Age is catching up with Casemiro, Jurgen Klopp’s got Liverpool believing again and West Ham are brought back down to earth by Man City – 10 THINGS WE LEARNED from the Premier League
- Liverpool have their confidence back after coming from behind against Wolves
- But Manchester United’s woes continue with another defeat against Brighton
- Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s podcast ‘It’s All Kicking Off!’
The Premier League returned from the international break in all its glory as the thrills and spills of the English top-flight continued.
Manchester United’s dismal start to the new season continued with Brighton inflicting a third defeat in five Premier League matches on Erik ten Hag’s side.
Meanwhile, cross-city rivals Manchester City continued their dominant start by coming from behind to beat West Ham 3-1 at the London Stadium.
Liverpool demonstrated their newfound tenacity to battle back against Wolverhampton, but it was another disappointing outing from Chelsea in their draw with Bournemouth.
Mail Sport covers 10 things we learned from the weekend’s Premier League action.
Manchester City maintained their stay at the top of the Premier League after the international break
1. Casemiro needs to be dropped
The Brazilian was one of the best midfielders in the Premier League last season, but looks as if age is catching up with him in recent hammerings against Arsenal and Brighton.
Casemiro was non-existent against Brighton as Roberto de Zerbi’s side ran through United’s midfield with ease and plucked three goals that condemned the hosts to a third league defeat of the season.
Erik ten Hag has remoulded his midfield and the 31-year-old doesn’t look as if he has the legs to protect United’s defence on his own and that is a huge problem, even if injuries are piling up.
The five-times Champions League winner shouldn’t be discarded entirely but he is struggling and any other player would be relegated to the bench by Ten Hag if they produced similar performances.
Casemiro struggled again as Manchester United came undone against Brighton
The Brazilian should be pulled out of the firing line after a series of disappointing performances
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2. Chelsea‘s spending has failed to add squad depth
The Billionaire Blues have stuttered during the opening weeks of the new Premier League season and supporters are becoming increasingly frustrated after they were held to a goalless draw against Bournemouth.
Todd Boehly has forked out over £1billion on new signings during the past 12 months and yet Mauricio Pochettino’s bench at the Vitality Stadium was packed with names that most football supporters weren’t familiar with.
Cole Palmer – who joined from Man City – and Ben Chilwell were the only players with significant Premier League experience amongst the substitutes and Chelsea look like a side that has spent big but failed to improve.
The Blues have a string of injuries but it speaks volumes when Bournemouth had a better bench to call on.
Chelsea’s bench against Bournemouth showed that the club have failed to add quality depth to their squad
3. Manchester City are in cruise control
The reigning Premier League champions came from behind to seal a 3-1 win over West Ham and look like they have just continued from where they left off last season.
Summer recruit Jeremy Doku opened his City account while Erling Haaland bagged another goal, despite also missing a glaring opportunity from close-range.
City have been prone to making slow starts to new seasons but they look so comfortable in everything that they do and are deserved favourites to win the league again.
Erling Haaland (middle) scored his side’s third goal to seal victory against West Ham in London
4. Jurgen Klopp’s got Liverpool believing again
If Liverpool went behind last season against Wolves then they would have more than likely lost the match, but their weekend response with three second-half goals showed there is renewed belief back in the team.
Wolves should have scored three in the first-half but lacked the killer instinct to take the game away from Liverpool and it was almost as if Gary O’Neil’s players knew what was to come.
The Reds still have improvements to make in their performances but Klopp has already got his side believing again which is just as important.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp (right) has got his team believing in themselves again
5. David Raya makes number one claim at Arsenal
The Spaniard was handed his Arsenal debut at Goodison Park on Sunday and didn’t disappoint as the Gunners clinched a valuable 1-0 victory.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta bizarrely explained after the game that he was considering substituting goalkeepers in future games in the same way he does with outfield players, but there is a feeling Raya could be on his way to cementing his place in the team.
Aaron Ramsdale has rarely put a foot wrong in goal for Arsenal but will be concerned he is about to lose his Premier League status between the sticks.
David Raya (left) was handed his Arsenal debut as Aaron Ramsdale (right) dropped to the bench
6. Everton are in serious trouble
While all the discussion around Everton focuses on their impending ownership takeover, attention should also be focussed on their disastrous efforts on the pitch.
Sean Dyche salvaged the Toffees from relegation last season but if things don’t improve drastically then all he will have done is delayed the inevitable.
An uninspiring defeat against Arsenal means the Premier League veterans have taken just one point from their opening five games and there is understandable concern that this could be the season the club drops to the Championship.
Everton supporters are some of the most faithful in the English top-flight and deserve better from the players they continue to back week in week out.
Everton produced another poor showing as they still search for a first win of the season
7. Brighton have Man United’s number
The Seagulls recorded their fourth consecutive Premier League victory over Manchester United on Saturday as Roberto de Zerbi’s stars battered the hosts at Old Trafford.
Brighton are a formidable outfit and Ten Hag must dread facing the south coast side given his team’s disappointing performances against them over the past 12 months.
Pascal Gross just can’t stop scoring against the Red Devils with Saturday’s thumping finish his seventh Premier League goal against them.
Brighton recorded their fourth consecutive Premier League victory over Man United
8. Erik ten Hag begins to irk Man United supporters
The Dutchman was heralded as the man to lead United back to the glory days when he arrived with the club in a mess during the summer of 2022, now he is the person in charge while further chaos begins to ensnare the club.
Ten Hag drastically improved United last season, guiding them to the Carabao Cup title, an FA Cup final and third place in the Premier League, but there are signs supporters are beginning to get frustrated with some of their manager’s decisions.
The substitution of Rasmus Hojlund for Anthony Martial in the second-half of their defeat against Brighton was met with a chorus of boos that rang around Old Trafford and Ten Hag needs to start coming up with solutions to his side’s struggles.
He has been thwarted by ongoing off-field issues and an injury crisis but Saturday’s performance against Brighton won’t be tolerated.
United manager Erik ten Hag (left) has started to come under pressure in his position
9. West Ham are given a reality check
David Moyes appears to have transformed his team this season with West Ham suffering their first defeat of the season against Manchester City.
The Hammers stormed to the top of the table in the opening weeks but were brought back down to earth by Pep Guardiola’s side in a 3-1 defeat at the London Stadium.
A three-match winning run was brought to an abrupt halt and West Ham stars can’t afford to get carried away after a positive start in the Premier League because other teams can quickly catch up.
West Ham suffered their first defeat of the new season as Man City came from behind at the London Stadium
10. Forest’s new recruits continue to impress
Nottingham Forest recruited heavily again in the summer but everything seems to running smoothly at the City Ground as Steve Cooper’s side picked up a point against Burnley on Monday.
Callum Hudson-Odoi reminded Chelsea supporters of his talents, after he was unceremoniously shown the exit door at Stamford Bridge during the summer following a difficult few years, by opening the scoring with a stunning curling effort.
Fellow summer recruit Anthony Elanga also impressed as he continues to be given chances to show his talents after leaving Manchester United and there is deserved optimism over how far Forest can go this season.
Former Chelsea star Callum Hudson-Odoi (right) opened his goals account for Nottingham Forest against Burnley
IT’S ALL KICKING OFF!
It’s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.
It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.
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