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| Image from The Sports Geek |
Ironically as many receive their GCSE results today, this new article will look at the matchday results and rate the performances of all 20 clubs out of ten. Here are the matchday results:
Arsenal vs Burnley: 2-1
Everton vs Watford: 1-0
Southampton vs Liverpool: 1-2
Brighton vs West Ham United: 1-1
Norwich vs Newcastle: 3-1
Aston Villa vs Bournemouth: 1-2
Man City vs Tottenham: 2-2
Sheffield United vs Crystal Palace: 1-0
Chelsea vs Leicester: 1-1
Wolves vs Manchester United: 1-1
ARSENAL: 8/10
Arsenal are looking a lot more comfortable at the back even without Kieran Tierney but have only faced Newcastle and Burnley with no disrespect. Lacazette and Aubameyang are looking very dangerous and could both easily get 20+ goals this season. However Liverpool are going to be a tough challenge for the Gunners and one I expect them not to come out victorious from.
BURNLEY: 6/10
While they did lose, they gave a good account of themselves and made it difficult for Arsenal at the Emirates. From what Burnley have shown so far, they should be able to avoid being in a relegation scrap maybe make it into the top ten of the Premier League.
EVERTON: 7/10
Nice finish from Bernard but overall was a fairly even game. It’s clear that Everton still haven’t replaced Lukaku and still need a 20+ goalscorer to get them through the season. Moise Kean is a good talent and a great signing but I don’t think he’s quite there yet.
WATFORD: 6/10
They haven’t got the season off to a good start and it was a pretty even game against Everton as they certainly played better against the Toffees than they did against Brighton. Watford would hope to get some points at home to West Ham or away to Newcastle as their next set of games could prove to sink them even further down the table.
LIVERPOOL: 7.5/10
A narrow win at St Mary’s and a stunning finish from Sadio Mane who looks back to his best. Salah still doesn’t look sharp and is struggling to create chances himself. Liverpool’s defence has seemingly fallen apart with Alexander-Arnold benched after a stunning season last year and Gomez playing as a right back and, although they have won both their opening games, they were exposed against Chelsea in which the Blues looked very dangerous and is something that might happen again against Arsenal.
SOUTHAMPTON: 6/10
They may have got lucky with their first goal of the season but had chances to score against Liverpool but could not take them with Danny Ings being the main culprit. I don’t understand selling Charlie Austin as he is a good impact player who can score a lot of goals when he gets running. I expect the Saints will have a tough start to the campaign and may have to scrap for relegation again.
BRIGHTON: 7/10
Brighton have looked sharp at the start of the season and demolished Watford with some clinical finishes. Troussard got his first goal for Brighton and they look a solid team despite losing a good manager in Chris Hughton.
WEST HAM UNITED: 7/10
West Ham looked so much better against Brighton than against City but that was almost a given. A nice finish from Javier Hernandez who West Ham will hope can get 15+ goals for the Hammers. They will hope to bounce back against and out-of-form Watford side.
NORWICH: 9/10
Fantastic performance from the Canaries as they dominated against Newcastle. Pukki looks like a super player for Norwich, his movement off the ball and finishing are truly impressive so far. Against the bigger sides they may be caught out but against the smaller teams they have a chance of scoring in every game.
NEWCASTLE: 4/10
They pushed Arsenal till the end but got blown out of the water against Norwich. Steve Bruce would not have been my choice to manage Newcastle but if he wants to be at St James’ Park for a long time, he needs to know how to get the best out of this team and soon. Joelinton has been knocking on the door and looks like he will score soon but apart from that it has been miserable so far for Newcastle.
ASTON VILLA: 6/10
Despite losing their first two games, Villa have looked relatively impressive so far. They kept Tottenham at bay until Eriksen came on and changed the game and they dominated this game but could not find the equaliser. They will be relegation candidates for sure but will fight for their place instead of sinking without a trace as they did in the 2015/16.
BOURNEMOUTH: 7/10
Two quickfire goals for Eddie Howe’s side and they just sat in and let Villa come at them. A great finish from Harry Wilson. I don’t think they will be relegation candidates but they won’t break the top ten either.
MANCHESTER CITY: 8.5/10
Manchester City dominated the game and honestly could have won it had it not been for VAR or Hugo Lloris. De Bruyne was exceptional and Man City will pray he remains fit all season as they will try and phase David Silva out and give Bernardo Silva a more central role. I think that the Lamela and Rodri penalty claim was harsh on City but the handball with Laporte are the rules and while they should be changed, they are what they are. Nevertheless, City don’t look off the pace and an early draw to Spurs will not change the dynamic in the title race.
TOTTENHAM: 8/10
Credit where credit’s due, Tottenham did well to hold to a draw and to score a brace against City which not many teams can boast about doing. Ndombele looks comfortable in this Spurs side and Eriksen is clearly the difference when it comes to creating chances. Spurs should try and keep him at all costs if they are hoping to challenge for silverware.
SHEFFIELD UNITED: 8/10
They are looking to be a very solid team. They will be glad to get Dean Henderson on loan who is a great talent and could threaten the non-promoted sides in staying up. They have a tough run coming up and so will certainly be glad they have four points so far.
CRYSTAL PALACE: 5/10
They haven’t scored a goal yet and looked very poor once again against Sheffield United. Benteke is not the same player he was at Villa and Zaha hasn’t got going yet. A tough game at Old Trafford awaits the Eagles and I don’t expect anything other than a United win.
CHELSEA: 6/10
They opened the scoring well with Mason Mount but couldn’t follow up a good performance against Liverpool as Leicester looked the likely team to win the game. You would expect it would be the fatigue but Chelsea need a win and need one right now. Norwich should be the perfect candidate as they can press them high and counter with the pace they have. I would start Abraham against Norwich and give him a desperately-needed confidence boost.
LEICESTER CITY: 7/10
A stale performance against Wolves was followed up with a significant improvement at Stamford Bridge. Maddison had a few chances to win the game but couldn’t take them. I’m still not convinced about Soyuncu as Maguire’s replacement, he seems rash and sluggish at times and I was fully expecting Lewis Dunk or James Tarkowski to join the Foxes. Nevertheless, a good performance which Brendan Rodgers will hope to follow up with a win against the Blades.
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS: 8.5/10
You have to give credit to Wolves. They did keep United at bay for the majority of the game. Bringing Traore on was a smart move as Doherty was being torn apart and Luke Shaw felt the full brunt of the rapid Spaniard. Neves’ strike was fantastic and Jimenez could have opened the scoring not a minute earlier. They play Torino today and Burnley this weekend and will hope for wins in both games.
MANCHESTER UNITED: 7/10
I thought United had an excellent first half of football, Martial’s finish was superb and the build-up was just as good. The second half was worse admittedly but United still played better than they did last season and were unlucky not to win the game. Many people expected United to get 0 points at this stage of the season and to get four is certainly a promising start. I think they will put a toothless Palace side to the sword on Saturday and I hope Pogba scored a penalty for poetic justice.
