Another Premier League round of matches has come to a conclusion. Like every week, it offered some great goals, dazzling individual performances and shocking upsets. We have a lot to talk about but we pick the top 5 things we learned from the second match week.
AUGUST HOODOO- WHAT IS THAT?
IT’S TRUE! Harry Kane has scored a goal in August. 21, 25, 29, 30- these are his goal tallies from the past four Premier League seasons but surprisingly he failed to score a single goal in August until Saturday. Erik Lamela cut inside from the right to attract four players to himself. He passed the ball to Harry Kane who gracefully placed the ball inside the net from an acute angle to score the third goal of the match for Spurs.
This goal came at the perfect time as they travel next to Old Trafford to meet Manchester United. Spurs will be favourites to win this contest after a dismal performance by Manchester United’s backline against Brighton.
PEP RESTS HIS FERRARIS- LET’S THE MERCEDES DO THE TALKING
Pep Guardiola and co. look more than ready to defend their league title. They are not only winning the games but are stamping their foot on the opponents. The six goals against Huddersfield could have been 8 or 9 if they had wanted. Without Kevin De Bruyne and Leroy Sane, who only came on in the latter stages of the match, they are creating a great number of chances and clinically finishing them. And add Sterling, Mahrez, Walker and Foden to the mix and it is hard to look beyond them when considering title-favourites.
David Silva is getting better with age and the difficult birth of his son has made him more resolute and there is a spring in his steps now after a successful end to the ordeal. After an underwhelming World Cup with Spain which ended in him deciding to retire from National duties, he is back to his day job to create havoc in the opposition’s box with his vision and creativity in England.
CHELSEA EMBRACE ‘SARRI-BALL’
Chelsea look to have adapted to the ‘Sarri-ball’ quicker than expected especially after the Manchester City drubbing. They are still fragile in defence but have shown some promising signs going forward. Pedro has been the biggest benefactor after the appointment of Maurizio Sarri. He is in a red-hot goalscoring form and after having a great pre-season, he continues to find the net in the Premier League.
He has scored two goals in as many games with a pass accuracy of 89%. With his scintillating form and Hazard confirming his stay at Chelsea this year, things are looking up for the Blues.
MOURINHO’S THIRD SEASON BLUES TO UNFOLD?
Jose Mourinho failed to get the better of Chris Hughton for the second consecutive time as Brighton handed a humiliating defeat to Manchester United. He is into his infamous “third season” where he often has a fallout with the team owners or the players. After winning the Premier League with Chelsea in 2004-05 and 2005-06, he had a big fallout with owner Roman Abramovich which eventually resulted in his sacking.
The same happened at Real Madrid but this time he had a broken relationship with some of the big names of the squad, particularly with the legendary goalkeeper, Iker Casillas. The support from fans also started to drift away after his public bashing of Cristiano Ronaldo and Higuain. The story at Chelsea was no different when he returned for a second stint as he berated team doctor Eva Carneiro, claiming she was one of the reasons for their 2-2 draw against Swansea and he was ultimately sacked once again.
With the cracks growing wide, are we in for another round of deja vu?
LIVERPOOL LOOK THE REAL DEAL- BUT WILL THIS BE THEIR SEASON?
Liverpool won a hard-fought battle against Crystal Palace with a scoreline of 2-0. Their defence looks strong as Alisson is yet to concede a Premier League goal after keeping clean sheets in both the games. Virgil Van-Dijk is the leader of the backline and put on a terrific show against Crystal Palace and was the Man of the Match. Jurgen Klopp seems to have built the perfect team to win the league title which Liverpool’s fans crave for. Could this be their season? Only if Manchester City weren’t playing in this league!
Stats Courtesy: Whoscored