After another weekend in the 2024/25 Premier League season, Alex Keble looks at the key talking points and tactical lessons, including:
- Man City feeling Rodri's absence
- Arsenal's late win a defining moment of the season
- Chelsea's organised chaos under Maresca
- Everton's perfectly-timed first win of the season
- Spurs trio's performances against Man Utd
- Villa's need for defensive improvements
- Brentford needing to make more of fast starts
- Konate's dominance at both ends of the pitch
- Fulham's first clean sheet since Palhinha's departure
Man City feel Rodri's absence
There is surely nobody left doubting that Rodri’s lengthy absence will impact Manchester City’s title defence.
Man City’s pass completion was 85.5 per cent, their lowest of the campaign to date. Their passes into the final third, 31, passes into the penalty area, 12, and 40 progressive passes were all at their lowest since the Chelsea match on the opening weekend. Rodri topped the charts in all three metrics last season.
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That explains why Man City amassed their lowest Expected Goals (xG) of 0.9 of the season against Newcastle United since the opener at Chelsea (another match Rodri missed).
Pep Guardiola’s side simply aren’t as fluid or creative without the Spaniard.
Rodri’s absence also explains why their Expected Goals Against (xGA) of 1.6 was a new season-high. His defensive screening was badly missed, most notably for the move that led to Newcastle’s penalty.
Eddie Howe’s side easily passed through the middle - a sentence you can never say when Rodri is on the pitch – because the deputising Mateo Kovacic was caught out of position.
Newcastle's penalty v Man City
Clinical from the spot! 🎯@anthonygordon pic.twitter.com/xf5FBylWx5
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) September 28, 2024
The evidence couldn’t really have been any starker.
Guardiola’s decision to cover for Rodri with Kovacic and Manuel Akanji in the middle wasn’t a bad one. It just wasn’t as secure, or as creative, as a Rodri-led midfield.
Arsenal’s winner could be defining moment
It really should have been an easy win and yet it took a Wilfred Ndidi own goal in stoppage time to get the job done.
For some, that shows a carelessness or fragility that – yet again – asks questions about Arsenal’s title credentials.
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But that isn’t a fair analysis, not least because Arsenal completely dominated from start to finish.
Arsenal had 36 shots and 16 shots on target, on both counts their joint-most on record since 2003/04 in a Premier League match, while their 4.6 xG was their highest recorded this season.
Arsenal v Leicester match stats
| Arsenal | Statistic | Leicester |
|---|---|---|
| 36 | Shots | 5 |
| 16 | Shots on target | 3 |
| 9 | Big chances | 0 |
| 77 | Touches in opp. box | 11 |
| 4.6 | xG | 0.32 |
It is the biggest result of Arsenal’s season so far and it has the potential to be a defining moment in this campaign – and therefore a defining moment in the club’s history.
If that sounds like an exaggeration, then consider what the story would have been had Arsenal let a 2-0 lead slip hours after Man City dropped points and one week after they conceded a late equaliser at the Etihad Stadium.
They might not have been able to recover from that double blow; from the confidence hit that would have followed dropping points in 50 per cent of their first six Premier League matches of the season.
Instead, the club were galvanised by a richly deserved late winner that moved them level on points with their title rivals. It could prove to be a sliding doors moment in the title race.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
15 | +18 | 36 |
| 2 |
Chelsea
CHE
|
16 | +18 | 34 |
| 3 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
16 | +14 | 30 |
| 4 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
16 | +2 | 28 |
| 5 |
Man City
MCI
|
16 | +5 | 27 |
Chelsea’s organised chaos is part of Maresca's plan
One of the most absurd first-halves of football in Premier League history ended 4-2 to Chelsea but could quite easily have been 7-4.
It was pure chaos and there are distinct tactical explanations for why, but what made this match particularly interesting was that Chelsea’s part in the chaos was clearly deliberate.
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“On the ball, the game was exactly the way we planned, in the first half and second half,” Blues head coach Enzo Maresca said afterwards.
Chelsea very obviously targeted Brighton & Hove Albion in two ways: pressing hard from Brighton goal-kicks to force errors - leading directly to two Chelsea goals - and hitting long balls over the top of Brighton’s high line (creating numerous chances and two marginally-offside goals).
It was in keeping with their season as a whole. Chelsea are joint-top of the Premier League charts for fast breaks, with five, and through-balls, with 20.
Pressing so high and stretching the pitch with direct football inevitably leaves Chelsea open to being countered straight back, as Brighton did throughout the first half, when the hosts’ wild 4-2-4 pressing shape meant an all-but empty middle of the park.
They reined it in significantly in the second half, hence no goals for either side, but there was more than enough evidence at Stamford Bridge to conclude that Maresca is deliberately embracing organised chaos.
Everton’s priceless first win of the season
You’ve heard of a new-manager bounce, but is there such a thing as a new-owner bounce?
The Friedkin Group reached an agreement to buy Blue Heaven Holdings' majority stake of the club on 23 September, and in his pre-match press conference on Friday, Sean Dyche said he hoped it would bring “stability” and “clear up the noise”.
The deal is not yet done, but the news may well have given Everton the boost they needed to turn a 1-0 deficit until a 2-1 victory against Crystal Palace.
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Certainly Everton’s first win of the Premier League season was perfectly timed. The clouds are lifting and, thanks to Dwight McNeil, supporters will be feeling more optimistic about the club’s future.
Their upcoming fixtures contain some winnable matches too, suggesting Dyche can ride momentum as the club’s sale progresses over the next couple of months.
Newcastle, Ipswich Town, Fulham, Southampton, West Ham United and Brentford is an inviting fixture list taking Everton through to December, by which time a new owner could be in place.
Everton's next six PL fixtures
Spurs trio bring optimism back to Postecoglou project
The headlines have focused on a difficult day for Erik ten Hag and the familiar problems at Manchester United, but that should not distract from just how impressive Ange Postecoglou’s side were after their own challenging few weeks.
Dejan Kulusevski was the star, creating nine chances, the most on record (since 2003/04) by a visiting player at Old Trafford in the Premier League.
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In a new No 8 position, Kulusevski is combining brilliantly with James Maddison in what is fast becoming the most creative midfield partnership in the division.
But Kulusevski wasn’t the only goalscorer who stood out.
Watch: Kulusevski's post-match interview against Man Utd
Brennan Johnson, criticised by some Spurs supporters early in the season, has now scored in four consecutive matches in all competitions. He looks sharper than ever, the final pass or shot much improved since his goalscoring run began.
Dominic Solanke also put in his best performance of the season, linking play neatly and being rewarded with a poacher’s goal late in the second half.
It’s fair to say Spurs will rarely face opponents as passive and accommodating to their front-football as United, but nevertheless it was a statement win for Postecoglou and Spurs.
Villa must improve defensively
Aston Villa’s 13 points from six Premier League matches is their highest tally at this stage since 2008/09, so there is nothing much for Unai Emery to worry about despite dropping points against a promoted side.
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But if Villa’s form is to continue they will have to find a way to improve their defensive record.
They have not kept a clean sheet in 11 Premier League matches and have conceded nine goals, which is more than anyone else in the top half.
Individual errors are as much to blame as anything else, as evidenced by the fact Villa have actually conceded the fifth-lowest xG in the division, with 6.4, conceding 2.6 goals more than "expected".
On Sunday, Liam Delap’s first goal squirmed under the body of Emiliano Martinez, who atoned for his error with two outstanding first-half saves, but will nevertheless be disappointed.
The second resulted from Diego Carlos being turned inside out by a simple stepover in the penalty area, which followed on from his mistake for Wolverhampton Wanderers’ opener the previous weekend.
Delap's second goal v Villa
Pace, power, skill, finish. 🙌
— IPSWICH TOWN (@IpswichTown) September 29, 2024
Liam Delap's second of the afternoon. 💥#IPSAVL pic.twitter.com/HFT3jWSBmO
Emery will be pleased that Matty Cash and Tyrone Mings are nearing a return, bolstering his defensive options, because on current form Villa’s defence is a little too leaky for their top-four status to hold.
Brentford need to make more of fast starts
Bryan Mbeumo’s goal after 38 seconds on Saturday made Brentford the first team in Premier League history to score in the opening minute in three consecutive matches.
Only once before, Everton in 1998/99, has a team done that three times in a single campaign, never mind in a row.
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“Of course there is planning that goes into it,” Thomas Frank explained after the match. “We have a kick-off strategy and we tweak it from game to game.”
But there is little here for Brentford to celebrate, because Frank’s side converted those record-breaking fast starts into just one point from three matches.
Since the start of last season Brentford have dropped points from winning positions than anyone else, with 38. Eight of those points have come in the first six matches of 2024/25.
Clearly that has to change - or else Brentford could once again be dragged into a relegation battle.
Konate dominates at both ends of the pitch
Arguably Ryan Gravenberch was again the best player on the pitch for Liverpool at the weekend, and the Dutch midfielder is surely the most improved player since Arne Slot’s arrival.
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But a close second is Ibrahima Konate, who since coming off the bench at half-time on the opening weekend at Ipswich has been a vital component of the new project.
Konate scored the first goal of the match on Saturday evening, another towering header following his goal against AC Milan in the UEFA Champions League.
Konate's goal v Wolves
Konate rises highest 💥 pic.twitter.com/iULbCo3hqZ
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) September 28, 2024
Even more important is his newfound consistency at the back. Konate tops the Premier League charts this season for aerial duel success with 84.6 per cent, winning 22 of his 26 duels.
All of a sudden Liverpool have a formidable centre-back partnership, adding the clout needed to turn Jurgen Klopp’s heavy-metal football into something a little bit more ordered.
Liverpool are top of the league with only two goals conceded in six matches. Konate has played as big a hand in that record as anyone else.
Fulham’s first clean sheet without Palhinha a huge stride forward
There was already plenty for Fulham supporters to get excited about, but a third clean sheet since March - and first of the season - represents another big stride forward for Marco Silva’s side.
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Fulham have now won successive Premier League matches for the first time since March and are on their longest unbeaten run in the competition (five matches) since February 2021.
It leaves them with 11 points from their opening six matches, their joint-most ever in a top-flight season and most since 2003/04.
This is all excellent news for Silva, but the most pleasing aspect of their 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest was its ugliness.
Fulham had to dig deep for this one, grinding out a result with a defensive rearguard that doesn’t usually hold firm in matches like these.
Joao Palhinha’s departure to Bayern Munich in the summer was expected to hit them hard, and it would be understandable if his absence caused some hesitancy among his team-mates.
That’s why getting that first clean sheet since his departure is such an important milestone for the club. A top-10 finish looks more and more plausible every week.