Manchester City’s first goal in its 2-0 Premier League victory against Aston Villa on Wednesday will go down as one of the most controversial goals of the season.
A goal had yet to be scored heading into the final 11 minutes of normal time. Controversy struck when a City player headed the ball up the field to no one in particular. The only City player nearby was Rodri standing in an obvious offside position.
With the Premier League season nearly half over, this current lull in matches is the perfect time to look back at the campaign so far.
We've all been following the matches and have a general idea about where each team sits in the league table, so the next logical step is to dive deeper into the analytical side of the Premier League and examine the expected goals league table.
Ole Gunnar Solskjær's Manchester United has the opportunity to pull even with Liverpool on Friday, but the Norwegian and his side will have no easy task.
Next: #MUNAVL! pic.twitter.com/8J7VgURoZo
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) December 30, 2020
Given the fact that Christian Pulisic had already missed time this year because of a calf strain, major hamstring tear and subsequent hamstring complaint, it was surprising to see the American in Chelsea’s starting lineup on Monday after going the full 90 against Arsenal on Saturday, but it affirmed the fact that Frank Lampard saw the American as a lone bright spot in that 3-1 defeat.
Aston Villa’s Tyrone Mings was sent off just before halftime with his side nursing a one-goal lead against Crystal Palace. Then Villa really showed how good it is.
Despite playing the entire second half down a man, Aston Villa throttled Crystal Palace 3-0 on Saturday. Remarkably, it was Villa’s fifth 3-0 victory of the season, which begs the question: Can this club actually compete for a spot in Europe?
A pair of sublime free kicks by midfielder James Ward-Prowse, between a Jannik Vestergaard header and a Danny Ings pile-driver, gave Southampton an entertaining 4-3 Premier League win at Aston Villa on Sunday. It was Villa's second successive home defeat as they were beaten by Leeds United 3-0 in the previous round of matches after winning their opening four league games, including a 7-2 drubbing of champions Liverpool.
I'll admit it: I was wrong.
I picked Aston Villa as a surefire relegation candidate to begin the season.
A superb stoppage-time goal from Ross Barkley gave Aston Villa a 1-0 victory at Leicester City in a scrappy contest on Sunday that stretched the visitors' perfect Premier League start to four wins.
The result left Villa second on 12 points with a game in hand over leaders Everton who have 13. Third-placed Liverpool have 10 from five and Leicester in fourth are on nine after suffering their second successive home defeat.
I’ve been scratching my head all week wondering why various players form their fingers into a letter “A” after scoring a goal. This past weekend Ben Chilwell, Ross Barkley and Jack Grealish all formed the letter “A” after scoring. So what is this letter A goal celebration anyway?
Ben Chilwell shining at Chelsea already #UCL pic.twitter.com/YlE70nryK4
The English soccer season has not yet completed its first month, yet it has already produced the highest scoring weekend in the Premier League era.
10 games
44 goals
0 drawsOfficially the highest scoring Premier League weekend in the 20 team era pic.twitter.com/Rn8oQ0Uy3i— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) September 21, 2020