Chelsea, Arsenal and Brighton close gap on Premier League leader Liverpool

Wins for Chelsea, Arsenal and Brighton saw them close the gap on Premier League leader Liverpool to six points on Saturday.

Third-place Chelsea beat Leicester 2-1 in the early kickoff and Arsenal, in fourth, won 3-0 against Nottingham Forest. Fifth-place Brighton won 2-1 at Bournemouth to maintain its outstanding start to the season under new coach Fabian Hurzeler.

Liverpool doesn’t play until Sunday when it travels to last-place Southampton and its rivals took the chance to keep the pressure on Arne Slot’s team.

Four-time defending champion Manchester City played Tottenham in the late kickoff Saturday and had the opportunity to move to within two points of Liverpool.

Nicolas Jackson and Enzo Fernandez put Chelsea on course for victory against Leicester at King Power Stadium, with Jordan Ayew scoring for the home team with a second-half stoppage-time penalty.

Jackson showed good close control in the box before poking Chelsea in front with a clever finish in the 15th minute. It was the Senegal striker’s seventh goal in 13 appearances this season.

Fernandez headed in Chelsea’s second in the 75th after Jackson’s header was saved by goalkeeper Mads Hermansen. Ayew’s penalty came too late for Leicester to mount a fightback.

Arteta landmark

Mikel Arteta celebrated his 250th game in charge of Arsenal in style with victory against Forest.

It was his 147th win in all competitions — more than any Arsenal manager after the same number of games. Club great Arsene Wenger won 136 of his first 250 games.

Bukayo Saka put Arsenal ahead in the 15th at the Emirates Stadium and Thomas Partey added a second seven minutes into the second half. The 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri scored his first Premier League goal for the club in the 86th.

Flying high

Brighton's impressive run continued with victory at Bournemouth to keep it just outside the Champions League places on goal difference.

U.S.-born Hurzeler was hired in June and has made an immediate impact.

Joao Pedro and Kaoru Mitoma put Brighton 2-0 up at the Vitality Stadium, with David Brooks pulling a goal back for Bournemouth in stoppage time.

Villa slides

Aston Villa's winless run was extended to six games after a 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace. And it could have been worse for Unai Emery's team, which twice came back from a goal behind at home.

Palace, which is third from bottom of the standings, twice led in the first half through Ismaila Sarr and Justin Devenny. Ollie Watkins and Ross Barkley leveled for Villa on each occasion.

Villa hasn't won since beating Bologna 2-0 in the Champions League on Oct. 22. It has lost four of its last six games in all competitions and is seventh in the standings.

Wolves comeback

Trailing 1-0 at Fulham, Wolves powered back to win 4-1 at Craven Cottage and climb out of the relegation zone.

Wolves is in 17th place and one point above the drop zone after its second league win of the season.

Alex Iwobi put Fulham ahead, but two goals from Matheus Cunha and strikes from Joao Gomes and Goncalo Guedes saw Wolves secure back-to-back wins in the league and extend the team's unbeaten run to four games.

Everton drew 0-0 with Brentford.

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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

James Robson, The Associated Press