Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action
Unai Emery is yet to find the right balance for his midfield but the claim of his de facto captain, Granit Xhaka, to be part of it is looking decidedly tenuous. First things first: the Switzerland international is a good player who cares tremendously and does not deserve anything like the negative reception he received upon his substitution against Aston Villa after 72 minutes. But his replacements, Lucas Torreira and the outstanding youngster Joe Willock, helped turbo-charge Arsenal’s comeback while Mattéo Guendouzi played the second half like a man possessed. Xhaka, by contrast, looked hesitant and off the pace. He is nowhere near automatic selection territory on this season’s form and Emery, who has delayed formally announcing Arsenal’s next club captain, may have a tough decision to make. Nick Ames
• Match report: Arsenal 3-2 Aston Villa
2) Matip steps out of Van Dijk’s shadow
There has been no shortage of praise showered on Virgil van Dijk since his arrival from Southampton, and the Dutchman has of course been transformational, but Liverpool’s standout defender during the early stages of this season has been the man playing next to him. Joël Matip was the best player on the pitch at Stamford Bridge, ensuring that Tammy Abraham’s rich vein of goalscoring form came to an abrupt halt, and is playing with a calm and poise unrecognisable from his first couple of seasons at Anfield, when Liverpool’s defence often resembled a comedy troupe. The Cameroonian has certainly had the last laugh, having established himself as central part of the division’s best defence and helping keep a clean sheet in a triumphant Champions League final. Quite where this leaves the hugely promising Joe Gomez, though, is another question. Alex Hess
• Match report: Chelsea 1-2 Liverpool
3) Solskjaer plays the politician
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer went for the carrot rather than the stick. In the wake of Manchester United’s 2-0 loss at West Ham, which came about after a dreadfully passive performance, the manager suggested his team had merely been unlucky to come down on the wrong side of the finest of margins. Solskjaer would have been within his rights to read the riot act but that has not been his style since he took on the job. The initial transformation he effected after succeeding José Mourinho was built on injecting positivity. Yet behind the scenes, it would have been a surprise if Solskjaer had not given the players a dressing-down. He has that in him and it was easy to read into his decision to send them out early for the second half. What is clear is that if Solskjaer truly believes United were let down only by their decision-making, the club have problems. David Hytner
• Match report: West Ham 2-0 Manchester United
4) Wilder seeks improvement despite win
Chris Wilder wins the comedy Yorkshireman of the week award. The Blades manager thought his side were poor in possession at Goodison, and admitted he was berating his players until he was interrupted by a defender who could not believe what he was hearing. “Phil Jagielka chipped in: ‘Gaffer, we’ve just won at Everton,’”
Wilder said. “He put it into perspective, so I ended up telling them they should go out and have a beer and not go home disappointed. I didn’t mean to be overcritical, it’s just the mardy-arse Yorkshireman in me. We are not much fun at times. It’s a great feeling when you win any game of football, but I just felt if we play like that away from home for the rest of the season it is unlikely we will get anything.” Wilder is probably right. They will not meet opponents as accommodating as Everton every week. Paul Wilson
• Match report: Everton 0-2 Sheffield United
5) De Bruyne heading back to his very best
Can a team scoring eight goals finish a match with disappointment? With five minutes left, and Manchester United’s 24-year-old Premier League record of 9-0 against Ipswich to surpass, Kevin De Bruyne brilliantly smashed home the eighth but another goal would not come. Instead, with Leroy Sané and Aymeric Laporte out for the long term, there was satisfaction the club’s key midfielder was looking in full working order. Two years ago this month, it was the Belgian conducting the orchestra in a 6-0 win at Watford that was probably the best performance of Pep Guardiola’s first Premier League title-winning season. And it was De Bruyne who set the tone and tempo on Saturday, starting with the cross for David Silva to open the scoring after 52 seconds. Watford’s hopes of a first victory over City since 1989 met a sudden end. There was worse – much worse – to follow. John Brewin
• Match report: Manchester City 8-0 Watford
6) Maddison thrives in central role
One of Brendan Rodgers’s characteristics as a coach is his willingness to tinker with the make-up of his attacking unit, not for reasons of rotation but so as best to exploit what he perceives as the vulnerabilities of the opposition. That can mean changes of shape, but this season for Leicester it has tended to be more about switching personnel within that system. Three times, James Maddison has been used on the left; Saturday was the third time he has been used through the centre, a role he seemed to relish. His winner was fitting reward for an all-round performance in which Tottenham looked vulnerable to pretty much every Leicester attack. The presence of Jamie Vardy means defences are wary of exposing themselves to his pace by pushing too high, and that gives Leicester’s creators a fraction more room in which to operate. Maddison exploited it brilliantly. Jonathan Wilson
• Match report: Leicester 2-1 Tottenham
Only 30 minutes had passed before Steve Bruce switched from a back three to a back four. His Newcastle side had only 21% possession and the midfielder Isaac Hayden was so concerned he had approached the bench to say “this isn’t working”. Hats off to Bruce for responding but his problems run considerably deeper than tactics and team shape. Miguel Almirón, Jonjo Shelvey and Jetro Willems were woefully off the pace and the evening should have ended with Brighton winning comfortably. Instead poor finishing and Bruce’s late introduction of Allan Saint-Maximin’s devastating pace and the returning Andy Carroll’s aerial threat left Graham Potter’s players ultimately clinging on for a point. Bruce’s worry is that Saint-Maximin and Carroll’s physical fragilities dictate they cannot always be relied on to rescue Newcastle. Louise Taylor
• Match report: Newcastle 0-0 Brighton
8) Saints home form remains a worry
Ralph Hasenhüttl maintained he had no concerns about Southampton’s home form but the statistics paint a bleak picture. Bournemouth’s away win means that Southampton have won only 15 of their last 60 league matches at St Mary’s. Or, to put it another way, they have averaged fewer than five victories a season at home over the past three years. At the risk of stating the obvious, that puts huge pressure on them to keep picking up the sort of results on the road that have seen them win at Brighton and Sheffield United already this season. Hasenhüttl said he takes comfort from the chances that have been created at St Mary’s but the truth is that their most dangerous player on Friday was a midfielder – James WardProwse. Moussa Djenepo’s return from injury will help but Che Adams and Danny Ings – one goal between them so far – need to come good. Stuart James
• Match report: Southampton 1-3 Bournemouth
9) Burnley show ‘best of the rest’ potential
Burnley rather flew under the radar as pre-season previews mulled over who might be among the Premier League’s “best of the rest” this term, as the prospects of Wolves, West Ham, Everton and others were talked up, but their performances this calendar year suggest a Europa League challenge is well within range. They showcased the best of themselves in a neat display against Norwich, playing with a tenacity and purpose their opponents lacked. And Chris Wood’s partnership with Ashley Barnes up front is a force to reckon with, with the New Zealander finally getting the goals his performances have merited to see off Daniel Farke’s side. Proper striker’s goals too – a powerful set-piece header and a lovely near-post flick from a tricky angle. On their day they remain one of the best sides around at punishing defensive flimsiness. Tom Davies
• Match report: Burnley 2-0 Norwich
10) Jota’s strike marks change of luck for Wolves
Before Sunday’s game at Selhurst Park, Roy Hodgson had expressed sympathy with Wolves, blaming “the cruelty of fate” for a winless run that has not reflected the team’s performances. In the end, it was the Palace manager left cursing his luck after the visitors snatched a point, Diogo Jota scoring with virtually the last kick of the game. Hodgson cannot feel too hard done by - Palace dominated the second half, but were distinctly second best in the first. It had looked like Wolves would see another promising display end in demoralising defeat, but perhaps their luck has finally changed. You might also argue Wolves made their own luck. Jota showed great persistence and composure to profit from Joel Ward’s late slip, lifting morale before another busy week. Reading visit Molineux in the Carabao Cup before a basement battle with Watford next Saturday. Niall McVeigh
• Match report: Crystal Palace 1-1 Wolves