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From Garth Crooks
Football analyst
Arsenal and Spurs played a draw out to finish off a thrilling weekend of soccer.
While title rivals Manchester City thrashed Brighton 4-0 liverpool kept their 100% start with a 3-0 triumph at Burnley.
Chelsea were held 2-2 by Sheffield United, with Manchester United drawing 1-1 at Southampton.
Leicester impressed with a win over Bournemouth, West Ham beat Norwich 2-0, Aston Villa 1-0 was seen off by Crystal Palace and Newcastle drew 1-1 with Watford. At a 3-2 thriller Everton beat Wolves in the other match of Sunday.
Here is my group of this week have a browse and select your own below.
I think that it’s perfectly acceptable for a goalkeeper to rely upon his defensive unit as much as his defenders can rely on him. The association between keeper Adrian and also the Liverpool four has had its bad and good moments.
Adrian’s functionality against Burnley was about as good as it gets. The keeper made a great save from Chris Wood at a vital time in the first half, while his defensive device made sure Adrian wasn’t needed to come to their rescue thereafter. For the first time because Adrian took over from the wounded Alisson Liverpool looked comfortable with their goalkeeper. The future is starting to seem Red.
Did you know? Adrian has a 73% save percentage in the Premier League this season. Of goalkeepers with three or more begins in 2019-20, just three have a greater percent (Vicente Guaita 80%, Ederson 77 percent and Hugo Lloris 76 percent ).
Fabian Schar: This was a really different evaluation to the one confronting Newcastle last week against Spurs. I posed the question’would the Magpies attack with the identical conviction since they defended White Hart Lane?” Well, the operation was not quite convincing but good enough to contain a Watford side desperate for points.
Schar played a significant part by Newcastle in this controlled , professional performance. They did not panic if they went 1-0 down and that he took his aim. Bad for a centre-back.
Did you know? Since the beginning of all 2019, Schar has scored five Premier League targets, more than every other Newcastle participant. Four of these have come at St James’ Park.
Virgil van Dijk: It was just a matter of time until Virgil van Dijk declared his place. This week the Dutchman has been indulging himself award ceremonies with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. I suppose if you’re likely to be one of the top players in the world these events have to be appreciated.
Nevertheless it was pleasant to see him exchange his tuxedo to the familiar away colours of Liverpool Football Club from Burnley and turn into a stellar performance. This game was a stroll at the park. Good to have you back into my team of this week.
Did you know? Liverpool have won 73% of their Premier League games when Virgil van Dijk is now featured, with the Reds suffering just four defeats in these 56 games (W41 D11 L4).
Jannik Vestergaard: After Jannik Vestergaard out-jumped Victor Lindelof to nod home a dazzling headed equaliser against Manchester United, my immediate thought was he would not have done this to Chris Smalling.
The former United centre-back, on loan in Roma, finds himself surplus to requirements – along with Romelu Lukaku along with Alexis Sanchez – only for United’s manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to then have the nerve to state his squad is looking somewhat thin. The Red Devils are looking anything aside from devilish right now. The truth is they looked insipid and unconvincing against a 10-man Southampton side who must have been placed away.
Did you know? Vestergaard scored his first Premier League goal for Southampton in his 27th league appearance for the team, getting the third Danish player to score for the Saints in the Premier League, after Ronnie Ekelund and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
Kevin de Bruyne: He scored the first goal and set up the second at a performance that just oozed class. The Belgium worldwide has now contributed five assists in four matches and in this rate could find himself from the late teens and even reaching 20 within an injury-free season. This would spell disaster. Only a thought!
Did you know? De Bruyne was involved in nine goals in his past seven Premier League begins (two goals, seven assists).
Jack Grealish: I do not normally pick players on the losing side but on this occasion I have to make an exception. Jack Grealish not merely gave a captain’s performance against Crystal Palace but was robbed of the part he played in providing Villa with what could have been an impressive and warranted equaliser.
Kevin Buddy’s shocking conclusion to disallow Henri Lansbury’s 96th-minute target after Grealish’s brilliant run ranks one of the worst decisions I have seen in years. What Buddy did not find (and I did) had been Grealish get pounded by Wilfried Zaha since he entered the box, which propelled Grealish into the ground. You truly see Zaha, with hands appeal to the referee to convey no penalty. This was an outrageous choice.
Did you know? Grealish has generated the most possibilities of any Aston Villa participant in the Premier League this season (eight), with all but among those coming from play.
Roberto Firmino: I have said it before and I will state it again, when Roberto Firmino is about song so are Liverpool. The Brazilian orchestrated a masterclass from the Merseysiders from a Burnley side , however, for a brief occasion, never looked in the match.
Maybe Firmino can heal the obvious rift between Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane because it would appear boss Jurgen Klopp is having difficulty. For Mane to burst publicly, as he failed at being substituted after Salah had so clearly ignored him on 2 occasions when in scoring positions, was totally justified. Salah can’t play with this game in his own – .
Did you know? Firmino became the first Brazilian to evaluate 50 Premier League goals. He is the only real player to accomplish the milestone for Liverpool – no additional club has ever had more (par with Manchester United).
Spiritual Eriksen: When I noticed Eriksen was starting this north London derby I instantly thought, Spurs can not lose this game. I was correct, they didn’t lose the match – but they need to have won it. Eriksen is really a class activity and when he is on his game you will find several greater.
It was the Dane who bust a gut to catch up with the drama and tap the loose rebound in the Erik Lamela shot. Spurs look like they might hang on to Eriksen for some time longer, which is just as well because they have no-one who can take care of the ball better. In terms of Arsenal, it’s a good job they’ve Matteo Guendouzi. He’s a Granit Xhaka using brains.
Did you know? Eriksen has now scored 50 Premier League targets – the first Danish participant to achieve this landmark. He is the first player to register 50+ goals and assists for Spurs in the competition.
Jordan Ayew: This game wasn’t a classic by any means but it didn’t create talking points. Jordan Ayew was very unlucky to not make my team of the week after his execution against Manchester United. However there’s little doubt about his selection this week after pushing his way beyond Tyrone Mings to score in the 73rd minute and provide the Eagles with all three points for the second consecutive week.
Mings, on the other hand, might have been contained from the England squad that was current but that doesn’t make him an England player.
Did you know? When he was an Aston Villa player ayew has scored in Premier League games for the first time since December 2015.
Sergio Aguero: The Artful Dodger was at it . Sergio Aguero has been on the prowl from a Brighton side that had the audacity to go toe to toe with Manchester City. The two superbly of aguero were not so much picking pockets as taking candy from a kid.
I can’t work out whether it was hubris from Graham Potter to think he could beat Manchester City at their very own game, or if he wished to continue using his theme of his group playing with attractive football whatever the consequences. I have to state Brighton and attractive football are currently playing – I’ll give that to him.
Did you know? Aguero has scored 99 Premier League goals in the Etihad – just Thierry Henry at Highbury (114) and Wayne Rooney in Old Trafford (101) have scored more in a single place in Premier League history.
Jamie Vardy apart from his goalscoring exploits under Brendan Rogers there is little doubt about it, Jamie Vardy is right back to his very best. His first aim was a finish of the highest order and his second was a heist. When he had been in charge Exactly what Claude Puel did to the lad’s kind must call into question his capacity to manage any given level.
As for Bournemouth, they need to have been playing with a Leicester. The attack with Youri Tielemans on Callum Wilson has been a shocker. I really don’t care if the player was not looking or, the tackle was mistimed, it had been reckless and he should have gone.
Did you know? Vardy has been directly involved in 14 goals in 14 Premier League matches under Brendan Rodgers (12 goals, two assists).
You have seen my selections. But that would you go for?
Pick your XI.
Is it me or has the quality of refereeing in the Premier League fallen? I can’t recall so many outrageous decisions produced by the man in the middle early when I’ve seen. There is not any doubt in my head that VAR has produced a huge difference to this game’s dynamic, but that I feel it’s generated uncertainty.
It needs to be the referee’s decision that is final. Not VAR.
It cannot be useful if every time you make. Referees deserve our protection. The Premier League must follow the strategy of Uefa and give a chance to view replays in the specialized field in the event of a clear mistake or a contentious issue to the referee, and allow him to decide whether his first decision was right or wrong.
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