This weekend in the Premier League was a day for strikers in both good and bad terms. Chelsea’s Noni Madueke and Manchester City’s Erling Haaland scored hat-tricks while Heung-Min Son replaced Dominic Solanke with a brace to see Tottenham Hotspur overcome Everton. Not all the strikers were impressive as Manchester United saw a goal ruled out for a Joshua Zirkzee cross while Marcus Rashford disappeared once again.
Let’s take a look at what’s happened in the Premier League so far this week.
English Premier League results and fixtures
Saturday, August 24
Brighton 2, Manchester United 1
Tottenham 4 Everton 0
Crystal Palace 0, West Ham United 2
Southampton 0, Nottingham Forest 1
Fulham 2, Leicester City 1
Manchester City 4, Ipswich Town 1
Aston Villa 0, Arsenal 2
Sunday, August 25
Bournemouth 1, Newcastle United 1
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2, Chelsea 6
Liverpool 2, Brentford 0
Liverpool heading for victory
New Liverpool manager Arn Slot made it two wins in his first two games in charge of the club on Sunday, beating Brentford 2-0 in a rather uninspiring encounter. The Reds were in control from start to finish and had the goals to back it up, courtesy of Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah.
The match was in some ways a symbol of continuity as Slot made his Anfield debut just months after Jurgen Klopp left Liverpool after nearly nine years – the team were in complete control of the game, while Salah and Diaz remained the reliable goalscorers they had been for so long. However, it was hard not to notice the differences between Klopp and Slot as a new era began at Liverpool. Klopp has described his style of play as “heavy metal”, so perhaps some expected more goals from the Reds on a day like this. Slot seems to be heralding a more conservative, but not necessarily less effective, approach – Liverpool recorded a pass accuracy of 92% against Brentford, their best figure in a Premier League match since 2003-04.
Palmer and Madueke shine for Chelsea
Chelsea’s second-half dominance secured a 6-2 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday as Cole Palmer and Noni Madueke were the standout performers in their side’s first Premier League win of the season.
The Blues started brightly with a second-minute Nicolas Jackson goal, but traded goals with Wolves and went into the break 2-2 with the hosts. Palmer’s stunning 45th-minute strike, however, was only the enticement to his strong second-half performance as he assisted all three of Madueke’s second-half goals. Madueke completed his first hat-trick for the club on 14 minutes, while Chelsea found other ways to unleash their new-look form with a sixth on 80 minutes. Joao Felix scored on his first appearance since returning to the club, while new team-mate Pedro Neto got the assist against his former club.
The result represents a positive end to a somewhat chaotic week at Chelsea, which has been dominated by a number of players. New manager Enzo Maresca spent a midweek press conference insisting the squad was not “in disarray” while admitting that a large part of Chelsea’s 44-man squad had been told not to train with the first team. Sunday’s win will provide some proof of the club’s vision even if they have plenty of work to do before the transfer window closes on Friday.
Erling Haaland shows Ipswich the big leagues
There was only euphoria in the seventh minute for the Tractor Boys as Ipswich Town got the opener through Sammie Szmodics but it all went downhill from there. Haaland found a goal of his own in the 12th minute from the penalty spot before quickly adding another in the 16th minute of play. He wasn’t denied his hat-trick either as he scored again in the 88th minute to turn an xG of 1.63 into three goals on the day. Haaland, as usual, had few touches of the ball, taking just 22, but when he struck seven of those, the damage was done.
Rarely has a top-flight side seen a player even close to Haaland’s calibre and it showed. The newly promoted Tractors managed just one shot and Manuel Akanji and Ruben Dias completed more passes than the entire Ipswich team attempted. Kieran McKenna will not be too disappointed after failing to beat Liverpool and Manchester City at the start of the Premier League season but City could not have started things much better.
Two games, six points, six goals scored and just one conceded. Goal difference can be important when all is said and done, so Manchester City need to be ruthless when they go ahead in games, and that’s exactly what they did on Saturday. With Ilkay Gundogan back, Manchester City are heading for another Premier League title and the only thing that can stop them is themselves.
Savinho scored twice, Rico Lewis started to look better and Haaland was a world-smasher. It’s early days but there are signs that City are back to playing strongly in the league.
Manchester United have a Marcus Rashford problem
There are two Manchester United players under Erik ten Hag. One is Marcus Rashford who can score over 15 goals in the Premier League and this current edition of the Red Devils. The ingredients for a dynamic attack are there with Bruno Fernandes making things happen, Alejandro Garnacho who has come into his own and Zirkzee was initially unexpected but Rashford’s inclusion in the lineup has thrown the balance into disarray. Amad Diallo has potential on the right side of midfield and Garnacho can play on both sides so unlike in previous seasons, Ten Hag has options.
In Manchester United’s defeat to Brighton, Rashford was an unknown quantity in the 65 minutes he played, making just one shot and failing to create a chance. With expectations high for the Red Devils with the arrival of players such as Noussair Mazraoui and Matthijs de Ligt, something needs to be done about the balance in attack.
Defensively, United have improved and if they can sign Manuel Ugarte it will help with Casemiro’s leg problems, but time is running out for Ten Hag. He needs to get the left winger back on board quickly. Only then can they compete consistently.
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