Three talking points from the Premier League weekend

Arsenal won their fifth successive Premier League match to finish the weekend with a six-point cushion at the top of the table as Liverpool ended their miserable losing run.

Erling Haaland scored twice as Manchester City climbed to second and Nuno Espirito Santo celebrated his first win in the West Ham dugout.

We look at three talking points from the Premier League weekend.

SLOT RETURNS TO WINNING FORMULA

Arne Slot went back to basics as he sought to end Liverpool's damaging four-match losing run in the Premier League – and it paid dividends with a 2-0 win against Aston Villa.

The Dutchman spent around £450 million ($592 million) on a clutch of high-profile signings in the summer transfer window but Hugo Ekitike was the only new face to start Saturday's match.

Alexander Isak – yet to score a Premier League goal – and Jeremie Frimpong were missing with injuries while Milos Kerkez and Florian Wirtz were on the bench.

Andy Robertson and Conor Bradley were picked as the full-backs as the defending champions kept a first clean sheet in 11 games in all competitions.

The home side rode their luck against in-form Villa, who hit the woodwork twice before Mohamed Salah scored his 250th goal for the club following a howler from Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.

The pressure on Slot has eased but he still has huge decisions to make on how best to use his expensive squad, with a daunting trip to Manchester City next week.

FANTASY GOAL MACHINE HAALAND

It is easy to be blase about Erling Haaland, Manchester City's unique goalscoring machine.

The Norwegian scored twice more on Sunday against high-flying Bournemouth to take his season's tally to 26 goals in 16 games for club and country.

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He is only the third player ever to score two or more goals in four or more consecutive Premier League home appearances, after Robbie Fowler and Luis Suarez.

Bournemouth's David Brooks admitted it is almost impossible to come up with a plan to deal with the marauding 1.95-metre (six feet, five inches) striker.

Haaland had an amusing take when asked how he felt about being substituted when in sight of a hat-trick.

"There were probably a few fantasy managers who were not so happy," he told Sky Sports, referring to the game in which participants win points based on the real-life performances of players.

Pep Guardiola's City are still seeking consistency but with Haaland in this form, they must surely be title contenders.

TOTTENHAM UNREST

Tottenham are fifth in the Premier League and unbeaten in the Champions League this season.

But it seems tensions are bubbling in the camp, with decent results so far masking some sub-standard performances.

Stand-in captain Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence appeared to snub manager Thomas Frank as they came off the pitch following a lame 1-0 defeat by Chelsea on Saturday – their 10th loss against their London rivals in 12 meetings in all competitions.

Frank's team were booed off after they produced only one shot on target all game and recorded their lowest expected goals figure of 0.05 on record (since 2012/13).

The former Brentford boss played down the incident involving Van de Ven and Spence, saying it is "one of the small issues".

"They perform very well so far this season and everyone is frustrated," he added. "We do things in a different way, so I don't think it is a big problem."

But it was an uncomfortable moment and one that he will have to address.