Premier League weekend review: What we learned

After a thrilling weekend of Premier League goals and drama, Alex Keble looks at the key talking points and tactical lessons.

Youngsters hint at a Ten Hag blueprint emerging

That shot of Rasmus Hojlund, Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo sitting together on the advertising hoardings has the potential to be an iconic one in years to come.

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It has certainly cemented in the mind the idea of Manchester United as possessing a young, hungry and exciting forward line, and we know how difficult it has been for Erik ten Hag to impress on anyone the idea of a vision - a DNA, a mental picture of what his team are supposed to stand for.

Convincing supporters there is a philosophy or an identity being formed is half the battle. Moments like that one and days like these – when Hojlund and Garnacho scored three excellent goals between them – can help fix United’s image problem.

Ten Hag has spoken openly about his tactical plans, namely to make United a fast and direct attacking team rather than the possession-based one we saw at Ajax, and slowly but surely we are seeing signs of a template emerging.

Man Utd have had 55 direct attacks this season, the joint-third most in the Premier League. They have also been caught offside a competition-high 60 times, while their 40 shot-ending high turnovers rank joint-second in 2023/24.

More importantly, the goals are flowing now that Garnacho and Marcus Rashford are regularly playing together. They have started each of the last three Premier League matches and Man Utd have netted nine goals in that run.

With Hojlund finally scoring and Mainoo emerging as the progressive box-to-box midfielder United need to make use of transitions, Ten Hag’s tactical vision may finally be coming together.

De Zerbi’s wing-back switches pay off

Roberto De Zerbi responded to the 4-0 defeat at Luton Town by switching out both wing-backs and moving to a dramatically different tactical set-up, even if on paper the formation remained a 3-4-3.

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4-1

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Out went narrow wing-backs James Milner and Pervis Estupinan and in came Tariq Lamptey and Jack Hinshelwood to hug the touchlines and stretch the game as much as they could.

De Zerbi clearly felt it was his team’s perpetual narrowness that made for a stodgy, claustrophobic match against Luton, and by fanning out, Brighton were able to pull Crystal Palace from side-to-side.

The images below highlight the difference in their average positions across the two encounters. This all comes from the wing-backs, who pulled everything out of the middle with their positional play against Palace.

In the first image, the wing-backs are marked as No 30 and No 6, and in the second illustration, they are No 2 and No 41.

Brighton’s opener was scored from a corner won by Lamptey, who received a long pass on the left touchline and drove at the Palace right-back.

The second goal - which also precipitated the third, scored 83 seconds later - was again Lamptey stretching the game on the left, before crossing for the other wing-back, Hinshelwood, to score.

It was a very impressive first start since November for Lamptey, whose directness on that side replaced some of what’s lost in Kaoru Mitoma’s absence.

Villa’s long balls to Watkins provide a reset

Aston Villa’s away form has been patchy all season and performances have taken a downward turn since they dropped two points against Sheffield United in late December. An emphatic win at Bramall Lane was just the reset Unai Emery’s side needed.

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0-5

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Better still, the manager also appears to be back on track; Emery has masterminded tactical victories throughout the season, but this was his first of 2024.

Predicting Sheff Utd’s bold positioning, and attempting to disrupt the hosts before they could settle into a deeper formation as the half wore on, Emery instructed his players to hit lots of long balls forward for Ollie Watkins.

Villa played 54 long passes, their second-most in 2023/24, and at a 74 per cent success rate, which is their highest figure of the season. They also made a season-high nine through-balls.

The idea was to set Watkins in behind early, shocking Sheff Utd with the change of strategy.

Sluggish midfield play from Villa in recent weeks would have convinced Chris Wilder he could afford to be bolder in the opening phase of the match. He was wrong.

Villa’s first and second goals, scored within the first 16 minutes, both came from long passes finding Watkins’ runs

Watkins' goal v Sheff Utd

“They were clinical in taking their chances but we were open and I have to accept that responsibility in terms of the way the team was set up,” Wilder said afterwards.

But this was more about Emery’s skill than any fault of Wilder’s. His reward was Villa’s biggest away win since April 2008.

Another big defeat leaves Chelsea repeating last season 

Signs of progress are slowly disappearing for Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea, who conceded four goals in a Premier League match for the fourth time this season as Matheus Cunha’s hat-trick condemned them to their 10th defeat of 2023/24. 

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It wasn’t long ago that pundits were pointing to Chelsea’s tactical dexterity between the boxes and ideas quietly coming together, even as profligacy in front of goal undermined them.

But that theory is struggling to hold after Chelsea conceded eight goals in two Premier League outings. 

It leaves them with a record of 31 points from 23 matches, which is exactly the same as 2022/23. Well, almost the same - at this stage under Graham Potter, Chelsea had a goal difference of 0 (F23 A23), but under Pochettino it is -1 (F38 A39). 

For a more optimistic take, Chelsea’s problems are largely to do with a lack of experience or game-time together. 

A big summer rebuild has created a young and raw squad, which inevitably means the occasional mistake like the ones Wolves capitalised upon. Chelsea have made 15 errors leading to opposition shots this season, the second-most in the Premier League. 

“We are not good enough [today],” Pochettino said after Sunday's defeat.  

“Myself, also. I’m responsible for this situation. What we showed today was not good enough. We didn’t manage the ­situa­tion properly and of course no one can be safe.” 

Emboldened Luton are taking on opponents as equals

Something special is happening at Luton Town.

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It took a while for Rob Edwards’ side to get going at Premier League level, but after finding their feet in November, Luton have exploded into life over the last few weeks.

They are now unbeaten in six matches in all competitions, have lost just one of their last nine, and have picked up 11 points from their last six Premier League matches.

Remarkably, a side so often mislabelled as a defensive long-ball team have now scored four goals in consecutive league matches for the first time since October 2017, when they were in League Two.

That is thanks to an increasingly emboldened spirit. Having proved to themselves they belong at this level, Luton are beginning to perform with their chests puffed out, playing neat attacking football funnelled through Ross Barkley and the inside forwards.

Barkley's goal v Newcastle

It means they are taking teams on, pushing them back and approaching fixtures as equals, hence why Luton have attempted 33.5 take-ons per match in their last two contests, up from 18.9 across their first 20 matches.

That’s almost double the amount of times in a match that a Luton player decides to take on their man. It speaks volumes about their newfound belief.

Now out of the bottom three, Luton can begin to start looking up, not down.

Arsenal back in title race, but striker issues remain

Arsenal are back in the title race, of that there can be no doubt, after a superb performance and result put them to within two points of Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table.

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But it took a calamitous mistake from Virgil van Dijk and Alisson to gift Arsenal their second goal, while the third was scored from a counter-attacking situation that surely would not have arisen had the score still been 1-1.

Certainly, Luis Diaz wouldn’t have been playing at right-back.

There is reason for caution, then, and despite dominating the first half the Gunners went in level because, once again, they lacked a ruthless cutting edge in the final third.

It wasn’t just that Arsenal missed good chances (although only three Premier League teams have a lower shot accuracy than their 30.7 per cent), but rather that they lacked a No 9 whose runs, movement and killer instinct would create openings once Arsenal had the ball in dangerous positions.

“I think Arsenal, when I watch them, are a better team than Liverpool, but I think Liverpool are a more ruthless team, they’re more ruthless in the final third,” Gary Neville said on Sky Sports after.

“But there’s still so many signs today, so many examples, of Arsenal not having that killer instinct in the final part of the pitch that I think at some point in the last part of this season it’s going to hurt them.”

Fofana brace gives Burnley a lifeline

On the hour-mark, David Datro Fofana, who arrived on loan from Chelsea in mid-January, came off the bench to make his home debut with Burnley 2-0 down. He had two shots on goal – and scored with both of them.

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That his dream start at Turf Moor wasn’t enough to get Burnley three points in such a vital match is an alarming reality, especially given that Fulham are the only non-promoted team that Burnley have beaten this season.

Nevertheless, there is a chink of light here.

Burnley have been behind in 17 Premier League matches this season. Saturday’s 2-2 draw was the first time they have not gone on to lose. Fofana, then, has immediately brought them progress.

Fofana's second goal v Fulham

Late equaliser can help Everton build Dyche-like resilience

Everton have not won any of their last six Premier League matches, drawing their last three, but the equaliser in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday will have felt like a win.

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That’s because it was such a rare sight for Everton supporters – and could be a springboard for Everton to become a little more Dychian than they have been.

Sean Dyche’s Burnley were stubborn, ruthless, and they kept fighting for points right until the death. Yet before Saturday’s match, Everton had lost 10 and drawn one of the 11 Premier League matches in which they had gone a goal down.

They will need to show more resilience than that to avoid the drop, which is why Jarrad Branthwaite’s last-gasp goal could be a vital building block for the months ahead.

Forest must fix set-piece issues

Nuno Espirito Santo’s appointment was supposed to bring defensive resilience to Nottingham Forest, but their first six Premier League matches under his management have yielded 22 goals – and 11 of those have been against them.

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Of all the things Nuno needs to fix, the top priority has to be defending set-pieces.

Forest have conceded 13 non-penalty set-piece goals this season, at least three more than any other club.

AFC Bournemouth scored with their first corner of the match on Sunday. Justin Kluivert had a free header and, with no Forest player on either post, the ball sailed into the far corner to give the hosts a fifth-minute lead.

It was a simple goal of the sort Forest, only two points above the drop, simply cannot afford to concede.