Our chief football writer reviews the main talking points from the weekend's action
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It’s as you were in the title race, albeit Arsenal and Manchester City (and Aston Villa?!) all achieved their wins in very different ways, the former requiring a last-gasp own goal to beat the bottom club at home. City are starting to look dauntingly ruthless.
Thomas Frank is very much on sack-watch after a pitiful 3-0 defeat at Forest, which helps the home side further away from the bottom three. We might have to add Enzo Maresca to the same list after his post-match comments following Chelsea’s home win over Everton.
To that pair, throw Scott Parker’s name in too. He has become the first Burnley manager to lose seven straight in the Premier League. It’s itchy trigger finger time in Premier League boardrooms…
Here is one piece of analysis on each of the top flight clubs who played this weekend (in reverse table order)…
This weekend’s results
Chelsea 2-0 Everton
Liverpool 2-0 Brighton
Burnley 2-3 Fulham
Arsenal 2-1 Wolves
Crystal Palace 0-3 Man City
Nott’m Forest 3-0 Tottenham
Sunderland 1-0 Newcastle
West Ham 2-3 Aston Villa
Brentford 1-1 Leeds
Wolves’ rotten luck
This was Wolves’ most disciplined defensive display of the season, and still they came away with nothing. They kept Arsenal at bay, forcing them into largely low-percentage shots. And they were undone by themselves. Arsenal had one shot on target but scored twice.
I do think that Wolves have a goalkeeping problem, though, and Sam Johnstone deserves some criticism for misjudging Bukayo Saka’s corner because he should have got more on the ball to tip it over or wide. Johnstone looks shaky and seems to parry shots out rather than wide.
But what’s the alternative? Of all Premier League goalkeepers this season, nobody has a worse goals vs xG faced record than Jose Sa and he has only played four matches. The starter looks weak and the backup option has proven himself even less capable.
Who next for Burnley?
As we pre-empted last week, Scott Parker now has the longest losing run of any Burnley manager in Premier League history. His side created good chances against Fulham – 0.9 xG higher than in any other league game this season – but this rot cannot set in. While Burnley still have a chance of staying up, they probably have to make a change.
But where do you go next? Ordinarily you would pick a firefighter manager, but Parker’s defensive record last season put him in that mold. A Sean Dyche return would have made sense, but he’s at Nottingham Forest. Having seen how Rob Edwards has struggled to turn the ship around at Wolves, I think Championship managers would be wary of taking this job.
You are probably left with Michael Carrick or Gary O’Neil – out of work and presumably seeking a challenge. I’m not convinced either are much of an upgrade on Parker, but perhaps change itself is worth it just to try and shift the mood.
Nuno needs West Ham to back him in January
West Ham played pretty well against the form team in the Premier League, but there is a central defensive problem that may take this club down if they don’t try to solve it in the January transfer window.
West Ham have spent money on centre-backs; no arguments there. Their two starters on Sunday cost north of £50m and £40m Maximilian Kilman was on the bench. But this is only going to work if Nuno Espirito Santo can organise a defence and I’m beginning to think that nobody can with the brainfades shared amongst that trio.
West Ham have kept one clean sheet this season. They have conceded twice or more in 11 of their 17 games in all competitions. If you keep doing that, you get relegated.
Calvert-Lewin is justifying Leeds’ summer purchase
I don’t think anybody really knew what to expect from Dominic Calvert-Lewin this season. His last two (three? four?) seasons at Everton had been so frustrating, persistent injuries leading to unfair accusations from supporters that he didn’t care enough to stay fit.
The proven talent made Calvert-Lewin worth the gamble, but double figures for goals felt widely optimistic.
So this is all wildly surprising. Calvert-Lewin has now scored in four straight Premier League games for only the second time in his career (the other one was in 2020). He is currently scoring Premier League goals at a faster rate than ever before.
Nottingham Forest have themselves a diamond
Nottingham Forest’s summer recruitment has come in for some deserved stick recently: they signed 13 players, only three of them have become fixtures in the team and even then it took Nicolo Savona and Omari Hutchinson time to get minutes.
But in Igor Jesus, they have found a brilliant No 9 who is fit for Premier League success. This was another game in which the Brazilian didn’t score or assist, but never underestimate the difference he makes in winning headers, holding the ball up, pressing defenders and making runs. He is one of the most selfless strikers I’ve seen at the City Ground and that’s not what I thought Forest were getting.
Sunday was Forest’s most dominant league performance since their 7-0 over Brighton last season. They were front-footed, pressed brilliantly and efficiently and continuously created chances from turnovers wherever they occurred on the pitch. Jesus is the embodiment of all that.
Bournemouth
Play Manchester United on Monday night.
Brentford’s home form cannot tail off, or else
In October, Brentford beat Liverpool and West Ham in the space of five days and then won 5-0 at Grimsby in the cup; life looked very good. It’s been tough going since.
The equation was pretty obvious: Brentford had won both of their home games since Liverpool, against Newcastle and Burnley. They had lost all four of their away games and Keith Andrews admitted that the away performances required serious improvement.
The point is this: if you aren’t going to win your away games, it creates an awful lot of pressure on Brentford’s form at the Gtech. And they were second best on Sunday against one of the few teams below them.
Wilson steps up at the perfect time for Fulham
Last week we discussed the beauty of Harry Wilson’s goals, but he has also been one of the best players in the country over the last month. He now has three goals and three assists in his last four league games. Wilson is almost singlehandedly taking Fulham away from trouble.
“I feel really good. I’ve felt good all season, I’ve played a lot of minutes so I feel fit,” he said on Saturday. “As an attacking player, it’s nice when your numbers are good as well and over the last few games, mine have been.” No arguments here.
And that’s crucial because of what comes next. Calvin Bassey, Samuel Chukwueze and Alex Iwobi are all off to AFCON, spreading a small squad more thinly. Fulham’s next three league games are against Forest, West Ham and Crystal Palace. Wilson has stepped up at the perfect time – he’s now the top goalscorer and second highest assist provider.
Howe should be under pressure at Newcastle
Eddie Howe has done magnificent things at Newcastle, and that doesn’t count for nothing when assessing him now, but this fixture has got managers sacked before and each of them know how much it means and therefore how much that demands from each performance.
Newcastle have been bad away from home in the league pretty much all season, but to show such lifelessness in this game, having done so in a similar style all season, is unacceptable on every level. There was nothing there: no intensity, no heartbeat, no endeavour, no creativity.
The players deserve plenty of blame. Anthony Elanga is simply not a winger for this system and Anthony Gordon’s levels in the league have been appalling. But the buck stops with Howe when supporters can fear what an away performance looks like and then see exactly that vision over the subsequent 90 minutes.
Read more: The £55m Newcastle flop who sums up Eddie Howe’s growing headache
Tottenham’s subs epitomise another humiliating day
A performance with no modicum of cheer, cohesion or concept of how it could be any different. When one of your players plays a simple pass beyond their man and out for a throw-in or goal kick, it is frustrating. After the 12th time they have done it, you want to rip out your hair and rip up your season ticket.
But I really want to talk about Thomas Frank’s substitutions, somehow a nadir in a sea of unmitigated sewage on Sunday. His team went 1-0 down and showed little fight. They went 2-0 down and needed to offer some threat. So Frank took off one full-back and two central midfielders for one full-back and two central midfielders, despite nothing working until then.
Spurs carried on playing badly, at which point he brought on two forwards for the two wide men and then played them out on the wing. This will shock you: it got no better and so only became more forlorn.
Brighton have a striker problem
Georginio Rutter was a passable false nine at Anfield, dropping into space and allowing the two wingers plus Diego Gomez to go past him while Danny Welbeck got a rest on the bench, but in the week that Stefanos Tzimas was ruled out for the season after getting injured on his debut, it’s clear that Brighton have a striker problem.
Fabian Hurzeler’s team have played five league matches without Welbeck starting this season and taken five points from them. But that includes the win at Chelsea, when Welbeck came off the bench to score twice.
There is nobody else that offers what he can and that absolutely includes Rutter. It’s no wonder that Brighton are reportedly exploring bringing Evan Ferguson back from his (largely disappointing) loan spell at Roma.
Everton’s injury fears rear their ugly head
Following three of the best results of their league season – wins away at Bournemouth and Manchester United and at home to Forest – Saturday caused a significant setback for Everton and not because they lost 2-0 at Chelsea.
After 15 minutes, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was forced off with a hamstring injury; he has been Everton’s best player this season. After the game, David Moyes revealed that Jack Grealish also has hamstring concerns and may have to be managed. They are Everton’s two most creative players.
Iliman Ndiaye has also been excellent this season and he now heads off to Morocco with Idrissa Gueye. Moyes was keen to stress that we should not bemoan footballers wanting to play in an international tournament, but most supporters will be cheering on Senegal’s opponents. Tyler Dibling and Charly Alcaraz will now get a chance through necessity and there aren’t many more in reserve.
Man Utd
Play Bournemouth on Monday night.
Sunderland put the ‘fun’ into functional derby win
The best thing for Sunderland about their derby day win over Newcastle, extending the unbeaten Premier League run to 10 and staying above their opponents: they didn’t even play that well.
That’s hugely important. At the start of the season, we expected that, were Sunderland to stay up and/or compete with Newcastle, they would have to significantly overperform and overachieve. In some games this season, they have.
But against Newcastle, Sunderland were functional and slightly uninspiring. They didn’t create much nor knit together many attacking patterns against a team created on a far bigger budget. And still Newcastle couldn’t get at them. And still they won.
Ekitike is becoming the main man for Liverpool
It’s abundantly clear that Mohamed Salah is going to be the headline news of this Liverpool attack until either he is sold or fully integrated back into the fold (and that probably depends upon Salah, his agent and various Saudi Pro League clubs).
But it’s actually Hugo Ekitike who acts as the bellwether of this front line. Ekitike scored in three of Liverpool’s first five league games, all of which they won. He was then dropped to bring Alexander Isak into the first team, when Liverpool started losing games, and then ineffective upon his return to the side.
After three more games on the bench (Forest, West Ham, Sunderland), Ekitike has started Liverpool’s last two league games and scored four goals in the process. Leaving Isak and/or Salah on the bench is unideal given the situation, but this must be a meritocracy and right now the front three should be Ekitike plus two.
Read more: Liverpool fans should thank Mo Salah for his outburst
Crystal Palace are showing signs of strain
There’s no point going overboard after a defeat against Manchester City, particularly not when Palace created four really good chances and had 16 shots. But the injury to Daichi Kamada comes at an inopportune time. Kamada was finding a seam of good form and will now miss several weeks or more.
That’s the hidden danger of European football (see Forest’s injury list for further details). Palace are losing Cheick Doucoure and Ismaila Sarr to AFCON and already have Daniel Munoz injured having been ruled out last weekend.
Recent comments from Steve Parish suggest that investment in January will be minimal, but every injury will only make Oliver Glasner feel more glum about Palace’s chances of maintaining their league position.
Is Maresca in his end game at Chelsea?
An odd thing to write after a relatively comfortable home win over Everton, but Enzo Maresca’s post-match comments make Chelsea one of the stories of this weekend.
“Since I joined the club, the last 48 hours have been the worst 48 hours since I joined the club because many people didn’t support us,” was Maresca’s message, made more cryptic because he refused to clarify whether he meant supporters or the club’s hierarchy.
This was Chelsea’s first win since 22 November, so Maresca is clearly under pressure to deliver a title challenge and progress deep into the Champions League. I’ve never totally been convinced that he has a handle on the job (yes, I know that they’re world champions). Could it be that the latest poor run, combined with the same thing happening last season, has Chelsea looking for other options?
Aston Villa are unlikely title challengers
A few weeks ago, we made a point about Aston Villa winning an away game from behind. Let me remind you:
“Between the start of 2024 and a month ago, in every competition they played in, Aston Villa took six points (because they only ever did it in league games) from losing positions away from home: draw vs West Ham (March 2024), draw vs Ipswich (September 2024), win vs Fulham (October 2024), draw vs Arsenal (January 2025). That run stretched for almost two years and was a very weird blind spot.”
Since then, Villa have trailed at Tottenham and won. They have trailed at Leeds and won. They have trailed at Brighton and won. They have trailed (twice) at West Ham and won. There is a resilience here like almost nowhere else in the country. And they’re still only three points off the top.
Yeah, Man City are absolutely back
I’ve already said the phrase above once this season, before Manchester City went and lost 2-1 at Newcastle and at home to Bayer Leverkusen. Since then they have won five on the spin and scored 16 goals in the process.
The defence might creak occasionally, but there is ruthlessness to City’s attacking play that will worry Arsenal and any upcoming opponent. Erling Haaland is indeed still making do with few touches in the box, but Pep Guardiola has the midfield runners flying forward and Phil Foden in the spaces that make you believe he could score 15 goals again in the league.
We all remember City swatting aside supposedly form teams away from home as a sign of their dominance. And now they’re doing exactly that again after their most emphatic win on the road since the opening day at Wolves (and after beating Real Madrid in midweek).
Arsenal’s slow attacking play matters
It’s a lot easier to talk about this stuff when Arsenal have squeaked home a win, but their patterns of attacking play are starting to stymie their penalty box threat. In their first 10 league games of the season, Arsenal produced an xG of 2.0 or more four times. In the six games since (Sunderland, Tottenham, Brentford, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Wolves), they haven’t done it once.
This may well be due to Mikel Arteta’s desire to protect a makeshift defence through an injury mini-crisis, but the safe passing in midfield and Viktor Gyokeres’ inability to create chances for himself means that Arsenal are slightly struggling for quick fluency. Saka is forever the honourable exception, but it has become a little too one-dimensional. This is not the time to get cagey.
Read more: Arsenal reek of a desperation I last saw in April 2023 – that isn’t sustainable
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