Premier League Matchday 8 review: Arsenal slip & Man City escapes

Jonathan Victoria • 22 Oct 2024 Features

Just the one invincible campaign remains…

Eight matchdays down and it's becoming more and more clear that we’re in for a treat this season. No one is able to run away at the top while the bottom remains rather competitive between some poor-showing sides.

Matchday 8 brought the excitement, and now I bring you my thoughts on the weekend as I got through the good, the bad and the ugly plus my pick for the Game of the Week and the 5-a-side stars who lit up the weekend.

The Good

Credit: Spurs stun in the SON-shine as West Ham suffer 😬🟥 | Tottenham 4-1 West Ham | EPL Highlights (Sky Sports Premier League, YouTube)

Ange Postecoglou’s tactical prowess has been called into question at times this season but against West Ham, he proved he does know what he’s doing, controversially taking off James Maddison at halftime while the score was 1-1 to bring on Papa Sarr, ultimately changing up how Spurs defended the Hammers’ attacks and led to a quick and easy victory.

Wolves may have lost but they did look all Manchester City’s equal, keeping Erling Haaland quiet and allowing him only 13 touches of the ball. They even were able to quell the threats of Jeremy Doku and Savinho effectively to take them out the game.

Unfortunately for them, though, when Man City are failing to find the back of the net from their attackers, they turn to their defenders. As soon as they won that corner in the 94th minute, someone would inevitably head it home.

Aston Villa overperformed their xG by over 1.0 for the fourth time this season in their 3-1 win against Fulham, although this time around it wasn’t entirely down to their ruthlessness in front of goal but some luck.

Credit: Stones scores 95th minute WINNER! 🤯 | Wolves 1-2 Man City | Premier League Highlights (Sky Sports Premier League, YouTube)

Erik Ten Hag will be keeping his job for another week as Manchester United turned around a 1-0 deficit at halftime. That, though, may have been the best thing for them, as the nature of the goal they conceded right before the half seemed to enrage the Red Devils; the home side came out the half with a vengeance, successfully looking to get what they deserved. 

Sean Dyche’s tactical changes to his Everton side continue to pay off, their 2-0 victory over Ipswich being their second win in four games, keeping them unbeaten in that run.

Finally, Leicester have found what should be their new front-three pairing. Jamie Vardy in the middle alongside Facundo Buonanotte and Abdul Fatawu was a lethal combo in their comeback win against Southampton.

The Bad

Credit: Cherries inflict Arsenal's first away defeat in 2024 | Bournemouth 2-0 Arsenal | EPL Highlights (Sky Sports Premier League, YouTube)

Arsenal are the biggest losers this weekend, taking their first loss of the year to Bournemouth and nabbing their third red card of the season - bear in mind we’re only eight games in.

Shifts like the one they put in this weekend will not get them a third shot at finally claiming back the Premier League crown after so long. The loss moves them four points off the top spot.

Newcastle’s loss at home to Brighton continued the Magpies’ slow downfall. It’s the second game in a row they have failed to score despite producing 2.1 and 2.0 xG in those games respectively. 

Despite these failures, the fact they are still creating chances is a positive. So long as they are still getting them, it’s fair to believe they will eventually start finishing them.

Fulham’s struggles against Aston Villa may have fallen mostly to the missing Sasa Lukic, who usually dons the defensive midfield area. Without him, the Cottagers saw Tielemans take advantage.

West Ham’s collapse to Spurs’ tactical change does not bode well for Julen Lopetegui. They held their own really well in the first half but fell immediately in the second the minute they couldn’t play the way they had before. Not having a backup strategy for situations like that will cost them like it did this weekend, and they cannot afford to have it happen too often.

Crystal Palace’s loss to Nottingham Forest on Monday night wasn’t exactly a bad showing, as the two looked all the other way equal. But for Palace, life has not been as sweet as it had once been under Oliver Glasner and now they’ve got to start asking the questions.

The Ugly

Credit: Leicester's 98th-minute winner breaks Saints hearts | Southampton 2-3 Leicester | EPL Highlights (Sky Sports Premier League, YouTube)

Only one team belongs in the ugly section this week, and it doesn’t even pain me to do it - Southampton.

Far too often, my boys have looked strong in the first half or part of a game, falter and become complacent before conceding and losing a game.

This weekend was the worst example of this. It felt like two different teams between halftime. Russell Martin deserves a good part of the blame for making what I and all fans around me at the game felt to be the wrong substitutions, plus his failure to tactically account for being a man down to control the game, as difficult as that is, led to our eventual demise.

Ryan Fraser’s red was stupid from him. I still don’t get why players will do things like that when there is VAR watching everything.

But blood is also on Anthony Taylor's hands. I don’t mean to be that fan, but he was genuinely criminal in this game. He gave a yellow card for a challenge that was barely a foul in the sixth minute, which I feel says everything about the way the game progressed.

At the end of the day, we can’t put the blame on anyone else other than ourselves. The team weren’t committed enough to see the result through, and whatever we have been working on tactically, particularly on set pieces, is not working.

In fact, we don’t even have a dedicated set-piece coach, and it shows as we can’t stop a corner to save our life. Martin is under the cosh, although what other option is out there for a struggling Southampton side.

Game of the Week

Credit: Joy for Jones! 🤩 | Liverpool 2-1 Chelsea | Premier League highlights (Sky Sports Premier League, YouTube)

I’d say there were no proper standout games this weekend but I must pick one, so I’ll say giving the extended highlights of Liverpool vs Chelsea a watch is worth it.

Chelsea really looks like they’re starting to put things together, they just need it to click for a couple of other players, but as such they were able to bring the challenge to Liverpool.

The hosts continued their title charge with another convincing win. Under Arne Slot, players like Ryan Gravenberch have seen their usage increase, and against Chelsea, he, alongside Curtis Jones, bossed the midfield, which largely led to their eventual victory.

5-a-Side Stars

GK: Bart Verbruggen, Brighton – Flekken did all he could to deliver Brentford a point, saving nine of the 11 shots on target. 
DEF: Josko Gvardiol, Manchester City – When City are limited up top, they can turn to their defenders to deliver. Gvardiol scored a stunner to level it for the visitors and overal put in a strong shift to subdue Wolves to only 23% and three total shots.
MID: Curtis Jones, Liverpool – The orchestrator of Liverpool’s fortunes against Chelsea, he bagged himself a goal after winning the penalty that put them in front, and otherwise was simply every all at once throughout the match.
MID: Adbul Fatawu, Leicester City – Having been there to bear witness to my Saints’ collapse once again, more credit has to go to Leicester and Fatawu in particular. He assisted the first goal, set up the pressure that eventually led to the penalty and won the corner that resulted in the winner. A ruddy menace he was.
ATT: Marcus Rashford, Manchester United – After what seemed to be a fired-up halftime talk, it was Rashford who seemed deadset on not allowing another poor result. He got himself an assist and created four chances - more than he has had in a Prem game since April 2023.