Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Rob Edwards embrace. Pic: Nick Potts/PA Wire.
Mikel Arteta had the option to frame things differently. The Arsenal manager was even teed up to do so with a generous question in the press conference that followed his side’s 2-1 win against Wolves on Saturday.
Had his team shown the toughness of champions by recovering from a 90th-minute concession to steal all three points?
“That’s something very positive but I don’t put it down to resilience,” Arteta replied. It was of a piece with him essentially reading the riot act to his players.
They had not turned up at the start, he suggested, and the less said about the closing stages, the better – apart from the last-gasp winner. It is rare to hear Arteta be so critical but he knew his team had got away with one and he wanted them to know, too.
Arsenal have a rare blank midweek before they go to Everton for another 8pm kick-off next Saturday. The standards must be higher.
Oliver Glasner rated Crystal Palace’s performance on Sunday as their best under him against Manchester City, even though it ended in a 3-0 defeat.
Palace famously defeated Pep Guardiola’s side in the FA Cup final in May to win their first major trophy, but they could not follow that up with another victory at Selhurst Park despite an impressive performance in the first half.
Glasner was happy with the application shown by his team after yet another hectic week, but he admitted they needed a more clinical edge to get past a team of City’s quality.
“We were the most competitive but the result doesn’t show it,” he said. “We’re always talking about our performances, about our progress, many parts of the game I watched were excellent. We kept them to two finishes in the first half, one was a direct free-kick, but we were one down. It means the whole team must have defended really well and also created three or four big chances.
"It was excellent, but again, if you want to win, you need to take them in the right moments.”
For any player, scoring an own goal is a horrible feeling. But scoring one as a striker, in a contest as fierce as the Wear-Tyne derby, must be extra hard to take. The Newcastle frontman Nick Woltemade cut a heartbroken figure at full time on the Stadium of Light pitch as he applauded the travelling fans.
His second-half own goal, which would have been a brilliant header had he hit the back of the right net, proved to be the difference as Newcastle endured defeat against Sunderland, handing their bitter rivals bragging rights in their first top-flight meeting since 2016.
The Newcastle manager, Eddie Howe, said: “The goal came at a really bad time – Nick has not meant to do it but it has decided the game. I thought we had defended pretty well.”
Woltemade has scored seven goals for Newcastle since arriving this summer, but the one at the wrong end may be the most significant to date.
Hugo Ekitiké was probably a bit miffed when his arrival at Liverpool was overshadowed by the record-breaking deal to acquire Alexander Isak. The Frenchman did not come cheap at £79m and might have expected to be the focal point of the Liverpool attack this season.
Against Brighton, Ekitiké offered evidence of his sharp movement and clinical finishing. Prior to Mohamed Salah replacing Joe Gomez and the radical reconfiguration that came with the substitution, he was playing as a versatile forward, popping up anywhere across the frontline.
This flexibility could allow him to stand out from Isak, showing he can offer greater variety, and would potentially allow the two to play alongside each other more often as they did against Inter.
In addition to quality, Ekitiké showed pure endeavour on Saturday, eventually needing to be substituted because of cramp. He came off looking exhausted, but his work ethic is a fine addition to natural talent.
West Ham were minutes away from beating Brighton last week and were 2-1 up at half-time against Aston Villa on Sunday. However, Nuno Espírito Santo’s team are finding it hard to hold on to winning positions.
They drew with Brighton after dropping deep and lost 3-2 against Villa after relinquishing control during the second half. “We conceded from a ball that was ours,” Nuno said as he reflected on Lucas Paquetá being dispossessed before Morgan Rogers made it 2-2.
“We conceded three goals that really punished us. We have to rectify the mistakes that we keep making on our defensive organisation. There is a long way to go and it is up to us to take care of that and get out of this situation.”
Nuno is a manager who prides himself on defensive rigour. West Ham, who remain in the bottom three, have not kept a clean sheet since his appointment.
This has been a frustrating few months for Cole Palmer, who made just his fourth league start in Chelsea’s win against Everton on Saturday. Having managed 58 minutes at Bournemouth last week, he lasted until the 58th minute again here.
Nobody would suggest this was his best game for the club but, operating on the right of the midfield three, Palmer looked fleetingly dangerous and took his goal with extreme composure – just his second league strike of the season.
He is a player capable of creating something from nothing, giving Chelsea not only an edge against deep-lying defences but the ability to snatch goals even when they are not playing well. Palmer faces a battle to get back in the England team given how well they have played without him of late.
It might not be the worst thing for Thomas Tuchel, though, to have a creative player available at the World Cup who has effectively played only two-thirds of a season.
Burnley v Fulham is not the kind of fixture that TV executives dream about when they’re signing the multibillion-pound rights deals. Slotted in at 5.30pm on one of the last weekends before Christmas, the viewing figures will not be troubling the record books.
It’s a shame, because right now Fulham might be the Premier League’s box-office team. The Cottagers’ past four games have produced 20 goals and Harry Wilson is arguably the league’s in-form player, with three goals and three assists in his past four appearances.
Wilson is now 28 and while his talent has always been apparent, it has never been demonstrated consistently at the highest level. This may well prove to be just another purple patch, but the Welshman should be approaching his peak and has already started more games this season than last.
With five goals in 15 games already, a double-digit total is in reach. That would exceed most Fulham fans’ expectations for Wilson this season, and could change the perception of a nice player to watch into one feared by opponents.
“Framework and freedom,” Sean Dyche said, revealing the snappy masterplan behind Nottingham Forest’s 3-0 victory against Tottenham. As the oles rang around the City Ground with full time approaching and a breezy Forest going for the jugular, it was another performance that provided compelling evidence of Forest’s groove under Dyche.
In the past five weeks, Forest have put three goals past Liverpool, Leeds, Malmö and now Spurs. At times Ibrahim Sangaré, Elliot Anderson, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Morgan Gibbs-White and Igor Jesus dovetailed beautifully. It is all rather at odds with his wider perception as a safety-first, uber-diplomatic, defensive manager. Sangaré’s strike at the end of a slick team move typified Dyche’s underreported, stylish side.
“I prefer the boring one-nils, you know that, it’s far too exciting when they start passing it around, knocking goals in like that, a fantastic finish,” Dyche said, tongue firmly in cheek.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Leeds appeared a marriage of convenience when the former Everton striker was signed on a free transfer in mid-August.
A player who is still just 28, and has scored five goals in 13 Premier League matches for his new club, carries the tag of being a former England striker, having last played for his country when England beat Ukraine 4-0 at Euro 2020. In west Yorkshire, there is a huge appreciation for his old-fashioned centre-forward skills.
At Everton, where his career was hampered too often by injury, he was known for possessing all the tools to play his position save for being the dead-eyed goalscorer the No 9 shirt demands.
At Leeds, he has been able to redefine himself by scoring goals. “Harry Kane is playing in the Bundesliga, but he’s one of the best English strikers in the Premier League,” said his manager Daniel Farke, a confirmed admirer.
A big pat on the back to whoever included Fabian Hürzeler’s terrible December record in the stat pack for the Seagulls’ 2-0 defeat at Anfield. After their latest loss, the Brighton manager’s record in the Premier League’s busiest month reads P9 L4 D5 W0.
It is now officially past the anomaly stage. Losing against Liverpool at Anfield should not be considered a cause for concern, even if the Seagulls were desperately wasteful in front of goal. The draw against West Ham and a 4-3 defeat against Aston Villa having led 2-0 – both fixtures at home – are more troubling.
There is an opportunity at the Amex Stadium next weekend against a Sunderland team who will be missing several key players at the Africa Cup of Nations.
The return of Kaoru Mitoma from injury should offer a boost to Brighton’s chances of changing the narrative, and giving the home fans an overdue bit of Christmas cheer.
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