Gameweek 5

Chelsea vs West Ham:

High expectations for Chelsea and West Ham were fulfilled early when a quickly taken free kick and initiative pass by Sancho led Nicolas Jackson beautifully in on goal and a cleanly taken finish gave Chelsea the lead within 5 minutes. This doesn't mean West Ham wasn't competitive and had shots on goal as well as playing the ball well, however, when Chelsea was on the ball they were constantly creative often flowing through Jadon Sancho down the left and Enzo through midfield. Enzo Fernandes has begun to cement himself in Chelsea’s midfield and is arguably one of the best players on the team constantly picking up the ball and driving it forward.

One thing that can be said of West Ham is that their drive to win the ball never stopped but they looked rather flat when Chelsea was putting pressure on them and as the game moved on their ability to drive the ball forward was declining more and more. Chelsea again proved too much for them with their classy passing with Caicedo and Enzo playing passes in the midfield. Jackson was able to capitalise on Caicedo’s pass for the second with a darting run and tidy finish against Areola.

West Ham were beginning to put pressure on by the end of the first half but it didn’t last long, in order to up aggression Lopetegui brought on Soucek to bring physicality and to get into the players in Chelsea’s attack as well as midfield.

The start of the second half went just as poorly as the first with Cole Palmer capitalising within the first two minutes as he picks up Jackson’s ball and finishes sublimely securing the 3 points for Chelsea.

Tottenham Hotspur vs Brentford:

An incredible start had 2 goals in the first 10 minutes. One when Spurs were reminded of their mid week defence against Coventry when Bryan Mbuemo scored early for Brentford. However, their lead didn’t last long with criticised Dominic Solanke scoring his first goal to bring the game even. Spurs fans will be hoping that this will get Solanke rolling and he can recreate his incredible form of last season.

Before the 30th minute Son’s assist tucked in Brennan Johnson, proving his worth to the team again after scoring against coventry when he had been criticised for his performances, giving Spurs the lead. Another game they have fought back in after conceding. Their passing game is at the best it has looked in seasons and Brentford were susceptible to their attacking creativity.

Another assist from Son allowed James Maddison to bag Spurs’ third goal and secured the 3 points for Tottenham, a necessary win for Tottenham pushes them up the table and they will be hoping to keep the form going.

This will be a disappointing game for the Bees who have been on a good run of form and will be looking to improve on their performance in the next game. Although, they were creative, creating 6 chances that ended in shots and Mbuemo proved himself capable of replacing Toney’s necessary scoring again since he left for Saudi Arabia.

Manchester City vs Arsenal:

The two likeliest champions face off in a match of giants and they will both be hoping to set the tone for the rest of the season.

Early on in the 9th minute Haaland capitalised on new signing Savinho’s pass to give City the lead. Erling Haaland has now scored 100 goals in 105 games for Manchester City and Savinho is again proving that he can replace what City lost in Alvarez but also step up and start multiple games over the likes of Grealish.

However, this joyous start for Manchester City didn’t last long when Arsenal scored off a free-kick that was driven into Martinelli then crossed towards Calafiori who was able to capitalise with a left footed strike. Calafiori is begging to prove his worth to Arsenal and has added to a formidable defence as well as having attacking and passing ability better than that of most defenders. A second came to give Arsenal the lead just before the end of the second when another defender in Gabriel scored his second goal from a corner in two games off a well played cross from Bukayo Saka. This goal proved that Arsenal have had enough of placing second to City and this goal warned Manchester City that another giant is in town and their reign over the Premier League may be over. However, a second yellow in 20 minutes for Trossard left Arsenal without an attacker after he charged through the back of Bernardo Silva in an aerial duel and he didn’t attempt to win the ball, a silly decision given his previous booking.

However, this didn’t end up being an issue for Arsenal who were able to hold off Manchester City until the last moments of the game when John Stones capitalised on a deflection and showed that they are the champions and that Arsenal aren’t quite better than them yet.