Premier League Preview: Match Week Six

Newcastle was exposed in a 3-1 loss last week at Fulham after a misleading undefeated start to its season. Now the Magpies fly home to face table leader Manchester City at St. James Park. Newcastle has been a punching bag for Manchester City. The Magpies have won just one of the last 33 Premier League meetings between the clubs and Newcastle has  more losses to the Citizens than any Premier League side in history. Newcastle’s hopes for Saturday rely on the always vibrant home support and the absence of the injured Rodri in the middle of the Manchester City lineup. Manchester City lost four of the five matches that Rodri missed last season and might well have to play the rest of this season without him after his knee injury last weekend. Manchester City will look to extend its unbeaten Premier League streak to 29 matches as striker Erling Haaland will attempt to become only the second plyer to score in each of the first six league games of a season.

Liverpool trails Manchester City by a single point as the Reds head to Wolverhampton this weekend. Wolves have been dreadful and sit at the bottom of the Premier League table, one of six clubs still hunting for a first win of the campaign.

Crystal Palace will be hoping to separate themselves from those other five teams when the Eagles descend on Goodison Park to face Everton this weekend. Palace has drawn each of its last three matches, including hard fought points away to Chelsea and home to Manchester United. The Eagles face an Everton side which lost its first four matches, two in dramatic late-stage collapses, before drawing with newly promoted Leicester last week. The Toffees have conceded a joint league high 14 goals this season.

Like Crystal Place, Leicester have drawn three of their five matches this season. The Foxes are at the Emirates on Saturday where Arsenal will need guard against a “trap” game which comes between last week’s Manchester City duel and next Tuesday’s Champions League tilt with PSG. Gunner goalkeeper David Raya is a question mark for the match with a “muscular injury” so former Bournemouth keeper Neto could be between the sticks for Manager Mikel Arteta.

On Arsenal 🔴

"We’re coming up against an incredible team who have been in great form for a number of years, but it’s these games that you’ve got to embrace. We back ourselves and it couldn’t be a better time to get the result we’re craving." pic.twitter.com/OE6DB6QtGh

— Leicester City (@LCFC) September 26, 2024

Aston Villa, level on points with Liverpool and a point ahead of Arsenal, face another of the newly promoted sides at Ipswich Town on Sunday. Three consecutive draws, including a surprise point at Brighton, have given the Tractor Boys hope after lost cause losses to Liverpool and Manchester City welcomed them to the league. Only Manchester City and Chelsea have scored more goals than Aston Villa which features two dangerous strikers in Ollie Watkins and super sub Jhon Duran.

Chelsea will tangle with undefeated Brighton this weekend at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea has won three of four to move a point past the Seagulls in the table. The Blues’ young talent, particularly in attack, is beginning to shift focus, at least a little bit, away from the unusual machinations of its controversial ownership. New Manager Enzo Maresca has numerous options in his forward positions such as the Jadon Sancho versus Pedro Neto duel at left wing and Niclas Jackson versus Christopher Nkunku debate at striker. At least for now, the competition seems to be driving performance instead of discord. Brighton, meanwhile, will be without injured forward Joao Pedro for Saturday’s match and is less blessed with the type of depth which Chelsea enjoys. Pedro was injured by the challenge of Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White last week which set off the fireworks that saw not only Gibbs-White but also Forest Manager Nuno Espirito Santo and Brighton Manager Fabian Hurzeler red carded. Both Hurzeler and Santo will be on the touchlines this weekend as they prepare to respond to their charges.

Gibbs White, however, will miss out on Nottingham Forest’s date at the City Ground with Fulham. The Tricky Trees have impressed with an undefeated record to date and a shock victory over Liverpool at Anfield two weeks ago. The loss of Gibbs-White is damaging, however, and Fulham, one point behind the Trees in the table, looked proficient in attack last week with three Arsenal academy graduates involved in goals for the Cottagers. On of the Fulham goal scorers last week, loanee Reiss Nelson, scored versus Forest while playing for Arsenal in 2022.

Spurs and Manchester United are level on points, one behind Fulham in the table as the two “big  clubs’ try to crawl closer to the top six when they face each other at Old Trafford on Sunday. Manchester United’s attack seemed to be awakening after a 3-0 league win over Southampton and a 7-0 Carabao Cup rout of Barnsley. That now seems a false positive as the Red Devils were subsequently unable to find the net in a goalless draw at Crystal Palace and again seemed turgid in a 1-1 Europa League draw with FC Twente on Wednesday. Spurs 3-1 win over Brentford last weekend, meanwhile, contained nothing but positives. James Maddison scored and showed the kind of form he had not flashed since early last season. Newly acquired striker Dominic Solanke scored his first goal with the club. Even Brennan Johnson, who has shown little since his arrival last season, found the net against the Bees. Son Heung-min played facilitator with two assists. A win at Old Trafford would provide much needed positive momentum for Manager Ange Postecoglou’s side which had dropped two straight before exterminating the Bees.

Brentford will host a London derby with West Ham on Saturday which already seems like a must win for West Ham Manager Julen Lopetegui. Things haven’t gone well for the new manager who has West Hm supporters already looking back fondly on the much-criticized tenure of former manger David Moyes. Lopetegui might well be looking forward to Saturday’s match away from London Stadium where he has become the first West Ham Manager to lose the first three home matches of a league season.

The final match of the Week Six Premier League slate features a South Coast battle between Bournemouth and Southampton. The Cherries seemingly get a break in their schedule after difficult losses to Chelsea and Liverpool. The Saints do not seem to have a prayer of Premier League survival with Manager Russell Martin’s crew having found the net only twice in their so far futile search for a first league win. 

Premier League Results Match Week Five: City Salvages Late Point From Ten Man Arsenal; Liverpool Responds With Anfield Win; Seagulls and Trees Share Points To Remain Undefeated; Former Gunners Help Fulham Defeat Newcastle; Chelsea Thumps Hammers; Aston Villa Overtakes Wolves; Spurs Swat Bees; Former Goalkeeper Hendersen Blanks Manchester United; Everton, Southampton Secure Their First Points

Was it cause for celebration that Manchester City scored a 98th minute goal to salvage a point versus Arsenal? Was it a triumph for Arsenal to leave with a point after having to defend the entire second half with 10 men? Neither side was terribly happy after the match. Manchester City seemed the least happy, however, despite their late equalizer in the 2-2 draw.

The Citizens were angry with Arsenal’s tactics as the Gunners perpetrated the infamous “dark arts” of time wasting and resorted to a defensive block after going down a man. There was also accusation that Arsenal’s second goal was ill gotten. Arsenal, for its part, seemed a bit overpleased with their stout second half defending despite having conceded at the death. There is also the point that the 10-man situation was entirely Arsenal’s own fault, one of the Gunners making the same stupid error that had reduced them to ten men just two matches ago. The drama was thick on Sunday between two sides who are battling each other for the title in now a third consecutive season. Erling Haaland, of course, got his usual goal for Manchester City just nine minutes into Sunday’s contest, his 100th career goal in 105 appearances for Manchester City. The moment which might be most telling for this title race occurred in the 21st minute when Rodri went down with what appears to be a serious, and potential season ending, knee injury. Just one minute later the first controversy surrounded an Arsenal equalizer by new acquisition Riccardo Calafiore. Defender Kyle Walker was called to a conversation with Referee Michel Oliver. The referee then allowed crafty Arsenal to take a free kick before Walker could get back into position. The Gunners took advantage of Walker’s vacated space to set up Calafiore’s first goal with his new club, angering  Manchester City Manager Pep Guardiola such that he nastily kicked a chair on the Manchester City sideline. Arsenal would more fairly earn its next goal when Gabriel Magalhaes headed in a corner kick during first half stoppage time. Unfortunately for Arsenal, the Gunners would shoot themselves in the foot before reaching the first half whistle. Leandro Trossard committed the same stupid pet trick as Declan Rice had two weeks ago when Trossard kicked away a dead ball to delay a Manchester City free kick. Trossard was given his second yellow card of the match and Arsenal faced an entire second half with just 10 men. The Gunners, often using infuriating delay tactics, held firm until the 98th minute when John Stones equalized for Manchester City with the two Premier League heavyweights sharing the points on the day. Stones’s goal was followed by a melee between players initiated by Haaland.

Battling each other for the title for a third consecutive season, there is little love between these two sides, perhaps not even the respect that existed between Manchester City and Liverpool when those two clubs battled for the title. Former Liverpool Manager Jurgen Klopp is gone but Liverpool remains a contender and moved past Arsenal into second place with a 3-0 win over Brentford. Manager Arne Slot had made the transition from Klopp seem easy until a jarring home loss in Liverpool’s prior match. The Reds were back at Anfield on Saturday and reasserted their quality with three first half goals to sail past Brentford 3-0. Luis Diaz scored two goals in two minutes and Darwin Nunez validated Slot’s decision to give the Uruguayan his first start of the season by scoring Liverpool’s third goal.

The Reds own second place by virtue of goal differential over Aston Villa. Manager Unai Emery’s side side allowed Wolverhampton a first half goal and waited 73 minutes into the match before asserting itself with a trifecta of late goals. Ollie Watkins equalized for the Villans, Ezri Konsa put Emery’s side ahead and Jhon Duran removed all doubt with a stoppage time insurance goal. Duran now has four goals for the season without having started a single match. Wolverhampton sits at the bottom of the Premier League table, one of six clubs still looking for a first victory this season.

Crystal Palace is one of those winless wonders after the Eagles drew for a third consecutive time in a goalless result with Manchester United. Despite United dominating much of the play, the Eagles had the best chances. Only an outstanding double save by Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana kept the home standing Eagles from grabbing all three points. Onana’s reflexes and agility enabled him to make a diving stop on a shot by Eddie Nketiah and then frustrate Ismaila Saar on the put back chance. While Onana was outstanding, Crystal Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson, who made seven saves on the day, may have found even greater satisfaction in pitching a clean sheet against his former club. Manchester United fell out of the top half of the table with the dropped points despite oft criticized Manger Eric ten Hag claiming his side “ate Crystal Palace alive.” That would seem brave talk from a man whose club’s goal total this season exceeds only that of Crystal Palace, Ipswich Town and Southampton.

Just how good was this man today 😳🧤 #CPFC pic.twitter.com/FxLKZZQJV9

— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) September 21, 2024

Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur stepped past Manchester United into the top half of the table with identical 3-1 scorelines over Newcastle and Brentford, respectively. Fulham owes its scoring on Saturday in large part to Arsenal’s development academy. Former Gunners Alex Iwobi and Emile Smith Rowe combined on one of the goals with Smith Rowe finding the net for the second time this season. Arsenal loanee Reiss Nelson scored another as the Cottagers proved unwelcoming hosts to visiting Newcastle. The Magpies had already been thought by many as fortunate and even undeserving of their undefeated record entering the match. Those critics may have been correct as Newcastle’s tendencies towards mistakes and the club’s defensive deficiencies were exposed. Reiss Nelson’s goal for the Cottagers came as a direct result of an errant pass across his own box by Newcastle’s Bruno Guimares and  Fulham was able to launch 22 shots, 11 on target.

Tottenham Hotspur’s 3-1 win over Brentford gave some validation to Spurs’ often underperforming transfer investments of the past few years. Striker Dominic Solanke, acquired this past window from Bournemouth, opened the scoring in the eighth minute with his first league goal as a Tottenham Hotspur player. Brennan Johnson and James Maddison, acquired last year from Nottingham Forest and Leicester respectively, accounted for the next two goals. Spurs star Son Heung-min, meanwhile, played the role of facilitator by assisting on the Johnson and Maddison goals. Brentford lost a second consecutive match and has been on the wrong side of the score in three of its last four matches.

Meanwhile, Brighton and Nottingham Forest are yet to lose after the two undefeated clubs drew 2-2 on the South Coast. Visiting Forest got the final equalizer in a back-and-forth match in the 70th minute when Paraguayan Roman Sosa scored his first goal in English football. The drama from there was provided by the match officials. Anthony Taylor was serving as the fourth official in Brighton after being subjected to online abuse following his record award of 14 yellow cards in last week’s match between Bournemouth and Chelsea. Taylor, however, refused to be “sidelined.” Match Referee Rob Jones initially saw no issue with an 83rd minute challenge by Morgan Gibbs-White on Joao Pedro. Taylor could not contain his card throwing nature, however, and convinced Jones to reverse his thinking. Gibbs-White got the boot with a second yellow card. Both managers were then confusingly red carded and ejected for dissent. The two clubs remain undefeated and level on nine points inside the top half of the table with three draws and two victories from their five matches to date.

Chelsea sits just outside the top four after an impressive 3-0 win in their London derby at West Ham. Niclas Jackson scored twice and assisted Cole Palmer on the third goal as Chelsea won for the third time in its last four matches, having only lost to Manchester City on opening day. Despite continuing noise emanating from the ownership suite, Chelsea’s cadre of young talent is responding to new manager Enzo Maresca. Julen Lopetegui, the new West Ham manager, is struggling. The Hammers are just three points clear of the relegation line after losing for the third time at home this season. Lopetegui has made history by being the first manager to guide a West Ham team to defeat in the first three home matches of season.

Matchups at the bottom of the table were entirely indecisive this past weekend as Southampton drew with Ipswich Town and Everton drew with Leicester by the same 1-1 score. Those four clubs, along with Wolverhampton and Crystal Palace, comprise the current bottom six with all six clubs within two points of each other. Southampton and Everton were each left to celebrate their first point of the season.

Premier League Preview: Match Week Five

The match of the weekend, and the season so far, is Sunday when Arsenal visits the Etihad to face Manchester City. The Gunners have run second to Manchester City in each of the last two title races. Is there any reason to expect a different result this season? City’s Erling Haaland remains the most dangerous scoring threat in the Premier League. The defending champions’ depth is such that even the potential absence of star Kevin De Bruyne for Sunday’s match is largely met with a shrug as Manager Pep Guardiola can merely insert last season’s Premier League Player of the Year Phil Foden into De Bruyne’s midfield spot. Arsenal will be more impacted by the absence of its captain Martin Odegaard in the center of its own midfield. The Gunners survived not only Odegaard’s absence but also that of Declan Rice to put down rival Tottenham Hotspur last weekend, but will they have enough to get a result this weekend? Mikel Arteta’s men posted a clean sheet in both league matches against the champions last season. Goalkeeper David Raya, the returning Rice, and the center back pairing of Saliba and Gabriel could prove problematic for Haaland and friends. Bukayo Saka has been the engine for Arsenal’s attack, assisting on four of the club’s six league goals to date and scoring one of the other two.

Haaland v Arsenal defence. What. A. Match 😳#MCIARS | @ManCity | @Arsenal pic.twitter.com/a8fGLOmpZc

— Premier League India (@PLforIndia) September 20, 2024

Manchester United has suddenly become a goal scoring juggernaut. The Red Devils demolished Barnsley 7-0 in the Carabao Cup during the week, just days after a 3-0 league spanking of Southampton. Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho have both looked lively against lesser competition. The match at Selhurst Park might also see the return of striker Rasmus Hojlund from injury. Crystal Palace, meanwhile, is still looking for a first win this season as the Eagles adjust to life after Michael Olise, the young winger who left for Bayern Munich over the summer. Palace should still offer threat with the newly acquired Eddie Nketiah joining Jean-Philippe Mateta and Eberechi Eze in what should be a competent attack. The Eagles are vulnerable in transition, however, which is where Manchester United shines.

Elsewhere in London are two derbies which could be telling. Manager Ange Postecoglou is understandably no longer adored by Spurs fans. The Australian was a big hit last year when he led his club, reeling from the transfer loss of striker Harry Kane, to seven wins and two draws to begin his time with Spurs. Tottenham Hotspur was top of the Premier League table at the end of October last season. Fast forward and the same club won just two of its last seven matches to finish the season outside the top four. The north London side has one win this season and has lost back-to-back games, including last week’s home derby with Arsenal. Postecoglou’s crew can ill afford a third consecutive loss and another losing effort at home when Brentford visits Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday. Fortunately for Spurs, Brentford’s Yoane Wissa was injured in the Bees’ loss to Manchester City. Wissa’s three goals this season had been part of the solution to replacing former striker Ivan Toney’s production in Brentford’s attack.

West Ham is still struggling to solve its own striker problem. The Hammers acquired Niklas Fullkrug from Borussia Dortmund in this summer’s transfer window, seemingly to provide an upgrade on incumbent Michail Antonio. Manager Julen Lopetegui, however, has continued to favor long time Hammer Antonio and now Fullkrug is nursing a calf injury from international duty. Another transfer miss up front would come on the heels of the misguided 2023 acquisition of Danny Ings. Antonio and Ings combined for just seven league goals last season. Chelsea, of course, has also been accused of needing a striker upgrade. The Blues, however, are pretty optimistic about their attacking possibilities. There is still belief in the potential of young striker Niclas Jackson who just signed an extension with the club. Cole Palmer, of course, is world class. Noni Madueke has claimed the right wing with a promising start to the season which included a hat trick versus Wolves. Jadon Sancho had an electric debut on the left wing last week. Add in players such as Christopher Nkunku, who struck the winner at Bournemouth, and Joao Felix and it seems a potent mix. That is not good news for Lopetegui who could find himself presiding over the first West Ham club to suffer three opening league home defeats for the first time in the Hammers’ history.

Another new manager will be looking for his club to bounce back this weekend when Liverpool hosts Bournemouth. Manger Arne Slot and the Reds shockingly lost at Anfield last week to Nottingham Forest. Bournemouth have lost nine times and drawn once in their ten previous visits to Anfield.

Nottingham Forest and Brighton are both surprisingly undefeated this season. One of those records will be blemished when the Tricky Trees head to the South Coast to face the Seagulls on Sunday. A tight low scoring struggle can be expected. Only Arsenal and Liverpool have conceded fewer than the pair of goals that both Forest and Brighton have conceded after four matches this season. Brighton has been involved in half of the eight goalless draws in the Premier League this calendar year. Forest’s Callum-Hudson Odoi is a good candidate to break up such a deadlock in as he did in last week’s 1-0 win at Liverpool. Only Phil Foden and Eberechi Eze have scored more league goals from beyond the penalty box in 2024 than the former Chelsea man.

Two relegation rumbles take place this weekend when Ipswich Town visits Southampton in a battle of newly promoted clubs and Everton has a go at Leicester. Ipswich Town has captured a point in each of its last two matches after opening losses to Liverpool and Manchester City. Southampton, meanwhile, has lost all four of its matches, conceding three goals in each of its last two losses. Everton’s match with Leicester is pivotal. The Toffees, losers of all four of their matches, have relinquished two goal leads in each of their last two defeats and can ill afford another devastating blow to morale with a loss to the Foxes. Other matches this weekend include a daunting visit by presently relegation bound Wolverhampton to Aston Villa and a more entertaining match on paper when Newcastle goes to Craven Cottage to face Fulham.