All the attention in the build-up to this weekend was in Spain as Barcelona and Real Madrid faced off for El Clasico, however, the Premier League will grab the headlines yet against after an incredible weekend filled with shocks, surprises, drama and action.
The weekend kicked off with Manchester City hosting Chelsea in an encounter that would shift power at the top of the table. Antonio Conte came out on top in a battle of two magisterial managers to extend his team's lead on top of the table.
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The weekend continued with the North London teams Tottenham and Arsenal netting five, while Liverpool was shocked by Bournemouth in a thrilling encounter. Mourinho and Manchester United continued their poor start to the season with yet another draw to cap off the weekend. All this and more as here are ten things we learned from yet another fantastic game week of football from the Premier League.
#1 Chelsea is Guardiola’s kryptonite
Pep Guardiola has faced Chelsea four times in his managerial career and hasn’t managed to beat the Londoners within regulation time even on one occasion. With Barcelona, Guardiola lost to eventual Champions League winners Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, while a Torres goal gave them a draw at the Camp Nou.
With Bayern, he only managed to beat Jose’s Chelsea on penalties, while Conte’s Chelsea on Saturday beat Guardiola comfortably with a 3-1 scoreline. Guardiola doesn’t seem to find a way around Chelsea ability to sit back and absorb pressure and hit them hard on the counter attack. All of Chelsea’s goals proved how simple it can be to hit Guardiola’s team on the break with one good pass and Pep needs to find a way to fix this.
#2 Leicester City is heading towards a relegation battle
How often do we see a league winning team end up in a relegation battle the very next season? Almost never! The Foxes started out their season with a loss to Hull City and never really seemed to settle into the season. Not only have Leicester been poor on the road, the Foxes have not been able to pick up points even at their fortress – The King Power Stadium.
Ironically, the Foxes seem to turn up at their best during their Champions League games but haven’t ever recreated that form in the league. Ranieri’s strategy to sit back and counter with Jamie Vardy’s pace is outdated and Riyadh Mahrez’s creativity is relied on too much. It only seems to be getting worse after every game for Ranieri and Leicester City at the moment.
#3 Tottenham Hotspur look like a revived team
After a good start to the season, Tottenham Hotspur lost their talisman Harry Kane. While Son stepped in to save Spurs for a brief period, the North Londoners were dropping far too many points despite being unbeaten. Their unbeaten streak in the league came to an end in a devastating week which saw them lose to Chelsea and get knocked out of the Champions League.
However, the Tottenham team that faced Swansea City is a force to be reckoned. Harry Kane led from the front and Cristian Erikson was as fantastic as always. The biggest positive for Tottenham was Dele Alli. The youngster who had a fantastic season last year looked to be at this best against Swansea and that make Spurs look extremely dangerous.
#4 Alexis is the match-winner Arsenal need
Over the year Barcelona have signed some of Arsenal’s best players like Thierry Henry, Cesc Fabregas and Marc Overmars. However, all can be forgiven as they have given the Gunners Alexis Sanchez. The Chilean looks like the player that Arsenal had lacked all this while. With a fantastic hat-trick, Alexis and Arsenal demolished West Ham United 5-1.
Alexis’ work rate sets him apart from most of the other players. The Chilean has grown as a leader during his time at Arsenal and puts the team above self as he always has. He displayed traits of star players when he set up Mesut Ozil selflessly and when he kept his composure to finish his third goal. If Arsenal want to win the league, Alexis needs to be fit and in form.
#5 Sunderland going to pull off yet another escape?
We’re running out of count! How many times have Sunderland avoided relegation despite being down and out? The Black cats seemed to be named rightly so, but Sunderland seems to have way more than nine lives. David Moyes has overcome the injury crisis and came up with a winning formula for Sunderland.
Sunderland fans are probably worshipping their star player Jermaine Defore who doesn’t seem to be slowing down despite ageing. The former England international increased his goal tally to eight goals from fourteen games for Sunderland after scoring Sunderland’s second goal. Sunderland face Swansea next week and can look to extend their lead over the team at the bottom by five points.
#6 The contrasting fortunes of Aguero and Diego Costa
Before the season started off, Sergio Aguero was one of the favourites to take home the golden boot. While Diego Costa was not far away, the striker’s negative antics on the pitch dominated the news regarding him and not his footballing ability. However, the Manchester Derby was an indicator of how things have changed.
Sergio Aguero will be banned till the 31st of December, the second time this season that the Argentine is facing a lengthy ban. On the other hand, Diego Costa leads the top scorer's table and has been on his best behaviour this season. Seldom has the striker unnecessarily gotten into an argument as has grown into one of the most dangerous strikers in world football.
Aguero’s moments of madness, on the other hand, could be the reason why he will loses out on the golden boot. Discipline on the pitch is everything!
#7 Manchester United are playing good football but just cannot win
Jose Mourinho made it clear that he wants Manchester United to play the football they are renowned for and has done his best living up to his words. The Red Devils have dominated in all of their last five games, but have only managed to win one. In all fairness to Jose, he has fixed Manchester United’s midfield problems as Michael Carrick, Ander Herrera, Juan Mata, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Paul Pogba has all stepped up.
However, the Red Devils, like all Jose Mourinho teams have tried to defend their lead after scoring. The issue with Manchester United, unlike previous Jose Mourinho teams in that their defence is simply not good enough to sit back and hold onto a one goal lead. To make matters worse this weekend, Marouane Fellaini’s substitution completely backfired as Manchester United conceded late to draw yet again.
#8 Burnley are terrible away from home
While Sean Dyche’s Burnley have been fantastic at Turf Moor making it one of the toughest ground to play football in, the Clarets have otherwise been very poor away from home. The newly promoted team has failed to win away from home and picked up only one point on the road so far this season – against Manchester Untied.
Manager Sean Dyche openly spoke about his team’s poor away form and recognised it as something they have to improve on. With Burnley aiming to stay in the Premier League, picking up important points on the road are going to be vital. Burnley will now play West Ham United, Tottenham, Manchester City and Arsenal on the road and it looks like they won't be picking up points away from home soon.
#9 Tony Pulis proves himself yet again
West Bromwich Albion are one of the best performers of the year and if any deserves credit for that, it is surely Tony Pulis. In his managerial career that started with saving Bournemouth from relegation twice, Tony Pulis has held a fantastic record of never being relegated despite managing mediocre teams, to say the least.
The manager has been known to make his teams defensively strong and has done the same with West Brom. The Baggies had a net expenditure of only £12 million this summer and have the best points to expenditure ratio. With the January transfer window coming up, Tony Pulis might be tempted to strengthen his squad and push for a European spot.
#10 Bournemouth exploit Liverpool’s weak links
Eddie Howe has proven himself over and over again this year, but this game would surely be one of Bournemouth best this season. The Cherries’ never say die spirit was admirable as they fought back from being 1-3 down to win the game 4-3.
Liverpool certainly missed Phillipe Coutinho and the squad looked extremely tired towards the end of the game. It looks like fatigue is a major factor in Liverpool’s dip in form while their defensive problems seem to be getting worse. To add to their defensive woes, Karius’ goalkeeping blunder led to Ake’s winner.
Are things going to go downhill for Liverpool from here, or is it just a small bump in a long journey?
