Premier League round 8 roundup: Newcastle win at Crystal Palace, Hull hold Brentford, City top on goal difference

Round eight of the 2026/27 Premier League ended on 25 October with Manchester City still top despite Enzo Maresca's side suffering their first defeat of the season. According to the table compiled by Thanh Niên, City and Arsenal both have 21 points, with City ahead on goal difference (+11 to +8). On 25 October Newcastle won 2-0 at Crystal Palace, Hull drew 1-1 with Brentford and Sunderland and Leeds drew 0-0, while Liverpool moved into the top four and Manchester United slid to 16th.

Round eight's main results

Three of the 24 October games have their own reports: Aston Villa 2-1 Man City, Arsenal 2-0 Everton and Chelsea 0-2 Tottenham. In the other Saturday game, Oscar Bobb's late moment of quality gave Fulham a 1-0 win at Coventry, according to the Premier League. It was Alvaro Arbeloa's side's second straight 1-0 win after beating Hull, lifting them seven places from 19th, while Frank Lampard's Coventry have now failed to score in five of their eight league games, more than any other team.

Sunday's headline games, Manchester United's 3-0 home defeat by Bournemouth with Bruno Fernandes on the bench and Liverpool's 2-0 win over Brighton, are covered in separate reports.

Newcastle's 15 good minutes

The Guardian describes a dreadful first half at Selhurst Park, with a pass completion rate of 72.8% and only two shots on target. Newcastle were transformed after the break: Will Osula touched in a Jacob Murphy cross two minutes into the second half, Joe Willock had a goal ruled out for a marginal offside, and Harvey Barnes finished a slick passing move to settle it. That 15 minutes was enough, the paper concluded.

The Premier League highlights the gamble taken by head coach Matthias Jaissle, who left out Yoane Wissa, Malick Thiaw and Sven Botman even though Newcastle had lost three of their previous four league games and conceded 4 goals in each of their last two away matches. Osula, Wissa's replacement, now has 7 goals in his last 13 league games after just 2 goals in his first 50 appearances in the competition, and the reshuffled defence kept a first clean sheet in seven matches. The Guardian notes that Jaissle has been in charge for only three months, after the club spent £260m on eight signings.

Palace manager Pierre Sage is under growing pressure. He has won just one of his last seven matches in all competitions, per the Premier League, leaving Palace only 1 point above the relegation zone. The Guardian reports boos from the home fans and points to the summer sales of Maxence Lacroix and Daniel Muñoz.

Hull's home run goes on

Hull went ahead through an Oli McBurnie penalty after Aaron Hickey brought down Tim Iroegbunam; it was McBurnie's first Premier League goal for more than 900 days, the Guardian notes. Brentford levelled in the 63rd minute when Dango Ouattara converted an Igor Thiago pass from close range, and Hull's last chance came in the 88th minute, when Joe Gelhardt shot off target from a Mohamed-Ali Cho cross.

According to the Premier League, Hull are unbeaten in their last 9 home games in all competitions (three wins), their longest such run since April 2019, including all four of their home league games this season. They are, however, without a win in seven. Brentford have now gone three league games without a win, and the Guardian counts this as their fourth consecutive away draw. Hull head coach Sergej Jakirovic said that "in the end I think it’s a fair result", while Brentford's Keith Andrews paid tribute to his opposite number: "I’ve got a lot of respect for Sergej and the journey he’s taken this team on – I think it’s been remarkable."

Sunderland and Leeds share the points in the storm

Storm Boelo made good football almost impossible at the Stadium of Light. The Guardian reports that Leeds goalkeeper James Trafford twice denied Brian Brobbey in the first half, while Sunderland's Robin Roefs made a superb one-handed save from Sean Longstaff. Referee Stuart Attwell turned down Dominic Calvert-Lewin's penalty appeal, a decision backed by VAR. Sunderland also lost Nordi Mukiele after an accidental collision with team-mate Luke O'Nien; manager Régis Le Bris said Mukiele had fully recovered. "But there’s no drama, no panic," Le Bris said.

The draw ended Sunderland's run of four straight league defeats, though they remain bottom. Leeds have conceded only 6 goals in eight games, one more than Arsenal's league-best defence, and have lost just once in the league this season, according to the Premier League. Daniel Farke was full of praise for Trafford: "He delivers, he has the potential to be England’s No 1."

The table after round eight

According to Thanh Niên:

Liverpool's 15 points took them past Chelsea (13 points) into the top four, while Tottenham jumped four places to 14th on 9 points after their win at Stamford Bridge. Leeds have 11 points. At the bottom, United are level with Palace and just 1 point clear of Nottingham Forest and Coventry, with Sunderland last on 5 points.

What's next

Round nine starts with a big one: according to the Premier League, Manchester United visit Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday 31 October. The hosts are coming off their 2-0 home defeat by Tottenham, while United have gone eight games without a win. Also on 31 October, Sunderland travel to Coventry, the Guardian notes, in a meeting of the teams in 19th and 20th. Brentford host Nottingham Forest in round nine looking to end their three-game winless run.