Score: Leeds 2 - 1 West Ham

At least for one half of a football match West Ham were not as dire as they have been. Nuno might yet get the ship turned around, though he will need to start very soon! West Ham controlled the possession and dictated the play for the second 45 minutes. The trouble—they looked completely toothless for most of that period. From 9 shots, the Hammers only got 3 of them on target, one of which was Fernandes’ late consolation. West Ham is going to need to show a lot more bite if they do in fact want to turn their season around.

For Leeds, they did the damage early and were largely untroubled the rest of the way. Brenden Aaronsen reacting the quickest when Areloa couldn’t hold Okafor’s headed effort in the 3’ minute set them on their way early. They found their second through a Joe Rodon header just a shade over 10 minutes later. From that point on, Leeds put it in second gear and turned the cruise control on (cruise control? Maybe it’s assisted driving mode now…). While West Ham did edge them on possession, Farke will be completely untroubled by that stat. Such was the dearth of quality on display from West Ham.

Score: Chelsea 1 - 2 Sunderland

Chelsea had the chance to go up to second in the table with a win. It all started so well. Garnacho getting his first goal in Chelsea blue inside 5 minutes played. Given Chelsea’s recent run, you would be forgiven if you walked away thinking the game was done and dusted. As I’ve posited a few times in these columns, this young Chelsea team appear allergic to success. You can give them some leeway for their injuries and their age. What I can’t overlook is failing to deal with yet another long throw. This time instead of letting it bounce around their area, Josh Acheampong’s attempted clearance was weak, and directly to a Sunderland player. To add insult to injury, it was then Josh who played everyone onside when he wasn’t able to recover his position after the jumping clearance.

Chelsea pressed and toiled for the rest of the game looking to restore their advantage. They have very few real moments of danger. The couple they did have, they found the very capable Roefs between them and success.

Sunderland played exactly as you should play against Enzo Maresca specifically and Chelsea generally. Low block, two banks of 5. Give nothing away and make the Blues find a way to break you down. As so many times before, they couldn’t find that way. And as so many times before, it only took one counter attack to take all three points back to Weirside. Sunderland briefly up to second in the table. I can’t say I don’t love seeing the likes of the Black Cats and the Cherries in the Champions League places, even while cursing Chelsea for not being there.

Score: Magpies 2 - 1 Fulham

Times are getting tough for the Cottagers. Only 3 points off the bottom three now. Marco Silva surely will be sweating his employment status for the week. The bright side, they have Wolves at the weekend. This lose sees Fulham now without a point in 4 games, a minus 5 goal differential, and a host of questions on how they turn this around.

Fulham did not play poorly in this game. Even if neither team truly impressed either. Both clubs look decidedly mid-table, which should give Fulham supporters some hope.

A goal for Jacob Murphy was just about all the interest the first half had to offer. Fulham improved after the break and made the contest more engaging. Sasa Lukic laid his body and livelihood on the line equalizing for the Cottagers. Injuries like this and you wonder—how long will until heading the ball is outlawed as it is at youth levels? not that I am advocating that as someone who’s scored 98% of all life time goals via the head.

The game very much looked to be heading for a draw, and that probably was the fairest outcome, until Guimarães popped up in added on time to seal the points for the Magpies. Leno must push that ball around the post and not directly back into the middle. Eddie how will have loved that and will hope that can be a portent of things to come.

Score: United 4 - 2 Brighton

That’s three wins on the spin now. The ball is bouncing for United right now (that Casemiro “goal” as an example) and Frank must be sharpening his shears!

United charged out of the blocks, as they are want to do under Amorim. The difference in this game is they made their chances count and they built an unassailable lead by the hour mark with goals from Cunha (first in the league for his new club) Casemiro (that was an OG lets be real), and Mbuemo. They will be happy they did, because this team is very much not the finished article. They let Brighton back into the game and caused themselves some panic. At least until Mbuemo popped up again deep into stoppage time to settle the nerves and the game.

For Brighton it’s another game on the pile of “what could have been”. What could have been if their defending when trailing were better, if they didn’t let the game get out of hand before Welbeck started the comeback with a delightful free kick? If this is the be the story of Brighton’s season, that will be deeply unfortunate. They are, without a doubt, one of my favorite teams to watch in the division. Hurzler’s attacking patterns of play, the pace of Minteh and (when fit) Mitoma is just a joy to watch. The down side, club captain and boyhood Seagull Lewis Dunk looks well off it. We could be witnessing his swan song this season. We are all the better for having been witness to his prime years and those chest passes.

United, with the victory, moved up to 4th. I don’t expect they’ll end there, as this team is still too chaotic. However they are finally getting the results their performances warrant, which they were not to start the campaign. I had them around 6th in my preseason prediction and that still feels right.

Score: Bees 3 - 2 Liverpool

“Reports of my demise were greatly exaggerated” - Mo Salah, probably.

He scored his first goal from open play in what feels like forever (at least as far as Mo is concerned). Though it was too little too late to save the Reds this time. Slot must have shown his defenders the clip of Chelsea failing to deal with Brentford’s long throw-in earlier in the season— Konate and Van Djik said “hold our drinks”. Letting Brentford open the scoring through Ouattara’s volley after the Kaodie’s long through was flicked on. There must be some special magic in these long throws as capable defenders regularly look like Sunday League when trying to deal with them.

Brentford added a second at the end of the half through Schade. Score early, score late is so often the recipe for success. Though that momentum gained from Schade’s goal was slightly tempered by Kerkez’ goal in added on time of the first half. You could be forgiven for thinking, 2-1 down instead of 2-0 that it was game on for Liverpool. They did start the second period energetically, though with very little real cut and thrust. Then calamity struck. Van Dijk’s foul judged to be on the line following a VAR review, and as we know the line belongs to the box so penalty awarded is the only possible outcome. More needs to be spoken about how two of the best individual players of the Premier League era in Salah and Van Dijk have seemingly just walked into the ocean this season. Barring each of them rediscovering a form that belies their age, a changing of the guards is clearly overdue at Anfield.

Igor Thiago converted the penalty and Brentford were relatively comfortable from that point forward. Salah’s goal will have had some hearts in the mouths of the Bees supporters. However it was ultimately nothing more than a consolation. Slot will need to figure out how to get the nearly half a billion pounds worth of new talent playing together, and quickly. The campaign is slipping away. Forget about a retaining their title, they need to worry about securing Champions League football or any European football for that matter.

Score: Arsenal 1 - 0 Palace

This is a quick review: One nil to the Arsenal. That’s about all you need to say.

Kidding, of course. On current form Arsenal will not only equal or better Chelsea’s 15 goals conceded in a season but may obliterate it. They look plausibly like conceding less than 10 goals for the season. That’s how good their defensive set up is. They press high, they win the ball back, and when teams try to go over them instead of through them—Saliba and Gabriel gobble up every thing. On the rare occasion teams try to go over the back line as well, David Raya is modern Manuel Neuer. Playing the sweeper keeper role as effectively as anyone has. Oh, and he’s also by save percentage the best shot stopper in the division. Together that’s a nailed on recipe for titles. That the Gunners only seem to be able to score for set pieces doesn’t so much matter. Firstly, because they always score from a set piece as they are simply far too dominate to be stopped. Secondly, 1-0 is as good of a scoreline as 10-0 if trophies fill the cabinet.

If we were looking to be hyper critical of Arsenal, you can point to their highly paid and sometimes expensively acquired attackers not being able to get the job done in the run of play. You could posit a world where teams figure out how to defend their set pieces or an injury to Gabriel/Saliba/Timber reduces their effectiveness from the dead ball. In that event, their could be cause for worry at the Emirates. Can they score enough goals to turn draws into wins? I wouldn’t bet against Saka and Eze and Nwaneri figuring it out if it were necessary.

Palace did not play poorly, to be fair to them. In spite some sources considering them to have had 0 shots on goal. Mateta and Munoz both nearly beat the offside trap in the early goings. In a game of inches, had they gone the other way the story might have been different. If and buts… Palace did show, generally, how to play Arteta’s men. Defend deep, make them play to you to negate their press. Then, and most importantly, don’t foul them within 60 yards of the penalty area or put the ball out of play in your own half.

Score: Villa 1 - 0 City

“How’s your gooch?” was the text. Referring of course to Haaland’s crashing into the post taint first such was his desperation to turn the ball home. I’m sure the post came off worse in the altercation, as we all know Haaland is a robot forged from pure titanium.

The Aston Villa Reclamation Project marches on. Unai Emery is a top class manager and he’s proving it. Villa looked all 6’s and 7’s going win-less in the first 5 games without scoring a goal. Since then, 4 wins on the bounce. They’ve still only scored 9 goals, but they’ve conceded just 8. Emphasizing their ability to score at the right moments and grind out close margins. Compare that with the team directly below them in the table, Chelsea. The Blues have scored 17 and shipped 11, but have only collected 14 points. It’s not always about how many you score or don’t score but about scoring and not conceding when it matters most. Villa are walking that line expertly at this moment. I’m sure Unai will want to see Rogers and Watkins finding the back of the net with more regularity, of course.

Villa did lose Buendia to injury, which will be concerning. He seemed to finally have found himself, showing his best form since the switch from Norwich. If the aforementioned Rogers or Watkins can pick up the slack, his layoff won’t be felt negatively.

On the City side of the ball, another step back after a few steps forward. While they dominated possession they lacked any real threat. Haaland did have the ball in the net, only to see the flag raised for a clear offside in the build up. Outside of that moment, Emi Martinez was largely untroubled in the Villa goal. The worry for Pep has to be, if Haaland isn’t scoring nobody is. He needs to get more out of Savinho, Doku, and Marmoush.

Score: Cherries 2 - 0 Forest

No new manager bounce (for the second time) for Forest. Mat Selz’ form has fallen off a cliff— You can’t get bodied by Tyler Adams like that and you can’t be giving up Olimpicos. Then he gets beaten from distance by a well placed by relatively tame shot from Kroupi. Dyche said after the game his team were “miles off it” and I suggest he might have understated it. Forest were never in this game. They looked leggy, slow in thought, second to every ball and lacking any real fight. Maybe chopping and changing the manager every 40 days is not a recipe for success?

The Andoni Iraola train keeps on rolling. What would this manager do given the resources at a Chelsea or a City or an Arsenal? He has the Cherries punching well above their weight class game after game after game. They aren’t just in the fight either. His squad rarely, if ever look over awed or over-matched. All in all this was a easy day’s pay for Bournemouth.

Score: Wolves 2 - 3 Burnley

I know the fans weren’t happy at the end of this one, but I think you have to give the boys in the Old Gold a little credit. They are least putting in an effort, well at least 45 minutes of an effort here. Ok, ok.. for about 12 minutes at the end of the first half Wolves looked like there was still some fight in the dog. They dragged themselves back level from Flemming’s first brace thanks to a Strand Larsen penalty and a well worked interchange leading to Munetsi’s header.

We need to talk about that Zian Flemming don’t we. Will have to hold my hand up and say I had no clue who this fella was before that volley. The deftness of that touch, to cushion it into the far corner was superb. Though you should expect little else from a footballer schooled at Ajax. How did he end up at Millwall of all places? His second was a tap in from about a meter, out but the ball movement leading up to that moment was every bit as enjoyable as the opening goal.

The second half was a damp squib. That is until Lyle Foster raced on to the end of a lovely through ball and slotted home. Scott Parker’s men made heavy weather of it, but they got the three points in the end.

Score: Toffees 0 - 3 Spurs

In the preview I asked, which Spurs would show up. Turns out, its was the one with ruthlessly quality finishing and imperious defense. Thomas Frank’s charges handing the Toffees their first loss in their new home. Mickey Van De Ven at the double, and Pape Sarr’s late header sealing the deal. I can’t recall another Premier League game with 3 or more goals where each one was a headed goal. Unique.

There should have been a fourth headed goal. Jake O’Brien’s headed effort overturned by VAR is just laughable. The official word was “18 and 10 offside” Grealish (18) is behind Vicario and is not impacting his ability to make a save. He’s not impacting his ability to see the shot as he’s not directly in the eye-line of the goal keeper. Simply he’s not offside. The same can be said for Ndiaye (10) who is on the other side of Vicaro, but again out of his eye-line. While there is some minor and I can not stress this enough minor contact in no way is he, nor Grealish, impacting Vicario in any way. Go ahead and watch the reverse camera behind the goal, I’ll wait. You’ll have seen that before O’Brien makes contact with the ball Vicario has moved past Ndiaye and there is no contact between them, again nor with Grealish. As you can’t be offside from the corner, please someone explain to me how this is offside? You can’t be offside simply by your position on the field, unless you are directly between the goal keeper and the shot taker. Neither Ndiaye nor Grealish is in this position. Nor are they in contact with Vicario when the ball is played by O’Brien. I think this a horrific call by VAR and if it were Arsenal, or City there would have been a lot more chatter about it. Couple that with VAR allowing Mickey Van de Ven to push Pickford out of the way for his second and Everton have an absolute right to feel aggrieved.