Another week of Premier League football in which Liverpool remain top with 6 wins from 6 and Manchester City demolish Watford to keep up the chase. Leicester and Arsenal earned important wins at home to complete the top four for this week at least
Here are the results this week:
Southampton vs Bournemouth 1-3
Leicester vs Tottenham 2-1
Burnley vs Norwich 2-0
Everton vs Sheffield United 0-2
Manchester City vs Watford 8-0
Brighton vs Newcastle 0-0
West Ham vs Manchester United 2-0
Crystal Palace vs Wolves 1-1
Chelsea vs Liverpool 1-2
SOUTHAMPTON 4/10
Mistakes cost Southampton on Friday and Ralph Hassenhutl would have been fuming with his side. Normally Southampton are strong in defence, well-drilled and composed. But they were all over the place against Bournemouth and they paid the price.
BOURNEMOUTH 8/10
Another good performance from Bournemouth. Eddie Howe is a truly underrated manager and has got this side ticking. They defend with composure and attack clinically and effectively. They are a dangerous side if underestimated.
LEICESTER CITY 8/10
Great win for Leicester and fantastic goals from Pereira and Maddison. They looked far more impressive going forward than they did at Old Trafford and gave Spurs some serious problems. Soyuncu is still a problem for Leicester and they need to invest in a new defender and winger in January to push for top six.
TOTTENHAM 5/10
Poor performance from Tottenham, especially since they were ahead. They tried to control the game but were sloppy in possession. I don’t understand how Sissoko didn’t get sent off, for me that is 100% a red card on Maddison and if that was made an hour in, he would have gone. Either way, Spurs miss Eriksen and Lucas Moura and although Lamela looks dangerous at CAM, they seem to not have enough runners when playing the diamond – a worrying sight for their Champions League hopes.
BURNLEY 7/10
A typical Burnley performance, get a goal or two then withstand the storm until the game ends. They were in control and didn’t seem too worried by the Norwich attack.
NORWICH 5/10
Poor at Burnley after an amazing win against Manchester City. This won’t dampen their spirits and will continue to play their way. They have some good games coming up against Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and Bournemouth in which they will expect to get results from and then will need to step up against Manchester United and aim for a similar result to that against Pep’s blues.
EVERTON 4/10
Sluggish and weak at the back again. At least against Bournemouth they were slightly unlucky, in this they just didn’t contest. They are a couple of losses from sacking Marco Silva and coming up against Manchester City next could not come at a worse time.
SHEFFIELD UNITED 9/10
A great win for Sheffield United and another clean sheet. They are a lot like Burnley in that sense as they are tough to beat. It would be an amazing achievement for them to stay up and they have the ability to do so.
MANCHESTER CITY 10/10
Wow. What a way to respond to critics. 8 goals and a clean sheet with five of the goals in the first 20 minutes without Sterling, Sane, Laporte or Stones either! It shows two things; one being that Manchester City are still the best team in the league and the second that Watford have a huge problem to deal with.
WATFORD 1/10
Tragic performance from Watford. After an impressive comeback against Arsenal they sank so much lower against the Champions. Defensively atrocious, the midfield was absent and the attack could rarely get a sniff. They could lose again against a decent Swansea side and already put a lot of pressure on the newly re-appointed Flores.
BRIGHTON 7/10
Controlled the game and looked very threatening. Unlucky not to win but a good performance and a clean sheet on the side.
NEWCASTLE 6.5/10
Defensively solid but rarely offered much in attack. Schar made an outstanding clearance to deny Brighton and that deserves the improved rating there and then. Not too bad from a side that were supposed to be relegated by February.
WEST HAM 7/10
Didn’t play well but did enough. Two great finishes and defended efficiently and effectively. They have a good run of games until late November so should get as many points as possible until this point.
MANCHESTER UNITED 3/10
Toothless and shows how weak they are in the midfield and forward areas. They need to sign a no.10 if Ole wants to play with a 4-2-3-1 and they need at least one more winger as Pereira is not a winger and everyone knows it, especially him. Matic cannot keep playing over Fred just for pride, he’s not good enough even if he boasts 92% passing accuracy against Astana. Maguire and Lindelof do need to work together better and with time that will sort itself out but against Arsenal they need to be at their best as Aubameyang is in white hot form.
CRYSTAL PALACE 7/10
Would have expected to win with Wolves down to 10 men but nevertheless a solid performance after a hammering from Spurs. Will want to build on that against Norwich and West Ham before taking on City and Arsenal in late October.
WOLVES 7/10
Wolves back to their resolute best after a 95th minute equaliser. They have been more inconsistent this season and will want to get their first Premier League win of the season against a wretched Watford side.
ARSENAL 7.5/10
Good comeback but shoddy defending again. They won’t always be able to outscore their opponents but Aubameyang is in very good form and Arsenal fans will be happy to see Pepe finally score.
ASTON VILLA 6.5/10
Unlucky not to get something but very promising signs for Villa. They seem to show their resilience and their attacking ability which many teams still struggle to do.
CHELSEA 5/10
Not too bad a performance but at the same time a relatively toothless one. Kante provided Chelsea with a lifeline but to no avail. Their defending remains an issue that they can only resolve with transfers and/or Rudiger’s return.
LIVERPOOL 7/10
While they did go 2-0 up efficiently, they then held on for 55 minutes and played counter attacking football. The fullbacks shined again in attack but defensively they are still problematic at times in defence which is why it was probably a shrewd move to park the bus after going 2-0 up.
