivery. The hosts then had their own effort from 12 yards after Rico Henry was adjudged to have wrestled Habib Diarra to the floor.

Consequently, Enzo Le Fee converted from the spot, restoring parity and granting a nervy final 10 minutes. In the sixth minute of injury time, it looked as if both sides would share the spoils, however, Granit Xhaka had other ideas. The ex-Arsenal man whipped in an inviting ball and Wilson Isidor sent the stadium into jubilation as the Black Cats returned to winning ways.

Tottenham 0-1 Bournemouth

After winning at the Etihad just seven days ago, Thomas Frank and his men will be distraught to have failed to create anything in terms of goalscoring chances.

Despite dominating the ball with 61% possession, it was the Cherries who piled on the shots and quality chances with 20 and 1.45 xG respectively. It was a lacklustre performance from the Lilywhites, who now enter the international break with a lot to ponder.

It was a rapid start in North London, with Spurs caught off guard as Andoni Iraola’s side scored from their first attack of the afternoon for the second Saturday running. It was centre back Marco Senesi who found Evanilson, whose shot took a huge deflection off Cristian Romero and over Guglielmo Vicario.

The Cherries dominated the game in terms of chances within the 10 minutes immediately before and after half-time, but it was Vicario’s five saves which kept the hosts in the game.

It took almost 70 minutes for Spurs to register their first shot on target in what was nothing short of a frustrating afternoon at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Mathys Tel had a late volley go just wide, in what was their closest opportunity to saving themselves, but the Cherries held on for a deserved victory and second consecutive clean sheet.

Frank now has two weeks to figure out what went wrong and how they can improve moving forward, while Bournemouth enter the break happy with their opening results so far.

Wolves 2-3 Everton

It was a thriller at Molineux as Everton recorded back-to-back victories to lift them level with Liverpool for now.

Jack Grealish starred once again for the Toffees, with his loan move proving highly effective thus far. After missing out on a call-up by Thomas Tuchel to the England squad, Grealish’s two assists helped David Moyes’ side overcome a resilient Wolves.

Beto opened the scoring after being set up on a plate by Grealish’s header across goal. Their lead only lasted 14 minutes, however, with Hwang Hee-Chan announcing himself back as a starter with a well-placed strike past Jordan Pickford.

The 33rd minute saw the visitors retake the lead in a silky build up led by Grealish and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, with the latter finding Iliman Ndiaye who restored Everton’s lead.

10 minutes into the second period, and Dewsbury-Hall all but sealed a Toffees away victory, with Grealish setting up the ex-Chelsea man’s strike which came off the crossbar to double their lead. Rodrigo Gomes then gave the hosts some hope with 10 minutes to go; however, Everton saw out the game to earn another important three points.

The defeat for Wolves leaves them recording another horror start to the season, picking up zero points from their three matches so far, leaving Vitor Pereira desperate to respond when the league kicks off again in a fortnight.

Leeds 0-0 Newcastle

The final match on Saturday came in a 5:30 kick-off where Leeds hosted a scoreless draw with Newcastle at Elland Road.

The Whites now have four points on the board and have recorded their second clean sheet of the campaign, despite being struck for five last week.

For Newcastle, it leaves them winless prior to the international break, and the Magpies have now failed to score in either of their away days this season.

In a game where the xG combined hit 1.01, it is safe to say it was rather dry 90 minutes in a rainy Yorkshire. Neither side recorded a shot on target until late in either half, where both goalkeepers were called into action to deny the other of stealing the points.

Jacob Murphy forced a sublime stop out of Lucas Perri from a wild shot from around 25 yards out before Dominic Calvert-Lewin had a chance to redeem himself after his horror debut in midweek, but he fired a blank late on in Daniel Farke’s sides best chance of the game thanks to the foot of Nick Pope.