Twenty Premier League teams delivered the parting gift of a glut of goals heading into the first international break of the new term, as Manchester City stayed perfect with a 5-1 mauling of Fulham.
Several teams remain hot on the coat-tails of the champions, though, including last year’s runners-up Arsenal, who snatched a pulsating 3-1 win at home to Manchester United on Sunday afternoon.
However, the Gunners remain behind Tottenham Hotspur thanks to the Lilywhites’ 5-2 crushing of Burnley, while Liverpool sit third owing to their 3-0 win over Aston Villa.
West Ham United also occupy a place in the top four thanks to their 2-1 beating of Luton Town at Kenilworth Road, while Brighton & Hove Albion subjected Newcastle United to a 3-0 drubbing.
Chelsea’s underwhelming start continued with a 1-0 home loss to Nottingham Forest, while Crystal Palace came up trumps 3-2 against Wolverhampton Wanderers following a breathtaking second 45.
Elsewhere, Sheffield United and Everton remain winless owing to their 2-2 draw, while Brentford snatched a point at home to Bournemouth by the same scoreline.
Here, MS News Ug Sports selects its Team of the Week for the latest round of Premier League fixtures.
DEFENCE
Emiliano Martinez may have had a few painful flashbacks watching the ball cannon off Jordan Pickford’s back and into the net against Sheffield United, but the England goalkeeper – who could not have done anything to prevent that own goal – more than redeemed himself at Bramall Lane with an unreal double save to preserve a point for Everton on the day.
The red half of Merseyside were also lauding a display from one of their defensive stalwarts, as Trent Alexander-Arnold’s corner found its way to Dominik Szoboszlai for the Hungarian to open the scoring against Villa – one of five chances the right-back created during his brightest display of the season so far.
Another team in red entering the international break with a spring in their step would be Nottingham Forest, who quelled a wave of Chelsea attacks thanks in no small part to Willy Boly, who was a rock in defence with seven clearances, four blocks, three tackles – including a last-ditch intervention to deny Nicolas Jackson – while also winning five of his six aerial battles in a priceless victory.
There was joy in the capital for West Ham United too, as the Irons spoiled Luton’s Kenilworth Road party and saw Kurt Zouma run the show in both boxes, as the Frenchman nodded home from James Ward-Prowse’s corner while making 11 clearances and winning seven of his 10 aerial duels to deny the Hatters a share of the spoils.
Over at Turf Moor, Tottenham new boy Destiny Udogie continued to endear himself to the Spurs faithful with another energetic display on the left flank, registering an assist for James Maddison’s stunning strike while contributing five tackles and only losing one of his nine ground duels in a seven-goal spectacular.
MIDFIELD
In addition to Udogie’s offensive contributions, Manor Solomon repaid Ange Postecoglou’s faith in him with his own stellar playmaking display against Burnley, coming up with a pair of assists for hat-trick hero Son Heung-min and creating a total of five chances to send a clear selection message to his manager ahead of the winter months.
Both North London clubs were celebrating at the close of play this weekend, as Arsenal were indebted to £105m man Declan Rice for their nail-biting success over Man United. Alongside his first goal for the club in injury time – albeit a slightly fortunate deflected one – the England international was composed on and off the ball throughout, completing 88% of his passes and winning all three of his aerial duels to elevate his standing with the Emirates crowd.
Speaking of newly-signed midfielders making a big impression, Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai also opened his Premier League account in matchday four with a corking strike to break the deadlock versus Villa – firing home a crisp first-time effort from the edge of the box and also completing 92% of his passes in a dazzling display.
However, the star of this week’s engine room is the man who now assumes the captain’s responsibilities for Tottenham Hotspur, as Son Heung-min banished his 2022-23 woes to register an excellent hat-trick at Turf Moor. The South Korea skipper succeeded with a delicate dink first of all, before picking out the corner with a first-time strike and posting goal number three with a final effort low into the net.
ATTACK
Remarkably, Son was one of three players to take home a match ball ahead of the international hiatus, although few eyebrows were raised when Erling Haaland came up with another trio of strikes against Fulham, as he exorcised his penalty demons and also laid on an assist for Julian Alvarez, thereby reaching 50 Premier League goal contributions in a record 39 games, four fewer than the previous record-holder Andy Cole.
The third and final hat-trick of the weekend was struck at the Amex, as 18-year-old Evan Ferguson made Newcastle’s long journey south as miserable as it could have possibly been – his second goal was a peach to boot – as the Irish protege became the fourth-youngest player to net a Premier League treble after Chris Bart-Williams, Robbie Fowler and, of course, Michael Owen.
MS News Ug Sports Desk’s Premier League Team of the Week Premier League Team OF the Week:
MS News Ug Sports Desk’s Premier League Team of the Week (4-4-2): Pickford; Alexander-Arnold, Boly, Zouma, Udogie; Solomon, Rice, Szobozlai, Son; Ferguson, Haaland
