Premier League Matchday 7: Spurs shoot straight up into second place

A Premier League weekend fit for a Liverpool fan and Spurs’ supporter. One goes three points clear and the other enters the top four.

Liverpool definitely doubted in the absence of Virgil van Dijk and other senior players but a super-sub by the name of Diogo Jota is slowly working his way to being named signing of the summer.

Everton, finding it hard to replicate the form that saw them achieve four straight victories and go five games unbeaten. Courtesy of their dropped points in back-to-back Premier League matchdays, Tottenham overtakes them and claims their spot.

Results

Wolves 2-0 Crystal Palace
Sheffield United 0-1 Man City
Burnley 0-3 Chelsea
Liverpool 2-1 West Ham
Aston Villa 3-4 Southampton
Newcastle 2-1 Everton
Man United 0-1 Arsenal
Tottenham 2-1 Brighton

The most consistent occurrence from Matchday 1 to Matchday 7 of the English top Flight? VAR and its effect on the game so far, causing a stir in almost every result. The only difference this weekend, match officials have been using the sideline monitor, some to greater effect than others.

Let’s take a look at how things stand in the Premier League and check who are the teams that are relegation-threatened, who is involved in the mid-table madness, and what’s different at the summit.

The bottom of the table has four teams showing they are ready for the Championship.

Two of the four clubs without a league win have already played and were still unable to collect three points after both of them lost in their respective fixtures. Sheffield United’s hard work counted for zero points as they fell to a 0-1 loss by the hands of Manchester City.

The 100-games milestone man Kyle Walker savoured the moment with a goal which was the winning goal and the only goal scored in the match. Sadly, it doesn’t get easier for the Blades as their next encounter is against an in-form Chelsea. They sit comfortably in 17th place, sweating in these early days.

The other team fighting to escape the clutches of the relegation zone, Burnley, fell victim to the rath of the Blues from London. Chances were wasted at Turf Moor by the home side but the scoreline of 0-3 perfectly depicts the Clarets’ story so far this season. They are the worst team this term sitting 20th.

Monday night’s important to all four clubs

A clash where a lot is at stake is when Fulham entertain West Brom in Monday Night Football. A win for Scott Parker means his side will ascend out of the drop spots for the first time this season. But if the Baggies win, they move one up into 16th place because of Brighton’s loss to Spurs in the last of Sunday’s action.

Talking about Brighton… For a large part of the game against Tottenham, they looked the more determined team. The red hot Son had nothing to add to his name in this one, as he was kept quiet until he was eventually subbed off. It was his partner Harry Kane who came to the party on the night with his penalty scored.

Jose Mourinho’s introduction of Gareth Bale was the turning point. A couple of questionable VAR decisions adds this clash to the list of controversial fixtures for the season. The “is this going to be looked at by VAR” or “is this going to be overturned” is becoming usual sayings amongst commentators.

Graham Potter and his Seagulls are struggling to take flight in the standings, stranded on the ground and finding it difficult to make all things good click, despite having some positive individual performances. They lay in 16th place, four points above the drop.

So strange and unusual to see some of the top six outside of the top 10, but the competition in the EPL has been quite stiff leaving no room for error.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s job at Old Trafford is under tons of scrutiny with his Manchester side sitting 15th after their loss. They have gone four games at Old Trafford without a win and have allowed Arsenal to win their first game at the Theatre of Dreams for the first time since 2006.

Adding insult to the loss, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang made it his Theatre of Dance.

Aubameyang, who scored his first goal since the opening day, made sure from 12 yards out after Paul Pogba gave away a penalty. Man United stays exactly where they were in 15th and six points from safety.

The Gunners move up two places and sit in the top half of the table, swapping 11th for 9th. They will want to build on this and keep climbing up the table. Their defence is ticking with the commanding Thomas Partey involved. Now just their attack needs to be more lethal in front of goal.

Both London clubs, Crystal Palace and West Ham move down after their defeats. The former were experiencing their best-ever start to a Premier League campaign but failed to take points when they visited the other team enjoying their best start to an EPL campaign, Wolves.

The latter, West Ham, had a valiant try at Anfield but were undone having lost to the mentality giants, Liverpool. Moyes’ men took the lead, lost the lead, and then lost the game altogether. Sounds like the old Hammers but they are far from it quite frankly, having lost their first game in their last four outings.

The cheers of joy ended in heartache for Aston Villa after going down 3-4 to Southampton at Villa Park. They dropped into seventh and allowed the Saints to rise into the top four for the first time this season while enjoying their best start since six-years back. They have the third-most wins in 2020 in the EPL, only behind Liverpool and Man City.

It’s not pretty but we’ve come accustomed to the Reds taking all the points while barely featuring for 90 minutes of football.

The top half of the table saw every position from first to sixth gain a new owner. Of the lot, Chelsea, Wolves, the Saints, Spurs, and Liverpool all moved up, while the Blues of Merseyside was the only team to drop lower into third.

Everton’s lack of depth has been easily noticed after two games. Karma coming back to haunt them big time since taking out Virgil van Dijk for the rest of the season and Thiago Alcântara for a few games. Liverpool has won all their games since then, while the Toffees have struggled to take any points.

Everton makes it back-to-back defeats and are now licking their wounds. They went down 0-2 at St James’ Park to Newcastle side enjoying life under Steve Bruce and the notorious owner, Mike Ashley.

The Reds take their Anfield record to 63 games unbeaten and are now leading the race in their title-defending campaign. The last time they smelt defeat there was against Crystal Palace back in 2017.

Mourinho’s men have also found a way to win ugly or pretty, doesn’t matter as long as the scoreline reads Tottenham victory. He has plenty to be cheerful about. One forward failed to make an impact (Son) and the other joined the party.

Monday night fixtures

Fulham vs. West Brom
Leeds United vs. Leicester City

Bale scored his first Premier League goal after 2734 days missing from the league, and he was only on the pitch for three minutes. The super-sub is becoming a hot trend for all clubs, ask Liverpool about their little Portuguese, Diogo Jota, who has now scored three goals in three games across all competitions.  He has littery won them their last two EPL games.

The Wanderers are having a wonderful time on the pitch, enjoying a top start to this season. The two most surprising entries into the top six are both Southampton and Wolves, who sit fourth and fifth, respectfully.

Leeds and Leicester

The duo meets in a top-table clash, and have the chance to knock many teams off their spots. A home victory at Elland Road could rocket Leeds into third, depending on their goal difference after the 90 minutes played on Monday night. They could match third, fourth, and fifth place’s 13 points with a win.

Leicester can slingshot themselves into second if they are to win. They would knock Jose’s men down one spot while going two points clear on 15 points.

In the words of Russell Crowe in the Gladiator… ” Are you not entertained!”