Gameweek 10 of the Premier League featured plenty of action and even resulted in a managerial change. Check out the talking points here.
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The Premier League 2021-22 season is officially 10 weeks old, but the surprises just keep on coming. Gameweel 10 of England’s top-flight football league featured plenty of interesting results.
As such, the top part of the table now looks very different than it did a few weeks ago. The likes of Arsenal and West Ham United are seeing upward trajectories; Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur, however, are not where they would like to be at this point in time.
It’s now no longer early days in the league; every team has an idea of where they’re at and where they possibly could be. Targets for certain teams are being readjusted, whereas others continue to remain laser-focused on the top honours.
Here’s how things are looking after Matchweek ? ? pic.twitter.com/ZwrRe2Dma9
— Premier League (@premierleague) November 1, 2021
And as always, the weekend’s action gave us plenty of things to ponder upon. So without further ado, here are the major talking points from Gameweek 10.
Thomas Tuchel probably knew that a trip to St. James Park could turn out to be a frustrating day. Indeed, for the better part of 70 minutes, it seemed as if the reigning European champions would drop points. One can argue that were it not for Reece James’ stunning opener, they might well have had to settle for a draw.
However, Chelsea were always a threat even if Newcastle stood stubbornly steadfast. Hakim Ziyech could have scored twice but was denied by an offside flag and the upright. And Newcastle, for all their stout defending, did not register a threat to Chelsea’s defence.
The result means the Blues now have a three-point lead atop the table. Again, titles are not decided in the first few weeks of the season. But Chelsea’s ability to conjure up goals and defend solidly has all the markings of a potential title-winning side.
Social media jokingly dubbed the clash between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur ‘El Sackico’ – a match that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer won handily. True to form, Spurs announced less than two days later that manager Nuno Espirito Santo was out of a job.
The news will come as some relief to Solskjaer, given the 5-0 hiding to Liverpool shone a spotlight on his deficiencies. And he responded by making tactical tweaks and running ragged a listless Spurs side. But will this be the start of something new or more of the same?
Time and again in Ole’s reign, there have been heavy defeats that exposed glaring issues. Those issues, weirdly enough, still remain – even if United are winning again. Whether Ole can avoid falling into that pitfall again remains to be seen. As of now, he will take some solace from a job well done against Spurs.
For all the talk of Crystal Palace looking to embrace a new style, the defensive solidity of their 0-2 win over City was similar to some of their best performances under Roy Hodgson. However, where Patrick Vieira’s men differed in their approach was to be pragmatically attacking when the chance came.
The likes of Wilfried Zaha and Conor Gallagher were lively when the chance came, but the best demonstration of Palace’s new attitude was the bringing on of Michael Olise. The promising attacker played a key part in Palace’s second goal, scored by the effervescent Gallagher.
The Palace of old would never have made a change so daring while 1-0 up. But that is the direction Vieira wants to go with the Eagles. For now though, they will be happy with a win that so perfectly combined their old school approach with their new direction.
Speaking of turnarounds, what about Arsenal? Mikel Arteta’s men ended August in the relegation zone; they end October in sixth place and level on points with Manchester United. The Gunners have succeeded in putting together the consistent run of results they so desperately needed.
They even registered an impressive 2-0 win over Leicester City this weekend. However, a quick look at the side shows that, again, many issues remain. Goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale is in a rich vein of form – characterised by that save which went viral – but he is papering over the cracks at present.
Arsenal are well in danger of slipping into another inconsistent run should their defence not be fixed. Arteta has got the team scoring goals again; the aim must now be to tighten things up at the back. No team ranked 17th in the xGA standings can hope to compete for Europe.
Speaking of competing for Europe, boy have West Ham United been doing well so far this season. The Hammers missed out on a Top 4 finish by a whisker last season. Yet few would have given them a chance to potentially build on last season’s showings. So of course that is exactly what they’re doing.
Their 4-1 win over Aston Villa is proof of just how far they’ve come. Last season, Villa and West Ham were in a similar boat – good to decent mid-table sides with upward mobility. However, while West Ham seem close to establishing themselves in the top half of the table, Villa are in 15th.
The Hammers could have been satisfied with last season but they seemed determined to prove it was no fluke. If they keep putting in performances like this, the sky is indeed the limit for David Moyes’ men. They will definitely be a tough side to get points off of this season.
Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with Brighton was easily a bigger result for Graham Potter’s men. The two points dropped means Liverpool now sit three points behind Chelsea. Brighton might sit in seventh, but they are only one point off teams like United and Arsenal.
Liverpool should have killed the game having led 2-0 at the break. However, Brighton never lost hope and them pulling the game back was just reward for a killer second half performance. That both teams had goals ruled out for offside in the second half just shows that a point each was the fair result.
Brighton play a style of football that is extremely easy on the eye, but they possess plenty of fight in them. Most sides would give up in the face of a two-goal deficit against Liverpool; they instead managed to salvage a point. It’s fair to say Potter and co. are a special bunch.
That’s all for this week’s column. Do join me for this week’s coverage of the Champions League. See you until then!
