Undoubtedly the biggest news of this weekend’s Premier League action was the sacking of Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær after an embarrassing 4-1 drumming at the hands of Watford – but that doesn’t take away from some of the showstopping football we were treated to.
Liverpool are back on track and looking a seriously good unit that will definitely be pushing for the tile come April, Man City dispatched Everton like it was a training game, Chelsea looked all too comfortable against a flailing Leicester City, and West Ham reminded us of the importance of squad depth after going down to Wolves.
There were 36 goals scored in the 10 fixtures this weekend and the race for the top is getting hotter and hotter every week. Let’s have a look at some of the bigger talking points from the action.
Vicarage Road the final straw for Solskjær
United fans have been baying for Solskjær’s sacking since the beginning of the season after a string of disappointing results against lesser opposition. In his two seasons in charge of one of the most arrogant dressing rooms in the league, Ole managed a 3rd and a 2nd place finish, which was more than most managers post the Sir Alex Ferguson era could say.
Unfortunately for Ole though, a 4-1 defeat against Watford at Vicarage Road was a step too far and it was announced on Sunday, just a day after the defeat, that the Norwegian manager and Manchester United had agreed to part ways.
2021 is turning out to be s season of sackings.
Watford’s Ben Foster, Craig Cathcart, Tom Cleverley and Joshua King all made vital contributions to a Watford performance that brimmed with energy, intent and endeavour. United were simply outclassed all over the pitch.
Captain Harry Maguire was given a red card which didn’t help matters and if people aren’t asking serious questions about his ability yet then they don’t know much about football. If managers were given as much leeway as some players are, Ole would undoubtedly still be at the wheel.
Maguire was handed the captaincy of United shortly after arriving from Leicester on a record transfer. Since then he has been mediocre at best for the Red Devils. However, when he plays for his national side, he seems to be a completely different player. Organised, slick and in charge.
United have been crying out for a world class central defensive midfielder for almost two seasons now, but even if baby Jesus himself assumed that role, Harry Maguire would still be easier to pass in defence than a grade 1 maths test. Yes, all the focus is on Ole and his ineptitude but United’s players should take the brunt of the blame for their poor run that sees them sitting 8th on the table.
Chelsea’s defence is their best form of attack
Chelsea’s wing-backs are absolutely steaming this season. Yes, they form a massive part of Thomas Tuchel’s free-flowing attacking style, but they’re also essential to Chelsea’s airtight set-piece routines.
Reece James and Ben Chilwell have contributed five assists and seven goals between them this season. Reece James has been huge on the right flank and covers an unbelievable amount of ground all over the pitch. His counterpart on the left, Ben Chilwell had to fight for his jersey at the beginning of the season, as Marcos Alonso put his hand up and delivered in a few top performances, but, given his chance, Chilwell has been magnificent.
It was him that delivered the corner against Leicester for Chelsea’s fifth headed goal of the season, when Antonio Rüdiger climbed above the defence to open the scoring.
Rüdiger is quickly asserting himself as arguably the best centre back in the league, boasting the most convincing all round set of skills that you’re likely to see from a big man at the back.
Chelsea have been without an out and out striker for 4 games with Werner and Lukaku both side-lined, but the Blues don’t seem to need a frontman to get goals.
Christian Pulisic marked his return from injury with a goal and N’golo Kante scored a left-footed beauty from 25 yards to seal a 3-0 victory for Tuchel’s men. Chelsea are playing some gorgeous football at the moment and are going to take some stopping as they charge towards the title and hold onto top spot.
The Reds go marching on
After their 4-1 thrashing of the Gunners, Liverpool fullback Trent Alexander-Arnold said what a lot of pundits are scared to say about the Premier League title: “it’s kind of looking like a three-horse race”– and we completely agree. West Ham, although flourishing, probably lack the depth to push for top spot and the Gunners are still looking shaky when up against world-class opposition. Liverpool were ruthless this weekend, dispatching Arsenal comfortably with all the usual suspects scoring.
Mo Salah is still looking like the top player in the league, if not the world, and his supporting cast are not letting him down in the slightest.
After Saturday’s game, manger Jurgen Klopp had this to say: “The second half was probably our best pressing that we’ve had this season. It was back to what we do, we put them under immense pressure and won the ball back and we were able to punish them with Diogo’s goal.”
After a little wobble against West Ham last week, it looks like it’s back to business as usual at Anfield.
The Hammers lack depth
After beating Liverpool in one of the best games of the season, we were treated to vintage West Ham as they went down 1-0 to a Wolves side that hardly ever scores.
Now, the Hammers still sit at 4th and this loss won’t take too much wind out of their sails, but it was an uninspiring performance to say the least. The scary part though is West Ham’s run of fixtures coming up. Their next five league games include encounters with Manchester City, Chelsea, and Arsenal, after which comes Spurs away in the League Cup quarter-final.
David Moyes will want to nip any of this weekend’s mediocrity in the bud very, very quickly. All they’ll be pushing for is to go into the Christmas break still on track for a Champions League spot.
City keep pressing
Manchester City had 77% of possession when they faced Everton on the weekend, a team who managed to keep Spurs from registering a shot on target the week before.
In Everton’s defence, their growing list of injuries continues to hamper their progress. They’re without Yerry Mina, Abdoulaye Doucoure and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, and most recently they’ve had to cope with not having the services of exciting winger, Demarai Gray.
That’s a hard blow to take under any circumstances, but even worse when facing an in-form City who are breathing down Chelsea’s neck at the top of the table.
Sterling, Rodri and Bernardo Silva all netted in their 3-0 win over the Toffees and the Cityzens looked to be in cruise control from start to finish.
City sit second, just 3 points behind Chelsea and seem to be improving every week. Liverpool sit one point behind City and West Ham just two points behind Liverpool. Meaning there are only 6 points between 1st and 4th as we head into gameweek 13.