Our chief football writer reviews the main talking points from the weekend's action
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Manchester City were the first major casualty of the supposed three-way title race, beaten by Tottenham Hotspur and their own defensive incompetence. With Liverpool playing Monday, Arsenal took the chance to gallop past Leeds United and set the pace.
There were bumps down to earth for Sunderland, while Aston Villa are the most surprising early strugglers (although joined on a single point by Manchester United). Brentford head coach Keith Andrews got his first win as a senior manager, meaning that Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Ham United continue to be the glummest of the established Premier League teams.
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
Friday
West Ham 1-5 Chelsea
Saturday
Man City 0-2 Tottenham
Bournemouth 1-0 Wolves
Brentford 1-0 Aston Villa
Burnley 2-0 Sunderland
Arsenal 5-0 Leeds
Sunday
Crystal Palace 1-1 Nott’m Forest
Everton 2-0 Brighton
Fulham 1-1 Man Utd
West Ham’s defending makes supporters cross
Not a great sign when supporters are streaming out after 60 minutes of your first home game of the season. Graham Potter has had a full pre-season and West Ham look worse than they did in May.
West Ham’s defending of crosses is the worst aspect of any team so far this season. Against Sunderland, Eliezer Mayenda had space on the penalty spot to score his header; so did Dan Ballard. On Friday night, West Ham were second to two headers from a corner, conceded from another, Mads Hermansen made a mess of a cross and Aaron Wan-Bissaka twice lost concentration at the back post.
It is one thing to start a season appallingly, but quite another when you concede eight goals without once making life hard for your opponents in your own final third. Potter’s team don’t stop crosses and don’t deal with them either.
Wolves’ baffling team selection
There was bemusement among Wolves supporters when Andre was left on the bench by Vitor Pereira, given most consider him to be the best in his position at the club. After the 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth, Pereira made intimations about training performance.
The problem for Pereira is that Andre’s replacement Jean-Ricner Bellagarde was robbed of possession for the match-winning goal and Wolves’ manager was then forced to bring on Andre at half-time. The combination of him and Joao Gomes is just about the only positive aspect of Wolves’ team right now.
Brighton are asking a lot of Welbeck
You know what I’m going to say. Brighton supporters know what I’m going to say. Fabian Hurzeler knows what I’m going to say, if he’s reading (hey Fabian!). You can create all the chances you want, but if you are consistently profligate in the penalty area then you damage your own confidence and breathe life into your opponents. Everton didn’t need any help to stir in their new stadium; Brighton helped out anyway.
Brighton have had 23 shots this season with a combined expected goals (xG) of around 4.0. They have had a penalty. They have faced two teams who they outperformed last season. They have scored a single goal and taken a single point.
Also, for the second weekend in a row Brighton’s two young Greek forwards were not in the matchday squad having been signed for north of £50m. It is asking an awful lot of Danny Welbeck.
Aston Villa’s lack of creativity is a concern
This Aston Villa squad is far weaker than it was in May – one look at the bench on Saturday tells you that. No Jacob Ramsey, no Marco Asensio, no Marcus Rashford, no Leon Bailey.
But after Villa failed to have a shot in the first half against Newcastle last weekend, they created only 0.32 xG in the first half against Brentford. A Brentford team that was blown away before half-time by Nottingham Forest the previous weekend, remember.
Again it took until the introduction of Donyell Malen for Villa to come alive in the final third. I fail to understand why Unai Emery is persisting with this central midfielder farmed out wide plan when it means his team lack pace, fail to support Ollie Watkins and haven’t scored a league goal yet.
Man Utd should have sold Fernandes when they had the chance
Bruno Fernandes continues to attract interest from Saudi Arabia (Photo: Getty)
You can call it snide timing after he has skied a penalty over the bar, but I don’t believe that Manchester United can rebuild their midfield, as they must do, with Bruno Fernandes as one of the two deeper-lying players. Ruben Amorim prefers Casemiro next to him and then Mason Mount and then Manuel Ugarte, but it doesn’t matter. You need an elite all-action holding player if Fernandes is going to be one of them.
With Kobbie Mainoo now apparently way down the midfield queue, a bold, brave club would have cashed in on Fernandes to Saudi Arabia with two new arrivals (and Mason Mount) to play behind a central striker. That would have created funds for Carlos Baleba or an alternative in July that might have enabled a better shape. Because this one is too easy to play through and thus isn’t sustainable.
Read more: Man Utd close in on £17m transfer – and why it’s bad news for Altay Bayindir
Newcastle – play Liverpool on Monday night
Palace must give Glasner what he needs
While Nuno Espirito Santo might have talked his way into trouble with his pre-season comments about needing far more proactive transfer activity, Oliver Glasner has a mandate from every Crystal Palace supporter to do exactly the same. Glasner has made no secret of demand to improve a squad that is weaker than last season.
The benches of Sunday’s two sides spoke volumes. Forest introduced four exciting young attacking players and their club captain, leaving Douglas Luiz and two senior defenders in reserve. Glasner’s bench had two goalkeepers, two academy kids and two summer signings: a reserve left-back and a reserve goalkeeper.
If Palace are going to cope with Thursday-Sunday football and retain Glasner’s enthusiasm beyond this season, they owe him some squad depth. You can’t keep up overperformance otherwise.
Read more: Crystal Palace have failed Oliver Glasner this summer
Leeds have no time to breathe
There is no need to panic about losing away at the joint favourites for the title, not even if you get thumped. Leeds are not part of the elite and their season will not be defined – at least not in a negative way – by their performance against that elite.
But there was a lesson to take from Saturday evening. I’d suggest that the biggest difference between the Championship and the Premier League is the organisation and intensity (as a combination) of the press, and never is that more apparent than when a central midfielder receives the ball to feet, particularly if he is not facing the opposition goal.
Against Everton, Leeds barely faced that press because David Moyes’ team sat in a lower block. Here, they were repeatedly spooked. If that keeps happening, Leeds will struggle.
Fulham show why they are kings of the super-subs
In 2024-25, Marco Silva was the best manager in the Premier League at getting goals from his substitutes. They scored 17 times, twice more than any other club (Brighton). So far this season, Rodrigo Muniz has come off the bench to score an equaliser against Brighton and Emile Smith Rowe has come off the bench to score an equaliser against Manchester United.
Here’s another statistic to epitomise Silva’s magic touch: of the last six fastest goals by substitutes (i.e. time from coming on to scoring), Fulham account for four of them. They have tried and tested replacements who know their roles and take little time settling into them.
Why Burnley should be feeling positive
Scott Parker has his first win back in the Premier League (Photo: Getty)
In 2023-24, it took until 4 November for all three promoted clubs to record their first Premier League win. In 2024-25, it took until 10 November for the same to happen. This season, with most neutrals wanting a little more competition at the bottom, Burnley became the final promoted club to win on 24 August.
There are reasons to be downbeat here. Burnley beat Sunderland, who were really poor but beat West Ham. Leeds beat Everton but were then thrashed by Arsenal. You might argue that if West Ham are just terrible, we have seen deep weaknesses in all three sides who came up. They have played three away games and the aggregate scoreline is 0-10.
But I’m choosing positivity. The winless runs of each promoted club from August onwards last season killed all momentum and allowed underperforming established clubs to coast. We need a relegation battle as much as we need a title race.
Brentford discover the perfect combination
Brentford suddenly look like a Premier League team again. They kept Aston Villa quiet in the first half and then repelled all pressure after Unai Emery made attacking substitutions. The victory could have been more handsome but for a VAR intervention that could have gone the other way.
I don’t know if the improvement was all down to Jordan Henderson starting – the forward line also looked better and Keane Lewis-Potter is a better full-back than winger now – but he certainly replicated the dependability of Christian Norgaard.
Him sitting deep allowed Yehor Yarmolyuk to roam and press rather than the passive approach of last weekend. Andrews has his best combination.
Bournemouth’s impressive cameo
He might only have had 25 minutes off the bench, but I was very impressed with Amine Adli’s debut for Bournemouth. As a new winger coming on with a 1-0 lead and your team understandably dropping deeper, these appearances can forgivable pass you by.
Not Adli. Not only did he carry the ball forward to relieve pressure (three completed dribbles) and win fouls (twice), he also tracked back and it was his defensive work rate that was most impressive in the circumstances.
In 25 minutes he made as many tackles as any other Bournemouth player. Expect Adli to start moving forward.
Grealish looks right at home at Everton
In his last two league seasons at Manchester City, a period spanning 40 appearances, Jack Grealish provided two assists. That wasn’t only because his own levels dropped and he was moved out of the team, often used as a substitute. Grealish was forced into a particular role, shuttling the ball backwards and into midfield from the wing.
In the first 55 minutes of his first Everton start, Grealish matched that total. One was a simple pass, but it is instructive that Grealish seems to have been given licence to carry the ball forward. It has been too long.
It will take him time to lose the fear that seemed to engulf that last City season, but Grealish will be far better for using flair as opposed to keeping it hidden. So too will Everton and Moyes, especially if Iliman Ndiaye’s injury keeps him out for a while.
Read more: Jack Grealish and Everton are a match made in heaven
Sunderland brought back to reality
A result and performance as dispiriting as the opening weekend win was life-affirming. But, while Sunderland supporters will wonder what exactly changed over the space of seven days, there was actually a common theme.
Against West Ham, Eliezer Mayenda and Wilson Isidor played a combined 90 minutes and had 14 touches of the ball between them, once every 6.5 minutes. Against Burnley, the pair again combined for 90 minutes (one coming on for the other) and had 13 touches between them, once every seven minutes.
You see the point: either Sunderland are going to have to get more balls into the central striker, their midfielders are going to have to score a lot of goals from outside the box or those strikers must be incredibly efficient with those touches.
We need to talk about Man City’s defence
City’s high line left the defence horribly exposed against Tottenham (Photo: Getty)
Last weekend at Molineux, we saw the potential positive impact of Pep Lijnders on Manchester City’s defending, his preferred high line catching Wolves’ players offside on four separate occasions. Often the defensive line stepped out almost to the halfway line.
Against Tottenham, with their fast forwards and Mohammed Kudus creating, the same thing looked appalling as Spurs were able to break through at will and seemingly unsettle James Trafford, who was spooked. Thomas Frank had clearly watched City on the opening weekend and exploited the flaws.
Just as last weekend didn’t crown City as potential champions elect, neither does this set the back to last August. But if Pep Guardiola and Lijnders persist with this high line-offside trap combination, look out for counter-attacking teams exposing the space in behind. If the defensive line isn’t perfectly in sync when stepping up, you’ve got a problem.
Liverpool – play Newcastle on Monday night
Nuno retains the support of Forest fans
If this is to be Nuno’s last game in charge of Nottingham Forest, there were glimpses of the future. The team that ended the match contained four new signings who twice combined to create chances that could have led to Forest breaking their remarkable Premier League duck. It is now 52 Premier League matches trailing at half-time without winning.
Just as instructive was the support of the away following, who largely parked the Europa League crowing in favour of their pro-manager chants. At full-time, Nuno stood in front of those fans and applauded them for supporting him. Now we must wait to find out whether one of the stranger managerial exits in recent memory is on the cards before they face West Ham next Sunday.
Read more: Nuno’s bombshell changes everything for Nottingham Forest
Chelsea’s Palmer alternative
Cole Palmer’s tight groin is not good news for Chelsea, but Estevao’s first Premier League start certainly was. He became the youngest player to assist a Premier League goal for Chelsea and looked entirely unfazed by being thrown into the team by Enzo Maresca. The main message: this teenager is for now, not the future.
What I liked about Estevao is how Maresca used two No 10s, Joao Pedro and him, rather than the 4-2-3-1 of last weekend. That allowed Pedro to play off Liam Delap and let Estevao pick up the ball before driving diagonally out right, with Malo Gusto overlapping, to create overlaps. That then allowed Pedro Neto to make back-post runs, as for the goal Estevao assisted.
The midfield pairing making Tottenham shine
Last autumn, when Brentford started the season desperately poorly away from home, Brentford supporters laid the fault at the feet of a central midfield combination (Norgaard Vitaly Janelt) who were failing to reproduce their best week and looked incapable of lasting 90 minutes with the required energy. Frank’s team need to battle in midfield as a solid platform.
Fast forward to Joao Palhinha and Rodrigo Bentancur as a disciplined, energetic and physical central midfield combination, thus allowing Pape Matar Sarr to do the same higher up the pitch and the forward line to hound Manchester City high up the pitch. The question was whether Frank could supercharge his Brentford system with better players. The signs are very good indeed.
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Arsenal’s cheat code continues
A home win that ended up looking incredibly straightforward, but don’t overlook how, again, Arsenal’s ability to break open tricky, tight matches with set-piece goals is unrivalled in the Premier League. Leeds were just beginning to hold their own when Declan Rice’s perfect delivery and Jurrien Timber’s perfect header cracked all resistance.
This continues to be the Premier League’s biggest cheat code. Since the start of the 2023-24 league season, Manchester City and Liverpool have scored 23 and 25 goals respectively from all set-piece situations. Arsenal have scored 38 goals. Not only is that worth almost exactly half a goal every game, it also doesn’t seem as if their moves have been thwarted by opposition coaches over the summer.