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| Image from the Sports Geek |
As match day four has now been wrapped up and players have jetted off on international duty, let’s take a look at all of the weekend’s results and rate the performances of every team:
Southampton 1-1 Manchester United
Chelsea 2-2 Sheffield United
Crystal Palace 1-0 Aston Villa
Leicester 3-1 Bournemouth
Manchester City 4-0 Brighton
Newcastle 1-1 Watford
West Ham 2-0 Norwich
Burnley 0-3 Liverpool
Everton 3-2 Wolves
Arsenal 2-2 Tottenham
SOUTHAMPTON: 8/10
As far as game plan and achieving your goals go, the Saints did a terrific job this weekend. They were a nuisance to United, despite creating few chances, and they were very solid at the back. The level of their defensive performance should be something they look to build on going forward.
MANCHESTER UNITED: 6/10
United’s performance in itself wasn’t terrible, but they simply cannot come away from games against Palace and Southampton with one point. It’s just unacceptable. The Reds once again couldn’t get past a solid back line more than once, and you fear that those offensive struggles may become a reoccurrence particularly against the smaller teams this season.
CHELSEA: 6/10
Frank Lampard was definitely gutted that his team dropped points against another promoted side, and that this time, they couldn’t hold on to a 2-0 lead. Chelsea have looked very promising going forward so far this season, with Tammy Abraham finding his feet as the new No. 9, but the defensive side of things looks like it may cost the Blues a lot of points.
SHEFFIELD UNITED: 8/10
The Blades did fantastically to come back from two goals down at Stamford Bridge. Great character and resilience shown from the newly promoted side as they come to grips with life in the English top flight. A lot of positives to take away from this one for them.
CRYSTAL PALACE: 8/10
After beating United last week, Palace pick up another win and finally get their title challenge on underway. Jokes aside, those games will be huge for the Eagles in order to stay up, and they did very well to get the three points against a dangerous Villa side.
ASTON VILLA: 6/10
Villa looked a bit toothless going forward in this one, but in the end will feel very hard done by the officiating in the dying moments of the game. But despite the loss, Villa have looked solid in every game this season, and they should be more than fine moving forward.
LEICESTER: 9/10
That was another solid display for the Foxes. Their midfield is thriving and Jamie Vardy has been rejuvenated. Leicester are playing some fine football right now and they are going to have to fight off some serious competition for their players in the upcoming transfer markets.
BOURNEMOUTH: 5/10
The Cherries didn’t look good after grabbing the equaliser, but it seems like they start slowly every season before finding their rhythm and solidifying their place in the middle of the pack, so I wouldn’t worry too much if I was a Bournemouth fan.
MANCHESTER CITY: 10/10
I mean, you don’t get more flawless than what City are playing at the moment. They are steam rolling through every one, and it is starting to look a whole lot like last season all over again, with City and Liverpool jumping out to an early lead ahead of the rest of the pack.
BRIGHTON: 5/10
There’s not a whole lot you can do when City are playing like they are, and you feel like Brighton were on damage limitation from minute one. Ever since their rampant victory in the season opener against Watford, Graham Potter’s men have been looking like relegation strugglers.
NEWCASTLE: 6/10
The Magpies have had a decent start to the season, and I think that they will only get better with the players that they have and with some of the injured players that they are waiting on to return. Their style of play is better than what people may have thought it would be under Steve Bruce.
WATFORD: 5/10
They’re just not themselves so far Watford. They were so dangerous and free flowing last season, but something is holding them back this season, and they will need to start putting points on the board quickly after the break.
WEST HAM: 8/10
Good performance from the Irons, and they will love to see their big money signing Haller firing on all cylinders. It seems like West Ham may have finally found their new No. 9 that will actually score goals.
NORWICH: 5/10
I have a lot of respect for Norwich because they came into the Premier League without any fear, sticking to their brand of football. They are fun to watch and very dangerous going forward, but my only worry for them is the defence. Allowing so many goals may prove to be costly.
BURNLEY: 5/10
They are in the similar boat to Brighton after this weekend. There aren’t many teams that won’t roll over when Liverpool come to town, and Burnley just simply weren’t good enough and got picked off by Liverpool’s fire power. No shame in that though.
LIVERPOOL: 10/10
Like City, except they have actually been flawless so far, literally. Four wins from four and the Reds are flying again. Their front three have hit the ground running, and they will be pleased with that away clean sheet after some questions were asked of their defence recently.
EVERTON: 8/10
Huge victory for the Toffees. After losing to Villa last week and the amount of money that they spent, there was no better opponent to defeat other than their direct Top 8 rivals. They still looked a bit shaky at the back, but they will certainly be happy with the offensive end product.
WOLVES: 7/10
Santos’ men didn’t really play too bad, and still scored two goals away from home, but ultimately I think the tough two-legged clash with Torino in the Europa League may have took its toll on them in this one.
ARSENAL: 7/10
The Gunners are going to struggle massively if the returns of Bellerin, Tierney, and Holding don’t fix their defensive issues. Everyone knows they can score goals for fun, but they won’t always be able to outscore every opponent if they keep conceding silly goals.
TOTTENHAM: 6/10
They will be absolutely gutted to have let go of a 2-0 lead away from home. Spurs had a very promising first half but just couldn’t handle Aubameyang’s and Lacazette’s brilliance for both Arsenal goals. Still though, it was a better showing from Spurs this week.
