Arsenal stumble again in 1-1 draw with Brentford

Arsenal’s grip on the English Premier League lead is suddenly looking shaky.

The Gunners were held by Brentford to 1-1 at Emirates Stadium on Saturday, dropping points for the second game in a row and giving Manchester City renewed hope of overtaking them atop the table.

The result means City can cut Arsenal’s lead to three points with a home win over Aston Villa on Sunday.

With Arsenal then hosting City on Wednesday, Pep Guardiola’s team would go top on goal difference if they wins both matches — although the Gunners have played one game less.

Leandro Trossard’s first Arsenal goal gave the hosts the lead in the 66th minute when he steered in a cross from Bukayo Saka. But Ivan Toney equalised with a close-range header eight minutes later after the Gunners failed to clear a free kick.

Coming off a 1-0 loss at Everton last weekend, Arsenal looked flat again for much of the game and was even fortunate not to be behind at the break as Brentford wasted two great chances.

Meanwhile, Tottenham Hotspur's hopes of securing a Premier League top-four finish suffered another blow as they were thrashed 4-1 by Leicester City on Saturday.

Looking to build on their victory over champions Manchester City last weekend, and chasing a fourth successive win in all competitions, Spurs raced into an early lead at the King Power Stadium through Rodrigo Bentancur's close-range finish.

The hosts quickly turned the match on its head, however, with Nampalys Mendy hammering an equaliser home in the 23rd minute before James Maddison's second goal in as many games completed the turnaround two minutes later.

Nigerian striker Kelechi Iheanacho added a third in first-half stoppage time to extend Leicester's lead, with the timing of that strike seemingly killing off Spurs' hopes of getting anything from the contest.

The visitors offered very little in attack after the break, with Harvey Barnes adding a fine fourth nine minutes from time, securing Leicester a third successive win in all competitions to move them up to 13th in the standings.

RESULTS

English Premier League

Arsenal 1 Brentford 1

Crystal Palace 1 Brighton 1