Impressions
Matchweek 7 was particularly eventful, even for the Premier League. There were upsets, controversy, and absolute chaos. For starters, Manchester City’s 2-1 loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers was completely unexpected. The Tottenham - Liverpool game was mired with controversey around refeering decisions. Former treble winners Manchester United lost to a middle table Crystal Palace at home at Old Trafford. Newly promoted Luton Town found their first victory over a struggling Everton side. Unai Emery’s Aston Villa found surprising 6-1 victory over Brighton.
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 Manchester City
Wolves’ defenece showed incredible character against City’s attack. Nelson Semedo stuck out to me as a key player in that part. Of course, Hwang Hee-Chane deserves a special mention for the late equalizer to win Wolves the game. It looks like City came into the game biting off more than they could chew.
It also means that the chance for City to be invincible this season which unfortunately makes Arsenal fans very happy.
Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Liverpool
The refereeing this game was atrocious. I say that as a Spurs fan. What was absolutely going to be a cracking game was ruined by an unnecessary red card onto Curtis Jones. Simon Hooper (the referee) should absolutely be admonished for the decision making during the game against Liverpool. I think most people, even Spurs fans understand that Jones’ red card was not deserved.
After the card was shown, the game basically devolved into every Tottenham player standing around the 6-yard box attempting to score. Spurs would’ve won by 7-1 had Allison not saved what felt like every shot from Son, Maddison, and Richarlison. Speaking of Richarlison, he played pretty well. His performance will probably fall under the radar considering the controversy around the game but he earned my recognition. I think almost every Spurs fan understands that Richarlison is a great player, and that he was underperforming to the level he could play at. It was extremely obvious last season that his relationship with then-manager Antonio Conte was sour and complicated which absolutely resulted in a poor performance.
Another player who deserves a special mention was Micky van de Ven. I can easily see him becoming a fan favorite. I distinctly remember Peter Drury reacting to him catching up with a Liverpool attacker by describing van de Ven as “putting on the burners” and also saying “I didn’t know he was that fast”. The center back duo of Cuti Romero and Micky has been massively impressive this season despite Romero’s poor performance in the North London Derby.
Crystal Palace 1-0 Manchester United
Manchester United really have fallen from grace and its definitely on the back of Eric Ten Haag. It seems like the relationship between the players and him is not healthy. Regardless of how Jadon Sancho was doing, the way Ten Haag publicly blamed him was immature and unprofessional considering the platform that both of them have.
This game was a representative example of how United have been for this season: inconsistent. One minute, Johnny Evans is launching a pass into Bruno Fernandez who volleys it into the back of the net. The next, they lose to Crystal Palace at Old Trafford. The United players, especially Rashford and Fernandez seemed to lack direction in what they were doing. There is no way the club is not a factor in Andre Onana going from playing the Champions League final to allowing goals in to mid-table teams.
Despite Devils’ disappointing result, there were some standouts in their squad. The young players were very interesting to watch, especially Facundo Pellistri and Alejandro Garnacho. The new signing Sofyan Amrabat was a good watch as well (although I don’t know why he was trying to grab the ball everytime he fell).
Overall, United’s issue is not the players. The players are all of high quality and talent. It seems there is a fractured relationship between the club and its players.
Aston Villa 6-1 Brighton and Hove Albion
Both of these teams have overperformed this season to a massive degree. Brighton was much more talked about while Villa’s success went under the radar. In this game Brighton struggled to find a way through a tight Villa defence. They also got knocked off of the ball a fair few times.
Ollie Watkins as a striker is incredible. He scored a hat-trick in this match and it seems like the sky’s the limit for him. Some credit deserves to go to Unai Emery who has massively improved this Villa side.