Van Dijk now needs protection and that has changed everything
HAPPY MAN: Granit Xhaka celebrates Arsenal's 3rd goal during the Premier League game between Arsenal and Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium in London, England. Pic: David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images
As is now routine, they conceded the first goal as per usual but then asserted themselves well. They should have had a penalty for handball, but what is the handball rule now? No-one really knows and even if you do, it’s not clear that every referee or VAR will interpret it the same way. Gabriel’s arms were raised, his hands flapping like a flightless bird. Again, you had to question the worth of VAR when it is letting such actions go unpunished.
Where once the Reds were happy to push up high, secure in the knowledge Virgil van Dijk could keep the backdoor locked all on his own. That’s no longer the case. He needs protection and that single fact has changed how the whole team plays. It looks like they’re still working it out and trying to feel comfortable with it.
After half an hour they’d had 61% possession and were having success down the right, so it was no surprise that was where the goal came from as Luis Diaz crossed for Darwin Nunez to equalise. However, they keep making too many mistakes. Sloppy defending allowed a perky Arsenal to score a second and in the first four minutes of the second half left their defence wide open down the middle, but Martin Odegaard shot tamely at the keeper.
However, Liverpool are like the experienced, if ageing, prize fighter who can always land a big punch, with Arsenal playing the role of the naive but dangerous new kid in town. Bobby Firmino’s goal made him Liverpool’s all-time top league goalscorer against Arsenal with 10. It made for a fascinating contest. You sensed even at 3-2 down that it wasn’t over but Liverpool couldn’t find one last punch. It was a defeat which made an already poor season significantly worse. The question now is, if Jurgen Klopp’s iteration of Liverpool is over, what comes next?
It was an up and down game for the Gunners, but Arsenal were the better side and deserved the three points. It was a strange first half, despite going ahead within a minute they struggled to get a consistent toehold in the game as Liverpool dominated midfield and equalised. They had an ineffective, disjointed last 25 minutes of the 45, but then scored to go in ahead. They were far too passive for Liverpool’s equaliser, being passed through and around without making any serious challenge and yet they kept pushing and missing very good chances. Sustained pressure led to them earning and scoring a penalty after Thiago kicked through Jesus’ legs. Ultimately, their youth, intensity, energy and sheer will to win got them through to win this tough battle. This was a huge victory, not least because it was a real test of character — one which they passed to rightfully end the weekend at the top of the table.
When United play one- and two-touch football, they can look quite impressive. Against Everton they played with ambition and bravery, everything they had lacked in their humiliation at the hands of Manchester City. While there were still plenty of errors, they produced some lovely football. First Anthony’s incisive run, opening his body up to score, second Casemiro’s recovery of the ball from his own mistake and sliderule pass for Ronaldo to run onto and put away. Both delicious. In the second half there was a high-speed breakaway, only just defended by Everton, which was an echo of their glory days. Luke Shaw made some superb recoveries, using his bulk to knock the opposition off the ball and his pace to get away from them. Casemiro, though robbed for Everton’s opener, added a touch of class to the defensive third and nearly scored with a header, breaking late into the box. Everton didn’t lack effort and pushed right until the end, but they lacked some quality in crucial areas of the pitch. It was United's fourth win in five games and takes them up to fifth.
After a midweek 4-0 win against local rivals Nottingham Forest, Leicester may have felt they had turned a corner, but losing at Bournemouth by the odd goal after being one up after an hour, will leave a very bitter taste. It had initially looked as though dropping Jamie Vardy, who is still without a goal this season, was a good move as Patson Daka, his replacement, scored within 10 minutes. Vardy was brought on as soon as The Cherries equalised but he was not effective. Last season Vardy scored 15 Premier League goals, 17 overall, and was still contributing. But he’ll be 36 in January and it looks like he’s lost his cutting edge over the summer. He doesn’t look noticeably slower, and given his wife’s court case will cost him several million pounds, you’d have thought he'd at least be a bit lighter, but the bursts of pace which have served him so well are just not quite there. A transfer down a division in January should be on the cards, perhaps finally ending up playing in the Northern Premier League, full of vodka and Skittles, where he started his remarkable career with Stocksbridge Park Steels. It comes to everyone, eventually.
Pre-game there was much talk of Diego Costa’s return to Chelsea, now playing for Wolves, and how he’d want to score against them, as he had done for Atletico Madrid. He’d registered 52 goals in 89 games for the Blues but had fallen out with Antonio Conte and was transferred. While it would have made a nice story, the auld hyena has lost all his bite and much of his mobility. He offered no threat at all, so much so that he received a huge and extended round of applause as he was substituted, one which he shamelessly milked in exiting the pitch, even high-fiving the home fans. Wolves fans could have been forgiven for thinking his heart isn’t really in playing for their club. He certainly isn’t the answer to Wolves' goal drought. They haven’t yet scored in the second half of any game this season and didn’t look likely for a moment to change that bad habit at Stamford Bridge.
It took little effort to beat Wolves and in the first half Chelsea made little effort, in a curiously boring contest which had induced silence in the home crowd until Kai Havertz scored in first-half injury time. Graham Potter is still getting his feet under the table and working out how and who he wants to play, whilst somehow looking like a university lecturer in psychology. He does wear a roll neck very well. One of the choices he has to make is how to use Armando Broja, who scored their third goal, his first for the club. 33-year-old Pierre-Emerick Aubamaeyang has been brought in as a goalscorer, but Broja is 21 and far more motivated. The 6’ 3” Albanian makes a better target man and is far more physically dominant. And the Chelsea fans love him. Potter is nothing if not a flexible coach, but it would be no surprise if Broja becomes a more regular presence as the season progresses.
Such was the ease with which City beat Southampton, it was hard to believe they inhabited the same division. It isn’t just the inevitable goal from Erling Haaland it is, well, everything. It’s like an F1 driver in a road race with someone who can’t actually drive. Southampton didn’t manage a shot on target in the whole hour and a half.
It’s often said that City can do this to any side and that there’s no shame in it for their hapless opposition, but this was a thoroughly feeble effort from Southampton who had all but given up before the start of the game. For the neutral there is nothing much to enjoy about such games simply because there is absolutely no jeopardy. After Joao Cancelo scored the first on 20 minutes it became more exhibition than competition. It was the ninth consecutive occasion that they’ve scored three or more in a home game. Even City’s own fans must find such routine victories somewhat unsatisfying. Does anyone want to pay good money to see a walkover? Will Ralph Hasenhüttl survive another thrashing?
It was Harry Kane’s ninth goal in 11 games against Brighton and his eighth of this season that won a tight game which conformed to Sven-Göran Eriksson’s classic phrase when he was England manager, “first half good, second half not so good”. New Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi had lost four times to Antonio Conte in Serie A when manager of Sassuolo and could have broken that hoodoo if only Danny Welbeck had brought his shooting boots. While the win took Spurs to third, their form still feels fragile and the three points were acquired more because Brighton couldn’t transfer their sparkling form from Anfield to the AMEX, than because of Tottenham’s brilliance.
David Moyes has won more games against Fulham than any other manager, which is not saying much, but you take your success where you can find it, I suppose. This time he needed a controversial VAR decision to take the lead over Fulham as a Gianluca Scamacca goal was given after a few minutes of looking at a replay which Fulham were convinced showed a handball. After the game, Marco Silva, Fulham’s boss, said the referee was “embarrassed” by his decision. Fulham gifted West Ham a third as substitute Antonio scored his first goal of 2022. It was back-to-back wins for the Hammers for the first time since New Years’ Day, even though Fulham dominated possession towards the end of the game, as Moyes did his usual trick of hanging on desperately to his lead. 3-1 flattered the Irons. When you consider they spent more than anyone except Chelsea and Manchester United this summer, there was little evidence here to suggest West Ham are anything other than a mid-table team. The win left them 13th. That said, Declan Rice is a cut above and deserves to be playing at a higher level than David Moyes is able to offer.
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