LONDON, Oct 24 — Manchester City were the big winners of a Premier League weekend in which the other five members of the traditional top six dropped points.

City are now only two points behind leaders Arsenal after Erling Haaland’s double returned the champions to winning ways against Brighton.

Arsenal dropped points for just the second time this season in a frustrating 1-1 draw for the Gunners at Southampton.

Chelsea and Manchester United also shared the points by the same scoreline, while Liverpool slid to eighth after a shock 1-0 defeat to bottom-of-the-table Nottingham Forest.

However, the "big six” may have to get used to Newcastle muscling in on their territory at the top of the table after a 2-1 win at Tottenham moved the Magpies into fourth.

AFP Sport looks at three talking points from the Premier League weekend.

Newcastle a top-four threat

With the financial backing of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, Newcastle’s owners have stated their ambition to win the title within a decade.

But their return to the Champions League could come sooner than expected with Eddie Howe’s men well in the fight for a top-four finish.

Newcastle have only been beaten once in 12 games and are almost certain to strengthen again come the January transfer window.

Howe has defended the club’s £220 million (RM1.18 billion) spend on new players over the past two windows as in keeping with their competition in the Premier League.

Crucially the vast majority of that looks to have been invested well with Nick Pope, Kieran Trippier, Sven Botman and Bruno Guimaraes having a major impact.

But Howe also deserves credit for the upturn in performance he has inspired in players who were lagging in the relegation zone a year ago, including Callum Wilson and Miguel Almiron, who scored the goals to end Tottenham’s run of 10 consecutive home wins.

Casemiro makes his mark

After a slow start to his Manchester United career, Casemiro is emerging as a key figure in Erik ten Hag’s Old Trafford rebuild.

The Brazilian midfielder capped a commanding performance in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Chelsea with his first goal for the club to rescue a point.

Just minutes after Jorginho’s penalty had given Chelsea the lead, the 30-year-old netted with a superb header deep into stoppage-time.

Former Real Madrid star Casemiro had to be patient for his chance to shine under Ten Hag, who left the £65 million signing on the bench for six weeks, culminating in a 6-3 thrashing at Manchester City.

But his arrival into the starting line-up has given United a steel in midfield rarely seen during a decade in the doldrums since Alex Ferguson’s departure as manager.

"That is why we brought him in, we know he’s capable of doing that. He proved it in Spain, in the Champions League, at the highest level. So he could also do it in the Premier League,” Ten Hag said.

"He needed a short period to adapt to that, and now from game to game you see him growing, and how important he is for our game.”

Marsch next on the chopping block?

A 3-2 home defeat to Fulham, coupled with resounding 4-0 wins for Aston Villa over Brentford and Leicester at Wolves on Sunday saw Leeds drop into the relegation zone.

Jesse Marsch is now the favourite to be the next Premier League manager sacked after a run of eight games without a win.

The American claimed after a fourth consecutive defeat that he and the club’s board are "unified completely”.

But for the second consecutive game, Marsch had to listen to a rebellion against him from the Leeds support, which called for both the former RB Leipzig boss and the board to be sacked. — AFP