EPL: Talking points of the weekend

Liverpool are moving in the right direction and though Mignolet struck the headlines, Begovic stole the show

Liverpool have had a new philosophy in place with the induction of new manager Brendan Rodgers last summer. The 40-year-old Northern Irishman is an advocate of ball possession and has induced a new style of play and put his money on young, exciting talent.

Rodgers doesn’t like losing the ball and hence employs more wing play ahead of the half line so as to move the ball up without losing it. Rodgers has took the pressure off any one man distributing work between Coutinho and Sturridge, and in the absence of Suarez, used Aspas to move the ball around the opposition box so as to create an opening.

Despite an impressive performance, Mignolet hit the headlines with a fine penalty save in the dying stage of the matches, but it was his opposite number in Begovic who kept Stoke in the match throughout, pulling a string of phenomenal saves and kept the adrenaline rushing for the entire 90.

Chelsea and City have made a statement under new coaches

Chelsea started the season in the wake of a déjà-vu of 2004-05 and 2005-06 when the Blues went on to lift back-to-back titles under Jose Mourinho. Chelsea have added ammunitions to the lineup with the signing of Schurrle, Kevin de Bryune and Van Ginkel to go with a return for Lukaku who was out on loan at West Brom last term. They got off to a brilliant start and though could only get two past Hull City, but the play looked promising.

On the other hand, Manchester City too started the campaign under new coach Pellegrini looking to get back their title with the additions of Navas, Fernandinho, Jovetic and Negredo in the best possible way getting four past a struggling Newcastle outfit.

Edin Dzeko looked amazing, Toure was at his effortless best and Silva took control of the midfield, while Zabaleta and Kompany guarded the defense to near perfection.

Putting all into perspective, both teams look set to take the bull by its horns and well on their way to shape one of the most exciting title races in recent times, one similar to the 2011-12 season. Both teams have announced title ambitions in style

Alan Pardew has a lot of work to do

Newcastle were never expected to get the better of Manchester City, but nor were they expected to go down in the fashion they did. With a lot going on the Cabaye transfer front at the back, Newcastle were out to give City a fight at their own home, but as it panned out, were completely outplayed by a brilliant City outfit.

Newcastle looked short in the midfield with Sissoko failing to win back balls, while a red card to Steven Taylor meant further trouble for the Magpies. Even Cisse, their hero in the last campaign, too went unseen for most part of the game and failed to make any of the impact he made in a win over Chelsea with a near-impossible-goal hitting at the most toughest angles, making physicists all over raise eyebrows with his finish.

With Cabaye set to leave, Pardew will have a lot of work to be done if Newcastle are to get over their horror run, a phenomenon of the end of last season.

Aston Villa under Paul Lambert and Stoke under Mark Hughes look a different unit

Aston Villa and Stoke City had been enjoying a long-run under coaches Martin O’Neil and Tony Pulis who had their style of play. But with the appointment of Paul Lambert and Mark Hughes, both teams gave a reflection of change. While Aston Villa moved from a flat back-four to attacking full backs with freedom to bombard forward, Stoke too shied from their long-running long-ball play.

This is not only a good sign for the two teams but the Premier League on the whole, and would certainly test the fellow EPL outfits this season.

Discount West Ham at your own peril

Rejected by Cheslea and now by Liverpool, Joe Cole sealed a move to West Ham United. The kind of performance the crafty midfielder put-in this weekend, there are no doubts over the still existing quality. Joe Cole got himself on the scoresheet and controlled most of the midfield play.

With Kevin Nolan getting into the groove at West Ham, things have started looking rosier at Upton Park. Adding Downing to their arsenal and Carroll being a daunting figure in the box, West Ham United is likely to surprise quite a few outfits and don’t be surprised if they do a West Brom of the opening half of the last season or the Newcastle of the prior.