Every week, we reflect on the weekend’s action in the Premier League with some unnecessarily knee-jerk reactions. Here’s what we made of Matchday 13.
It’s Time to Start Taking Chelsea Seriously
Manager Enzo Maresca might not agree, but it might be time to start talking about Chelsea in the same breath as Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City (yep – we’re not ready to write City off completely just yet) in the title race.
“I think we are not ready to compete with Arsenal, Liverpool and City for many reasons,” Maresca said after Chelsea’s win over Aston Villa on Sunday. “Just because we win today, I won’t change my idea.”
We’re sorry, Enzo, but Chelsea are in this title race whether you like it or not. Chelsea have exactly the same record as Arsenal, level in second place and chugging along nicely, waiting in hope for a slip-up from runaway leaders Liverpool.
They have come through a tough period undefeated, seeing off Newcastle, Leicester and now Villa, while also drawing with Arsenal and Manchester United. And their upcoming fixture list looks pretty friendly until they face City at the end of January. On current form, there’s a decent chance Chelsea could get a result in each of their next eight games. Their upcoming opponents are Southampton, Tottenham, Brentford, Everton, Fulham, Ipswich, Crystal Palace, Bournemouth and Wolves.
They beat a potentially tricky Villa side 3-0 this weekend without hitting their best. They conceded a few decent chances but were clinical in attack and resilient in defence. They are starting to look like a very, very good team.
Chelsea 3-0 Aston Villa stats
They clearly aren’t yet as consistent as Liverpool or even Arsenal when they’re at their best, but with Nicolas Jackson in his current goalscoring form, Moisés Caicedo bossing things in midfield, Cole Palmer still able to get a goal and an assist when he’s apparently out of form, and even Enzo Fernández scoring, they are a force to be reckoned with. It’s time to start taking them seriously.
Justin Kluivert is the Real Deal
A goalscorer having their numbers padded with lots of penalties is usually seen a negative and a stick with which to beat them. Scoring a penalty is usually easier than scoring in open play, after all.
It is perhaps understandable then for the more cynical football fans among us to rate Justin Kluivert’s record-breaking hat-trick of penalties in the 4-2 win at Wolves as less impressive than other trebles.
He had to rely on the hard work and pressing of teammate Evanilson as well as some truly awful decision-making from the Wolves defenders and goalkeeper José Sá to give him three huge chances from the spot, but he also deserves huge credit for holding his nerve three times in one game.
It was the fifth time in Premier League history that a player has taken three penalties in a single game, but the first occasion that all three have been scored.
Kluivert twice waited for Sá to move first before slotting home, and for the other spot-kick, he blasted the ball into the corner of the net. Keeping your cool under that kind of pressure to outwit the same goalkeeper three times in one game is far more impressive than scoring three penalties over a period of a season or even just a few matches. Kluivert should be praised accordingly for a unique achievement that shouldn’t be underestimated.
Justin Kluivert shots and xg vs Wolves
Ruben Amorim Has Fixed Man Utd
Yes, we’re going there.
Manchester United’s 4-0 win over Everton on Sunday wasn’t entirely without peril. If the visitors had a more efficient goalscorer than Beto or Dominic Calvert-Lewin, we could have been speaking about a very different game.
But after riding their luck early on, United grew into the game and deserved to win. Marcus Rashford, Bruno Fernandes and Joshua Zirkzee were all in fine form as they brought the feel-good factor back to Old Trafford.
man utd 4-0 everton xg race
All of a sudden, United are in the top half, unbeaten in three games in all competitions under new head coach Ruben Amorim, and dreaming of a challenge for the top four that doesn’t seem so unlikely now.
United’s four goals against Everton came from just 1.07 xG, suggesting that they didn’t really deserve to win by such a big margin, and that Amorim may just have given the players a bit more confidence to score from difficult positions. That makes it sound quite a lot like a new manager bounce.
But confidence was a huge issue for United under Erik ten Hag, and overcoming those difficulties was always going to be part of the job for Amorim. Positive results like this one will breed more belief in what the new manager is doing, which should provide the foundations for the players buying into his ideas fully. There’s a long way to go, but the early signs are positive.
Man City Have Lost Their Aura
Six losses and a draw in seven was all it took. It’s official. Opponents no longer fear Manchester City.
It might be a different story when they have all – or even some – of their players back, but for now, there’s every reason for any team who plays City to believe they can get a result. Sunday’s loss at Liverpool was as resounding as they come, if not in the score then in the performance.
The scoreline might have only read 2-0, and it was only 1-0 until Mohamed Salah’s 78th-minute penalty, but City never really looked like getting anything from the game. Liverpool dominated in just about every department.
It took until 39 minutes for City to register a shot. It was the longest they had to wait for their first attempt in a Premier League game in 14 years (vs Arsenal in April 2010). They eventually struggled to a not-entirely-disastrous 0.84 xG, but Liverpool were out of sight by that point, managing 3.57 xG. On another day they could have scored far more than the two goals they did.
Premier League title race opta supercomputer simulations
Jonathan Manuel / Data Analyst
Liverpool are now 11 points clear of City, and Pep Guardiola appears to be struggling to come to terms with this run – the first four-game losing streak in league games of his managerial career. The sight of him responding to taunts from the Liverpool fans by holding up six fingers to show the number of Premier League titles he has won appeared to indicate a man who has been broken. The best managers respond on the pitch, they don’t trade on past glories.
Their winless run will end (surely, right?), and they could yet still win something this season. But City and Guardiola, right now at least, are not the fearsome force they were even as recently as a few weeks ago.
Opta Stats Hub Premier League
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