Week five of the English Premier League is now behind us, and the ‘club in crisis’ tag can already be firmly affixed to Manchester United. After starting the season with three successive victories, things have quickly come undone over a brief period of eight days for Jose Mourinho and his charges.
Liverpool announced their top-four candidacy with a good-but-not-overwhelming 2-1 win against Chelsea at Samford Bridge Friday.
Dejan Lovren, of all people, opened the game up with an easy finish in the 17th minute.
Dejan Lovren puts @LFC in front of @ChelseaFC 1-0! #PLonNBC https://t.co/OpBrMAO4Tq
We have already discussed our feelings about the top-knot at length, so we're going to cut right to the chase and commend Liverpool left back Alberto Moreno for removing that monstrosity from his head.
Ponytail
Blond
Alberto Moreno joins the trend.
( Alberto Moreno/IG) pic.twitter.com/mxBadzD1df
Ross Barkley did not have a good game against Sunderland.
Barkley spent most of his time posting up defenders like a basketball player from the 90s, but that strategy doesn't work very well if you're 40 yards from the goal. Ronald Koeman noticed this and yanked Barkley for Spaniard Gerard Deulofeu, who is wispy and aggressive and prefers to glide at/around defenders instead of trying to smash them into grit.
In the first half against Sunderland, Everton looked listless, stuck even. They kept posting up Ross Barkley like 40 yards away from the goal, and it was not working. Romelu Lukaku only touched the ball 10 times and still probably should have had two goals.
In the second half against Sunderland, Gerard Deulofeu came on for Barkley and Lukaku ended his 11-match scoring drought then added two more for good measure.
It’s very ironic when you think about it. The fact that English Premier League (EPL) is considered (by some) the best league in the world and yet the number of British players playing abroad is shockingly low. In England alone, we could come up with long lists of Spanish, French, German, Dutch and Italian players applying their traits in the EPL.
The sensational Kevin De Bruyne and 19-year-old forward Kelechi Iheanacho put Manchester City up 2-0 by the 36th minute of Saturday’s Manchester derby. Zlatan Ibrahimovic pulled one back for United in the 42nd minute, but City went on claim all three points with a 2-1 victory in the Manchester derby.
Pep Guardiola’s Premier League record with Manchester City now reads played four, won four. It’s been a dream start for Guardiola and City, doubly so now that the Spanish manager has emerged victorious from his first visit to Old Trafford.