Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action
All you need is … Bernardo Silva
An afternoon that began with lots of love for Bobby Charlton ended with lots of love for another expert attacking midfielder, Bernardo Silva. “He’s a joy to watch,” said Gary Neville, who gave him the player of the match award after deciding that his pulling of the strings counted for more than Erling Haaland’s goals. “I agree,” said Haaland, sportingly, as he popped up on Sky to present the award. “I love you!” Pep Guardiola, who uses Silva as his representative on earth, felt much the same, adding: “I’m in love with him!” With his self-effacing artistry, Silva reduced Manchester United to a mess – not that it takes much at the moment. Tim de Lisle
Match report: Manchester United 0-3 Manchester City
Mac Allister the master in midfield
The ordeal that the Díaz family are going through dominated Jürgen Klopp’s thoughts and put Liverpool’s latest home win into perspective, but the 3-0 defeat of Nottingham Forest provided another illustration of how swiftly the team’s new-look midfield is gelling. Dominik Szoboszlai dazzled yet again, with his deft touches and creativity contributing to the second and third goals, while Ryan Gravenberch’s surging runs offered a different threat, and balance, on the left. At the heart of a comprehensive victory, however, was Alexis Mac Allister, a growing influence in the defensive midfield role that he was required to adopt at the start of the season, and in which his ability to find space and time helped break an ultra-defensive Forest unit. “I think today everyone could see the benefit of a player who comes from the offensive side of the game [rather] than from the other side,” said Klopp. “I am really pleased for him and he had a lot of defensively top moments too, he really killed the counter. He’s good in these things, that’s why we play him there. To have a really creative player in the centre of the park together with Trent [Alexander-Arnold] in some moments is very helpful.” Andy Hunter
Match report: Liverpool 3-0 Nottingham Forest
Chelsea must fix crumbling fortress
There are a multitude of issues for
Mauricio Pochettino to address at Chelsea but arguably the biggest is remedying their home form. A humbling defeat against Brentford means Chelsea have lost eight Premier League home games in 2023, their most home league defeats in a calendar year since losing 10 in 1986. Has there been too much change? The churn of players becomes clear when rewinding to the first of Brentford’s three Premier League wins at Stamford Bridge 18 months ago; of the 14 players Chelsea used that day, only Thiago Silva and Reece James, who entered as a substitute, remain. “It is something we need to fix,” Pochettino said of their home woes. “We’re trying hard to find the solution. I think we need to be more mature. We are still so young as a team – I’m not talking about the age of the players – and we need to know better.” Ben Fisher
Match report: Chelsea 0-2 Brentford
Palace ‘weaker’ with untrusted youth
Roy Hodgson’s damning verdict about the impact of his three substitutions in the defeat to Tottenham certainly raised eyebrows among Crystal Palace fans. Asked whether he had been disappointed by his side’s performance against the league leaders, Hodgson surprisingly turned on Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, Naouirou Ahamada and Matheus França – the Brazilian, 19, making his home debut – after their introductions off the bench in the second half. “There was no disappointment today,” he said. “Maybe the young substitutes, who we like to think we can believe in and help us to a different level, didn’t show that. They didn’t do anything for us at all, really. We became much weaker when I made the substitutions.” Hodgson, who had just conducted a prickly post-match interview with Sky Sports, went on to say that he “feels sorry” for França, a £26m signing, because“people have tried to imbue him with qualities that we can’t expect to see from him”. Ed Aarons
Match report: Crystal Palace 1-2 Tottenham
A new start for Smith Rowe
A couple of years ago, it seemed inconceivable that Emile Smith Rowe – then a regular starter – would go more than 500 days between Premier League starts. But so it proved until he returned to Arsenal’s starting lineup on Saturday, to the joy of most inside the Emirates, who have never lost their adoration for a player that joined the club at the age of 10. His performance was neither spectacular nor particularly memorable, sprinkled with a few moments where his endeavours generated cheers from the stands. But it was a decent starting point. “I have not really got anything to lose,” he admitted last month. As Kai Havertz continues his failure to impress, a route to regular football is still available for Smith Rowe. He will hope this was the start of a second coming. Ben Bloom
Match report: Arsenal 5-0 Sheffield United
Iraola can breathe thanks to Billing
You’re playing a relegation six-pointer. Your keeper hurts his ankle. You go a goal down after 11 minutes. You haven’t won a league game all season, and your owner has just flown in from America. It could easily have been curtains for Andoni Iraola. Instead his Bournemouth team beat Burnley, thanks to some ferocious pressing, an audacious long shot from Philip Billing
and an atrocious display from a VAR whose indecision was final. At a stroke Bournemouth doubled their points tally for the season and leapt to 17th, shunting all the promoted clubs down into the drop zone . Bournemouth now have three mountains to climb – Liverpool in the Carabao Cup, Manchester City and Newcastle in the league – but, with no expectations riding on those games, Iraola has some breathing space. TdL
Match report: Bournemouth 2-1 Burnley
Loss of Neto could cost Wolves
Wolves’s draw against Newcastle came at a price. The loss of Pedro Neto, carried from the field after 77 minutes with a hamstring problem, robbed them of their maverick maestro, the winger in the best form of his five seasons at Molineux. His corner for Mario Lemina’s first equaliser was a seventh assist in the Premier League, taking him to the top of the table in that category. Gary O’Neil reported afterwards that Neto was “moving around” in the dressing room and there is hope the player’s absence will not be prolonged. O’Neil has got the best from a player whose time in the Midlands has been scarred by injury, but whose talent means the manager is happy to afford him a free role while his teammates press. Both Hwang Hee-chan and Matheus Cunha have something akin to Neto’s ball-carrying capabilities, but Wolves will be weaker without one of the players of the season so far. John Brewin
Match report: Wolves 2-2 Newcastle
Branthwaite decisive at both ends
Jarrad Branthwaite was magnificent during Everton’s 1-0 win over West Ham. The young centre-back’s first notable involvement was to stop Michail Antonio charging on to a pass down the right and he grew in stature as the game progressed. It was Branthwaite who started the move that led to Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s winner. He left Antonio on the floor with a strong challenge and quickly moved the ball forward for Calvert-Lewin to link with Jack Harrison. Then, when West Ham tried to force an equaliser, Branthwaite stood firm next to the experienced James Tarkowski. The 21-year-old won his headers, made important blocks, read danger and ensured that Jordan Pickford did not have to make a save until added time in the second half.
It was no surprise Sean Dyche singled out the defender for praise afterwards. Branthwaite appears to have benefited from a year on loan at PSV Eindhoven. Jacob Steinberg
Match report: West Ham 0-1 Everton
Villa cruise with help from Bailey
For Villa’s 12th home league win in a row in the league, this was domination at a pedestrian pace. Leon Bailey’s halftime introduction as a more direct presence signalled Unai Emery’s intent and it took just three minutes for the Jamaican to rise the highest in the Luton area and head down for the clinical Moussa Diaby to make it 2-0. By the time Tom Lockyer bundled Villa’s third into his own net, Luton fans began to celebrate the rare occasions their team managed to even hold on to the ball. In the end, a quite perfect week for Villa – following 4-1 wins over West Ham and AZ Alkmaar – was rounded off in an almost relaxed Sunday afternoon. Pete Lansley
Match report: Aston Villa 3-1 Luton
Gross an underrated Brighton gem
“Buy ‘em cheap, sell ‘em high.” Not a motto Brighton will be stitching on to replica shirts anytime soon, yet unquestionably an approach that has yielded fruit. Not, though, in every case. Occasionally, something like “buy ‘em cheap, watch them quietly flourish into an integral part of the club’s most successful side ever” is more appropriate. Not quite as catchy, granted – but it does sum up Pascal Gross nicely. When he joined from Ingolstadt in 2017, Gross cost just £3m. On Sunday, his 200th Premier League appearance was marked with his 36th top-flight assist. What is more, Gross has 32 league goals, is as versatile as they come and, this season, aged 32, made his Germany debut. Unglamorous. Under the radar. But never, at least in Brighton, underappreciated. Sam Dalling
Match report: Brighton 1-1 Fulham