9 weeks in – almost a quarter of the way through. The story at the top already looks set, as it was last season, with the title being a two-horse race between Manchester City and Liverpool. Liverpool have got off to a great start, but “slipped up” against Manchester United this weekend – I say that in inverted commas because a draw at Old Trafford would be considered a pretty decent result if not for the pretty shambolic start to the season United have had so far, putting Ole Gunnar Solskjaer under pressure. But we’ll get to that.
Everton 2 – 0 West Ham
Another manager under pressure was Marco Silva at Everton, and his side went some way to alleviating that pressure with a comfortable 2-0 win over West Ham. Honestly, these two teams have probably confused me the most this season, because they are so difficult to figure out. Everton shouldn’t have started the day anywhere near the bottom three, they have a good squad with great strength in depth in attacking options. These creative players certainly looked very good against West Ham, and Everton probably should have scored more. West Ham now have to pick themselves up after disappointing results against Everton and Crystal Palace – particularly against Everton, they looked very poor.
Aston Villa 2 -1 Brighton
Probably the most exciting match of the weekend, receiving top billing on Match of the Day. Definitely a game of real ebb and flow, with Brighton taking the lead, and Tom Heaton making a crucial save for Villa at 1-0 down, before Aaron Mooy had a reckless five minutes for Brighton, and collected two quick yellow cards to leave his side down to 10 men. Gareth Southgate was in the stands and Villa’s three England prospects would have impressed, particularly Jack Grealish, providing a goal and an assist. Tom Heaton looks a shrewd piece of business at £8mil, and should be called upon to give Jordan Pickford a bit of competition for England’s first choice keeper. In this game though, both of Villa’s goals came in injury time – one in the first half, one in the second. Perhaps Brighton should focus on closing things out.
Bournemouth 0 – 0 Norwich
Before this match, neither of these teams had kept a clean sheet in the league so far this season. Callum Wilson was in good goalscoring form for Bournemouth, and Teemu Pukki had started the season really well for Norwich. It probably says quite a lot about the entertainment value of this weekend’s set of fixtures that it finished 0-0, rather than a 4-3 thriller. Norwich will probably be happier with the draw than Bournemouth, particularly given that Bournemouth had the better of the chances, but with Norwich down in 19th it isn’t looking too rosy for them.
Chelsea 1 -0 Newcastle
A fairly comfortable 1-0 for Chelsea, who could and should have scored more, if not for some good saves from Dubravka and one goalmouth interception from Yedlin. Chelsea will also be very pleased to have kept a clean sheet, and it looks like Lampard is getting closer to establishing his regular first-choice starting XI, although I wouldn’t be surprised to see Rudiger and Kante come in when they both return to fitness. Newcastle will also be worried to be in the bottom three – there’s no shame in losing away to Chelsea, but given Chelsea’s poor defensive record of late, to not even have a shot on target or a corner all match is very poor.
Leicester 2 – 1 Burnley
Another impressive win for Leicester, given Burnley’s very solid start to the season. The big talking point from this match was Burnley’s late equaliser being disallowed by VAR due to Chris Wood apparently clipping Jonny Evans’ heels when he tried to get back to make the clearance. This decision could have gone either way I think – there is definitely contact, but unintentional, and I’m not sure Evans would have got back to clear the ball in time. The wider problem with VAR in the Premier League is that so far not one referee has gone to consult the pitch-side monitor, simply relying on what they’ve been told by the VAR officials themselves. Doubtless this is to try and save on lengthy time delays, but what is the point of having these monitors in place if you aren’t going to use them? In this game I really liked the way Leicester set up with plenty of creative ball-players, with Maddison, Tielemans, and Perez all starting. Probably the right way to go against a defensively-minded team such as Burnley, and it was Tielemans who ended up scoring the decisive goal.
Tottenham 1 – 1 Watford
Another match with a manager under pressure, who in this case was helped out by VAR not being used effectively. Watford took the lead early on, and should have definitely had a penalty when Deulofeu was brought down in the box by Vertonghen. Had the penalty been given (and had Watford scored it), it would have been 2-0, and quite possibly another loss for Pochettino’s men, in what has been quite a dismal calendar year, their journey to the Champions League final aside. They also needed some luck for their equaliser, with Ben Foster dropping a cross quite conveniently for Dele Ali to score. It is worth remembering that Spurs were not doing so well when Pochettino took over, and have consistently over-achieved while he has been there, for which he should be given credit, but 12 points from 9 games does not represent a very good start to the season from them, and they should definitely have been able to beat Watford, who have been awful so far.
Wolves 1 – 1 Southampton
More VAR decisions in this match, but probably correctly made in this match, with Wolves’ Raul Jiminez having two goals disallowed for handball and offside respectively. That being said, Southampton were probably the better team, with more possession and more shots, with James Ward-Prowse going close with a free kick. Southampton have had a tricky run of fixtures, with defeats at Spurs and against Chelsea prior to this match, and it isn’t going to get any easier for them, with their next match at home to Leicester, before two trips to Manchester City within five days, in the Carabao Cup and the league respectively. If they can get anything at all from those they’ll be delighted.
Crystal Palace 0 – 2 Manchester City
Manchester City were the only team in the league to win away all weekend, and honestly this seemed like utter domination. It took them a while to break down Palace’s defenses, but two goals in three minutes ensured this was wrapped up before half time. Pep made the interesting choice of playing Fernandinho and Rodri at centre-back, despite having John Stones on the bench. Although this meant City were extremely comfortable on the ball, they aren’t the tallest team to begin with, so if this becomes a regular thing it might make them a little more vulnerable at set pieces – Crystal Palace’s best chance in this match came from a corner, with Ederson making a fantastic save to tip Benteke’s header onto the bar. City also had a good claim for a penalty turned down, with Zaha appearing to foul De Bruyne in the box, not that it mattered in the end.
Manchester United 1 – 1 Liverpool
Liverpool’s winning streak finally came to an end, after Manchester United battled bravely to hold them to a draw. I said at the start that Solskjaer was under pressure going into this match, and that pressure will continue unless results improve, but I thought he did well here, switching to 3 at the back with attacking wing-backs to put pressure on Liverpool’s own full-backs, who are often at their best when going forwards themselves. However, one stat that caught my eye was United’s 32% possession – their joint lowest at home in more than fifteen years, with the other 32% also coming against Liverpool. Although United are notably short of attacking options they would be hoping to do much better at keeping the ball if they have any hopes of returning to the glory days they had under Sir Alex.
Sheffield United 1 – 0 Arsenal
Easily the biggest surprise of the weekend. Going into this match I’d thought Arsenal could turn it on and win 3-0, especially given Sheffield United have struggled at home so far this season. However, Arsenal struggled to break them down, which will lead to more questions regarding Mesut Ozil and if he will feature for Arsenal at any point soon – there’s an interesting article on the BBC about how he has now missed more than 100 games for the club, despite only having one major injury during his time there. Quite significant given he has only featured 167 times for Arsenal in the league. However, credit should go to Sheffield United, who have done extremely well to climb to 9th, and their back three of O’Connell, Basham and Egan looks formidable.
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