Liverpool Survive Early Scare and Manchester United Humbled at Home

Premier League football is back with a bang after the international break and so are we! Some great games to dive into this week, with some big talking points. Champions League is back as well! What a time to be a football fan.

Liverpool Survive Early Scare

The first game of the weekend involved a Liverpool side in red hot form, and a Wolves side, well in not so red hot form.

If you were none the wiser, you would have been forgiven for thinking that the home side were the ones in the top half of the table as they started with real purpose. Could the early kick off curse strike again?? Liverpool couldn’t string a pass together and Pedro Neto was causing Liverpool headaches. Joe Gomez, who has been superb of late, couldn’t contain the Portuguese winger.

Deservedly, Wolves finally made the breakthrough with Hwang Hee Chan getting on the end of a fine Neto cross. That makes it his 4th assist of the season which is remarkable considering how many goals Wolves have scored.

With the score 1-0 to the home side at half time. Liverpool required a stern talking to. They were not up to their usual best and it showed.

Liverpool looked better in the second half but needed to change personnel. Just as Cody Gakpo was about to come off, he converted Salah’s low cross for the equaliser. It was his last contribution of the game but what a good one it was. The Reds were firmly on top now and it looked increasingly likely that they would get a winner.

It wasn’t until the 85th minute that Liverpool struck again through Robertson this time with a storming run from the back. Salah grabbing another assist. His FPL owners must have been delighted.

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-3 Liverpool

Top FPL performers - Robertson (11) Salah (10) Gakpo (6) Hee Chan (6)

Manchester United Humbled at Home

Brighton travelled up to Old Trafford to take on the struggling Manchester United side. The Seagulls have had some good results against United in recent Premier League games, winning their last 4 games against the Red Devils. Manchester United have looked defensively frail so far this season, conceding 10 goals in just 5 matches.

It was the travelling fans who had something to cheer about first; Danny Welbeck opening the scoring against his former team. Simon Adingre found Welbeck inside the box who cooly finished out of the reach of Andre Onana. This was not the start that Ten Haag had hoped for.

United started growing into the game more with Marcus Rashford hitting the woodwork with his shot. On the 40 minute mark Rasmus Hojlund had the ball in the back of the net, but to the dismay of the home fans it was ruled out by VAR. Rashford was deemed to have taken the ball out of play when setting up Hojland.

The second half started in the worst possible way for Ten Haag’s men. Pascal Gross doubling his sides lead before Joao Pedro put the game to bed with a third.

Hannibal Mejbri got one back for the home side with a lovely strike from outside the box. Could the comeback happen? Manchester United were pushing but they just could not find a breakthrough.

The game ended and United had lost at home to Brighton for consecutive times now; De Zerbi had a master class and he really showed up Erik Ten Haag on Saturday.

Manchester United 1-3 Brighton

Top FPL performers - Gross (10) Joao Pedro (7) Lamptey (7) Welbeck (7)

Haaland Struggles but City Maintain Perfect Record

Pep was back on the sideline for his teams trip to West Ham and despite some early City pressure they found themselves 1-0 down. James Ward-Prowse’s diving header sent the Hammers’ fans into delirium. They could have easily been 1 or 2 goals down thanks to Erling Haaland firing his shot wide and some great Areola saves to keep Rodri at bay.

Jeremy Doku looks like a very handy purchase, weaving in and out of defenders he was able to find Haaland at the back post. However he was unable to turn the ball into the back of the net again. Within 1 minute of the second half starting, Manchester City were finally on the scoresheet. Doku’s lovely run and finish moved his side level. This young man looks like he could be the real deal and he is learning under arguably the best manager in the world.

City were pushing for another and they came very close with Julian Alvarez’s freekick. The shot almost nestled into the top right corner, but unfortunately for City fans it hit the post and West Ham were able to clear. Then they were finally able to break the stalemate through an exquisite finish from Bernado Silver to take his side 2-1 up.

The game was coming to a finish, but one man wasn’t happy with his performance so he had to score. Haaland set his side up with a lovely finish out of the reach of Areola. He had a poor game. Arguably one of his worst in a City shirt, but he got in on the act in the end. It should have been another game ball to add to his collection, but the robot may actually need some shooting practice this week.

All in all a win is a win for Pep, but he will not be pleased with some of the performances from some of his players. City are now on a perfect 15 points out of 15. Can anyone stop this City side or are they destined to repeat last seasons feat of the treble…

West Ham 1-3 Manchester City

Top FPL performers - Bernardo (13) Doku (9) Alvarez (9)

Aston Villa 3-1 Crystal Palace

Aston Villa welcomed Crystal Palace to Villa Park, both teams have had a good start to the season and came into this fixture separated only by a point. Moussa Diaby got what he thought was the opener in the first half, but VAR ruled it out for offside. If this had stood it would have been a lovely goal with a delightful touch from Diaby.

At the start of the second half the away end was bouncing due to a Odsonne Edouard goal. Emi Martinez slipped allowing Edouard an extra bit of time and space to put the ball into the back of the net. The Villains had dominated the game but they had found themselves a goal down.

Ollie Watkins came close multiple times. One of his shots hit the woodwork before bouncing back off of Sam Johnstone’s head and going wide of the post. Villa were pushing and pushing, but they just couldn’t get their foot in the door.

It wasn’t until the 87th minute when the home fans had something to finally cheer about. Lucas Digne’s cross into Jhon Duran was controlled exceptionally before the Colombian fired home an absolute rocket of a shot. Johnstone stood no chance in keeping this one out.

When there’s one there’s more, there certainly was at Villa Park on Saturday anyway! This time Douglas Luiz converted from the penalty spot to send Villa 2-1 up. However the scoring had not finished there. Leon Bailey grabbing his 2nd goal of the Premier League campaign and rounding off a good victory for his side.

Top FPL performers - Douglas Luiz (10) Edouard (8)

Fulham 1-0 Luton Town

Luton Town are still searching for their first Premier League points; this could have been one of the best opportunities for the Hatters to get some on the board.

Luton were really up for this game, with both Carlton Morris and Jacob Brown hitting the post. However the best chance for Luton fell to Amari’i Bell when the left back wound up on the end of Brown’s cross. Unfortunately the left back’s attempt was hit directly at Berndt Leno.

Sadly for the travelling fans, Carlos Vinicius put the home side ahead. The Brazilian striker pounced on a Leno mistake and simply poked the ball into the back of the net. The game then looked out of Luton’s hands with a main portion of the chances falling Fulham’s way.

Top FPL performers - Castagne (8) Ream (8) Vinicius (7)

Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Sheffield United

Struggling Sheffield United travelled to the capital to take on the high flying Tottenham side. Spurs dominated this game from the refs whistle for kick off. They were constantly attacking but one man kept them at bay. Wesley Foderingham.

The experienced goalkeeper was excellent on Saturday, racking up 8 saves. He single handedly kept his side in the game with a hope of getting something from it. Gustavo Hamer made the travelling Blades fans believe just that. The Dutchman scored a lovely placed goal which was tucked out of the reach of Guglielmo Vicario.

The 4th official signalled for 12 minutes added time to be awarded; the home fans had some hope to cling on to. Ivan Perisic’s corner found the head of Richarlison and he nodded the ball home. It was nice to see that the Brazilian could finally get on the scoresheet after he spoke out about his recent troubles with his mental health.

Tottenham were pushing for another and they found it to the ecstasy of the home fans and the pain of the away fans. They had this go-ahead goal in the form of a ginger from Sweeden. Dejan Kulusevski shot through the legs of Jack Robinson beat Foderingham and sealed all 3 points for Spurs.

Top FPL performers - Hamer (10) Kulusevski (10) Richarlison (8)

Everton 0-1 Arsenal

Everton were in dire need of some points whereas Arsenal are riding high having only dropped points to Fulham. You could see that from the onset the Gunners were the team in the driving seat here. Gabriel Martinelli had the ball in the back of the net before VAR intervened to rule it out for being offside. Unfortunately for the young Brazilian he came off with an injury a few minutes later.

It wasn’t until the 69th minute that either team were able to break the deadlock. We had been waiting for a goal and we got it in quite some fashion. Leandro Trossard fired a shot off of the post and into Jordan Pickford’s net. It was hit with some real finesse but the power and placement had Pickford rooted to the spot.

This game was an opportunity for Arsenal to really show us how they had improved as a team from last year. Sadly they didn’t show us that. They had countless opportunities but couldn’t take them. Sean Dyche will be worrying if his job is safe or not…

Top FPL performers - Trossard (11) Raya (8) White (7) Zincheko (7)

Chelsea 0-0 Bournemouth

No one would have had this game down as a nailed on belter and they wouldn’t have been wrong. A stalemate between two teams, which really just showed off either goalkeeper. They were fantastic on Sunday. Both goalkeepers combining for a total of 10 saves.

Levi Colwill did get the ball into the back of Neto’s goal however he came from an offside position. Raheem Sterling came inches from scoring a lovely freekick, but it ended up hitting the underside of the bar and trickling across goal. Colwill did turn the ball into the back of the net, but like we spoke about he was offside.

Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson both had brilliant opportunities, but were both thwarted by Neto. This game leaves Chelsea on 5 points from 5 and they need to get their act together if they want to challenge for Europe.

Top FPL performers - Neto (10) Sanchez (10) Kelly (8)

Newcastle 1-0 Brentford

On Saturday night Newcastle welcomed the Bees up to St James’ Park for what was a crucial game in the Magpies season. Newcastle came into this game with only 3 points on the board so they really needed to take some points from Brentford.

The first half was quite a dull occasion, you could tell there were a few nerves around the stadium and amongst the players. In the second half however, the home side were finally able to get a foothold in the match and apply some pressure to the Brentford defence (without Rico Henry who was subbed off before half time). Callum Wilson was able to bundle the ball into the back of the net, but in doing so he was deemed to have committed a foul upon Mark Flekken.

To the delight of the Newcastle fans they were able to finally get ahead in the game. Flekken committed a foul on Anthony Gordon, bringing him down inside of the box and letting Wilson fire his side into the lead. What was the goalie thinking? The home fans won’t care though, this win ended the Magpies run of losses.

Top FPL performers - Botman (9) Trippier (8) Schar (7)

Nottingham Forest 1-1 Burnley

To round off this week we were at the City Ground watching Nottingham Forest face Burnley. The game was tightly fought with both teams needing points from it. Burnley who started the game on 0 points and Nottingham Forest were right in the dog fight on 6 points.

To the delight of the travelling faithful, Burnley scored first. Zeki Amdouni’s shot from outside the box after Lyle Foster scuffed his shot was lovely but it took some finishing off. It was placed into the bottom right of the Forest goal and it put a damper on the home fans’ Monday night. The young Luca Koleosho deserves some praise for his lovely run and cross which led to the goal.

It was in the 61st minute that Forest got themselves on the score sheet. Callum Hudson-Odoi with an early goal of the season contender to send the home fans into a frenzy. He hit a beautiful curled shot off of the inside of the post leaving James Trafford no chance at saving the shot. It was majestic. Foster did get the ball into the back of the net but VAR ruled it out for a Sander Berge handball. To make matters worse for the South African, he then saw red after he stupidly elbowed Ryan Yates. He will have to serve a 3 match suspension now following this.

Top FPL performers - Hudson-Odoi (10) Amdouni (8) Awoniyi (5)

Winning Ways’ Team of the Week

This was a hard week to make a team of the week for, there were so many attacking players who could have made it this week. We felt that due to Hudson-Odoi’s screamer we couldn’t leave him out so we had to try and fit him in up top.

Some honourable mentions include Ben White, Kieran Trippier and Julian Alvarez.

Ones to Watch

Zeki Amdouni - The 22 year old can really play football in the top flight can’t he! His goal against Forest was taken so well and he could prove to be quite a handful for the shaky Manchester United defence.

Odsonne Edouard - The Frenchman has 4 goals in 5 Premier League appearances this season and is seemingly on a roll for the Eagles. He faces Fulham who have conceded 10 goals in 5 Premier League games so he could well have another this weekend.