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Another weekend has come and gone with Chelsea reclaiming the top spot as Liverpool and Manchester City played out an entertaining 2-2 draw.
The first managerial departure has also taken place as Watford said their goodbyes to Xisco Munoz. There is a lot to uncover, so let’s get into this week’s Winners and Losers.
Winners
Chelsea
Manchester City did it last week and this week it was the turn of Thomas Tuchel’s European Champions. When all of your main rivals at the top of the table drop points, it’s imperative that you take advantage. Chelsea did just that on Saturday by beating Southampton.
Aided by a deserved red card for James Ward-Prowse, the Blues scored twice late on to hit the summit. They’ll be further buoyed by a first goal of the season for the somewhat forgotten Timo Werner.
Tuchel’s squad depth was also on display with contributions from Trevoh Chalobah, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Ross Barkley. A positive end to a tough week for Tuchel and three points at the start of a nice run of fixtures.
Yoane Wissa
Wissa has had to be patient for opportunities at Brentford following his summer arrival from Lorient. Playing in the Carabao Cup has allowed him to settle in and gain some confidence, scoring three goals against League Two opposition.
With Ivan Toney and Bryan Mbeumo excelling in attack so far, Wissa has had to make do with Premier League substitute appearances but what an impact he’s having.
After his late equaliser against Liverpool, the 25-year-old slammed home the winner against West Ham United for the Bees’ second London derby victory of the season.
Thomas Frank’s side have gained an extra three points from Wissa’s goals in these two games from just 20 minutes of action. Should Toney or Mbeumo need a rest, the manager won’t need to worry.
Nuno Espirito Santo
A badly needed win. Tottenham had been in awful form going into the clash with Aston Villa, suffering three league defeats in a row.
The Europa Conference League win over NS Mura did little to ease the pressure on the Portuguese manager, with reports of some of the players being disgruntled with his methods.
This win however does ease some pressure. It wasn’t a vintage display by any means but it was a big three points against a side in decent form. A defeat going into the international break could have left Daniel Levy with a decision to make.
Getting Harry Kane on the scoresheet in the league will be next on Nuno Espirito Santo’s wishlist.
Hwang Hee-Chan
The South Korean international has settled nicely into this Wolves side and showed why Bruno Lage favoured him over Adama Traore with two goals in a victory over Newcastle United.
Two similar goals off either foot added to his scrappy finish against Watford to earn his side back to back wins.
The loanee raced clear in the channels and slid the ball past Karl Darlow and his manager will be hoping for more of the same as he looks for the goalscoring burden to not be completely on Raul Jimenez.
Diego Llorente
Llorente perfectly announced his return back from injury with a goal and a clean sheet to his name.
Leeds are a much better side with the Spaniard in their lineup, with only two defeats in the 12 matches that he has played the full 90 minutes.
The key will be keeping him injury-free but it’s no coincidence that Marcelo Bielsa’s side got their first win during his return. A second Leeds goal for the central defender perhaps may have been a bit more surprising.
Norwich City
Having remarked for weeks on the club’s ever-increasing streak of Premier League defeats, it would be unfair to ignore that run coming to an end.
Their last top-flight point preceded the first national lockdown so some celebration is deserved. It’s far from an incredible result but a draw and clean sheet against Burnley is a start.
They may have also picked a lucky year to start with a run of defeats with three other clubs yet to register a victory, but the Canaries are within touching distance despite the dreadful start.
Mohamed Salah
The assist for Sadio Mane’s goal came about after a bright run and Manchester City didn’t heed their warning as Salah channelled his inner Lionel Messi to score a goal that the fans will remember for a long time.
The Egyptian danced through several City defenders before bamboozling Aymeric Laporte and then burying the ball past Ederson from a tight angle.
Salah has scored outstanding individual goals against Everton, Tottenham and now City at Anfield. In a strange quirk, they’ve all ended in draws. Imagine how much more they would be talked about had they resulted in victories.
Losers
West Ham
A small sample size perhaps, but it’s now two defeats in the Premier League following Europa League action on Thursday nights.
It’s been the detriment to sides in the past and the Hammers may be feeling the strain following a second consecutive home defeat.
Jarrod Bowen looked to have rescued a point for David Moyes’ men but Brentford snatched the points late on.
It is however nice to see West Ham doing well in Europe and playing strong teams. Too often clubs work hard to finish in a European position only to then play weakened teams to protect the league position. Irons fans will surely sacrifice a few league defeats in order to secure memories on the continent that could last a lifetime.
Matt Targett
The wing-back will probably get criticised when people see that he scored an own-goal that saw Aston Villa fall to a defeat against Spurs but Targett was merely unfortunate.
His desperate attempt at a tackle resulted in the ball hitting the back of his own net but had he not intervened, Lucas Moura would have tapped home anyway.
It was a disappointing end to a decent performance from the former Southampton man.
Xisco Munoz
The first managerial casualty of the season coming at the hands of the Pozzo family will be a surprise to few, but to many, this seems like a particularly harsh sacking with Watford sitting in 15th place following promotion.
However, it is always important in these situations to look to the reaction of the clubs own supporters as they will have a far greater understanding of the goings-on.
Most fans feel like this is the correct decision with the inexperience and lack of tactical nous costing Munoz in the top division. Xisco seems like a genuinely nice guy and leaves with the good wishes of Watford fans but a more experienced head will be summoned to build on the position that the Spaniard leaves them in.
The performance against Leeds was dreadful and the writing was on the wall. Claudio Ranieri is strongly rumoured to take over and if it’s done quickly, will have two weeks to get working on the training ground. The timing makes sense and the future will tell if the rest of it does.
James Ward-Prowse
Having got his team back in the game after converting a second half penalty, the club captain saw red following a dangerous late tackle on Jorginho.
It was a genuine attempt to win the ball from Ward-Prowse but the manner of it was unsafe and the Chelsea midfielder can count himself fortunate not to have suffered an injury.
As well as the defeat, Ward-Prowse will also be gutted at the fact that his 117 consecutive league game run will come to an end with the three-match ban that ensues. Brad Friedel’s 310 game record will stand for a long time yet.
Newcastle’s defence
Newcastle have been performing reasonably well in attack for a side without a win, but defensively, Steve Bruce’s side are all over the place and sit alongside Norwich for the most goals conceded.
Wolves were the latest side to profit with Hwang Hee-Chan striding clear twice with the Toon defence giving him far too much room.
Individually, Bruce has some decent defenders at his disposal but it’s not right structurally at the minute. It’s something he’ll need to rectify as the brilliance of Allan Saint-Maximin shouldn’t always have to be relied upon.
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