Premier League Results Match Week 8: Arsenal Beaten; Liverpool Edges Chelsea; Manchester City Tames Wolves With Late Winner; Spurs Hammer West Ham; Manchester United Ends Drought In Win Over Bees; Palace Woes Continue With Loss At Forest; Everton Extends Unbeaten Run

Arsenal fell from the ranks of the unbeaten as Bournemouth capitalized on a man advantage to sink the Gunners with two second half goals. Arsenal’s William Saliba was hit with a red card, the first of his career, in the 32nd minute for tripping a Bournemouth player near the center circle. The depleted Gunners kept matters scoreless until the 70th minute when the Cherries Ryan Christie scored from a corner kick. A Justin Kluivert penalty kick nine minutes later sealed the 2-0 victory for the Cherries. The loss of Saliba was too much to overcome for an Arsenal side that was already playing the match without injured stars Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka. The Saliba red card will have additional consequences as the defender will be suspended for the huge upcoming match against league leading Liverpool.

Curtis Jones was at the center of Liverpool’s 2-1 win over Chelsea on Saturday. A foul on the midfielder, committed by Chelsea’s Levi Colwill, sent Mohamed Salah to the penalty spot to register the match’s opening score. After Niclas Jackson equalized early in the second half, it was Jones who scored what would prove the winner in the 51st minute when he slotted in a cross from Salah at the far post. The league’s stingiest defense then held off a dangerous Chelsea squad to record Manager Arne Slot’s tenth victory in his 11 games in charge at Liverpool. Chelsea is now winless in their last 10 matches against Liverpool across all competitions.

Manchester City stayed a point behind Liverpool with a dramatic stoppage time winner to defeat Wolverhampton. Few expected the match against the table’s worst side to bear any drama at the Etihad. Wolves, however, jumped to the lead in the seventh minute before the homestanding Citizens equalized later in the first half. The two sides battled through a scoreless second half before John Stones headed in Phil Foden’s corner for a winner which was first disallowed on the field for an alleged offside. VAR would cause the referee to reconsider, and Manchester City had its three points as a worthy effort by Wolves come to nothing for the league’s cellar dwellers.

Aston Villa moved past Chelsea into fourth position in the table with a convincing 3-1 win at Fulham. The Villans scored three consecutive times after Fulham jumped to an early fifth minute lead courtesy of a goal by Raul Jimenez. Morgan Rogers quickly equalized for Aston Villa in the ninth minute. Ollie Watkins then gave Aston Villa the lead with his 59th minute goal, his fifth of the season. Five minutes later Fulham went down to ten men and five minutes after that Aston Villa had its insurance goal when Issa Diop found the net. The Villans are off to their best league start after eight games in 26 years.

Back to it Baby 😘
➕3️⃣ points💜😉 pic.twitter.com/PkfvQqQXbI

— Ollie Watkins (@Olliewatkin_11) October 19, 2024

Brighton and Hove Albion are two points outside the top four after an impressive 1-0 away win at Newcastle. The ageless Danny Welbeck scored the only goal of a match which saw Newcastle lose a Premier League game at St. James’s Park for the first time since January. The thirty-three-year-old Welbeck, who has four league goals this season, is two years older than Brighton Manager Fabian Hurzeler.

Tottenham Hotspur Manager Ange Postecoglou got a much-needed response after his club collapsed versus Brighton in their last league match. After conceding an opening goal, Spurs would equalize by halftime and then slam the Hammers with three second half goals inside of eight minutes to win 4-1. Mohammed Kudus provided the only moments of note for the Hammers. Kudus scored the opening goal as the Hammers took their surprising lead in a match where they would later  be overwhelmed. A frustrated Kudus would later be red carded for laying hands on not one but two different Spurs players during a second half melee. West Ham will hold its breath as Kudus could potentially be hit with a lengthy suspension for violent conduct.

Manchester United conceded an opening goal to Brentford before Alejandro Garnacho ended a 316-minute Premier League goal drought for the Red Devils to equalize. Rasmus Hojlund would later strike the winner in the 2-1 Manchester United win. While some pressure might have eased on Manager Eric ten Hag with the win, the fact remains the three points only moved United from 14th to 12th position in the table, unaccustomed territory for the Red Devils.

There was no change in table position for the league’s bottom six teams. Everton extended its unbeaten run to four matches with a 2-0 win over Ipswich Town.

The pressure, meanwhile, increased on Crystal Palace Manager Oliver Glasner after his relegation bound Eagles fell 1-0 to Nottingham Forest. The defeat was a third consecutive loss for Crystal Palace, which is shockingly yet to win this season after finishing last season by  winning six of their last seven matches. The Eagles have the fewest goals in the Premier League. In fact, Chris Woods’ winning goal for Forest was his fifth of the season, the same number of goals scored by Crystal Palace as a team in this Premier League campaign.

Southampton remains in the bottom three with Crystal Palace and Wolverhampton after Leicester overcame a two-goal deficit to defeat the Saints 3-2 at St. Mary’s. The Saints led 2-0 at halftime before a sinful second half saw their lead slip away before Jordan’s Ayew’s 98th minute stoppage time goal completed the Foxes’ comeback.

Premier League Preview: Match Week 8

The Premier League returns to action with a tasty top four matchup as league leading Liverpool hosts a dangerous Chelsea side at Anfield. Liverpool has won six of seven matches, three in succession after a shocking home defeat against Nottingham Forest back in mid-September. Chelsea, meanwhile, is undefeated since an opening week loss to Manchester City and the Blues are currently in fourth position in the table by virtue of goal differential over Aston Villa. Sunday’s contest, in a sense, will represent an irresistible force colliding with an immovable object. Only Manchester City has scored more goals than Chelsea. No club has conceded fewer times than the measly two goals allowed by Liverpool this season. The Reds will be missing goalkeeper Allison who is out with a hamstring issue, but deputy keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has performed admirably when called upon in the past. Chelsea’s defense will be without suspended players Wesley Fofana and Marc Cucurella though perennially injured Reese James is rumored to potentially be experiencing one of his infrequent spells of fitness. The match at Anfield marks the initial meeting between first time Premier League managers Arne Slot and Enzo Maresca.

Liverpool 🆚 Chelsea
The league's No. 1 defense 🆚 No. 2 attack

Who's winning the chess match on Sunday? ♟️ pic.twitter.com/iRd9x3VMnN

— Premier League USA (@PLinUSA) October 17, 2024

Another new manager experiencing success to date is Brighton’s Fabian Hurzeler. The 31-year-old manager, the youngest in Premier League history, has the Seagulls in sixth place based on a current goal differential advantage over Newcastle. That margin will be put to the test on Saturday when the Seagulls visit St. James’s Park to face the Magpies. Newcastle has been hamstrung in recent matches by injuries to strikers Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson, forcing Manager Eddie Howe to employ winger Anthony Gordon in an unaccustomed tip of the spear role. Isak could be available this week while Wilson is a lesser possibility.

Arsenal appears to have dodged a bullet with Manager Mikel Arteta indicating that Bukayo Saka’s injury sustained on international duty is not serious and the winger is tracking toward being available for the Gunners’ match with Bournemouth. Arteta’s side is already playing without the services of injured captain Martin Odegaard who is getting closer but will not make it for the bout with the Cherries. Bournemouth has lost three of four matches, scoring just once during a dismal run.

No club has been as dismal as Wolverhampton, however. Wolves has lost four in a row and six of its seven matches so far.  Already allowing three goals per match, Manager Gary O’Neil’s club now must face Manchester City, which leads the league in goals. Good luck.

A loss at the Etihad just before the break snapped a five-game unbeaten run for Fulham. The Cottagers are back home this weekend to host Aston Villa. Eighth place Fulham is only three points back of the visiting Villans who are level on points with fourth place Chelsea. The Cottagers have played well at home this season, but this has not been a good match-up for them in the past as Aston Villa have won five of the last six meetings between the teams.

Elsewhere in London, Tottenham Hotspur will be hosting a derby with West Ham. Spurs squandered a two goal lead in a brutal loss at Brighton before the break. West Ham entered the break in a much more positive mindset, having seemingly found their missing attack in a 4-1 pounding of Ipswich Town which marked Manager Julen Lopetegui’s first win at London Stadium.

Ipswich will be engaged in a relegation rumble at Portman Road with visiting Everton on Saturday. The Tactor Boys are just a point above the relegation line, one point behind 16th place Everton. Ipswich had drawn four consecutive matches before being blown out by the Hammers before the break. Calls for the sacking of Everton Manager Sean Dyche have died down a bit after the Toffees captured all five of their season to date points in their final three matches before the break.

Another manager, however, could surprisingly be in trouble. No one expected to be talking about the job security of Crystal Palace Manager Oliver Glasner after the Eagles finished last season strongly after the Austrian’s February appointment. Palace is a disaster so far this season, however, with the Eagles winless and sitting in the dreaded relegation zone after seven matches. David Moyes has been rumored as a possible Glasner replacement as the Eagles prepare to face Nottingham Forest. Nuno Espirito Santo, on the other hand, entered the season on a short leash but has the Tricky Trees in the top half of the table with just a single loss on their resume. Santo will miss Monday’s match at the City Ground due to his disciplinary suspension dating to a volatile moment at Brighton some weeks ago.

Leicester leads the three newly promoted sides with six points to date as former Nottingham Forest Manager Steve Cooper tries to win over the supporters of his new club. A win Saturday at relegation bound Southampton is essential toward that end for Cooper.

And then there is the case of Manchester United. Embattled manager Eric ten Hag drags his 14th place squad to Brentford for a matchup with the Bees on Saturday. The Dutch manager told the media this week that they are “creating fairytales” and “bringing lies” by suggesting his job may not be secure. The reality is that ten Hag guided the team to its worst ever Premier League performance last season and this is the worst start to a season after seven matches in the club’s history. The proud franchise is currently among the bottom three clubs in goal production. A loss to the industrious Bees, currently three places above United in the Premier League table, would surprise no one. Ten Hag chalking it off as no big deal would be no surprise either. 

Half of The Top Four Is Under New Management

Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta continue to battle as their clubs vie for the Premier League title. Neither of their clubs is currently topping the table, however, and a potential new challenger has now crashed the top four. Both that new challenger and the current Premier League leader are under new management as Arne Slot and Enzo Maresca are off to better starts than their club supporters could have ever hoped for.

Liverpool, of course, was expected to contend after Jurgen Klopp bequeathed a talented roster which ran third behind Manchester City and Arsenal last season. No one, however, expected the transition to Slot’s regime to go so smoothly that the Reds would sit above those two to this admittedly early point in the season. Without making wholesale changes, the former Feyenoord manager has instituted a bit more caution into Klopp’s helter skelter gameplan. Attack minded fullbacks Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson have been challenged to attend more to their defensive responsibilities. A double pivot of Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch provides additional cover in front of a back line that was showing leakage as the Klopp regime wound down. The stronger defensive shape has led to only two goals being conceded to date in Liverpool’s seven Premier League matches. By comparison, Arsenal has conceded six times and Manchester City has leaked eight goals to date.

On the attack, Liverpool has been more judicious in its attempts. Big chance creation, those goal attempts where a player is expected to score, are up even though shots are down more than eight shots per match in the first seven contests under Slot versus the final seven matches under Klopp. Culture wise, there has been little drama during the transition so far and Mohamed Salah seems much happier now that he is out from under his deteriorating relationship with former manager Klopp. All seems well after the club has won nine of its first ten matches across all competitions under Slot. The true test, of course, will be when inevitable adversity is encountered at some point during this long season.

Another positive manager story is unfolding at Stamford Bridge. When Slot’s legendary predecessor, Jurgen Klopp, announced his departure last January, Liverpool fans had several months to acclimate to the idea of a regime change before the May announcement of Slot’s appointment. Things were a bit more jarring for Chelsea. Mauricio Pochettino had just overseen a strong season ending run of five consecutive victories by his young Chelsea squad, capping a run of 15 games where Chelsea lost just once as a difficult start to the 2023/24 season quickly faded into memory. Then two days after the final match Pochettino was gone, purportedly a mutual decision between the Argentine and Chelsea club ownership based on irreconcilable differences. Pochettino, who stayed just one season at Chelsea, is now in his early days  of managing the United States National Team and already voicing aspirations that he would really like to be managing Argentina.

Less than a month after Pochettino’s abrupt departure, Chelsea fans learned their new manager would be Enzo Maresca. The Italian won the Championship in his own one season at Leicester, admittedly limping a bit across the finish line to the consternation of Fox fans. Maresca had failed miserably in his one other top job with Parma where he was fired less than halfway through his maiden season. A presumed big selling point for Chelsea ownership was the Italian’s time spent on the staff of Manchester City Manager Pep Guardiola.

There was some understandable doubt among Chelsea supporters as to whether they were seeing an upgrade on the touchline from the vastly more experienced Pochettino. There can be little complaint thus far. Maresca has Chelsea back in the top four and his club is performing in exciting fashion. Only Manchester City has scored more goals than Chelsea this season. This week Maresca was named the Premier League Manager of the Month for September. The new manager has been quick to assert himself at Chelsea and has taken controversially hard stands to cast veteran players Raheem Sterling and Ben Chilwell from his plans for the season.

On the pitch, Maresca has implemented three key changes. His club uses a short passing game focused on build up play and possession versus the more aggressive transition-based style of Pochettino. Secondly, one of Maresca’s two fullbacks will invert in attack seeking to create a numbers advantage in midfield. Finally, much to the delight of supporters, rising star Cole Palmer is featured in a number 10 role where he can be even more influential than under Pochettino where he was spending time on the right wing. The former Manchester City player was also recognized Friday, being named the Premier League Player of the Month.

While Palmer’s star continues to rise, other young players such as Noni Madueke and Niclas Jackson are also showing improvement. Even defensive midfielder Moises Caicedo appears more comfortable in Maresca’s disciplined system and is showing flashes of the star he once was at Brighton.

There is a long season ahead as the new Chelsea and Liverpool managers get to take a breath during this international break. Both should feel good, however, at their performance so far.