Another weekend of Premier League football has concluded, and this one had several teams wearing their third kit on the road. Somewhat interestingly though, only one of them- West Ham, emerged victorious, with the rest either tasting defeat or having to settle for draws.

Arsenal (Adidas) 3-3 Southampton (Hummel)
Fulham (Adidas) 2-1 Leeds (Adidas)
Brentford (Umbro) 1-1 Aston Villa (Castore)
Crystal Palace (Umbro) 0-0 Everton (Hummel)
Leicester (Adidas) 2-1 Wolves (Castore)
Liverpool (Nike) 3-2 Nottingham Forest (Macron)
Bournemouth (Umbro) 0-4 West Ham (Umbro)
Newcastle (Castore) 6-1 Tottenham (Nike)

This round began with bottom of the table Southampton travelling to leaders Arsenal. Saints, wearing their blue change strip, raced to a shock 2-0 lead within fifteen minutes. A clumsy error from home goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale saw Carlos Alcaraz put the South Coast outfit ahead after just 30 seconds and then ex-Gunners forward Theo Walcott produced a cool finish against his former team mates to make it 2-0. Gabriel Martinelli pulled one back for Arsenal but substitute Duja Caleta-Car’s header restored Southampton’s two goal advantage midway through the second half. Just when it seemed that Arsenal were destined to slump to a shock loss, Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka scored late in the fixture to give the Gunners a point. Given the difference between the two teams in the log, it feels like two points lost rather than a point gained for the Gunners. Could it cost them dearly in the race for the title?

Arsenal’s bitter rivals Spurs were also wearing blue in this round, donning their third strip against fellow European hopefuls Newcastle. What transpired at St.James Park in the opening quarter was the stuff of dreams for Magpies fans, with their side storming to a 5-0 lead within 21 minutes. The game eventually finished 6-1 in favour of Newcastle. Spurs could have drawn level with Eddie Howe’s side with a win, but have instead fallen six points behind.

With one of United or City guaranteed to win the FA Cup, the race for European spots in the league seems to have become even more crucial, reminding one of progressive jackpot games, where the stakes are getting higher but the prize still on the table. A good example of this was seen last week- Newcastle lost 3-0 to Villa, but Spurs didn’t capitalize, going down 3-2 at home to lowly Bournemouth instead. Ordinarily, only five teams would’ve been guaranteed European football, but with both the Cup winners (United/City) likely to be in the UCL spots, even 7th place could get a team a Conference League spot, which means every match from here on matters for the likes of Aston Villa, Brighton and Liverpool.

Speaking of Villa, they were only able to get a point away at Brentford. It wasn’t a bad result though- the Bees are tough to beat at home, but it did bring to an end the Midlands outfit’s run of five successive victories.

Despite their poor season, Jurgen Klopp’ s LFC still remain in contention for Europe and they edged a five-goal thriller against struggling Nottingham Forest at Anfield. The Reds took the lead twice through Diogo Jota, only for Forest to equalise on both occasions through Neco Williams and Morgan-Gibbs White respectively. Mo Salah though scored a crucial winner as Liverpool took their points tally to 50.

Everton, playing in their yellow third kit, had to settle for a 0-0 draw away at mid-table Palace. That result, coupled with Leicester’s fine 2-1 win over Wolves (who were also bizarrely in their third kit), saw the Toffees drop into the relegation zone.

West Ham, as mentioned above, were the only team in their third kit to taste victory as they beat fellow Umbro-outfitted side Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium. Michail Antonio, Lucas Paqueta and Declan Rice, all scorers in their UECL quarter-final win over Gent, were again on the scoresheet here as the Hammers raced to a 3-0 lead by half-time. Pablo Fornals’ acrobatic scorpion kick after the interval put the icing on the cake for the Hammers, who ran out 4-0 winners and significantly eased their relegation fears. This also allows them to focus on the UECL, where they will face Alkmaar in the semis of the competition, with a potential final against Fiorentina or Basel awaiting them should they get past the Eredivisie outfit.

Fulham leapfrogged Brentford in the league standings with a 2-1 win over Leeds United in an all-Adidas derby at Craven Cottage. All three goals in the fixture came in the second half, with Harry Wilson and Andreas Pereira putting the hosts 2-0 before Joao Palhinha’s own goal saw Leeds pull one back late in the fixture.