Premier League Winners and Losers: Matchday Six

With just one of the top five winning and a North London derby that saw Tottenham sink to further depths, this was another exciting weekend of top-flight football that delivered no shortage of talking points.

Matchday six was not short of goals, drama and talking points so let’s get straight into it with this week’s Winners and Losers.

Winners

Manchester City

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Just when people were beginning to doubt their title credentials due to not signing Harry Kane in the summer, the Citizens came back with a performance to make a mockery of any doubters. It may have finished 1-0 against Chelsea but Edouard Mendy prevented it from being an even greater margin.

Pep Guardiola’s side played with purpose from the outset. They dominated the ball in the first half without creating anything too clear in terms of chances. In the second half, they took it to another level. Gabriel Jesus scored with the aid of a deflection and should have added a second.

Jack Grealish was also lively throughout. The big summer signing went close with an effort going wide before drawing a brilliant save from Mendy.

City have reclaimed the narrative in terms of the title race and reminded everyone why they are champions. In this form, they’ll take some stopping.

Everton

A much-needed win to get the Toffees back on track as it has been a tricky week for Rafael Benitez. A 3-0 defeat to Aston Villa was followed up by a disappointing League Cup exit at the hands of Queens Park Rangers. Anything less than three points against struggling Norwich City would have brought about unwanted scrutiny.

It was not a vintage performance, but the three points were earned. Abdoulaye Doucoure continued his good start to the season along with Andros Townsend netting a penalty.

It’s clear though that Everton desperately need Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin back. A tough game at Old Trafford lies in store next week. If even one of the duo return, it would instill some added belief.

Michail Antonio

Back in the team, back in the goals and most importantly, a first win in four for the Hammers. Leeds United may have been depleted but to come from behind and win at Elland Road shows great strength of character.

Antonio did brilliantly to score the winner late into the game on Saturday, knocking the ball past Jamie Shackleton before slotting past Illan Meslier.

David Moyes has three decent goalkeepers in his squad and an abundance of attacking midfielders. What he lacks is a backup for Antonio. The 31-year-old needs to be wrapped in cotton wool if the Irons are to have another successful campaign.

Aston Villa

Dalian Atkinson, Ian Taylor, Mark Draper, Dwight Yorke and Gabriel Agbonlahor. The only players to have scored in a Premier League victory over Manchester United prior to Saturday. You can now add Kourtney Hause to the list.

It was Villa’s first victory over the Red Devils since 2009 and only the fourth in the Premier League era. It was also thoroughly deserved. Dean Smith’s side were the better side throughout and Hause’s header was the perfect reward.

Emiliano Martinez also played his part with some mind games, getting into the head of Bruno Fernandes before the Portuguese fired his penalty into the stands. It was truly a day to remember for Villa fans.

Arsenal

The kind of result and performance Arsenal fans were looking for. The Gunners put arch-rivals Tottenham to the sword in a 26-minute spell during the first half to jolt their season into life.

At times, it looked like the Arsenal of old, particularly Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s delightful touch in the build-up to his goal. Mikel Arteta’s side took advantage of a wretched Tottenham and scored more times on Sunday than they had all season.

Also a massive shoutout to Aaron Ramsdale who made a wonderful save from Lucas Moura’s shot to ensure it wasn’t a nervy ending at the Emirates.

Raul Jimenez

Almost 10 months on from the fractured skull suffered against Arsenal, Raul Jimenez was back among the goals.

Pre-injury, Jimenez was legitimately one of the best strikers in the Premier League. Whether he gets back to that level is a question for another day but this was a goal of the highest order.

Strength, skill and composure were all on display as the Mexican left Jan Bednarek perplexed before calmly putting the ball past Alex McCarthy for the winner.

This will go down as one of the best moments of the season and left so many people with smiles on their faces.

Losers

Chelsea

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No shots on target at home in your biggest game of the season so far is not what the Chelsea fans would have been hoping for from Saturday’s game against Manchester City.

The Blues were pegged back by the opposition and struggled to get a foothold in the game, only generating any pressure when they had already fallen behind and then became vulnerable on the break.

Timo Werner had an impact when the two sides met in the Champions League final in May by making selfless runs in the channels with Mason Mount and Kai Havertz backing him up. He had neither in support on Saturday and the German alongside Romelu Lukaku cut isolated figures in attack.

N’Golo Kante is a magnificent player but his strengths do not lie in attacking the opposition penalty area. There was logic in the midfield three that Thomas Tuchel went for but it didn’t pan out as he hoped.

While the defeat was a blow, it’s far from terminal and Chelsea will now embark on a much easier run of fixtures.

Bruno Fernandes

Gifted the opportunity to rescue a point for Manchester United, Fernandes hit the worst penalty of his Old Trafford career by blazing the ball high into the stands.

Perhaps his head wasn’t fully in the game following the antics of Martinez but the midfielder certainly won’t want to watch this one back again.

Manchester United number 18 has scored 21 penalties since joining the Red Devils in January 2020. With Cristiano Ronaldo now in the side, it may be a while before he gets to take another.

Harry Kane

It’s fair to say it’s not been the finest few months of Harry Kane’s career and another low point was reached on Sunday.

Tottenham as a whole were woeful, and as for Kane, the phrase ‘it never rains but it pours’ springs to mind. Having stumbled awkwardly and lost the ball to Thomas Partey, the forward raced back the length of the field to help out the defence only to see his attempt at a block see the ball fall to Bukayo Saka to score Arsenal’s third.

Kane is traditionally a slow starter, but having failed to score so far in the league, is in danger of being left behind by the likes of Mohamed Salah, Lukaku and Ronaldo in the goalscoring stakes.

Southampton

A couple of solid draws against the Manchester clubs left Southampton with plenty of goodwill but Sunday’s defeat to Wolves means the Saints are still without a win this season.

With Brentford and to a lesser extent Watford adapting well to life in the top flight, there could be an opening that sees two of the more established Premier League clubs fall into the relegation places.

Ralph Hasenhuttl will be looking to get a win soon before the inevitable pressure picks up.

Leeds United

It’s hard to criticise Leeds too much given that Marcelo Bielsa was forced into giving a league debut to Charlie Cresswell and playing youngster Jamie Shackleton at full-back.

This is a squad ravaged by injuries and suspension and you can now add Luke Ayling and Patrick Bamford to the list.

Pascal Struijk will be back next week and not a minute too soon. Should Ayling return, Leeds fans will see a much more experienced defence.

Questions could be asked of the recruitment department but this is an unprecedented situation. The wins need to come soon but now is not the time to judge this squad.

Saturday’s defeat was unfortunate in a sense with Junior Firpo’s own goal but West Ham were full value for the win. Next weekend’s clash with Watford is crucial.

Norwich City

Defeat number 16 in a row and it’s not easy to say anything new on this Norwich team. They still can’t defend and don’t score enough goals. Another listless display saw the Canaries come home empty-handed from Goodison Park, leaving the fans miserable once more.

Sunderland fans may be daring to dream that their record of consecutive defeats may finally go.

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