Here’s what happened in the Premier this weekend, in case you missed it…
READ ALL ABOUT IT
• Saturday’s roundup: Chelsea losses third straight league game
• Sunday’s roundup: Liverpool suffers first loss under Klopp
WATCH MATCH HIGHLIGHTS:
Bournemouth 1, Newcastle United 0 || Leicester City 2, Watford 1 || Manchester United 2, West Bromwich Albion 0 || Norwich City 1, Swansea City 0 || Sunderland 0, Southampton 1 || West Ham United 1, Everton 1 || Stoke City 1, Chelsea 0 || Arsenal 1, Tottenham 1 || Liverpool 1, Crystal Palace 2 || Aston Villa 0, Manchester City 0
WHAT STOOD OUT
Man United not flamboyant, but getting the job done
Chelsea: Far from a blip
Frank Lampard didn’t hold back when asked to comment on Chelsea’s loss away to Stoke City on Saturday. “This is far from a blip, they are losing games regularly. They need to turn the corner very quickly. They can’t dwell on it, they need to get out of it and put it to bed,” the former Chelsea captain to Sky Sports. He’s quite right. The Blues are now 15 points behind league co-leaders Manchester City and Arsenal, and shockingly sit a meagre three points above the drop zone. It’s hard to see the London club retaining the title at this point, and even a top four spot could be beyond them, especially with West Ham, Leicester and Tottenham consistently punching above their weight.
The performance against Stoke was better than in recent weeks (and this with Jose Mourinho serving a suspension and barred from the stadium) but it was still laboured at times. What’s most worrying from a Chelsea perspective is their opponents’ attitude towards them. This was exactly the type of game Mourinho’s men would have easily won last season, even after going down a goal. But opponents now play the Blues without fear, knowing they can knick a point off the champions, whose confidence looks brittle and are who playing as though they are far less than the sum of their collective parts.
Nobody’s talking about Tottenham
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BEST GOAL
West Ham United’s Manuel Lanzini scored on a gorgeous curler from the edge of the 18-yard box against Everton.
BEST SAVE
Just moments before conceding, Swansea City shot stopper Lukasz Fabianski robbed Robbie Brady of a goal, diving to tip the Norwich City winger’s driving low shot from inside the box around the far post.
BEST MOMENT
Romelu Lukaku showed great composure in rounding West Ham goalkeeper Adrian to tie the score for Everton. But the defence-splitting pass by Gerard Deulofeu that played him in on goal was absolutely stunning. A lovely piece of skill from the Spaniard.
BEST GAME
The North London derby featured end to end action, a bit of histrionics and drama. It was an engaging, and entertaining 90 minutes of football.
BEST QUOTE
“I am realistic, we were only threatening sometimes but it’s quite a good start.” – New Aston Villa manager Remi Garde
BEST TWEET
SIX PACK OF STATS
• Romelu Lukaku has scored seven times in seven appearances for Everton against West Ham United in all competitions.
• Chelsea are the first defending champions in English top-flight history to lose seven of their opening 12 games.
• Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy is only the second Premier League player to score in nine consecutive games, after Ruud van Nistelrooy.
• Since debuting for Manchester United, Juan Mata has been involved in more Premier League goals (30) than any other player at the club.
• Mesut Ozil is the first player to assist on 10 or more goals in his first 11 appearances of a Premier League season.
• Philippe Coutinho has scored as many goals (three) in his last two appearances under Jurgen Klopp as his final 17 appearances under Brendan Rodgers.
Stats courtesy of Opta
BURNING QUESTION
THREE STARS
1) Marko Arnautovic: Netted the game winner as Stoke City became the latest team to defeat reigning league champions Chelsea.
2) Petr Cech: Another fabulous performance from the veteran goalkeeper, especially in the second half, as he kept Arsenal in the game against Tottenham.
3) Chris Smalling: The Manchester United centre back quarterbacked a back line that gave very little away at home to West Bromwich Albion..
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