Premier League Gameweek Four Round-Up: Liverpool Go On Goal Rampage, Arsenal Win Again and Brendan Rodgers Nears Foxes Exit
It was goals galore in week four of the Premier League, with Liverpool being the biggest victors as Arsenal continued their great start to what is already proving to be a hugely entertaining season.
As well as the usual suspects continuing to push on with their top four push, others, including Newcastle United and Brighton, are showing they may have staying power, and the Premier League betting market is very much wide open.
Southampton 0-1 Manchester United
Erik ten Hag will have been mightily impressed with the way his United side overcame Liverpool in their big clash last week, but the Dutch boss may be even more pleased with the fact that they kept up the same work ethic for their narrow win at St Mary’s.
Once again, Argentine centre-back Lisandro Martinez was in inspired form, and a Bruno Fernandes goal was enough to secure back-to-back wins to get Manchester United’s season back into gear. Meanwhile, Southampton appear likely to struggle this season and may have to dig deep to avoid a relegation battle.
Brentford 1-1 Everton
Frank Lampard is still looking for a first win with his Toffees side unable to retain the lead given to them by young forward Anthony Gordon. The Everton attacker is apparently a Chelsea target, and he took his goal well but unfortunately, the Merseyside outfit were unable to convert and secure a much-needed three-point haul.
Vitaly Janelt scored late on to give Thomas Frank’s side a draw and leaves them in the top half of the table, and arguably the Bees deserved something from the game, having had no less than 20 shots on goal.
Brighton & Hove Albion 1-0 Leeds United
Graham Potter’s stock continues to rise as his Brighton side picked up a win over a hard-to-beat Leeds United side. The winner came from Pascal Gross with his right-foot finish giving the south-coast side a record ninth consecutive Premier League game without defeat, which is a club record.
They now sit behind Arsenal and Man City in third place, and that’s after a relatively tricky opening four games of the season and the loss of top players like Marc Cucurella, Yves Bissouma and Neal Maupay, who joined Everton earlier in the week. Things are looking up at the Amex.
Chelsea 2-1 Leicester City
Thomas Tuchel’s side secured a win despite being down to ten men for much of this contest against rock-bottom Leicester City. Conor Gallagher picked up two yellow cards within the space of seven minutes, but a second-half double from Raheem Sterling put the Blues in the driving seat.
Harvey Barnes netted to make it a nervy finish, but Chelsea picked up three points, and that leaves Brendan Rodgers nervously wondering whether he may well win the Premier League sack race.
Liverpool 9-0 AFC Bournemouth
After failing to win any of their opening three Premier League games and suffering a loss at arch-rivals Manchester United, Jurgen Klopp’s side were always going to experience something of a return to form, and Scott Parker’s Bournemouth side were just the team for the job.
The Anfield side were two goals up within six minutes, the second of which coming via a sublime finish by teenager Harvey Elliot and Trent Alexander-Arnold scored the goal of the game just before the half-hour mark, and that’s when things really started to get messy for the Cherries.
Having provided a hat-trick of assists for the first three goals, Robert Firmino got in on the act to net the fourth, and Virgil van Dijk powered in a header to make it 5-0 at half-time. It took less than a minute for five to become six as Chris Mepham netted an own goal, and Firmino made it seven from close range.
Sub Fabio Carvalho finished well from an assist from fellow substitute Kostas Tsimikas to make it eight, and Luis Diaz netted a ninth to end the rout.
Manchester City 4-2 Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace won at the Etihad Stadium last season and looked to be on track to repeat the feat when they went two goals up at half-time, but Pep Guardiola clearly barked out some choice words at his world-class line-up as they came out for the second half with a whole new attitude.
Bernardo Silva, who was excellent throughout, narrowed the gap ten minutes into the second half, and then Erling Haaland took over, scoring his first Man City hat-trick and guiding City to a fine comeback win.
Arsenal 2-1 Fulham
Talking of comeback wins, Arsenal showed great character to maintain their 100% record despite not playing all that well. Aleksandar Mitrovic scored for the away side after an error from Brazilian Gabriel, but the Gunners refused to lie down.
Captain Martin Odegaard levelled for the Emirates Stadium side, and Gabriel popped up late on to score from close range following a corner from Gabriel Martinelli. The win keeps Arsenal top of the pile and may start some talking of a potential title challenge from the North London club.
Aston Villa 0-1 West Ham United
Steven Gerrard isn’t having a great time of it as a Premier League manager, and this latest setback, a home defeat to a Hammers side that had lost their first three games, will lead many to wonder how much longer the Liverpool legend may be employed at the Villa Park outfit.
David Moyes deserved to secure all three points, and in all fairness to the Hammers, they haven’t been playing all that badly in their early season encounters, and this win, courtesy of a Pablo Fornals goal, gets West Ham up and running.
Wolves 1-1 Newcastle United
Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United had Allan Saint-Maximin to thank for securing a late point away at Wolves, and it’s the least the Toon Army deserved. Newcastle United had the lion’s share of possession and had 21 efforts on goal but still trailed to a Ruben Neves goal all the way up until the 90th minute.
Newcastle United, now bankrolled by big Saudi investment, are still unbeaten and look a good bet to push onwards and up towards the European places in the table.
Nottingham Forest 0-2 Tottenham
Newly promoted Forest fell to a Harry Kane brace, but they were not outplayed by their visitors, and the result isn’t really a true reflection of the direction that Steve Cooper’s side is going in.
The City Ground side have spent big on strengthening their squad and should actually stay clear of the drop if they continue to work as they are. Nonetheless, Antonio Conte’s side were simply deadlier in the final third and even had the luxury of seeing a Kane penalty saved by Dean Henderson.
