Premier League in Europe: Bournemouth beat Milan, Villa stay perfect and Manchester United suffer at Como

Bournemouth beat AC Milan, Aston Villa and Liverpool maintained perfect Champions League starts, and Manchester United suffered the Premier League’s only European defeat across the midweek fixtures.

Nine English top-flight clubs returned four wins, four draws and one defeat between Tuesday 20 and Thursday 22 October. Phil Foden scored a hat-trick for Manchester City, Declan Rice rescued Arsenal at Bayern Munich, and Sunderland extended their unbeaten Europa League run.

The results were broadly encouraging, but the draws carried different meanings. Arsenal recovered a point in Munich; Sunderland and Crystal Palace surrendered leads, while Brighton could not find a breakthrough at Jablonec.

Premier League clubs’ European results

Date	Competition	Result
20 October	Champions League	Liverpool 4–3 Villarreal
20 October	Champions League	Manchester City 5–1 AEK Athens
21 October	Champions League	Aston Villa 3–1 Viking
21 October	Champions League	Bayern Munich 2–2 Arsenal
21 October	Champions League	Como 4–1 Manchester United
22 October	Europa League	Bournemouth 3–0 AC Milan
22 October	Europa League	Lech Poznan 1–1 Sunderland
22 October	Europa League	Besiktas 2–2 Crystal Palace
22 October	Conference League	Jablonec 0–0 Brighton

Bournemouth make Milan pay to reach nine points

Bournemouth’s first Europa League campaign continues to deliver. A 3–0 victory over Milan made it three wins from three, following their successes against Real Sociedad and Sturm Graz.

Justin Kluivert and Marcus Tavernier scored first-half penalties, while Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan was dismissed for shoving Tyler Adams in the face. Amine Adli completed the scoring with a late free-kick, as detailed in Sky Sports’ match report.

The dismissal significantly favoured Bournemouth, but they had already taken the lead. They finished with maximum points from three fixtures and successive 3–0 home European wins.

Villa’s winning start continues as Alysson contributes again

Aston Villa also reached nine points, beating Viking 3–1 at Villa Park.

Ross Barkley opened the scoring, Emi Buendia converted a penalty and Henrik Heggheim’s own goal extended Villa’s advantage before the visitors pulled one back. Alysson won the penalty and forced the own goal, making two decisive contributions without appearing among the scorers.

As our Aston Villa–Viking report explains, Unai Emery’s side have won all three Champions League fixtures.

Alysson’s influence also strengthens the case examined in our analysis of what he offers Villa now: his development is already producing contributions that help decide matches.

Sunderland and Palace let winning positions slip

Sunderland remain unbeaten in the Europa League, although their 1–1 draw at Lech Poznan brought frustration after Timur Tutierov scored in the second minute.

Nilson Angulo supplied the cross for Tutierov’s first senior Sunderland goal, confirmed in the club’s official report. Leo Bengtsson equalised in the 70th minute after the visitors failed to extend their lead.

Seven points from three games remains a strong return. The missed opportunity was in the match itself: Sunderland created chances to win, but also needed Robin Roefs’ saves to protect their point.

Palace’s 2–2 draw at Besiktas followed a different route to similar disappointment.

Yeremy Pino and Jean-Philippe Mateta overturned Wilfred Ndidi’s opener early in the second half, only for Junior Olaitan to equalise. Besiktas then had Umit Akdag sent off, but Palace could not exploit their numerical advantage.

Sky Sports’ report confirmed Mateta’s first goal since last season’s Conference League final. Palace ended their two-match losing run, although four points from three European games leaves work to do.

Brighton remain unbeaten but draw a blank

Brighton followed their opening Conference League win with a goalless draw at Jablonec.

After scoring four against Kauno Zalgiris and five against Palace, Fabian Hürzeler’s side could not reproduce that finishing in Czechia. Bart Verbruggen’s second-half saves were also important in securing the draw.

The goalless result leaves Brighton with four points from two league-phase fixtures and no goals conceded. It preserves a useful start, even if the performance offered less encouragement than their recent victories.

Foden scores three as Liverpool recover from two down

Manchester City’s 5–1 win over AEK Athens was built around Foden’s hat-trick, with Elliot Anderson and Rayan Cherki also scoring.

Anderson’s opener was his first City goal. AEK briefly reduced the deficit to 2–1 after the interval, but City responded with three more goals. City’s official report records Foden’s goals in the 34th, 65th and 76th minutes.

Liverpool’s victory was considerably less comfortable.

They trailed Villarreal 2–0 at Anfield before Alexis Mac Allister and Ronald Araujo brought them level by half-time. Mac Allister scored again and Florian Wirtz added Liverpool’s fourth, with Villarreal’s late reply making the final score 4–3.

Liverpool’s official report confirmed a third successive Champions League win. Nine points rewards their attacking response, although conceding three at home remains a concern alongside the comeback.

Arsenal recover in Munich as United struggle at Como

Arsenal took a point from Bayern Munich through Rice’s 82nd-minute equaliser.

Eberechi Eze had opened the scoring before Alphonso Davies and a Harry Kane penalty put Bayern ahead. Rice’s intervention preserved Arsenal’s unbeaten start, with the goals and timings recorded in our Bayern–Arsenal match coverage.

Manchester United endured the week’s heaviest setback, losing 4–1 at Como. Michael Carrick subsequently apologised to supporters, describing the performance as unacceptable in his post-match reaction published by United.

Our Manchester United player ratings examine the individual contributions, but the wider result is stark: United were the only Premier League representatives beaten during this round of European fixtures.

What the week means

Bournemouth, Villa and Liverpool have maximum points after three league-phase games. Arsenal and Sunderland remain unbeaten, while Brighton have collected four points from their opening two Conference League fixtures.

Those records provide room to build, rather than confirmation of qualification. The Champions League and Europa League sides still have five league-phase matches remaining; Brighton have four.

The strongest distinction this week was between teams able to turn attacking spells into decisive advantages and those left exposed by missed chances or defensive errors. Bournemouth, Villa and City made their opportunities count. Sunderland and Palace left points available, while Liverpool’s comeback and Arsenal’s late equaliser prevented damaging results.

Related: Brighton predicted lineup vs Kauno Zalgiris: Dunk tipped to replace Struijk