Gareth Bale has turned back time for Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester United seemed happy just to play out time while Liverpool won for the first time in five Premier League matches.

Bale looked like the star player who left Spurs for Real Madrid in 2013 as he scored twice in 4-0 win over Burnley, prompting manager Jose Mourinho to pronounce him "better than ever" though still not suitable to start week-in, week-out.

While Bale found his form, Harvey Barnes had his good run cut short by a knee injury in Leicester City's 3-1 loss to Arsenal.

He is likely to need an operation and miss six weeks.

Chelsea maintained their unbeaten record under manager Thomas Tuchel in a goalless draw with Man United as both teams appeared reluctant to risk losing one point in the hope of getting three.

Liverpool put a stop to the rot which effectively ended their title chances, but a 2-0 win over last-place Sheffield United was still short of their best.

Bale opened the scoring after 68 seconds and the Welsh forward added another early in the second half, both off assists from Son Heung-min.

"Now he is better than ever," Mourinho said.

"It's not just about the two goals he scored, it's fundamentally about his physical performance."

However, Mourinho warned that Bale would still have to rest for some upcoming games to manage his form and fitness.

Harry Kane and Lucas Moura also scored for the hosts.

Chelsea's new identity under Tuchel is taking shape with intense pressing and a new-found compactness and solidity in the defence, which was on show at Stamford Bridge against United's counterattacking specialists.

The upshot was a ninth game unbeaten in all competitions for Tuchel at Chelsea, seven of them without conceding a goal.

The Blues remain fifth in the standings, behind West Ham, while second-place United now trail leaders Manchester City by 12 points.

"We are not scoring enough," United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's said.

"The next step for this team is to win these games."

United were left grumbling about the refereeing at Chelsea after not being awarded a penalty in the first half for what looked like handball by Callum Hudson-Odoi.

Arsenal returned to form and the top half of the table with Nicolas Pepe scoring one goal and winning a penalty, that was dispatched by Alexandre Lacazette.

David Luiz scored the Gunners' equaliser to cancel Youri Tielemans' early strike for third-place Leicester.

After a goalless first half, Trent Alexander-Arnold hit a deflected cross for fellow Liverpool academy graduate Curtis Jones to send his effort into the net before a deflected Roberto Firmino shot resulted in an own-goal being credited to Sheffield United's Kean Bryan.

Fulham are three points from safety after a 0-0 draw with 13th-place Crystal Palace.