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Gameweek 10 saw a lot of big losses and I will asses which were the best games and give you a commentary of what happened in each of the games.
Arsenal vs Newcastle United:
Both teams come into the game off of victories in midweek cup action and it will be a competitive game with Eddie Howe being “desperate for success” and Arteta and his men being used to the type of success that the Toon Army desires.
The game began with Howe’s wishes coming true with a well made goal. A scorching cross from Anthony Gordon found Isak who capitalises again, scoring his 16th goal in his last 17 starts at Newcastle’s home. Isak has been a perennial goal scorer since his arrival in 2022 with 25 goals in the last season. Arsenal will be dissatisfied with their performance up to this point as Newcastle over-powered them with excellent chances from Guimaraes and Gordon. But, the north london team weren’t out of the game yet and one change saw Mikel Merino slash a volley into Lewis Hall’s back, however, even without him Pope was prepared; covering his line. Arsenal had 54% possession in the first half an hour but were still not able to subdue the attacks from Newcastle, even with their almost healthy back line with all starters playing except from Calafiori or Ben White with Partry taking up the right back role as he previously did against Liverpool.
The second-half didn’t hold much, just a below average display from Arsenal who have caved to Newcastle twice in their last five meetings; adding a third to the list.
It was a disappointing result for Arsenal that sees them potentially drop down in the table depending on the rest of the weekends results and Arteta will surely give his team a rough lesson this week in what they have to do to win the title: giving up games to Newcastle United is definitely not how to do it. Arsenal only had one shot on target to Newcastle’s three and they lacked an awful lot of invention despite having the line share of possession.
For Newcastle, they continue a good streak of form and will hope to deliver on Eddie’s Howe desire to reach European football. This is certainly a step in the right direction and it was especially a good performance for their attack and midfield specifically for Gordon, Isak and Guimaraes. They defended well throughout holding one of the best teams in the Premier League to no score.
Liverpool vs Brighton: Liverpool come into the game having beaten Brighton in midweek football. For Brighton they will want to prove themselves as a competitive team. Welbeck and Mitoma have been amazing, Brighton will want to beat Liverpool but it may be hard to; as Liverpool aren’t leading the Premier League for no reason.
West Ham vs Nottingham Forest: West Ham come off of a game where an extra-time penalty gave them a win over Manchester United that was the catalyst for Erik Ten Hag getting the sack. However, this game might not be as easy. Chris Wood has scored a hat full this season and he is really hard to contain especially for a defence that on average concedes just under two goals per game; a poor tally for a team that would like to compete for Europe this year.
Early on, Chris Wood gave Forest the lead, a goal that puts them up into third on the table after a dominant streak of games. Chris Wood has continued his excellent streak, a superb run and cross from Moreno slotted him in. After a shot from Paqueta that should have tied the game up, Edson Alvarez poorly tacked Elanga, giving him marching orders after a previous yellow card.
The second half began with West Ham attacking a lot better than the first half; despite having 10 men. A well taken free kick from Elliot Anderson found Hudson-Odoi who passed the ball into the opposite corner of the goal. A final goal came with another excellent goal for Forest. Aina blasted it into the right side of the net, after darting down the left side the full-back slotted in a goal to give them the win.
It was an excellent game for Forest who shoot themselves up to third after a weekend of big losses, leaving the top of the table unfamiliar. For West Ham, it’s another disappointing loss and they need to pick up form if they want to be involved in a conversation for Europe.
Manchester City vs Bournemouth: Manchester City come into their game against Bournemouth coming off a loss to Spurs. This will have little a fire in their belly and it is likely they will be desperate to win this game and return to their scorching form. For Bournemouth, they have been mobile in the table; slowly climbing up since a slow start. They recently racked up a win against Arsenal and they will want to do the same against Manchester City.
Within 10 minutes Bournemouth’s dreams came true. After a chance that nearly saw them score within 5, Kerkez got the best of PFA’s Player of the year in the last season, Phil Foden, playing a pin point pass to Semenyo who capitalised slotting it past Ederson. This was exactly what up-and-comers Bournemouth have been looking for; another big team under their belt. However, for Pep Guardiola and his team it was a disappointing start to a game that got only worse, following their loss to Tottenham Hotspur.
Bournemouth continued to attack through the likes of Kerkez, Semenyo, Tavernier and Evanilson. One chance came at the start of the second half where Man of the Match Semenyo charged onto a loose pass from Walker, playing it on to Evanilson who nearly capitalised. But, it wasn’t long until the Brazilian scored, claiming a second goal in consecutive games. Semenyo once again broke through down the left wing, playing a ball to Kerkez who found Evanilson who slid in to knock it home and take them to a win.
However just because Bournemouth were dominant offensively; you can’t count out Manchester City. They were able to get a goal back when summer returnee Ilkay Gündogan played his role perfectly in a short corner finding Gvardiol, a man who has scored his fair share of goals as a left back, who slotted home a header rising above Kerkez.
The game ended with Bournemouth on top and an impressive name added to their win list. Kerkez, Semenyo and Evanilson were excellent for the Cherries; guiding them to victory. But, for Manchester City it will not have been what they wanted, at all. Guardiola described perfectly Bournemouth’s dominance to the media they “simply couldn’t match the intensity.” This weekend and multiple big teams losing leaves Liverpool 2 points clear at the top and Manchester City trailing with Arsenal and Nottingham Forest hot on their tail.
Tottenham Hotspur vs Aston Villa:
Spurs sit 10th in the Premier League with a very disappointing start to the campaign. This is a game they will hope to win after dominating City in midweek football. Aston Villa however are having an amazing season despite falling short against Crystal Palace in the EFL Cup but it may have planted a seed in them to capitalise against Spurs.
Villa scored first after a corner taken by Dinge and a deflected ball from Bentancur. Morgan Rogers picked it up and slotted it past a helpless Vicario, Spurs again proving weak on corners and other teams finding if they put pressure on the defence they often concede. However, despite the first half finishing with Villa in front; Spurs were amazing going forward but couldn’t get the best of Yasmin Trophy winner Martinez.
The second half began and it didn’t take long for Spurs to score with scorching Brennan Johnson scoring again. Returning captain Heung Min-Son made his mark cutting in on the left flank, it was perfectly played towards Solanke and Johnson with Johnson reaching it first. They continued to attack until Solanke was able to net his first goal in 7 games after a beautiful run that Kulusevski, the number 1 key passer in Europe, spotted playing him in and a beautiful finish followed.
A second goal for Solanke came after Sarr picked the ball up in midfield playing it to Richarlison who brilliantly picked out Solanke who capitalised again. A final goal came after Maddison was fouled by Carlos, winning a free kick. Which he slotted home lifting it over the wall and into the right side of the net guiding Spurs to a 4-1 victory over fellow European challengers, Aston Villa.
Tottenham Hotspur were the deserved winners, they are a team that seem to playing under if you score we will score more mentality and it will be very exciting for Spurs fans to see them come out of two games against big teams on top. For Villa, it ends disappointingly, however, they still showed good signs. Their fault was not expecting Spurs to score again, they are joint first for most games scored after conceding with 10 wins; winning three of their last four when going 1-0 down. Such as against West Ham.