Luck-o-Meter (5)

 Can it really be true? Is the refereeing in the EPL getting better?  Oh by gosh, by golly, I think it is. Well, less worse, anyway!

It might be an unrepresentative blip, which will reverse itself in a week or two, but this week there were very few 'big' decisions.... and just about no WRONG ones.

I already discussed most of these in my more detailed rundown of the week's games the other day, but to recap....

The two sendings-off: absolutely uncontroversial, in my view. Trossard committed two egregious fouls, right under the ref's nose, within a few seconds of each other, when already on a yellow. The stupid charge into the defender's back could conceivably have been a straight red on its own. No defence.

Gibbs-White, ditto. Yes, he got his toe on the ball, but it was an absolutely horrendous challenge, a 'scissor tackle' catching Joao Pedro's standing leg between his own two - and coming from way, way back, sliding through him from behind. Could have been a leg-breaker: no defence.

In the top-of-the-table clash at The Etihad, I thought Michael Oliver's over-hasty restart after calling the captains over for a chat was discourteous and non-ideal - but it's not, as far as I know, against the rules in any way; and it couldn't really be said to have 'caused' the subsequent goal - or provided much excuse for the fact that Walker had just 'fallen asleep' for a moment. And yes, Arsenal did nick 8 or 10 yards on where the free-kick should properly have been taken. But that happens all the time; and when it's inside their own half, it's hardly material to the subsequent attack. City might have had a slightly better case on the second goal; not for 'crowding' of the goalkeeper, which is perfectly kosher, but for Calafiori's little bit of wrestling with Gvardiol on the goal-line, which is not. Then again, Haaland should probably have been at least booked, if not sent off, for his reckless acts of violence at the very end of the match: throwing the ball at a player's head - especially hard, from close range, when they're not looking - is 'violent conduct' every day of the week, and I'm surprised the EPL didn't review the incident again after the match. (Do they not do that any more? Do they trust VAR to catch everything on match day?? Hmmm, that's obviously not working....)  His further bit of tussling soon after was really pushing his luck; and he should be very, very grateful that Oliver was so indulgent towards him.

Forest's penalty was rather soft, but probably fair enough. West Ham's claim against Fofana for holding might also have been a little soft, but was a clearer shout, I think, and should have been given. But for many years now we have grown used to these 'close calls' being missed, or given the wrong way, so we can't kvetch about it too much. I just find it a bit frustrating that we're now supposed to have VAR in place to increase accuracy and fairness with this kind of decision - and they appear to have just given up on this part of the job.

And oh, who was that keeper who clearly handled the ball outside the box - I forget. Vicario of Spurs? That was a BIG mistake, and it could, should have led to a big chance from a free-kick on the edge of the area. But Spurs were so on top in that game, it probably wouldn't have made any difference to the match outcome even if Brentford had scored from it. But it would have made a bit of a difference to the FPL points from that game.

But anyway, no really bad refereeing this week - no egregious howlers, anyway. Long may that continue!

After all of last week's spectacular and freakish goal incidents, this was really quite a quiet and humdrum week. No long-range goals (Welbeck's free-kick, and Mbeumo's crisp near-post volley were pretty special; but compared to all of last week's outside-the-box screamers.... a very quiet week!). Garnacho had one thumper against the woodwork, Fernandes a rather less stirring effort on the follow-up also bouncing off the cross-bar; Gundogan cracked a free-kick attempt (that might actually have beaten Raya??) against the outside of the post; and Palmer also glanced a shot just off the outside of a post (one he probably should have put inside it; but he made amends with another fine goal later on).

There were a few cracking saves - a smart stop by Raya from Gvardiol, a very agile double-save from Andre Onana - but again, nowhere near as many as last week.

The only 'unusual event' in FPL points terms was the astonishingly large number of goals scored by defenders. We don't often see as many as 2 or 3 in one week, but we had 3 in the City v Arsenal match alone this Sunday! And of course, Konsa got in on the act too. But it was perhaps even more surprising that Fabian Schar, usually one of the best and most prolific finishers amongst our current crop of EPL defenders, somehow put a sitter just wide of the post against Fulham....  Funny old game, and all that.

There were few selection surprises this week (Walker starting instead of Lewis caused grief to some of us; Nunez starting ahead of Jota perhaps even more so...), and no real upset results (the big teams had recovered their fluency after the unwelcome disruption of a two-week international break). The ease of Fulham's win over Newcastle, and Southampton's nearly claiming a win from a rather lacklustre Ipswich were the only modest surprises of the weekend. Early substitutions continue to be an FPL annoyance, though: it's obviously going to be a regular hazard with Arne Slot.

The big returners of the week were mostly quite a surprise. Well, Nico Jackson, the leading hero of the week, should not have been a complete surprise, as he has looked in sharp form all season; but 2 excellent breakaway goals and an assist for Palmer was probably more than his 10% of owners could have hoped for. We also find such fringe choices as Hinshelwood, Dibling and Calafiori in the 'Team of the Week'.

Overall, though, I'd rate this the least 'LUCKY' and unexpected week we've had this season - or perhaps for much of last season either. But for the large number of goals from unlikely players, I might have said only a 1 out of 10; but - in the hope that we may yet see a truly 'luck-free' week, I'll give it a 2. I hope this will be a trend for a while!