10 thoughts from an impassioned weekend of Premier League action

theScore examines the most important developments and discusses the biggest talking points from another eventful weekend in England’s top flight.

Don’t count Liverpool out just yet

Liverpool’s demise was greatly exaggerated.

Yes, the Reds are still 14 points off top spot in the Premier League – a massive gap to make up – but Sunday’s breathless 1-0 win over Manchester City felt like a turning point. Jurgen Klopp’s squad isn’t the unrelenting force of previous seasons, and there are clearly still deficiencies within the team, but in handing City their first loss of the season, Liverpool made a big statement.

“Personally, I love to play always for a title,” said Mohamed Salah, who decided the contest with a superb second-half goal. “In my head, I am going to fight for it, but we need to focus more and take one game at a time.”

The players still believe.

Liverpool have seemed indifferent at times early in the season, making sloppy mistakes and throwing points away. They were fully locked in and engaged on Sunday, though. Boosted by a boisterous Anfield crowd, they claimed a win that many thought unlikely ahead of the opening kickoff.

“On a normal day, you should not even try against City; you have to play to your limits and further,” added Klopp. “That’s what we did in a well-organized and very passionate way.”

Getting amped up to take on City, a team Klopp described as the best in the world, is easy. But can Liverpool apply that same level of intensity and focus each and every match? That’s the next step in this resurgence.

Fascinating tactical battle

There are myriad reasons why Manchester City and Liverpool have developed one of the most intoxicating rivalries in world football right now. There are superstars on both sides, tight title races, excellent managers with outgoing personalities, and intense, high-stakes matches. A perfect storm.

The constantly evolving tactics are a fascinating element, too.

Klopp and Pep Guardiola, despite the verbal jabs back and forth, clearly have immense respect for one another, and they’re being forced to constantly innovate and rethink their approach to come out on top in this titanic tussle.

For instance, Guardiola shifted Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne around on Sunday, asking them to take up wider positions than usual in an effort to find numerical advantages in wide areas and exploit a key problem area for Liverpool this season. The Reds’ right side, where Trent Alexander-Arnold has endured well-documented struggles this campaign, was a clear point of emphasis.

Klopp’s response was to use James Milner at right-back – a move enforced, to some degree, because Alexander-Arnold wasn’t fit enough to feature from the opening whistle. He also shifted Salah into a more central position, which meant the Egyptian wasn’t burdened by defensive duties – where he’s at his least effective – and had Fabinho slide over in midfield to help Milner.

That created plenty of space on the opposite flank for Joao Cancelo, but Liverpool did an admirable job of limiting his opportunities to get the ball into Erling Haaland. When Cancelo and De Bruyne did find holes and looked for Haaland, an immense performance from both Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez largely kept him under wraps. Haaland did have chances, including one close-range header that he surprisingly didn’t convert. He is human, after all.

Those types of tweaks, big and small, and the respective managers’ in-game adjustments to account for them, were engrossing. Long may it continue.

How to stop Haaland

The aforementioned Van Dijk produced a vintage display to help slow Haaland down, but not every team can rely on someone as imposing as the Dutch center-back to stymie Manchester City’s insatiable striker.

Not to fear, Thiago Alcantara came up with a new blueprint to stop the Norwegian:

Desperate times call for desperate measures, we suppose.

Some redemption for Kepa

To say Kepa Arrizabalaga has dealt with intense scrutiny since joining Chelsea would be an enormous understatement. The Spaniard, still the most expensive goalkeeper in football history after his €80-million move in 2018, has been under the microscope since arriving in west London.

He’s made high-profile blunders, got dropped from the squad, had infamous squabbles with managers, and, quite clearly, saw his confidence totally deteriorate. It’s been a struggle. Poking fun at the shot-stopper became something of a pastime in the football world.

Through it all, though, Kepa obviously didn’t forget how to play the position. The 28-year-old stood on his head Sunday, making seven saves to backstop the Blues to a 2-0 win over Aston Villa.

Unless you support Villa, it was stirring to see Kepa actually enjoying his football and playing well after so many struggles.

“It was a world-class performance, especially in the first half,” Graham Potter said after the match. “I’m really pleased for him. He has had a tough period for us at times, but he contributed to the game.”

The importance of Eriksen

Sunday’s goalless draw against Newcastle United highlighted just how important Christian Eriksen is to Manchester United. The Danish midfielder is already among the most vital players in Erik ten Hag’s squad, primarily because there’s nobody else capable of replicating his vision, poise, and playmaking ability from his deep midfield slot.

Sidelined by an illness, Eriksen, who had previously appeared in every match for the Red Devils this season, made way for a Brazilian double pivot of Casemiro and Fred. The duo offers defensive solidity, tough tackling, and plenty of energy but not enough creativity. Manchester United enjoyed over 60% of the possession against the Magpies, but much of it felt sterile. They had plenty of the ball but didn’t look consistently menacing with it, making life easy for Newcastle for much of the match.

That wasn’t the only issue – Cristiano Ronaldo’s continued physical decline was painfully apparent – but Ten Hag needs an answer here. Even without injury or illness, the 30-year-old Eriksen simply can’t play every match. Perhaps Bruno Fernandes could take up a deeper position against certain opponents if his Danish teammate isn’t available. There’s still much to ponder for Ten Hag and his coaching staff as United keep trying to grow.

Score 1 for VAR!

There are very good reasons to bemoan the application of VAR in football – we won’t litigate that again. Pandora’s box is already open.

But, every so often, we’re reminded that the use of technology isn’t all bad. Sometimes, certain fan bases will actually applaud its existence.

Indeed, it was impossible to ignore the irony on display during Sunday’s bizarre match at Elland Road, where an electrical fault forced a lengthy delay in the action between Leeds United and Arsenal. A power outage severed communications between referee Chris Kavanagh and the VAR feeds at Stockley Park and knocked out the Hawk-Eye goal-line capabilities, thus halting play for roughly 40 minutes. Why not simply continue without VAR and goal-line technology, some exasperated viewers bemoaned on social media. We’ve done it before; surely we can manage for one match.

Not quite.

VAR overturned a stoppage-time penalty that was awarded on the field to Leeds and the accompanying red card that had been shown to Gabriel. The Gunners held on for a 1-0 win that, without the use of video, could very easily have been a 1-1 draw. All hail VAR. As ever, fans’ support or opposition of VAR depends largely on the specific calls that impact their favorite team.

Here are the main talking points from Saturday’s matches …

Leicester can’t change much

Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers can take several positives from Saturday’s goalless draw with Crystal Palace. Though Leicester didn’t score, they also didn’t concede, keeping a clean sheet for just the second time this season. That’s something the Premier League’s most porous side can and should celebrate. They also managed to play some decent football, outshooting their opponents 14-8 while controlling the lion’s share of possession. The Foxes played with intent, if not necessarily cutting edge.

But it wasn’t enough to keep the crowd from booing the players off the field at full time. Supporters called for the board – led by club chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha – to make sweeping changes. After all, Leicester have only won once in 10 matches, and the point acquired Saturday barely lifted them off the foot of the Premier League standings.

Premier League results so far

But what more could they expect? Leicester were always going to struggle this season. They didn’t have the money to make significant signings, leaving Rodgers with a short squad and one of the oldest rosters in England’s top flight. Injuries to Jonny Evans, Ricardo Pereira, and Wilfred Ndidi have only made a difficult situation even tougher.

Performances like Saturday’s are all Leicester can demand. Solutions must come from within. Few managers would accept what Rodgers has accepted. Fewer still would walk into the mess midseason.

Fortunately, Leicester could benefit from the upcoming break. Only a handful of their players will travel to Qatar for the World Cup, and the ones who do may not even see the field. Rodgers will get several weeks to work with the bulk of his squad outside the spotlight. Until then, he’ll have to find a way to hold Leicester together and keep the boo-birds at bay.

Reborn Solanke gives Bournemouth hope

Bournemouth and Fulham engaged in an entertaining affair that ended in a draw at Craven Cottage on Saturday. The outcome aligned with their two games in the Championship last season, and the 2-2 result was fitting for a pair of overachieving promoted clubs that have surreptitiously climbed into the top half of the table.

Only a point separates the two sides 10 games into the season, a season in which they were both tipped to go right back down. But the gap between them could potentially widen now that the Cherries appear to have a competent forward. Dominic Solanke has flourished in recent weeks, evolving into an attacker capable of influencing results while making players around him better.

Success in the top flight has always been a problem for the 25-year-old. But it was a different story last season when Solanke helped Bournemouth seal promotion by scoring 29 goals in the Championship. Though his dip in goals against superior opponents this season was expected, Solanke has been playing with the freedom and confidence of a man reborn since the club fired former manager Scott Parker in August.

After setting up the winner last week against Leicester City, Solanke burst out of the gates Saturday with an early goal before playing a crucial role in Bournemouth’s second of the afternoon. Helping Bournemouth extend their unbeaten run to five games under interim boss Gary O’Neil, Solanke could emerge as a late consideration for Gareth Southgate should any injuries strike England’s attackers before the World Cup in November.

Forest already look doomed

It says everything about the state of affairs at Nottingham Forest that two of the executives involved in the club’s expensive 22-player signing spree are no longer with the team. Many of the players who arrived at City Ground haven’t made much impact – if any – in the first two months of Forest’s first Premier League campaign in 23 years. Jesse Lingard is earning nearly six figures each week to come off the bench, and the strikers Forest recruited in the summer have combined to score just three Premier League goals thus far.

Head coach Steve Cooper is still trying to put all the pieces together. That much is understandable. He’s confronting the biggest challenge of his coaching career. Many managers would experience the same struggle.

But fans can and should expect more from a team that cost more than £145 million to assemble. They’ve waited so long to return to the Premier League – only to watch their club concede 23 goals in its first 10 matches while falling to the bottom of the table.

The upcoming schedule isn’t kind, either, as Forest travel to Brighton before facing Liverpool and league leaders Arsenal in a 12-day span. Saturday’s match against fellow strugglers Wolverhampton Wanderers was their last winnable match this month. It came and went without three points.

Broken attack letting Everton down

Saturday’s clash with Tottenham Hotspur was essentially over once Everton gave away a penalty in the second half.

Until that point, the visitors had mounted an admirable fight and looked worthy of leaving north London with at least a draw. Things looked positive for the Merseyside outfit thanks to a strong defensive effort against a Tottenham side that won 5-1 during last season’s trip south. But there wasn’t any hope after Harry Kane’s decisive penalty helped expose Everton’s dysfunctional attack.

It was the same old story – and the same miserable outcome – for a misfiring squad that fell to Manchester United last weekend. With Anthony Gordon missing through suspension, Neal Maupay and Demarai Gray were ineffective in the final third. Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s return from injury, meanwhile, did little to invigorate a lifeless attack.

Everton top scorers

Player	Games	Goals
Anthony Gordon	9	2
Alex Iwobi	10	1
Demarai Gray	10	1
Dwight McNeil	10	1
Conor Coady	10	1
Neal Maupay	10	1

Beyond a pair of close opportunities in the first half, it was a largely discouraging display for Frank Lampard’s outfit as Tottenham added another goal to seal the win – and their best-ever start to a Premier League season. Everton will need to solve their issues quickly before a tricky midweek trip to face Newcastle United.