The second round of fixtures in the Premier League has ended, and there’s a lot to talk about.
This round of fixtures saw Chelsea humiliate West Ham at the London Stadium, City suffered a 2-0 thumping from Tottenham, and, dramatically, Liverpool managed to scale through another gruelling fixture.
Breaking down the action as we approach the first international break of the new season, there are a few moments that Premier League fans won’t forget in a hurry.
Liverpool Skim Another Win
It just has to be said. Liverpool are not getting the prettiest of results, but they just find a way to win. Now, you could argue that this is what makes champions, and quite frankly, they had a lot of gritty results when they won the league last season, but somehow, there’s the feeling that they can’t go scot-free this season.
In the opening weekend, Liverpool managed to survive Bournemouth after scoring two extra goals to win the game despite losing a two-goal lead.
Guess what we witnessed this weekend? The Reds squandered another two-goal lead, and they had to be rescued at the death by 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha. They can’t go on like this, can they?
Newcastle came out for war in that game, and despite the red card, they played like they had the numerical advantage. They created more chances than Liverpool, but also exposed one more thing: the frailty of Liverpool’s defense.
That defense isn’t as good as it used to be, and if anyone had arguments after the disasterclass that less to Semenyo’s goal in GW 1, Newcastle’s ability to put two goals even with a red card made it really glaring.
Liverpool’s solace is in the fact that they can score more goals than they concede. But this won’t work when they face a team that can outscore them and prevent them from scoring. This makes the game against Arsenal perfect. Although Arsenal will go into that game with injuries to key players, the Gunners are set up to stop teams from freely scoring, and if Salah ghosts again like he did against Newcastle, Slot will have his work cut out for him.
A Day to Forget For Trafford
Manchester City lost to Tottenham Hotspur, again, making it Guardiola’s 10th loss against them. While it is quite interesting that the Achilles heel of one of the greatest managers in the Premier League and the world is Tottenham Hotspur (no disrespect to Tottenham), it was a day to forget for James Trafford.
The Manchester City academy graduate was brought back to the club to replace Ederson, but after that game, Pep may be having second thoughts.
The former Burnley keeper had some shaky moments in the game, but the one he would want to forget was the pass into the midfield, which was intercepted by Tottenham’s high press and blasted into the net by Palhinha.
Trafford has now given City fans something to worry about and, by extension, Pep. Members of the football community believe that Ederson could return to the starting XI against Brighton, but Pep’s the master tactician, and we can only wait to see how he reacts.
Injury Ridden Weekend
If your team didn’t record an injury in the Premier League this weekend, you got really lucky. Coming into this weekend, teams like Liverpool and Arsenal already had Frimpong, Havertz, and Ben White out for some time; by the end of the round, a few more clubs had joined the list.
For Arsenal, it isn’t a good sight. Odegaard and Saka joined the injury list, and the timing isn’t good as they face Liverpool next.
Chelsea saw Cole Palmer get injured during warm-up, while Sunderland’s hero from last week, Daniel Ballard, picked up a knock just 8 minutes into their game against Bournemouth. Newcastle had their own share of injuries as Tonali had a dislocated shoulder while Joelinton picked up a knock in their 3-2 loss to Liverpool.
These injuries now pose a bigger problem for Newcastle, given the Isak transfer saga and the fact that Gordon was red-carded for a foul on Virgil Van Dijk and will be out for the next three games.
