Postecoglou > Ten Hag?!

The second week of the 2023/2024 season has delivered a series of exciting matches that we're eager to delve into. As customary, we'll present our Team of the Week along with our "Ones to Watch" column. Additionally, we'll provide coverage of any transfer rumours or official confirmations in our Transfer Round Up. Don't forget to stay tuned to our Twitter and Instagram accounts, as we're set to release a preview newsletter this week highlighting the upcoming weekend's games. In this newsletter, we'll also share some of our personal predictions for the weekend's action!

Nottingham Forest 2-1 Sheffield United

During another Friday Night Football, Forest squared off against The Blades at The City Ground. An early advantage was gained by Forest courtesy of the in-form Taiwo Awoniyi, who capitalised on Serge Aurier’s cross within the opening 4 minutes. While Forest held sway for most of the first half, their performance lagged at the start of the second half.

Consequently, Sheffield United increased the pressure and found the net through newcomer Gustavo Hamer, executing a beautifully curled finish into the top corner. The match seemed destined to end in a 1-1 draw until the key man, Chris Wood, deftly directed a header beyond the outstretched reach of Foderingham, clinching a valuable 3 points for the Nottingham side.

Top FPL performers - Aurier (10) Awoniyi (7) Wood (7)

For those into their fantasy take a look at this absolute mad man who triple captained Aurier…

Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Manchester United

And the Postecoglou era at Spurs has officially taken off! A convincing victory over a lacklustre United side, marked Spurs' inaugural league win under their new manager.

However, before we commend Spurs, it's worth critiquing Manchester United's performance, which left much to be desired. Their midfield presence was virtually non-existent, and apart from Onana, none could hold their heads high. Erik Ten Hag finds himself facing some serious problems. Marcus Rashford, in the number 9 role, appeared invisible, a position clearly not his forte, yet more was expected from him. The imminent arrival of Rasmus Hojlund seemingly cannot come quick enough. There were fleeting moments of promise from United in the first half, coupled with an early contender for miss of the season from Bruno Fernandes, but it all amounted to nothing.

Spurs, on the other hand, showcased genuine quality in this victory, and their supporters can only hope this is a mere glimpse of what lies ahead. They displayed resilience throughout the first half, withstanding United's pressure unscathed. A penalty appeal did arise for United, as Romero thwarted a goal-bound effort from Garnacho, with an outstretched hand. VAR, perhaps in an attempt to rectify the Onana incident from the previous week, remained unmoved.

Following this pivotal moment, spurred by the exceptional Bissouma and Maddison, Tottenham gathered momentum and dominated the second half, effectively overpowering United. Goals courtesy of Pape Mate Sarr and a bizarre Martinez own goal secured a well-deserved 2-0 triumph for Postecoglou's men.

Top FPL performers - Vicario (11) Sarr (10) Van de Ven (7)

West Ham 3-1 Chelsea

In this London derby we witnessed a David Moyes masterclass. When you have one of the biggest teams in the league, what should you do? The answer. Sign the best set piece taker around.

James Ward-Prowse made an instant impact for the Hammers as his corner found the head of Aguerd, who nodded it past Sanchez for the opener. This stunned Chelsea who did fight back in the first half, with Raheem Sterling back to his best, beating players for fun and creating numerous chances. Chelsea did get one back via the quick feet of Carney Chukwuemeka, before Sterling earned a penalty due to the outstretched leg of Soucek.

It was world cup winner Enzo Fernandez who stepped up, and his spot kick was saved by Areola. Areola 1 - 0 Fabianski in the West Ham goalkeeper battle. After the half time break, Chelsea looked destined to go ahead, until a great counter attacking goal finished by Michael Antonio made it 2-1. Chelsea continued their sustained pressure to try and get back into the game.

Things were made more difficult for West Ham when Aguerd saw red for a second yellow. West Ham were resilient but then, Chelsea introduced their new signing, Moises Caicedo, into the fray. However, his debut wasn't destined to be a heroic one; an ill-timed challenge from Caicedo presented West Ham with a penalty opportunity, which Paqueta coolly converted to secure the victory.

How much money do we reckon Paqueta had on that then? He also picked up a card, so he would have made a fortune on Sunday from Skybet!

Top FPL performers - Areola (10) Antonio (9) Ward-Prowse (9)

Wolverhampton 1-4 Brighton

Brighton started the game on the front foot with Kaoru Mitoma scoring a beautiful goal after shaking of Wolves’ defenders before releasing his strike into the bottom left corner. We think this could be up there for goals of the month it was sublime from the Japanese international. It wasn’t until the second half until Brighton were able to extend their lead. This time it was Estupinan who got on the score sheet after rifling an easy opportunity into Jose Sa’s goal.

The next two were scored and assisted by Solly March and Julio Enciso respectively. Enciso played a beautiful pass into March with the outside of his right boot that he then smashed into the net. His second was placed just onto the inside of the post to send De Zerbi’s men four goals clear of Wolves. Hwang Hee-Chan got a consolation goal for the midlands team but it was all for nothing as Matheus Nunes saw a second yellow for his little spat with Adam Webster.

Definitely not the start to the season that Wolves’ fans had hoped for leaving Gary O’Neil with a lot to ponder with their trip to Goodison next week…

Top FPL performers - March (15) Mitoma (12) Estupinan (11)

Fulham 0-3 Brentford

The scoring opened up after some diabolical defending from Issa Diop who passed the ball right to Yoane Wissa who rounded the outstretched keeper and finished. Bobby Decordova-Reid then hit the cross bar in the second half before Tim Ream brought down Wissa in the penalty area. This brought about his second yellow of the game meaning that Ream had to go and have an early shower. Brian Mbuemo tucked the penalty away into the bottom left corner leaving Berndt Leno rooted to the spot.

To really pile the misery onto the fans at Craven Cottage Mbeumo scored again. This one came after some lovely play from Rico Henry and Kristoff Ajer who then found Mbuemo on his lonesome in deep into the Fulham penalty area. This one probably easier than his first and that’s saying something!

Top FPL performers - Mbeumo (16) Wissa (11) Pinnock (7)

Liverpool 3-1 Bournemouth

Both teams came into the game on the back of 1-1 draws away in the capital on the opening weekend. Liverpool potentially already produced their worst 10 minute performance at the start of the game. They looked like a team that had never played together unable to pass all control the ball.

Credit to Bournemouth whose aggressive press took full advantage of Liverpool’s sloppiness. After a poor touch in midfield from Alexander-Arnold Bournemouth were in and Semenyo smashed home the opener. Within that crazy first 10 minutes, Bournemouth also had a goal ruled out for offside and very nearly got Alisson sent off.

Liverpool then seemed to wake up and for the rest of the first half were on the front foot. It only took until the 27th minute for the Reds to find an equaliser through Diaz. The Colombian managed a clever finished with his back to goal. The waves of attack kept coming and less than 10 minutes later, Liverpool were awarded a very soft penalty after Szoboszlai was clipped by Rothwell. Salah stepped up and was fortunate that the ball fell kindly for him, after Neto saved his initial attempt. Liverpool could have easily found another before half time but a lack of ruthlessness in front of goal kept Bournemouth in the game.

The second half continued in the same way as the first ended with Liverpool pinning Bournemouth back. Jota and Salah both missed good opportunities to extend the lead. In the 58th minute, the game was turned after Mac Allister was sent off for a challenge on Christie. We have sympathy for the refs decision on field, however, we have no idea what the people on VAR were doing. The replays clearly showed there was no force and it was never a sending off. Liverpool have appealed this, and as a result his 3 match ban has been overturned.

Liverpool then had to play with 10 men for the remaining 30 minutes. Klopp immediately responded by bringing on Endo, just 24 hours after he had signed to help the reds get over the finish line. Just 5 minutes after the sending off Liverpool managed to get a third. A long shot from Szoboszlai which Neto couldn’t hold was turned in by jota. This goal seemed to knock any hope out of the cherries. Although in the last 10 minutes they should have scored - a combination of Alisson and some poor finishing kept Bournemouth from scoring and making it an interesting finish. Shoutout to Szoboszlai who oozed quality and was awarded MOTM in the game. He is exactly what Liverpool have been missing in midfield band his performance on Saturday showed why Klopp payed the money he did.

Top FPL performers - Diogo Jota (12) Neto (10) Luis Diaz (7)

Manchester City 1-0 Newcastle

Perhaps two of the most impressive teams from the opening weekend met in the 8pm kick off on Saturday. On the back of their 3-3 draw at the start of last season, expectations were high coming into the game. Especially for the much improved Newcastle.

City started the game dominating the ball. In the absence of KDB and Silva it was Kovacic and Rodri pulling the strings in midfield. Newcastle succeeded with their game plan in the first half an hour; they stayed compact and did not allow City in. However they were unlocked by a brilliant strike from Julian Alvarez on the 31st minute mark. Kovacic, who was at the heart of everything, played it into the path of Phil Foden who collected the ball brilliantly before laying the ball off to Alvarez. Nick Pope had no chance keeping this one out. The next big chance came to none other than Erling Haaland, who unexpectedly missed.

The second half continued in the same fashion. A brilliant long pass from Ederson to Haaland left him 1 on 1 with Botman. The Norwegian held him off brilliantly but his shot was an easy one for Pope to deal with. Eddie Howe tried to get back in the game with his subs but they were unable to really get control at any point. Their best moment of the game came after a rare lapse in concentration from Rodri. This lead to Callum Wilson being 1 on 1 with new signing Gvardiol. However the Croatian defended really well and Wilson perhaps should have played a pass rather than trying to go on his own.

Newcastle tried to commit more men to get an equaliser but never really looked like scoring. It just resulted in city nearly getting the second with Foden coming close. However it ended 1-0 to the champions at the Etihad. This was not a battle that Newcastle probably expected to get anything from so they can’t be too disheartened by the result. As for city they look to have continued where they left of last season. Phil Foden was excellent in a more central role in the absence of KDB and there is an argument that they have never looked more solid defensively.

Top FPL performers - Foden (9) Akanji (7) Alvarez (7) Ruben Dias (7)

Aston Villa 4-0 Everton

The Villains dominated this game from the off, with Leon Bailey finding John McGinn in the box to finish from close range. Then Douglas Luiz finished cooly from the penalty spot after Jordan Pickford cleared out Ollie Watkins. Then if the day couldn’t get any worse for the Toffees, Dominic Calvert-Lewin was substituted with a fractured cheek bone in the 38th minute of his return to football. Surely it’s time for Everton to get rid of him??

The second half continued in the same way. In the 50th minute Alex Iwobi was substituted off with an apparent hamstring injury. A minute later, Leon Bailey capitalised on some awful defending from Michael Keane to extend Villa’s lead. Emi Martinez wasn’t called upon much this game, but he still made two outstanding saves to keep his teams lead. The first coming from a Arnaut Danjuma shot and the second from a Neal Maupay volley from close range. Jhon Duran then sealed Villas victory by pouncing on yet another Keane error to extend Villas lead to four goals.

Top FPL performers - Bailey (14) Digne (10) McGinn (10)

Crystal Palace 0-1 Arsenal

In the second edition of Monday Night Football we had Crystal Palace welcome the Gunners to Selhurst Park. It was the visitors who controlled the game with good chances falling to Eddie Nketiah. However it took the visitors until the second half to break the deadlock when captain Martin Odegaard sent Sam Johnstone the wrong way from the penalty spot to put his side into a deserved lead. However, it wasn’t all smooth sailing for Mikel Arteta’s men. In the 60th minute Takehiro Tomiyasu was yellow carded for time wasting before picking up a second yellow for a foul committed on Jordan Ayew. This meant that the Gunners had to play 23 minutes plus stoppage time with 10 men.

Palace were knocking on the door for the remainder of the game put this was slammed shut with some great defending from William Saliba and Co. The home side did have a penalty shout which was shut down by David Coote after he deemed Thomas Partey to have not been at fault.

A gritty result for Arsenal who now see themselves with 2 wins out of 2.

Top FPL performers - Odegaard (11) Saliba (8) White (7)

Current Standings

This is how the table looks after the second week - it is very early doors but we are sure you’d rather be Brighton than Everton at this stage!

Winning Ways’ Team of the Week

Ones to Watch

• Raheem Sterling - Although the Blues slipped to a defeat against their rivals on Sunday, Sterling was electric. He was awarded the MOTM award and rightly so, Emerson couldn’t get anywhere near him. With a favourable run of fixtures upcoming, we think this could be the start of something for Sterling at Chelsea.

• Moussa Diaby - This man has been unbelievable for Aston Villa, popping up all over the pitch. He was unlucky to not have scored against Everton if it weren’t for a miraculous save from Pickford. With their next game coming against Burnley we think that he could have some more goal involvements.

• Dominik Szoboszlai - He showed promising signs last week vs Chelsea but this weekend he really showed Liverpool fans his ability. Not only does he have the engine for a Klopp midfield like previous players (Henderson) but his ability with the ball is something Liverpool haven’t had since Coutinho. He practically got 2 assists at the weekend and I think there will be many more goal involvements to come.

Transfer Talk

Chelsea have poached another one of Liverpool’s transfer targets in Romeo Lavia, they have signed the young midfielder but could reportedly send him back to Southampton on loan.

Liverpool have finally made another signing after Chelsea stole two of their transfer targets. Wataru Endo has signed from Stuttgart for the Reds.

Aston Villa have signed forward Nicolo Zaniolo on loan from Turkish side Galatasaray, this loan deal does include an option to buy.

The big Serbian, Aleksandar Mitrovic, looks to have his move to Saudi Arabia set. After forcing his way out of the club, he is set to join Al Hilal.

Jeremy Doku looks set to have finalised his deal and complete his move from Rennes to the blue side of Manchester.

Brentford could be looking to sign Nico Gonzalez from Fiorentina; the deal could be worth a reported €45 million. Nothing is confirmed by either team as of yet.

Sheffield United are reportedly signing Cameron Archer from Aston Villa for a reported £20 million fee.

Demari Gray could be swapping Liverpool for Saudi Arabia. Everton have reached verbal agreement with Al Shabab but it now comes down to the player’s decision.

Gonzalo Montiel has joined Nottingham Forest on loan from from Sevilla. There is an option to buy if the Midlands club decide to do so.