GW7 - What did we learn?

Palace v Liverpool was a classic case of the 'lunchtime blues'; Palace, in particular, were incredibly sluggish in the first half; but both sides were probably only at around, at most, 80% of their usual performance levels. The Scousers can count themselves a bit lucky in this one, since Palace came back into the game a bit in the second half, and demanded a few decent saves of Alisson. Palace, along with Wolves, are the most severely under-performing side in the EPL at the moment; they have a good manager, and so much strength in their squad, you feel they must be able to turn things around. But when?? They're getting into that perilous zone where confidence falters, anxiety builds with every missed chance. And Alisson succumbing to a thigh injury - again - must be a bit of a worry for Liverpool fans; hopefully, he'll be back within a month or so, but still.... this is in danger of becoming a habit.

Arsenal continue their run of winning games where they didn't actually look that dominant for much of the time. It's encouraging that Arteta can find so many ways to vary the formation and the personnel and still be effective; but with the current squad, they really are stretched very thin by injuries - and this must surely start to affect their title chances, if the situation goes on much longer (they need no more injuries, and probably one or two new deals in the winter window to keep on a par with City and Liverpool.... and maybe Chelsea?). The final scoreline flattered them considerably, since Southampton might also easily have had 3 goals (one effort on to the roof of the net, another crashed against the crossbar).  I liked Calafiori (can't understand why he wasn't starting earlier - Timber's impressive form notwithstanding) and Havertz (though I still don't really see him as an FPL forward pick, because of his awkward mid-level pricing, when so many of the cheaper options are producing so well at the moment); not so much Raheem Sterling, whose lack of incisiveness may well condemn him to spending most of the season on the bench from here on. Tyler Dibling is surely now getting into contention (though it's an amazingly crowded field this year!) for a cheap midfielder pick; created a brilliant early chance that should have given his team the lead, and then had a good shot of his own graze the post after a deflection later on - he really looks dangerous almost every time he gets on the ball (and he's 0.5 million cheaper than Morgan Rogers!!). Southampton actually show a lot of promise going forward. It's such a pity they still can't defend to save their lives: still the hot favourites to be 'relegated by Christmas', and to have the first manager change of the season (after Ten Hag...).

Brentford's lightning starts (the first goal in just over a minute, despite not having the kick-off themselves; Norgaard's just over 30 seconds after a re-start!) have become a major weapon in the arsenal. But, alas, they still don't look like they've got too much else, and their defence is still rickety. And Flekken (as I've said since pre-season) is perhaps the ricketiest part of it (letting Ait-Nouri's shot through his legs so tamely was just horrific!); why does anyone still think he's a worthwhile goalkeeper pick, at any price?? Ait-Nouri and Semedo might be the two most promising full-back picks for their attacking returns potential.... but not while they look likely to concede 2 or 3 (or more!!) goals every game. I really can't fathom what's gone wrong with Wolves: they were looking a decent mid-table side for much of last season - this year, everything's fallen apart for them. I really like Gary O'Neill, and I hope he can turn things around for them; but he is starting to look like a man who knows his days are numbered. But, wow - that one was just a silly, silly game, with both teams scoring almost every time they got the ball forward.

Leicester needed a goal out of nothing from Facundo Buonanotte (another possible contender in the cheap midfielder stakes!), and some smart goalkeeping from Hermansen (who, despite his club's lowly status in the table, and likelihood of conceding regularly, is starting to look like one of the most appealing 4.5-million picks in goal), to claw out a win they hardly deserved. Boutnemouth were clearly much the better team, but just need to be a bit more clinical in their finishing.

City rode their luck a bit this weekend! Fulham looked the better side for most of the first half, and spells of the second; and if Adama Traore could finish (he can do everything else, but...), they would have won. Pep's boys needed three scorchers from outside the box to nick a win that didn't really feel deserved. Fulham, I think, are now definitely looking like the 'best of the rest', the mid-table side most likely to stake a claim to a European place if one or two of the bigger clubs slip up. Hard to argue with the effectiveness of Marco Silva's gameplan, despite the ultimate lack of reward for it - but the omission of Smith Rowe, their best creative player, was a bit of a puzzler (I assume there was some kind of fitness doubt over him); and a worry for the 27.5% of FPL managers that own him. The Sheep are no doubt getting over-emotional about the brace for Mateo Kovacic. He is indeed more od a goal threat than Rodri, and presumably now a nailed starter for as long as the Spaniard remains out (most of the season, at least, by the looks of it); and he might get into the conversation for cheaper midfield picks (you want one, possibly two or three at 6 million or less), if he can continue to score once every 4 or 5 games - but that is a very big ask. I would watch and wait a bit longer, myself. (And we probably need to initiate an 'Assist of the Season' competition to honour Raul's audacious back-heel dink into the middle of the six-yard box!!)

West Ham - finally - seem to be finding some rhythm and fluency under Lopategui. And it looks like there's a very good spirit among the players too - a happiness and confidence (that you might well have thought would be hard to generate after their rather shakey start to the season). Bowen (who was always a promising mid-price midfield pick for FPL, but hasn't attracted that much enthusiasm so far because of his team's form) and perhaps also Kudus may now start becoming a bit more popular as FPL picks. I have felt so far that Ipswich look way the best of the promoted sides, and have the potential to not just survive, but actually end up in lower mid-table; but this performance was making me question that optimism a bit. The big problem, of course, is Muric - who seems to have an absolute horror-show of a game once in every three or four (a couple of times a season is just about forgivable; but he's done his quota already). I feel sorry for anyone what punted on him as one of their keepers; they're probably going to see a big drop in value on him over the international break. At the other end, Areola distinguished himself with a Gordon Banks 'Pele save' - still one of the best 4.5 keeper options. And that denied Liam Delap a hattrick; that lad is starting to emerge as a forward we should probably all have in our starting line-up, regardless of his bargain-bucket price.

Everton v Newcastle was another head-scratcher: the Geordies did nearly everything right, but their usually impressive finishing somehow completely deserted them. Gordon missed a penalty, FFS! And heck, his miss from open play late in the game was probably an even more egregious waste. Ultimately, though, they needed one of the best saves of the weekend (the second best of the ones not at Stamford Bridge!) from Nick Pope to rescue them a point. And Everton can take some comfort from the fact they managed to stay in the game and nick a point (they haven't got a shred of a case on either of the penalty decisions). However, The Sheep who've piled in for Calvert-Lewin and McNeil are probably having second thoughts already (the latter, I think, remains a very justifiable pick; the former never was).

Villa were perhaps - inevitably - just a little jaded after their midweek heroics against Bayern. United put up a spirited defence, with Onana pulling off a few acrobatic saves, and Jonny Evans doing a very good job of keeping Watkins quiet. But apart from Bruno's free-kick rattling the crossbar, the Reds weren't much of a threat going forward, and you felt that on any other day Villa could probably have won this 3-0. Ten Hag burbled afterwards about "making progress" - but is not being quite so abject as in your previous four or five games enough to save your job? Sorry, I don't think it should be.

My pre-season hunch was that Forest hadn't done anything much to strengthen their squad, and thus would again be lucky to escape relegation. And they didn't look that convincing at the start of the season, labouring to a series of draws against other bottom-half teams. But Nuno finally seems to be getting them to play with a bit more consistency and cohesion; and Chris Wood is defying all reasonable expectations by remaining fit and in-form across a run of several games (I'm still a bit sceptical about how long this may continue - but good for him!). Alas, they've now lost their creative lynchpin, Morgan Gibbs-White (hopefully not for long, but...), and James Ward-Prowse too with a suspension, which must put a dent in their prospects in GW8. Outstanding displays from both keepers dominated the headlines in this game; though Forest's tactical discipline in restricting - though far from snuffing out - the threat of Palmer and Madueke was also noteworthy. (And I think this is the first game this season where Palmer hasn't hit the woodwork - although he did draw two sharp saves from Sels in quick succession at one point. Really, his numbers this season could be absolutely stupid already, he could easily have twice as many goals and assists as he does.)

Finally,.... well, Brighton v Spurs was possibly the most emphatically schizophrenic 'game of two halves' games I've ever seen! And Fabian Hurzeler, in addition to obviously being very tactically shrewd and innovative, would also appear to be boss-level at player motivation; his boys stepped up about five gears after the break, and Spurs just couldn't live with it. Big questions there for Ange - about why his players couldn't put the game to bed in the first half (they were so dominant at first, they could have been, should have been 4 or 5 up by the break, not just 2-0).... and why they capitulated so tamely in the second. Danny Welbeck, I have to say, is looking like a man reborn; I've been sceptical of considering him for an FPL pick because of his injury record (and because of the competition he faces at the club; he might share minutes with Joao Pedro and Evan Ferguson, even when fit), but in this kind of form he is starting to look like an essential acquisition. (I've always liked Danny; I was blown away by him in his debut season with United all those years ago, and got very excited about what he might do for England, if given a chance in the 2010 World Cup. It's such a crying shame that his career has been so restricted by injuries.)  Solanke is also now looking like he's really gelling with Spurs' style of play and could be very, very productive for them. I'm just a little concerned that he looks like he might often be dropping quite deep, and claiming as many assists as goals - but he'll probably get quite a lot of both.

Ah, but of course, any 'lessons' we take from this weekend's games will largely be rendered obsolete by another bloody two-week lay-off.....