Arsenal lack creativity in big games, Ange Postecoglou is building something special at Tottenham and Jeremy Doku announces himself to the top flight… 10 THINGS WE LEARNED in the Premier League at the weekend
- The Premier League treated us to another dramatic and entertaining weekend
- There were several closely-fought games, along with significant VAR conjecture
- Can Liverpool challenge for the title? Listen to the debate on It’s All Kicking Off
The Premier League never fails to entertain and last weekend was no different as we saw a hugely chaotic few days of action.
We were treated to 30 goals across 10 enthralling games, plenty of entertaining moments and of course, there was also VAR drama.
This included Monday’s London derby between Tottenham and Chelsea which will go down as one of the most frenetic Premier League encounters of all-time with five goals, the same number disallowed, two reds cards and a slew of contentious VAR calls.
Elsewhere, there were comfortable wins for Man City, Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest, while Brentford, Man United, Sheffield United and Newcastle all narrowly edged out their opponents.
Here, Mail Sport dissects the key talking points from a gripping weekend of action in the the top flight.
We were treated to an entertaining and dramatic few days of action in the Premier League
Tottenham’s clash with Chelsea saw five goals disallowed, two red cards and VAR controversy
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Postecoglou is building something special at Spurs
It is hard to know where to begin when reflecting on Monday’s captivating clash at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with the game ranking right up there among the craziest in Premier League history.
But the way Tottenham stuck to their principles when they went down to 10 men after Cristian Romero’s dangerous challenge on Enzo Fernandez and again with nine when Destiny Udogie recklessly lunged in on Raheem Sterling, was inspiring.
While Chelsea did miss a slew of chances and Guglielmo Vicario was in superb form, Spurs held off Chelsea until the 75th minute when Nicolas Jackson finally converted one of the many opportunities he received.
The way Tottenham reacted to significant adversity and stuck to their principles was inspiring
While they did ride their luck, nine-men Spurs were close to getting something from the game
It didn’t faze them though, and Eric Dier had a sumptuous volley ruled out for offside almost immediately, while Rodrigo Bentancur and Heung-Min Son both missed big chances to equalise, before Jackson completed a bizarre hat-trick as Chelsea ran out 4-1 victors.
Some may say Ange Postecoglou was crazy by sticking to his high line and aggressive tactics, but the way the Spurs fans cheered off their players despite what ended up being a heavy loss to their rivals shows everyone is pulling in the same direction in north London.
The Australian has just got to hope the injuries to James Maddison and Micky van de Ven aren’t too serious as Spurs now could be without four players who have been so crucial to their previously unbeaten start.
Chelsea must build on getting the job done
It might be one of football’s oldest clichés, but it isn’t always easy against 10 men, let alone nine so Chelsea would have been mightily relieved when they got the job done on Monday.
It wasn’t a perfect display by any means on Mauricio Pochettino’s return to Tottenham, but his side could have made it a lot easier for themselves if they had taken some of the numerous chances they squandered.
However, they were under huge pressure to get the result, and were faced with a vociferous home support who united behind their beleaguered side.
For a young team who have wilted on several occasions over the past 12 months, finally getting over the line in a big game feels like it could be massive.
They are likely to really show what they are made of over the next month as they take on Man City, Newcastle, Brighton and Man United in successive games.
Chelsea would have been relieved to get the job done, but now have to build on the result
Arsenal lack creativity in big games
While Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat to Newcastle was dominated by Mikel Arteta’s post-match rant about the ‘disgraceful’ and ’embarrassing’ performance of VAR, the result exposed an increasing problem for the Gunners.
The bare facts suggest they are having a fine campaign again, lying just three points off the top and having lost only one game.
However, at times they are failing to show that spark and creativity they displayed last season and the Newcastle defeat demonstrated these weaknesses yet again.
Arsenal’s lack of creativity hindered them again in their controversial 1-0 defeat to Newcastle
Although they were comfortable for much of the game, the Gunners rarely tested Nick Pope with just one shot on target and this is becoming a familiar pattern, with Bukayo Saka left as a peripheral figure.
In the bigger games or tougher away matches, the Gunners have struggled to break sides down. For example, against Man City, it was a low quality affair until Gabriel Martinelli’s effort deflected in off Nathan Ake, while at Chelsea, the Gunners were 2-0 down until Declan Rice was handed a gift by Robert Sanchez’s misplaced pass.
Arsenal – who it must be said were missing Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard at St James’ Park – are still a fine side and have been boosted by Rice’s presence in midfield, but the lack of creativity on occasions is something Arteta will want to nip in the bud sooner-rather-than-later.
Doku announces himself to the Premier League
Jeremy Doku has been on the radar of top European clubs ever since he made his Anderlecht debut aged 16 and won his first Belgium cap at 18, but his £55m move to Man City from Rennes provided an intriguing proposition.
Given his dazzling dribbling skills and directness, there have been suggestions that he is not quite a Pep Guardiola player, given the Spaniard is someone who prefers control over fast transitions.
However, Doku is putting that theory to bed and he has already showed signs of his quality in games this season, although Guardiola has benched him in the bigger matches against the likes of Arsenal and Man United, with Jack Grealish preferred.
Nevertheless, Doku truly announced himself to the Premier League on Saturday with four assists and one goal in City’s 6-1 demolition of Bournemouth.
He has completed the most dribbles per 90 minutes in the top flight with 4.7 and looks like he is set to be a star of the league for years to come after a stunning display, with Guardiola heaping praise on his options ahead of this week’s Champions League tie against Young Boys.
‘I want Jack angry and I want him to play good,’ he said. ‘And then Doku – be angry that he hasn’t played the past two games. This is the way to maintain the consistency at that level. We need everyone. The way Jack played at Old Trafford to give us more composure was decisive for us.’
Jeremey Doku truly announced himself to the Premier League with four assists and one goal
Liverpool show familiar weakness
Hidden among Liverpool’s disappointing season last year was the damning statistic of their struggles away at newly-promoted clubs.
Jurgen Klopp’s side lost on the road to both Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest, while they could only muster a draw at Craven Cottage against Fulham.
The German would therefore have been equally irritated after dropping points at Luton on Sunday, although they at least picked up a point thanks to the inspirational Luis Diaz’s last-gasp header.
It was a frustrating display for the Reds, who dominated the game, but lacked the decisiveness and quality in the final third.
Their start to the campaign has still been fantastic, with a new-look midfield excelling and mouth-watering attacking options, but Klopp needs to nip this all too familiar problem in the bud ahead of trips to Sheffield United and Burnley next month.
Liverpool continued their pattern of struggling away to newly-promoted teams against Luton
Performances are secondary for United – for now
It wasn’t pretty, but Manchester United got the job done at Fulham on Saturday and returned to winning ways after a bruising week that saw them lose successive home games by three or more goals for the first time since 1962.
Things could have been different if Scott McTominay’s early goal wasn’t ruled out by VAR, but again it was an unconvincing and flat performance from the Red Devils as they struggled to make an impact against a side in the bottom half of the table, before Bruno Fernandes’ late moment of quality.
For all of Erik ten Hag’s stubborn and feisty defence of his style of play pre-match, there was little evidence of it on show at Craven Cottage.
Nevertheless, he desperately needed a win to ease the pressure and the Dutchman will take any positives he can, while hoping this result provides a springboard to a better run of form.
Despite all the struggles and the crisis the club is engulfed in, they are also somehow only sitting six points off the top four.
It wasn’t pretty but Manchester United got the job done with a scrappy 1-0 victory over Fulham
Burnley paying for poor recruitment
Given all the plaudits Burnley received as they romped to the Championship title last season with more than 100 points, things couldn’t be going much worse this year.
Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace saw them become the first side in English top-flight history to lose their first six home games to begin a campaign.
In truth, they haven’t been up to the standards needed in the top flight, while they’ve also been their own worst enemy with several individual mistakes when playing out from the back leaving them brutally exposed.
However, the Clarets – who are the league’s lowest scorers with just eight goals – are also paying for their poor recruitment in the summer that saw them splash £92m on 13 senior players.
Key to their success in 2022-23 were loan stars Ian Maatsen (now back at Chelsea), Taylor Harwood-Bellis (now on loan with Southampton) and Nathan Tella (now at Bayer Leverkusen) and they have struggled to fill the huge void of their absences.
Burnley need more from big-money additions like Zeki Amdouni, Sander Berge, Luca Koleosho, Dara O’Shea and James Trafford or it looks a near certainty they’ll be back in the Championship next season.
Burnley’s poor start to the campaign is coupled with a disappointing summer of recruitment
Everton and Dyche are building nicely
There’s no doubting it has been an extremely tough time for Everton off the field in recent months with the tragic passing of chairman Bill Kenwright, fears about the financial future of the club, along with rumours of an impending points deduction.
However, on the pitch, things are finally looking up after two dismal years of battling against relegation.
While it is still early days, Everton have lost just two of their last eight games in all competitions and have picked up impressive victories against Brentford, Aston Villa, Bournemouth and West Ham in that time.
At the back they have always been blessed with a top quality keeper in Jordan Pickford, but Jarrad Branthwaite and James Tarkowski are quickly looking like one of the best defensive partnerships outside of the Premier League’s top teams.
In midfield, James Garner, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Amadou Onana and Idrissa Gana Gueye dovetail well, while Dwight McNeil and Jack Harrison either side of Dominic Calvert-Lewin – who is finally enjoying a run of games without injury – provides impressive options and depth elsewhere.
Things are looking up at Everton and they have won four of their past eight matches in total
Newcastle demonstrate fighting spirit
For all the money that has been invested since Newcastle were taken over by the Saudi Arabian-backed PIF, perhaps the most impressive thing Eddie Howe has achieved is taking the likes of Jacob Murphy, Sean Longstaff and Miguel Almiron – previously unfancied at the club – to new levels.
This has also been evidenced with the fighting spirit and togetherness that has developed, with this again on display in recent weeks as the injury crisis at the club continues to sweep far and wide.
Harvey Barnes, Jacob Murphy, Elliot Anderson, Sven Botman, Alexander Isak, Javier Manquillo and Matt Targett were all on the treatment table before Saturday, and they have now been joined by Dan Burn, while Murphy injured himself again on his comeback off the bench after just 17 minutes.
This is coupled with the 10-month suspension handed to Sandro Tonali for illegal gambling activity in Italy, while Bruno Guimaraes has racked up five yellow cards and will miss a game.
The performances of Jamaal Lascelles since coming into the team shows Newcastle’s spirit
However, the way club captain Jamaal Lascelles has stepped up in Botman’s absence has been inspired, while Tino Livramento was superb when replacing the injured Dan Burn at half time against Arsenal on Saturday.
Elsewhere, the 3-0 victory over Man United in the Carabao Cup with a much-changed side was further evidence of their spirit and again, Anthony Gordon’s winner against the Gunners came when he was featuring in an unfamiliar central striker role.
Howe’s ability to coax more out of his players has been impressive and he will need to rinse every sinew out of them in the coming weeks as they attempt to keep their campaign on track despite a lengthening injury list.
Is Moyes under pressure?
David Moyes has had a transformative role since returning to West Ham for a second spell.
After initially staving off relegation, he has turned them into regular European challengers with three successive campaigns on the continent – which included an appearance in the Europa League semi-finals and that famous Europa Conference League title last season.
However, after a positive start to the campaign, the Hammers are experiencing a little blip, with Saturday’s defeat to Brentford meaning they’ve won just one of their past seven league games.
Moyes’ squad is arguably as good as any in the club’s recent times, with talented stars such as Mohammed Kudus, Lucas Paqueta and Jarrod Bowen in attack supplemented by the likes of James Ward-Prowse, Edson Alvarez, Kurt Zouma and Konstantinos Mavropanos.
But with all that quality comes pressure and the Scot has got to find the way to get the best out of his team, while ensuring he maintains the traditional Moyes stability.
Wins over Brighton, Chelsea, Freiburg and Arsenal show they are not too far away and their tough run of fixtures must be appreciated, but Moyes will be keen to thwart this poor run as soon as he can.
David Moyes is coming under pressure at West Ham after just one win in seven league games
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