Yet another week of Premier Leauge football and yet again the table gets tighter. The league that never fails to impress has done it again. With a quarter of the season already behind us, the top three teams in the Premier League – Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal, are separated by only goal difference while Chelsea and Spurs occupy the 4th and 5th spots respectively and are only a point behind the leaders.
This was a weekend where five of the top seven teams dropped points, with a few surprise results as well. However, one game was the centre of attention, Manchester United travelling to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea. Let's recap a weekend of some fantastic football with ten things we learned from the weekend.
#1 Eddie Howe strengthens his case for a bigger managerial role
Trending
When Tottenham took on Bournemouth, it was a golden chance for Mauricio’s Tottenham to go on top of the table, at least temporarily. However, the chance was squandered after a combination of mediocre attacking from the North Londoners and some commendable defending from the Cherries to ensure a stalemate in the first game of the weekend.
Eddie Howe has yet again proved that he could be the right man to lead the English National Team. With Bournemouth, he has proven that he could trouble big teams with limited resources. The Cherries, in fact, almost took the lead early in the game when Daniels hit the crossbar.
Despite Tottenham dominating the game, Bournemouth have a lot of positive to take back and the well-earned point sees Bournemouth just two points behind Manchester United.
#2 Arsenal lacked creativity without Cazorla
The little Spanish midfielder was missed by The Gunners in the clash against Middlesbrough on Saturday and Arsenal lacked creativity in midfield without Santi Cazorla. While Elneny and Coquelin put in a respectable performance in midfield, Cazorla’s ability to distribute defence breaking passes were lacking and the team suffered due to that.
On the other hand, Arsenal did manage to create a few chances thanks to Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez, however, Victor Valdes was fantastic in goal for Middlesbrough, leaving the Gunners frustrated. The passing range and interceptions of Santi Cazorla have been an important feature in Arsenal’s 8 game winning streak this season and he was clearly missed.
#3 Burnley are dangerous at Turf Moor
The Clarets welcomed Ronald Koeman’s Everton to Turf Moor in what was a fantastic game for the home team. Everton have had a great start to the season but Burnley have made Turf Moor into a fortress and gave The Toffees a run for their money. Sean Dyche has inspired his players to push harder than ever and they have been a tough side to face at home this season.
Burnley have also beaten Liverpool at home and the atmosphere the fans create at Turf Moor is an intimidating place for opposition players.
Manager Sean Dyche has acknowledged that home games will be the strength of his team and accumulating as many points as possible at home would be a massive boost to their chances of survival in the league. Burnley is now placed 14th with 10 points.
#4 Despair for Moyes as West Ham win another game
The Black Cats have now had the worst start to a Premier League campaign ever after the last gasp winner from Winston Reid ensured that West Ham picks up three more vital points.
While the victory is a huge sigh of relief for Slaven Bilic, who has now picked up seven points from their five home games in the Premier League pushing them to 10 points overall and 15th spot on the table.
As for David Moyes, one can only feel sorry for the former Manchester United manager. The Scotsman has done all he could with his Sunderland team to salvage a draw at the Olympic Stadium but a loss of concentration lead to Winston Reid’s goal.
Sunderland’s goalkeeper Jordan Pickford has been fantastic but the long injury list and luck have not helped Moyes and has kept the team at the bottom of the table with two points.
#5 Anfield dreams of a Premier League
After a fantastic chance to capture their first Premier League title was wasted under Brendan Rodgers in 2013-14, the Liverpool faithful at Anfield are now surely dreaming of a possible Premier League title this season.
After nine games in the league, Liverpool are second on the table and would have been on top if not for Gareth McAuley’s consolation goal for West Brom.
Klopp has transformed Liverpool into one of the most dangerous teams in the Premier League. Phillipe Coutinho is in the form of his life, and is ably supported by some fantastic players in Sadio Mane, Adam Lallana and Roberto Firminio, who are all having a great run.
The German manager’s ability to learn quickly from games has been fantastic and the German has shown that he is not afraid to leave out quality players like Sturridge, who don’t fit into his style of play and his system.
#6 Defensive issues a big worry for Pep
Manchester City dropped points yet again as another defensive error led to a goal for the opposition and this time it was John Stones who was to blame. In the game against Barcelona, Gundogan’s back pass to Otamendi ended up with Suarez assisting Messi for his third goal on the night. So why are Manchester City giving away so many goals with defensive errors?
It clearly looks like the defence has not yet figured out the former Barcelona manager’s system. While the Manchester City defenders are undoubtedly great at distributing the ball from the back, they are vulnerable on the counter.
Pep will have to look into the issue and hope for Stones, Kompany and Otamendi to be calm in defence and not rush into hasty passes. Fernadinho looks to be the only player who can play his way out of pressure from the opponents in the City backline.
#7 No Vardy? No Problem!
Leicester City got back to winning ways on Saturday after goals from Shinji Okazaki, Christian Fuchs and Ahmed Musa gave them a 3-1 win over Alan Pardew’s Crystal Palace.
Claudio Ranieri dropped Marc Albrighton and Jamie Vardy to bring in Okazaki and summer signing Ahmed Musa which paid off for the defending champions. Both Okazaki and Musa were a constant threat to Palace’s defence.
Jamie Vardy’s presence was not really missed as Ahmed Musa impressed with his pace and guile on Saturday. He was assisted well by Riyad Mahrez, who was a constant threat for Leicester. Ranieri would be impressed with his attacking players’ performance on Saturday after a convincing victory over an impressive Crystal Palace side.
#8 Conte’s new formation works wonders for Chelsea
Antonio Conte went into the Manchester United game with a 3-4-3 formation, after switching to that formation a few games ago and it paid off for the Italian.
Chelsea had been leaking in goals earlier in the season and after the defeat to Arsenal, Antonio Conte was desperate to find the solution. Midway through the second half, Conte switched to the 3-4-3 formation and the Blues have been fantastic ever since.
Azpilicueta, Gary Cahill and David Luiz, the three defenders at the back, have been given cover by the duo of Nemanja Matic and N’Golo Kante, which has led to three clean sheets against Hull City, Leicester City and Manchester United for Antonio Conte’s men. The new formation is certainly working wonders and Chelsea’s title race seems to be back on track.
#9 While Rashford steals the limelight, Iheanacho is putting in performances quietly
Ever since his promotion to the first team under Louis Van Gaal, Marcus Rashford has had the spotlight on him and hailed as a future superstar. While there is no doubt about the quality of the player, Kelechi Iheanacho has shone at Manchester City, albeit without the attention of the media.
With his goal yesterday, the Nigerian's tally this season now moves to three.
Under Pep Guardiola, he seems to be growing into a dangerous striker and his attacking runs into the box have the threat of an established striker. The style in which he stormed his way into the box and held on to score the equaliser shows he could be Aguero's heir at the Etihad.
#10 Is Mourinho going to learn from his mistakes?
Yet another failure from the Manchester United boss leaves him with a lot to do at Old Trafford in the Premier League title race. While many argue that his performance against Liverpool was tactically brilliant, it is just unacceptable for a team of the calibre of Manchester United to settle for a draw against any team in the Premier League.
The story against Chelsea was somewhat different, however.
This time, it was a clear tactical error by Mourinho as he chose Marouane Fellaini over Michael Carrick in midfield, the decision even more baffling after Carrick’s excellent performance in the mid-week win over Fenerbahce. Fellaini was poor in the first half and was rightly replaced by Juan Mata at half-time.
Individual errors have not helped Mourinho as well as Chris Smalling and Daley Blind were at fault for two of the goals in the drubbing at Stamford Bridge. Mourinho needs to find his best midfield pairing and also make a decision about the wide positions.
