Chelsea's inevitable paradox, Liverpool's master at work, Tottenham throw away a 2-0 lead and Wolves are the first crisis club of the season
Chelsea's inevitable paradox, Liverpool's master at work, Tottenham throw away a 2-0 lead and Wolves are the first crisis club of the seasonLiverpool win, Arsenal win, Manchester City win – there was awkwardness and necessary comebacks, but it’s as you were at the top of the Premier League. Tottenham missed a chance to gain ground after they lost to Brighton, but Aston Villa, Chelsea and Newcastle all failed too.
He can though at least rely on the experience of his captain to preach calm in that regard, and trust on Caoimhin Kelleher – absent against Crystal Palace due to illness – to ably deputise like he did last season. Pep Guardiola chose to use him and Rico Lewis in central midfield, the latter coming centrally from right-back to help out. But Fulham were still able to escape on the counter repeatedly, either through Adama Traore carrying the ball or the attack coming down the right and Traore being played in. Guardiola reasoned that this was just one of those things – “it is impossible to stop him” – but it’s worth keeping an eye on.
The assists have gone up partly because the creative numbers have jumped too. Saka has averaged 8.1 shot-creating actions per 90 minutes in 2024-25, up from 5.8 across the whole of last season. He’s also attempting more crosses into the box from open play. This outsized reaction exposed both unity and immaturity, feeding into a wider narrative about poor discipline at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea’s 27 yellow cards this season – five of which came on Sunday – is a league-high, including 10 for either dissent, arguing or excessive celebration. Fofana and Cucurella are already suspended for the Liverpool game. This will cost them matches.
Unai Emery was not helped by the early loss of Ezri Konsa, which added to the sense of uncertainty. He at least fashioned a rally in the second half when Villa pushed hard for the breakthrough and turned the possession stats from negative to positive. After 58 minutes Georginio Rutter took Mitoma’s pass and sidestepped both Udogie and Micky van de Ven before left-footing low past Guglielmo Vicario.
There was some surprise that Marco Silva dropped Emile Smith Rowe for the trip to Manchester City, but his plan worked perfectly despite the defeat. Using Adama Traore’s pace as a one-man wrecking ball on the counter attack to complement Raul Jimenez as the target man striker created a devastating combination. It’s no exaggeration to say that Fulham could have scored six times.
Spursy? That will doubtless be thrown at them. Tired? Perhaps. Complacent? Manager Ange Postecoglou seemed to think so. But this aberration at the Amex still defies analysis.The simple explanation would include individual errors, coupled with a drop in intensity that might be blamed on their midweek match in Budapest. They were 3-2 down after 66 minutes, which, in theory, offered plenty of time to salvage at least a point. But it never looked on.
“It was unacceptable. You’re not going to win every game but that’s the first time since I came here that we’ve lost in that manner. Ola Aina is undoubtedly better than Alex Moreno, but both were beaten too easily one-on-one on Sunday, the most obvious weak spot in this defence and one which will continue to be exploited. But given the central penalty area appeared a no-go zone, this is not the end of the world.
But Brentford have accelerated this efficiency by signing Nathan Collins last summer and doubling down on their work on attacking set pieces. Now no team in the division has taken a higher percentage of their shots from headers and only Arsenal have scored more in the early parts of this season. Against Ipswich, West Ham seemed more patient, working the ball into midfield and then back and forth in possession to wait for the chance. They attempted only nine crosses in open play.It has been an odd, inconsistent start to the season for Bournemouth and Andoni Iraola. The points return is perfectly reasonable, although probably putting paid to some of the ambitions supporters may have had for kicking on from 12th place in Iraola’s first season.
That has been highlighted by a second annoying habit. Last season, Bournemouth only conceded first in 17 of their 38 league games . So far this season, Bournemouth have conceded first in five of their seven matches. They’re having to chase games and that is exacerbating the panicky nature of their finishing.The panel of “experts” was arranged in order of rank behind Erik ten Hag, the men on whom his future rests.
There may or may not be profit in this. What is undeniable is the value Van Nistelrooy would add were he available for selection in the team rather than picking it. Goodness knows this team could do with the fecundity that was once his. I understand that swapping Enzo Maresca for Cooper is a huge shift in tactical style and why that can cause angst. But then a) Maresca’s style would have been very hard to maintain in the Premier League with these players, and b) I can remember Leicester supporters being critical of that style in the Championship.
A few weeks ago, when Everton were at their most shambolic, we remarked on their chronic right-back situation with Seamus Coleman and Nathan Patterson out and Ashley Young struggling. We called it the most obvious weakness of any Premier League team. That probably just about still holds up to scrutiny, but this weekend was a large misstep. It wasn’t just that Ipswich lost 4-1 – that’ll happen in the Premier League – but we saw the first signs that the commitment to playing out from the back will cause them problems against pressing teams who look to make interceptions and then create overlaps in the final third if they win the ball high.
The malaise was palpable at Selhurst Park, and only lifted on the hour-mark when Jean-Philippe Mateta came on for Crystal Palace. The striker gave Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate more bother in those 30 minutes than any player in the previous 60, and more noticeable were his multiple gestures for the crowd to make more noise.
This certainly hasn’t helped the cause, with this disjointed defence essentially diagonal in the moment that mattered against Liverpool, who carved Palace open thanks to the space the hosts’ faulty back line created. It is something that can be fixed, and that would certainly be made easier if players were allowed to build an understanding together.
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