Premier League 2017/18: 5 talking points from gameweek three's action

As we head into the International break, we reflect on the past weekend of Premier League action saw that 20 goals scored, including four at Anfield in Arsenal's demolition. This break has come in time for the likes of Arsenal, West Ham United and Crystal Palace as all three of them would seek to regroup and bounce back after their dismal start to the new campaign. Pressure is already mounting on Slaven Bilic of West Ham in particular as the Hammers have already conceded 10 goals in three games.

Below are the top 5 talking points from the weekend.

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#1 The Red Devils show their killer instinct

Jose Mourinho's Manchester United were largely kept at bay by a well organized Leicester City defence led by their captain Wes Morgan and the impressive Harry Maguire who has just won his first call up to the England National team. The Red Devils performance seemed to have everything but the finishing touch, reminiscent of a few similar outings last season, particularly at Old Trafford and yet the outcome was so different.

Manchester United had a terrible home record last season wherein they won only 8 of their home games in the league and 10 matches ended in a stalemate. However, the outlook of this United side is quite different as has been evident in their rampant wins so far. United have already scored 10 goals in three games, half the number of games as compared to last season.

United breached the 10 goal mark in their 6th League game last season and coincidentally, against Leicester City.

#2 Gunners' sinking ship

Arsenal put in one of their worst performances ever

There was a mixture of excitement and anxiety amongst the Arsenal fans at the start of the season. While on one hand, they were looking forward to seeing their club record signing Alexandre Lacazette in action, on the other they were hoping against odds that Alexis Sanchez stays put at Arsenal.

Overall, they were hoping to see Arsenal mount a serious title challenge.

Their start to the season, however, was a deja vu moment for the fans, that is until the 83rd minute at least before Ramsey and Giroud bailed out Arsene Wenger's team against Leicester. What has followed since has only heaped misery on the longest serving manager in the Premier League currently. The Gunners were humiliated 4-0 by Liverpool in what was a disgraceful performance from Arsenal.

Arsene Wenger's men already find themselves neck deep in crisis with three games played. It will be interesting to see how they respond to yet another setback.

#3 Tottenham's Wembley hoodoo

Hugo Lloris was beaten in the 92nd minute by Chris Wood

Last season's runners up Tottenham Hotspurs started the season brightly but their new and temporary home ground, Wembley, brought them back to earth. Spurs have played 11 games at Wembley and have never won against an English opponent since their League Cup final win against Chelsea in 2008.

Mauricio Pochettino's men were on course to change this dismal record before Burnley's new record signing, Chris Wood scored in the 2nd minute of added time to deny the hosts three points. This will cause a lot of headache to Pochettino who had converted the White Hart Lane into a fortress last season where Tottenham used their home support to win 17 of their 19 Premier League matches. In fact, Spurs had won their home fixtures against Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal!

How Tottenham handle their home games this season will be crucial if they are to mount any serious title challenge this season.

#4 Unbreached defence of Huddersfield

Huddersfield are playing top division football for the first time since 1972

The newly promoted Huddersfield Town are enjoying life in their first ever campaign in the Premier League. They are still unbeaten and were even at the top of the table momentarily before Manchester United's win over Leicester City. David Wagner's men have yet to concede a goal so far in their campaign and the record stood after their 0-0 draw at home against Southampton.

Huddersfield Town have quite a history to boast of as they were the first English team to have won three successive titles (1923-26) and this feat has been achieved by only three other teams including Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United.

Coming back to the present, the Terriers, as they are popularly known as, would be targeting Premier League safety and they have perhaps gotten off to the best possible start to the campaign.

#5 Sterling sent off for celebrating with the fans

Manchester City supporters were delighted with the injury time winner

This weekend we saw two red cards being brandished by the referees and for extremely opposite reasons. Miguel Britos of Watford was correctly sent off for arguably one of the worst tackles in football history and question marks have been raised over his future as the red card and a three match suspension may not be the end of problems for Britos. The FA may decide to extend his suspension as well.

On the other hand, Raheem Sterling was sent off in controversial circumstances as he received his second yellow card for celebrating his goal with the fans. Manchester City's Pep Guardiola was left perplexed with the referee's decision and even went to the extent of demanding an explanation.

This yellow card is certainly debatable as in a sport such as football where fans and players run high on emotions. After scoring a last minute winning goal in a crucial match, it is natural for a player to be expressive in his celebrations.

Perhaps, the rules surrounding the celebrations need to be relooked at?