England: Aston Villa sinks, Chelsea and Liverpool slow down

Chelsea and Liverpool both dropped points at home, against Hull City (2-2) and Fulham (0-0), in a depressing Premier League Saturday for Aston Villa, second-to-last, who were knocked down late by Nottingham Forest (2-1).

Pierre Sage's Crystal Palace also suffered a great disappointment, and an even crueler one, conceding the 90th-minute goal of defeat against Ipswich (3-2), after battling bravely while shorthanded.

The French coach will have to wait a little longer before recording his first league victory at Selhurst Park.

In the stands, there was joy at the opening of the scoring (14th, 1-0), concern after the expulsion of Axel Disasi (34th) on either side of the goals of Emersonn (23rd, 1-1) and Leif Davis (45th, 1-2), an explosion of happiness on the equalizer of Jorgen Strand Larsen (75th, 2-2) and despair on the fatal blow inflicted by Zian Flemming (90th, 2-3).

Aston Villa's morale also took a big hit when Nottingham, via Igor Jesus (88th, 1-2), rattled Zion Suzuki's net as the final whistle approached.

Birmingham club has only one point and already three defeats after four matchdays, which puts them back in nineteenth place.

One small positive event, however: Unai Emery's team finally scored their first league goal of the season, by Alysson (74th, 1-1).

Tottenham are still chasing that simple joy, which Everton denied them late this afternoon in London (0-0). No wins, no goals scored, and boos – that's the atmosphere after a transfer window that was nonetheless very expensive.

Roberto De Zerbi had given a starting place to six new signings, including three forwards (Savino, Omar Marmoush, Mateus Fernandes), but it was not enough to break through the Toffees, who are still unbeaten this season.

- Hull, the surprises continue -

Chelsea and Liverpool managers Xabi Alonso and Andoni Iraola also experienced disappointments on Saturday.

The Blues were held to a draw at Stamford Bridge by Hull City (2-2), the impressive newly promoted side who are still occupying the podium after four matchdays.

Joao Pedro, on a Cole Palmer cross, limited the damage (66th, 2-2) for a Chelsea team that was far too fragile defensively, blown away in the space of six minutes by a brace from the Algerian striker Mohamed Belloumi (28th, 34th).

This makes it 18 goals scored and 12 conceded in six matches for the Londoners, in all competitions.

"Perhaps it's entertaining, but I hope that one day you will say that it was a boring match, that we won and that we didn't offer those moments of spectacle," commented Xabi Alonso.

Liverpool did not concede a goal, but they also did not score one, and it is necessarily a major underperformance against Fulham (0-0), who have been hampered by their defense since the start of the season.

"When you draw, especially at home, you can't be satisfied. Today we lacked a bit of freshness and we didn't do enough offensively to make the difference," Iraola told the BBC.

Bradley Barcola, starting again, missed a shot at the far post (43rd minute) and Alexander Isak missed the target by a narrow margin on a corner from Dominik Szoboszlai which he deflected with his head (90th+1 minute).

It could have been worse at Anfield, without the good defensive interventions of Frenchman Jérémy Jacquet, who notably blocked a ball in front of his goal (11th).

There was also no winner between Bournemouth and Brentford (2-2).