GW12 - What did we learn?

One might feel a little sympathy for Leicester, having to make do without their two main creative forces - Buonanotte serving a totting-up suspension (already??), and Fatawu out for the season, after damaging his ACL while playing for Ghana last week - and then losing midfield lynchpin Harry Winks just a few minutes into the game. However, they've never really shown much of a consistent threat in any of their games I've seen yet; and here, it appeared that their strategy was "If we pretend not to be here, maybe they won't be able to see us...."  Steve Cooper is starting to look every bit as clueless as he did in the latter stages of his tenure at Forest last season, and would now be my favourite for early replacement. [Usually, although I compose these comments on individual matches serially over the weekend, I don't publish them until the Gameweeek's completed on Monday or Tuesday. This week, however, I published the first batch of remarks on Sunday morning - still the early hours of Sunday morning on UK time - and barely 12 hours later, Leicester were announcing they'd sacked Cooper. Even I was taken a bit by surprise by the suddenness of this. I hope they've already lined up a promising replacement. I would like to see Leicester at least making a good fight of trying to stay up; but at the moment, they look about the least likely to. Next managerial victim looks set to be Russell Martin or Julen Lopategui...]

Leicester might whinge a bit about Mavididi's turned-down penalty shout, but I don't think they've got any case there; he pretty obviously just jumped over Fofana's rear leg, without the Chelsea player making any movement towards him at all - and, indeed, with there probably being no actual contact. And the late penalty they did win shortly afterwards was very, very fortunate. They were also lucky not to have had two of their midfielders sent off for dreadful challenges early in the game; if Andy Madeley was showing any bias in his decisions in this game, it was mostly in Leicester's favour.  The FPL Sheep are no doubt up-in-arms again over the fact that Palmer blanked for the second week in succession - shock, horror! he must be rubbish, after all!  No, of course not: he had another outstanding game, constantly involved (despite regularly getting lumps kicked out of him) - nearly scored, nearly assisted;. You can't get FPL points every week, people; but Palmer is one of the few players - in fact, probably the only one - who looks as if he might every single week. Jackson and Cucurella were again superb, also.

Yep, the scrap for the title is still a two-horse race - but it's Liverpool and Arsenal, not Liverpool and City. With  Chris Wood too tired to start after flying back from Samoa (a trip which, I imagine, must require multiple stopovers) and Gibbs-White out with a knock, Forest couldn't muster any attacking threat of their own; but even with those two available, they probably wouldn't have got a look-in here - Arsenal were dominant, imperious, probably the best we've yet seen them this season. While the loss of Ben White (supposedly only a 'minor' knee surgery, but the recuperation period might last until January or February?) might look a further major setback, in fact it seems to be giving them the prospect of a new-look back-four which might actually work rather well. I've felt since the start of the season that  Jurrien Timber would be a very attractive way into the Arsenal defence, if only we could count on him getting a run of starts: now it seems that opportunity is here - if he can stay fit; and, even better, he's going to be on the right flank rather than the left, where the opportunity to link up with Saka and Odegaard should give him nice prospects for an occasional assist. On the other side, though, Calafiori looked out of sorts, and needed to be subbed off fairly early in the second half (perhaps just being rushed back a bit too swiftly after his own recent injury problems?). I remain optimistic about the impact he could have too; but Timber's form is stronger at the moment.... and he's cheaper. There might be a bit of a concern about Saliba though, who took a very heavy whack right at the end of the game.

Although Villa were missing a number of players after the international break, the extent to which their form has deserted them must be a big worry for Emery now. Although they dominated possession 2-to-1 in this game, they failed to create many clearcut chances, and ultimately looked rather lucky to salvage a draw. While Oliver Glasner can take heart from his team's fluent couner-attacking play, and the form of Dean Henderson in goal (who produced one of the best penalty saves we've seen for a long time), they were still fairly ragged in defence - and have a lot of questions to answer about how they gave up the equaliser so tamely from a corner. Watkins and Mateta are both looking impressive; alas, the teams behind them are not. 

Both Everton and Brentford continue to play isolated snatches of bright football, but look utterly toothless upfront (it was not evident that the recently impressive Wissa and Mbeumo were even on the pitch!). With the fixtures Brentford now face in December, I fear they might well be back down in the bottom three, or perilously close, going into the New Year. (At least Mark Flekken, who I consider to be probably the weakest keeper in the EPL this year, pulled off one very good save here - credit where it's due.)  Norgaard's sending-off was yet another VAR-contrived error; we're seeing far too many of these this season.

Fulham v Wolves was a weird game. Wolves really didn't look to be in it that much, but - as with Brentford against Bournemouth recently - they just kept coming up with world-class finishes out of nothing. Against a team missing most of their preferred central defenders (although, since Wolves have had the worst defence in the league so far, maybe this was a blessing-in-disguise??), Fulham should have been able to make more of their early dominance and their breakthrough goal; perhaps, if Raul hadn't lashed that sitter against the crossbar early on, things might have turned out differently. But Fate just wasn't smiling on Fulham here, as Air-Nouri came within a whisker of blasting the ball into his own net, and recently prolific Harry Wilson also landed a dipping shot on the top of the crossbar. Marco Silva must take a large share of the blame too, though; both for failing to find a more incisive approach against a vulnerable opponent, and for rashly using up all his substitutes fairly early in  the second half, thus leaving his side with 10 men when Joachim Andersen picked up an injury in the 75th minute and had to come off; it was in that short-handed spell at the end that Wolves finally got on top of them and added 2 more late goals. Cunha is now looking an irresistible asset for FPL (in the form of his life, and now playing a bit further forward, alongside Strand Larsen as a main goal outlet, rather than wider or deeper, as he had mostly played until a month or so ago); while Raul, I fear, has lost the magic dust again.

The south coast derby between Bournemouth and Brighton was a close and exciting game, neither team quite at their best, but both still showing some moments of great quality. Bournemouth again showed great fighting spirit to almost claw back a draw, and really looked like they deserved more out of the game. And I feel smugly vindicated in nominating Joao Pedro as an acquisition this week - even though, in truth, that was hardly a surprising or visionary insight. Baleba's sending-off for a second yellow was unjust - and hopefully might be overturned.

Dear, oh dear - City are unravelling, aren't they? This might just be a case of the 'post-international blues' that I mentioned the other day as being a likely cause of unpredictability in this weekend's results:  everybody just a bit flat and fatigued, and 'out of practice' in working with their teammates. (Though that evidently wasn't a problem for Spurs at all!)  Everybody for City had an off day: Gundogan, Silva, and Foden in particular; and even the returning Kevin DeBruyne, making a late appearance off the bench, was unable to have any impact on the game (his erstwhile happy knack of immediately conjuring multiple assists on his first game back after a long spell on the sidelines now deserting him...). Kyle Walker is past his sell-by date and starting to stink; he might still have some of the old pace - just about, on occasions - but he now seems to lack the stamina or the desire to call on it very often,... which leaves him often not where he needs to be. (And he used to be able to cross a ball occasionally, didn't he? That appears to be something else he's completely lost. What on earth is the point of pushing up into the final 5 or 10 yards if you don't do anything with the ball once you get there??)  Gvardiol was also all over the place defensively, and looks to me as if he might be in need of a rest (having run himself into the ground for most of the season as a Micky Van de Ven-style one-man safety-blanket against the frequent counter-attacks City have been suffering).  Rico Lewis's owners, however, might take some comfort - despite his nul points return here! - from the fact that Pep seems to love him so much that he'll play him anywhere (here deputising for the injured Kovacic as a central defensive midfielder - a role for which, despite his terrier-like eagerness and energy, he simply does not have the necessary physical presence). At least Haaland managed lots of shots (Vicario needed to be in sharp form to preserve the clean sheet), even smashing one against the crossbar; so, I don't think he's too far away from becoming a goal-machine again. But the rest of the team needs a lot of work.

Spurs - as I'd again predicted on Friday - were immediately back with a bang (though I wonder if their fans might not have taken a draw against City here in exchange for a win against Ipswich; the humiliation of that result last time will still smart when the euphoria of this triumph at The Etihad has faded...); and they've always somehow been a 'bogey team' for Pep. However, I wouldn't necessarily take that much encouragement going forward from this one outstanding result: strange as it is to say, I can't see them facing many other opponents who play as badly as City did here. And there's still a bit of a mystery as to what's gonig on with James Maddison: has he just had an undisclosed fitness problem, or was there some spat with Ange, now patched up? Or is he only going to get an occasional rotation appearance, perhaps when Brennan Johnson needs a rest, or Betancur (slightly more creative than Bissouma or Sarr) isn't available for the central midfield role? When he was subbed off at the end of the game, he went straight down the tunnel, with barely a word to his manager - which isn't a very encouraging sign. You'd think he'd be undroppable after his stunning brace here, but.... who knows?  Dominic Solanke was again dropping deep in the link-up so much that he was rarely getting into dangerous positions in the box (indeed, once or twice, he, Maddison, and Kulusevski were rather threatening to get in each other's way in the No. 10 space!); he's being too unselfish a facilitator at the moment to offer much prospect of the prolific goal return that so many hoped for when they bought him three weeks ago.

Liverpool were perhaps the team most affected by that post-internationals drop-off phenomenon I mentioned above, looking mostly very flat and lifeless going forward (t iwas hard to tell that Gakpo and Nunez were on the pitch), and repeatedly getting exposed on the counter-attack. Perhaps they were also saving some players for the big upcoming European clash with Real Madrid; but they really look so much better with Luis Diaz starting on the left. Southampton gave a very good account of themselves, but were yet again let down by their flakey defending - compounded here by the extreme rustiness of Alex McCarthy in goal. Both sides were let down by some very poor officiating (although I'd lay most of the blame on Michael Oliver in the VAR room rather than Sam Barratt on the pitch): Robertson's foul on Dibling was clearly just outside the penalty area, yet was adjudged a penalty, and led to Southampton's equaliser. That small injustice was probably fair enough overall, though, because Southampton had 3 other much better penalty shouts that were all bizarrely overlooked. Liverpool can really count themselves very, very fortunate to have come away with the 3 points from this one.

The Amorim era for United got off to the best possible start, with Amad Diallo making a flying break down the right-wing just into the second minute of the game, eventually squaring beautifully for Rashford to toe-poke home from 5 yards out. Unfrotunately, the new-look Reds were unable to capitalise on that dream opening. While they did show more cohesion, purpose, and consistent workrate than they usually did under Ten Hag, that is quite a low bar; there was still a lot about this performance that was disappointing, particularly the lack of imagination in going forward, and the inability to assert any extended control over the game. And the lack of real pressure to try to claim the win in the closing phase may have been a particular worry to their fans. The new manager made a lot of changes to try to shake things up, but the new introductions seemed less at home with his tactics, and the life drained out of the United game in the closing minutes - making it relatively easy for Ipswich to hang on to their hard-earned point. The home side will actually feel that they should have taken all three points, as they had much the better of the game overall, especially in the first half, and only two exceptional saves by Onana from Liam Delap kept Manchester United in with a chance of a result. Ipswich are finally starting to look like quite a formidable opponent, and vindicating my early-season prediction that they would be the one promoted side to stay up this year. I still have my reservations about their keeper, Muric, though; he appeared to be well-ositioned to gather Diallo's low cross at the edge of his six-yard box, but he just knelt down and waited for the ball rather than moving towards it - thus allowing Rashford to nip in and jab it past him for the opening goal.

The new 3-4-2-1 formaion didn't yet convince, with a lot of players feeling as though they were playing slightly out of their best position, and most - not unnaturally - still looking rather unsure about what exactly they were supposed to do in different phases of play. I found Garnacho and Fernandes, especially, not looking like great fits for the 'dual 10s' (Garnacho, one suspects, was only tried out in this role because Amorim is reluctant to lose his goalscoring threat... or is simply afraid to drop a currently popular player; but he really doesn't look to me as if he's going to fit anywhere in this set-up).. Indeed, both were occasionally tending to revert to their more normal styles of play rather than staying narrow and advanced, in close support of the central striker (and thus poor Rashford was left very isolated for a lot of the game); Bruno would often drop a lot deeper to try to pick up the ball, while Garnacho sometimes drifted out wide to try to get round the back of the defence (which probably discouraged Dalot from always pushing as far forward as Amorim would like), and so the formation often felt a bit more like a conventional 4-5-1. A lot of the initial personnel choices were quirky and unexpected (giving endless headaches to FPL managers; it would probably be much better to just avoid all United players - apart from the outstanding Onana - until things settle down a bit). I wonder if Amorim just wants to try everyone out in his opening weeks, or if he is already planning on using a lot of rotation long-term, to try to keep all of his squad involved. The lineup that ended the match is far closer to what I'd expect his regular starters to be (although, as I just said, the subbed-on players mostly failed to make any impact - perhaps they'd been omitted at the start because they'd had less time to work with the new coach this week, or had struggled more with absorbing his ideas?): Zirkzee and Mount as the 'dual 10s', Hojlund as the No. 9, Ugarte rather than Casemiro as the 'stopper' in midfield and Bruno dropping in beside him, Shaw rather than Evans on the left side of the back-three (you'd have to think that just-about-fit-again Leny Yoro will soon replace Maszraoui on the other side of De Ligt too). The only standout success of this first outing was Amad Diallo, who really ran himself into the ground from the first minute to the last in trying to stake his claim to the right wing-back role, and showed excellent qualities in both the attacking and defensive dimensions of the mission.

And damn, Monday night's result at Newcastle was probably the biggest surprise, the biggest 'upset' of the gameweek: how the hell did Newcastle, who've still looked like they had good 'top six' potential and have shown strong improvement in recent performances, suddenly collapse.... at home, against West Ham, who have thus far looked to be in relegation danger? They dominated for long periods, and were so on top in the first half, they really should have won comfortably: Isak and Gordon both had good chances thwarted. And Isak's fine early breakthrough probably would have made it a completely different game if it had been allowed to stand - but he was the victim of yet another ridiculously tight offside call. Callum Wilson appeared to have won a penalty near the end, but that wasn't given either. And West Ham's goals both came out of nothing: Soucek being left unmarked at a corner, and then Wann-Bissaka (noted for being one of the least-scoring players in the league!!) hit a tame scuffed cross-shot which Nick Pope seemed to misread and allowed to bobble past him and bounce in off the foot of the far post. Bizarro! Newcastle only have themselves to blame; it was a strangely flat performance from them, and the fight really seemed to go out of them after they conceded a second goal soon after the break. While the return of Wilson and Trippier after long injury absences may buoy Eddie Howe's spirits slightly, he's stil got a lot of fires to fight. And have West Ham really turned a corner? I'm not convinced: they were merely less-awful-than-usual against an out-of-sorts opponent, rather than actually 'good'. Lopategui's job would surely be in question if they hadn't got this win; and I think it will continue to be under discussion over the coming month.

I fear I'm going to have to abandon this series. While I do enjoy attempting these potted analyses of all the individual games - and I'm finding it very helpful for myself, forcing me to pay closer attention, and helping me to remember key incidents more clearly (I am at that time of life where memories of distant events are usually far sharper and more readily accessible than those relating to things that happened last week or yesterday...) - it does get very time-consuming. While I might be more willing to devote a few hours to such an endeavour during the week, when I have nothing else much to do, on Sunday mornings - pausing my 'Match of the Day' re-run every two or three matches to jot down some notes - I'd far rather be getting out and about, rather than chaining myself to the keyboard for two or three hours. The insane fixture logjam in December is also a discouragement: I can just about cope with taking on this mountainous task once a week... but not twice!  I will try to perservere with my Luck-o-Meter series of summaries of the events that have had the biggest impact on FPL results (which cover much of the same ground anyway).

GW11 - What did we learn?

Schadenfreude abounds as Pep slumps to a first-time-ever fourth successive defeat... (Though note, it's only his second straight loss in the EPL, and City are still sitting comfortably second in the table.... but allowing Liverpool to pull out a bit of a lead on them.)  Injuries, of course, are a large part of the problem - especially with the absence of a triad of absolutely key players, Rodri, DeBruyne, and Dias. But a lot of the rest of the team look strangely flat at the moment. Still, the result might have gone very differently if things had broken more kindly for them; they absolutely dominated the first half, registering an xG of nearly 2 in the opening 45 minutes (and still managed a couple of very good chances, but again unconverted, in the second half); if they'd managed to put 1 or 2 more goals on the board, there probably would have been no way back for Brighton. But this was the proverbial 'game of two halves', and Fabian Hurzeler deserves huge credit for the way he reorganized and revitalized his team during the half-time break: the introduction of the more combative and proactive Baleba at the break was the catalyst for a complete turnaround in the game. And Joao Pedro's return from a long injury absence for the last 25 minutes was also sensational. Although, really, just about every Brighton player was absolutely outstanding in this game, and if they can continue in this kind of form, they'll be worthy of a finish in the top six... maybe even the top four.

Bournemouth, as I'd feared, couldn't maintain the energy levels they'd shown against City last week; and there may be an argument that the chemistry of the team was unnecessarily disturbed by reverting to Kepa in goal, rather than staying with Travers, who has been in inspirational form in the last two games. Although I wouldn't necessarily hold Kepa to blame for the defeat - not for the goals, anyway (he did flap at aerial balls rather alarmingly two or three times...). I haven't seen Brentford's xG, but I imagine it might well have been less than 1.0; they just somehow came up 3 absolutely perfect finishes out of nothing. The result felt unjust for Bournemouth, who absolutely dominated the first half, and could have put the game to bed if they'd just been a bit more incisive in the final third. Brentford came into it more strongly after the break, and the game devolved into a ding-dong end-to-end affair; but still Bournemouth mostly felt like the more likely to score. But again - just astonishing finishing from Brentford! I had been sceptical about Wissa's value when he returned from injury, but his form in these last few games has been excellent. Damsgaard, after long injury woes, is emerging as a key playmaker for Brentford too. They are looking like they could challenge for the fringes of the top third - if only they could stop leaking goals so profusely! (Although, with this woefully flakey defence, and an extremely tough run of fixtures in December, they could very well be down in the bottom three at the start of the New Year.)

Crystal Palace, predictably, lacked much incisiveness going forward, in the continued absence of Eze (and Wharton, and Nketiah...); but they seemed to lack energy and organization everywhere on the pitch, and were played through far too easily. Fulham are a thrilling counter-attacking side, and were unlucky to have had two further goals dubiously chalked off; but they do look to be also lacking that little bit of a cutting-edge in the final third (Raul's hot streak appears to have run its course?). They can't rely on Smith Rowe and Wilson for all their goals; they need to start seeing more from Iwobi, Nelson, Traore, etc.,... and maybe Muniz again.

The Liverpool juggernaut rumbles on relentlessly. Emery whinges about a couple of possible penalties rather peremptorily denied to his side - but they were both 50/50 calls, and he would have been incredibly fortunate to win them both. And winning one probably wouldn't have made much difference, since Villa scarcely created a decent chance all game. But for Darwin Nunez's wayward finishing, Liverpool could have won this by 3 or 4 goals. (And I, for one, was glad to see Luis Diaz restored to his rightful starting place on the left flank, ahead of Cody Gakpo.)

West Ham started brightly, but quickly faded into mediocrity - playing an ubelievable number of sloppy balls. They still looked to have done just enough to deserve the win, though, with Pickford needing to pull off a few outstanding saves, and Summerville hitting the foot of the post late on. It wasn't surprising that Everton, without their creative lynchpin, McNeil, were a bit lifeless. And the reintroduced Branthwaite still looks half-a-yard off full match fitness. But really, both of these sides desperately need a forward. It is rather baffling that Lopategui doesn't make more use of Ings, rather than not-a-centre-forward Antonio, and that Dyche continues to prefer the woefully lacking-in-confidence Calvert-Lewin rather than moving the much sharper-looking Ndiaye or Beto up front.

I'm happy for Wolves to have finally broken their winless run. But they really failed to capitalise on their early breakthough from Sarabia, and the result ultimately felt unfair to Southampton (who are much better defensively than most people realise, at least in possession, but have a real problem scoring goals of their own). The disallowing of Manning's goal was a little harsh (although you can at least see why the decision was reached).  Cunha's goal - brilliant though it was - clearly should have been disallowed for two egregious fouls on Southampton players in the middle of the pitch preceding it. Although Cunha's in electrifying form, neither of these teams are currently looking good enough to cause that much trouble to any decent side, and both must still be relegation favourites.

Arguably another coaching masterclass from Eddie Howe here, though a more low-key one than the number he did on Arsenal last week. Newcastle for a while have struggled with poor away form; while Forest's City Ground has acquired one of the most daunting reputations in the League for the lift its team gets from its fanatical home support. And Newcastle started the game a bit flat, conceded the first goal; this is a match that could very easily have got away from them. But they were so much better in the second half, and really began to dominate, to look more like the home side. They found ways to disrupt Forest's usual development down the flanks, leaving Chris Wood - for just about the first time this season - completely starved of service. Even so, it was a bit puzzling that Nuno decided to take off his two most dangerous creative players, Gibbs-White and Hudson-Odoi, shy of the hour; if those changes had made Forest stronger defensively, you could see their value; but they conceded the two decisive goals after this. I've had a feeling for a while that Forest's impressive run may be about to run out of steam - particularly with the tougher run of fixtures they face from now till Christmas. Newcastle, on the other hand, are definitely getting back into their groove again.

I couldn't really see much of how the Manchester United v Leicester game went down in the BBC's very brief highlights. It looks like van Nistelrooy has got United playing in a much more cohesive and confident way than they usually did under Ten Hag; and new signing Ugarte is bedding in well, adding some needed steel to their midfield. The second goal looked to me like it hit Bruno's hand; if it did, then it should be no-goal; if it didn't, then it should be his goal, not an own-goal; the FA's decisions on these things can be quite baffling. Leicester were again thoroughly non-descript; I haven't seen anything about them to impress me this season (although, admittedly, I don't think I've yet watched a full game featiuring them). And, for me, they look like the weakest of the six sides in the relegation battle, not the best, as the current standings mystifyingly suggest.

I am feeling ever-so-slightly smug about having widely predicted on FPL forums this weekend that... Spurs were not showing the kind of form to be able to win any game easily; Solanke and Son were therefore not promising picks for the captaincy this week; and Ipswich are much better than most people think, and might even have a chance of winning this match. But damn, even I was surprised by how well the East Anglian team played here; their disicipline, focus, and intensity were all exemplary - keeping their shape superbly at all times, breaking very quickly on the counter, smothering Spurs with the eagerness of their pressing. And I lost count of the number of headed clearances they made from their own box; O'Shea and Tuanzebe, in particular, were absolutely magnificent. And you could see that every player had a head-on-a-swivel, constantly looking all around for danger, continously communicating with nearby teammates to assign marking responsibilities - it was like a perfect defensive 'How to...' coaching video (except for the moment when they fell asleep on the neat Spurs corner routine that allowed Betancur a free header to pull a goal back). Muric, who has worried me with his erratic play in recent weeks, was looking much better here; although he still had a few wobbly moments when playing the ball out of his feet, he looked confident and dependable whenever called upon to make a stop; and what especially impressed me was his claiming of high balls; again and again he'd pluck one effortlessly out of the air as if he had super-glue on his gloves. (Robert Sanchez should be made to watch videos of these catches for a couple of hours a day....)

The match had a Cup-tie intensity, with a lot of very physical - though also mostly just about fair, and certainly not dirty - challenges flying in. But Ipswich had a massive edge over Spurs in the amount of energy and aggression and desire they were showing. I suppose the match might have turned out very differently if Brennan Johnson hadn't spurned that early chance to toe-poke home a chance at the far post; but Ipswich really looked very well-deserved winners here. And Spurs have all sorts of problems. I've said a few times before in this series that, even when they're playing well, they look to me nothing more than an upper mid-table side who are slightly over-performing; when, as here, they play poorly, they look like a lower mid-table side. Something is not right with them this year; and I'm not sure that Ange knows how to fix it - not with the players that he's currently got.

It was hardly surprising that Chelsea and Arsenal largely cancelled each other out; but, for a game of few chances and goals, it was very entertaining. I was slightly surprised to see that Chelsea recorded the better xG for the game; I suppose Madueke and Gusto squandering perfect crosses from Neto early on was responsible for that; 'better' chances, though not quite so many of them. Both teams, actually, were a bit careless in the final third, with players repeatedly failing to find the right finish for a good chance. Arsenal, able to field their 'best eleven' for the first time since early in the season, will be very dangerous again now; the returning Martin Odegaard looked fit and sharp, immediately back to his terrifying best. 

Palmer too, had an excellent game - at least, when he could get on the ball, though that wasn't nearly as much as we'd like, especially in the first half (Partey did a pretty good job of closing him down). The decision to deploy him mainly on the left side was curious, quirky (presumably the thinking was that he'd find more space behind Odegaard... but that didn't really work out; and he's obviously more comfortable playing off the right) - and probably limited his impact somewhat. But the FPL Sheep will no doubt be griping that he didn't return any Fantasy points here; they never seem to learn that you can play well without producing for FPL (and you can sometimes get good Fantasy points without playing well!), And yes, although he otherwise had quite a good game, Sanchez definitely left far too much of a gap at his near post, giving Martinelli an irresistible invitation to lash in the opening goal on that side. I continue to think that Sanchez is a bit of a liability (he's not good at claiming balls in the air, either; and he's absolutely terrible with the ball at his feet), and needs to be replaced as soon as possible if Chelsea are to successfully press home their drive for a top four finish. Marc Cucurella had an absolute monster of a game, deservedly winning the 'Man of the Match' trophy. It is sadly indicative of the enormous shortcomings of FPL's bonus allocations that the BPS ranked him only eighth!

GW10 - What did we learn?

 

Great to see Newcastle finally starting to click again, especially in defence, with Lewis Hall doing a pretty good job of minimizing Saka's threat (nice to see an unusually articulate, as well as humble, post-match interview - in which he gave full credit to Willock and Joelinton for substantially helping out with that mission). Eddie Howe will no doubt be particularly pleased with his boys' 'intensity' numbers, massively dominating Arsenal on sprints, duels, etc., despite being slightly behind on scoring chances and xG, nearly two-to-one down on overall possession. And Gordon and Isak are starting to look back to their best (which is very, very good indeed: people who'd had them in their FPL squads from early in the season probably should have kept faith a bit longer, rather than transferring them out in the past few weeks... only to now want them back!). Howe, perhaps, often doesn't get enough credit for his tactical acuity; but he really did a number on Arteta here. Arsenal, of course, are having their struggles with injuries - particularly in defence, where they've rarely, if ever, been able to start their first-choice back-four (indeed, there's still probably some doubt about what that first choice line-up is - would it be Timber or Calafiori at left-back? doesn't matter that much when they're both injured all the time....); but this has been an entirely expected problem since the start of the season, when they had a really disastrous transfer window, losing just about all of their existing back-up players, while failing to land any of their big-name targets... apart from the fragile Calafiori (who doesn't seem to be an automatically favoured starter, even when he's fit). After that, it was just about inconceivable - absent some huge slices of good luck -  that they could replicate their close title challenge of last season.

While I fondly remember the Brian Clough glory days from my childhood, and am thus happy to see Forest back in the top flight;.... them being third in the table after Saturday's games does seem somewhat unbelievable, a Bizarro Universe moment. Sorry, Forest fans, but I really can't see this lasting - especially with the fixture-run you've now got until Christmas. But... I've also been feeling this way for the past month or more about Chris Wood's astonishing run of goal-scoring form... and yet the big lug somehow keeps popping up for another one every bloody week! The big dilemma for Lopategui now may be what to do with Morgan Gibbs-White. He has been inspirational for the Forest for the past two years, their major creative force. But that is perhaps becoming less the case now that the advanced full-backs, Moreno and Aina, are establishing themselves as a main creative channel to Wood, and the wide attackers Hudson-Odoi and Elanga are also looking regularly dangerous. Gibbs-White's preference for playing far up the field often leaves them a bit light in the centre of midfield, and Forest have actually looked a lot more cohesive with Elliot Anderson playing in there for the past few games. It would be nice to find a way of playing both of them, but that's quite a challenge. And West Ham really didn't look miles off it here; but for Alvarez getting himself sent off for two silly fouls, they might have been able to make more of a fight of this; Bowen, at least, was again looking very sharp.

The gods obviously do not love Ipswich, who had three points snatched away from them by a pair of diabolical refereeing decisions (and VAR non-decisions), for the penalty and the sending-off of Phillips, late in the game (although Phillips was lucky not to have been sent off already, for an unnecessarily combative display). Leicester's late equaliser from Ayew was a very well-worked goal; but the opportunity would probably not have occurred if their opponents had still been at full strength; and Muric - although, for the first time in a few weeks, he managed not to stink the place up with his performance this time - should perhaps have stopped it. Leicester, apart from the class of Buonanotte (OK, and Hermansen in goal...), really don't seem to have very much going for them at all. I'd still take Ipswich to finish above them, though both might well end in the bottom three. Sorry, Ipswich fans - that partial vote-of-confidence will probably jinx them even more.

Injury-disrupted City continue to misfire; and when Foden is as largely ineffective as here, you can start to understand why Pep seems so reluctant to start him regularly - something has broken down here, in the relationship between the two, I suppose (or maybe Phil's just suffered a slump in confidence, after his frustrating Euros... following on from a year of being repeatedly outshone by Cole Palmer....? [He was only 'Player of the Season' because he put in the flashiest displays for the title-winning club; everyone realises Rodri was more crucial to City's success, and Palmer was way the most important creative player in the league last year.]). Bournemouth, after their very shakey start to the season, really seem to be getting their shit together now; they were magnificent in defence (Kerkez likely to be the most-transferred-in player this week! maybe Travers also, if people are willing to gamble that he's playing well enough to keep the start ahead of Kepa), and well worth the three points. Some good work from Ederson - particularly the double-save to thwart that early three-on-one break - kept City in the game; if one or two of those attempts had sneaked in, or Tavernier's sweet curler that beat Ederson but slammed against the foot of the post, then their victory would have looked much more comfortable. City deserve credit for their determination in mounting a dangerous late surge (can't help thinking that they looked considerably more dangerous in the attacking third once Rico Lewis had come on; that can't bode well for anyone who's gambled on Walker getting a run of starts again....); but if they had scrambled an equaliser, it would have seemed unjust; Bournemouth were way the better side here. Gvardiol owners are enjoying further momments of smugness after yet another outstanding goal; but, although this form is shaking my confidence in my initial assessment slightly, I still stand by the view that he can't maintain this level of attacking producitivity all season, and hence, City's poor defensive record and the inevitable minutes-risk (even if he doesn't lose Pep's favuor at some point, he's surely bound to be rested quite a bit during the latter stages of the Champions League...) make him very dubious value for a 6-million-pound asking price. Evanilson is probably getting on people's radar as (yet another) cheap forward option now; whilst the disillusionment with Haaland reaches lemming-like intensity.

Such a pity that Brighton could not convert their first-half dominance into a decisive margin at Anfield! You have to give credit to Slot for revitalizing his team at half-time (his in-game management, tweaking tactics and personnel, or just getting the lads fired up to show a bit more determination, really seems to be top-level); but I question how far the initial selection was to blame for their drab first-half showing. Many FPL folks now seem to be convinced that Nunez and Gakpo will be, should be, the preferred starters in centre and left attack; but Diaz and Jota, apart from being better finishers, are just so much more incisive in the press. Kadioglu is another player likely to get The Sheep excited, after his stunning goal (although he followed that up with a stunning miss, so I'm not getting too carried away...); but while Brighton keep on leaking goals so easily, you have to be wary of any of their assets, especially in defence. Verbruggen, Ayari, and Rutter appeal to me a lot more, anyway; and Welbeck, of course, who appears to be enjoying a splendid 'Indian summer' to his career. And if Konate has broken his wrist, I suppose Gomez - rather than Quansah - is due to get a run of starts. It will be interesting to see how that affects Liverpool's form; Gomez has never really convinced me - he has great qualities on the ball, going forward, but always looks very error-prone in the defensive third, especially when playing at centre-back. (And he costs 4.8 million anyway??  I suppose people might see him as a good replacement for Konate, if Liverpool can keep their good defensive record going. But Konate has been the prime component of that defensive record, so that's quite an IF.....)

Southampton finally got a deserved win, one that's been a long time coming - although this was the one game of the weekend where there were a couple of dodgy refereeing calls which may have skewed the match outcome. Overall, though, Everton looked a bit flat in this one, and Southampton were much more fluent in moving the ball forward. They're increasingly looking to me like the promoted side most likely to survive - although they have got a bit of a mountain to climb after their miserable start. While I think Palace and Wolves have too much quality to remain down the bottom end for too long, Everton and Leicester look very likely to be in the relegation battle all season.

Palace, despite missing most of their regular midfield, actually didn't look at all bad; but both they and their hosts Wolves are still much better going forward than they are defending. Cunha's bright form is the main encouragement for Wolves's fans; but for FPL purposes, since he's playing as a fairly deep support striker most of the time, he is rarely likely to claim goals of his own, only provide assists for others; Strand Larsen probably looks the better prospect for a forward pick from the club.

Spurs v Villa looked very much like a battle of upper mid-table sides, both of them miles off their best, at least in the first half; Villa were barely worth their early lead, nicked in a goalmouth scramble. Ange must have put some amphetamines in the half-time cuppa, because Spurs were completely transformed when they came out again after the break. There are still concerning signs for both teams, though: Villa looked very, very flat, and Ollie Watkins has (only temporarily, I'm sure) mislaid his scoring boots. FPL managers must be alarmed about Ange's selection and tactics, apparently no longer regarding Maddison as an essential starter, and feeling able to pull Son off only 10 minutes into the second half (was he still concerned about his recovery from the thigh muscle injury?). And although Vicario is stiiving to be a bit more assertive at set-pieces, he is so far achieving only very modest success with this. 

The Sheep are now bleating after Dominic Solanke, who did have an excellent game here; but his first goal looked offside (if only very narrowly; and there was something odd going on with the VAR here, as the call was apparently 'too close' for them to draw in their customary lines on the screen?!), and his second was put on a plate for him by a staggeringly unselfish square ball from Richarlison. The problem remains for Solanke that he's often dropping quite deep in his link-up play, and not getting into goalscoring positions as much as you'd like from a primary goalscorer; even if that changes, Spurs just haven't been very consistent so far this season; and even if that changes, Solanke's probably going to have to share the goals with Son and Johnson, and a few others - all of which make him, for me, decidedly not a very attractive prospect in FPL. (But.... two goals?! Just watch: he'll be the most transferred-in player this week!!)  There's also a chorus of bleats, of course, about Morgan Rogers, who picked up another goal here. I remain unimpressed, as this was so untypical of his usual play, or indeed of Villa's usual play: he was only in the middle of the six-yard box because they were trying out a special set-piece routine to exploit Vicario's notorious bully-ability in these situations. It doesn't seem likely that we'll find him in those sorts of positions, or scoring those sorts of goals very often - maybe ever again.

The game at Old Trafford was a frustrating, and sometimes ill-tempered affair. It might have caught fire if one of several missed chances had gone in, but there was nothing much to get excited about, apart from Caicedo's excellent drive from the edge of the box to secure a share of the points. Palmer, I thought, had an absolutely outstanding game (as did the central double-pivot of Caicedo and Lavia), but most of his teammates were strangely lacklustre here; Neto and Madueke failed to get involved in the game very much at all. The post-Ten Hag United played with a little more spirit, but not much incisiveness; no real sign of a 'new manager bounce' for van Nistelrooy here.

I couldn't figure out much about the Fulham v Brentford game from very brief highlights on Youtube, but the match reports indicate it was another case of Brentford having nothing much in the attacking locker apart from their high-tempo starts and occasional set-piece routines. At least they showed a bit more defensive solidity than they often have, soaking up Fulham's pressure until added-on time (Flekken once again racking up a lot of 'saves' points, but once again failing to keep a clean sheet; it is somewhat bizarre that such a poor keeper, in such a poor defensive team, should actually be doing reasonably well in the goalkeeper rankings, just because of the huge number of stops he's required to make in every game...).  Fulham's patience and discipline was ultimately rewarded; and I think Robinson and Tete, although they've been pretty quiet so far, are starting to look like tempting defensive options for FPL.

GW9 - What did we learn?

 

Vardy is probably his own worst enemy, for going down so often and so easily in the penalty area - but his shout for a penalty against Forest on Friday night looked like it was at least worth a second a look. I keep thinking Chris Wood's streak must surely end soon, but then he comes up with another couple of excellent finishes. If he can keep this up, he is going to be in the hat with Haaland and Jackson (and Watkins... and Welbeck...?!) for the Golden Boot at the end of the year - fairytale stuff! Both keepers had great games in this one. But yes, a gap in class is emerging: for the last two seasons, Forest looked like they really deserved to be relegated; they no longer do. Leicester, however..... (Sorry, Gary Lineker.)

Bournemouth's last-gasp winner felt deserved on the balance of play, for me. In fact, they can probably count themselves unfortunate that they didn't win, after having two strong penalty shouts waved away. And back-up keeper Mark Travers played a bit of a blinder. (I doubt if it was enough to keep him the start if Kepa is soon fit again; but it will cause a little anxiety to anyone who owns Kepa in FPL.)  Villa were perhaps a little heavy-legged after their midweek exertions against Bologna; but, for me, they just haven't yet recaptured the verve they were showing for so much of last season, and despite their current high league standing, I'm doubtful they'll claim a Champions League place again. The absurdly popular Morgan Rogers had a fairly subdued game, and was pulled off only 10 minutes into the second half; I wonder if that will trigger a big sell-off. (Well, not huge so far: but he had dropped over 100,000 owners by the following Friday.)

Brentford v Ipswich was a crazily entertaining game: it often felt as though a goal was likely every time a team started to break towards the opposition end. This is what happens when you have two teams who can't defend to save their lives at the moment; and the two worst keepers in the league (OK, they both pulled off a couple of very good saves; but they also had many, many horrible moments, and filled the defence in front of them with anxiety; I really think they're both ripe to be dropped). And then Liam Delap crashed one against the far post in the dying seconds?!  Crazy game! A 3-3 or 4-4 draw would have been a fairer result. I had thought Ipswich had the talent and the manager to survive their debut season with a certain amount of comfort, but it is not turning out like that at all; and McKenna is starting to look a bit harried and desperate, like he doesn't know how to fix things. And if Brentford keep leaking goals like this, they'll be in the relegation conversation too.

It was great to see Evan Ferguson playing and scoring again at last, after a long string of injury problems. I wonder if he might now be entering the crowded field of very tempting budget forward picks?! I hate to say this, but Welbeck is surely bound to succumb to an injury again sooner or later. And when Ferguson's on song, I really think he's one of the best finishers in the league, and has a lot about his game that is reminiscent of Haaland - a kind of Erling Mini-Me. And what a ridiculous end to the game - Brighton nicking the ball in the dying moments and finding themselves four-on-one, surely certain to claim a third goal to seal their victory.... and Wieffer somehow misplaces his pass to the sole Wolves defender, Tommy Doyle, who gratefully punts it upfield for a counter-attack that improbably results in a last-gasp equaliser. Brighton, for all their attacking flair, have looked very vulnerable on the counter this year; and I think that is going to make it a struggle for them to bag a place in European competition. Wolves, with Cunha looking particularly lively, may find this remarkable (and probably not really deserved) comeback the inspiration they need to start turning things around. They do have a much kinder run of fixtures ahead now, but.... they are in very deep trouble.

Russell Martin's Southampton have always looked potentially dangerous going forward (they need a better striker), but they appear to be finding some defensive rigour as well now. And Adam Lallana was absolutely outstanding for them. If they carry on like this, they might yet emerge as the one-in-three survivors amongst this year's promoted sides. I had an inkling that they would show up at The Etihad with a top performance, and was trying to discourage The Sheep this week from hazarding their Triple Captain chip on Haaland. Now, of course, there's an unreasonable backlash against Haaland because he only scored one....  Some people are never satisfied. A couple of worrying things I noticed in this game, though, were Kovacic repeatedly being blindsided by Lallana or another Southampton player breaking in behind him (while he might bring some attractive attacking elements to City's game, he is a very poor replacement for Rodri as a central defensive lychpin) and Foden looking frustrated with his teammates, waving his arms around frantically as they repeatedly ignored him for a cutback (I wonder if they've just forgotten how to play with him, because he's been frozen out for so much of this season; or if he's had some kind of dressing-room falling-out).

Everton deserve credit for battling to the end, in a game they never really looked to be in. Smith Rowe's owners will probably have taken some encouragement from his lively and varied performance in this one: he was head-to-head with his main FPL-rival-pick Dwight McNeil, and - probably to most people's surprise - came out of it on top, ir only fairly narrowly. The game might perhaps have gone differently if Calvert-Lewin's early goal had not been disallowed; that was (yet another decision) that looked harsh to the lay viewer - and took far too long to reach.

Chelsea v Newcastle was as open and entertaining as we might have expected. Palmer's early goal being 'offiside' by a kneecap was a hard blow for his FPL owners. He's really had rotten luck so far this year (so many near misses, so many assists to teammates not converted, so many penalties not given...): he could easily have nearly twice his current massive total - frightening thought! But at least we saw an appropriate VAR intervention here, with Simon Hooper being given the opportunity to walk back his silly decision to award a penalty for Nkunku's slipping over in the box. Newcastle continue to be so-near-and-yet-so-far-away.... not playing terribly, and yet just not bossing games or putting away their chances as they did for so much of the last two seasons.

It was nice to see Palace back to winning ways. I've often felt they have not been too far off it so far this season, and have possibly been the unluckiest team of the season so far (Chelsea and Bournemouth have strong claims also); and but for a trio of smart saves from Vicario, they might have won this much more comfortably. Though, more importantly for Glasner, they were finally starting to show some of last season's defensive cohesion again, as well as some more coordinated and effective pressing in the final third; that's what they need to get back up to mid-table. It's good as well to see Jean-Philippe Mateta looking sharp and hungry and happy again; it's taken a long time for him to shake off the effects of the injury problem he picked up at the Olympics, but now he looks as though he might be about to recover the form he showed at the end of last season. I've also often felt that Spurs, despite their promising start, have felt like merely a good mid-table side - who were perhaps slightly over-performing - rather than convincing 'top six' candidates; and in the last few games, they've started misfiring badly. I don't know what's going wrong with them, but I imagine there will be a mass FPL exodus from Spurs assets after this (I never felt confident enough to go in for any of them anyway...). There were a few nice balls in behind down the left from new teenage sensation Mikey Moore, but overall he had quite a quiet game - and is clearly not yet an adequate replacement for Son.... or even Werner.

Could Ten Hag's job have been saved if those efforts from Garnacho, Casemiro, and Dalot had gone in? I doubt it; but if so, it's probably all for the best that they didn't. It is a cruelty of Fate, though, that United could be so on top for most of this game and end up losing it. It's a pity that poor refereeing again dominates the headlines in this one (the penalty decision was one of the worst I can remember in a long, long time), as it was actually a cracking game: one of the best performances we've seen from United this calendar year; but West Ham were also very much improved defensively, and really looking good value for the draw, despite having to ride their luck a bit.

Arsenal v Liverpool was a fascinating tactical battle, with The Gunners clearly having the better of things in the first half: Havertz's mobility (not just dropping deep to link up with his midfield and leaving a perplexing hole in front of the Liverpool centre-backs, as he often does in his 'false 9' mode, but also drifting out on to the right a lot, to help Saka double-team a weary-looking Andy Robertson), in particular, was causing all sorts of problems. But Slot revitalized Liverpool in the second half, particularly with his tactical substitutions on the hour, the greater physicality of Szoboszlai and Gakpo giving his team more long out-ball options... while Arsenal progressively unravelled with injuries to Gabriel and Timber, and were left hanging on for their lives in the last 15 or 20 minutes. Arsenal can feel rightly aggrieved that the referee's bizarre award of a foul on Szoboszlai denied them a late winner; but on the balance of play, a draw was a fair result. However, this game has left FPL managers in even greater uncertainty about how secure Luis Diaz's minutes are in the face of strong competition from Gakpo. And Alexander-Arnold's lack of impact in the game - apart from the sublime pre-assist for Salah's equaliser - may be causing worries to those who've invested their life savings to bring him into their defence. (Ben White reminded us that he's a very strong alternative as the top premium defender this year, with an almost identical early ball to set up Saka's opener.)

GW8 - What did we learn?

Spurs were perhaps a little fortunate to benefit from two astonishingly precise and powerful shots shaving the inside of the post.... and one of the most bizarre and unfortunate own-goals we might see all season. And Areola - who had a pretty good game overall, pulling off one save (from Porro's heavily deflected shot) that was near-miraculous - was particularly abused by that scoreline (and by the bizarre decision to credit the o.g. to him rather than Todibo!); he's a good goalkeeper pick, and owned by nearly 7% of FPL managers - it was a wretched day for them. Son's looking sharp and hungry again, smashing a post as well as claiming a goal and an assist; his high-price, and his notorious inconsistency of returns, make him a big conundrum in FPL - but when he's in this kind of form, he's hard to ignore. Maddison's owners probably shouldn't panic - yet - about his 'tactical' withdrawal at half-time; but it is a cause of concern (at least he contributed an assist while he was on the pitch). And Kudus's three-match suspension for pushing two Spurs players in the face will put a big dent in anyone's confidence about West Ham's prospects (that, along with their generally tepid performance here; Lopategui still hasn't got them playing, not with any consistency or cohesion). Although it was an entertaining game, this did feel rather like a clash between a good mid-table side and a poor mid-table side; neither convinced as likely major contenders even for the lesser European spots, and certainly not for the top four.

Morgan Rogers's owners will no doubt be crowing about another goal for him - but they should reflect that his successful effort needed a massive deflection to beat Bernd Leno,... while he later squandered a much better chance; his xGI still ranks only 22nd amongst midfielders, 36th amongst all players (and this mid-gameweek, while several are still to play and might overtake him). I admire his ability, his potential tremendously; but I just don't think he's yet posting the numbers to be in FPL contention, even as a budget fifth pick in midfield. The final score slightly flattered Villa, as things might have turned out differently if the penalty hadn't been squandered (one has to query why Marco Silva didn't have Raul take it, when he's in such hot scoring form; Martinez has a great record for saving penalties - but I could have saved that one...), and Andersen hadn't got sent off... and Diop hadn't been unlucky to turn the ball into his own net late on.

I had thought that the Manchester United dressing-room might have been looking forward to a possible escape from the dour Ten Hag, and now be emotionally depleted by the disappointing news that they're stuck with him, probably for the rest of the season. But perhaps his players don't find him as uninspiring as I do (or perhaps it's just their professional pride or concern for the United fans kicking in...?), because they produced one of their best performances of the season this Saturday. The return of Hojlund might be a key catalyst, giving them a more dangerous outlet up front; and Rashford and Garnacho are starting to look lively again. Brentford are still looking like a team who are too good to go down, but not good enough to achieve very much more than that.

Newcastle are still misfiring rather, at the back (Livramento and Hall looking a pale shadow of the Trippier-Burn combination of the last two seasons) and up front (Isak and Gordon getting lots of chances, but somehow not quite putting them away...). They completely dominated this game, but couldn't make their superiority count - and got caught out by one quick breakaway (and another slick finish from Danny Welbeck). But they should have had a penalty for Veltman's blatant handball on the ground early in the game, so can feel hard done-by for the loss of their unbeaten home record here.

Southampton, I think, continue to show slow signs of improvement, at least in their attacking game. But the defence is still letting them down: you should never give up a two-goal lead, even when a man down. Leicester were scarcely more impressive; although they have much more talent in their squad, I have serious doubts about whether 'Clueless' Steve Cooper will be able to get the best out of them. Southampton might feel a little hard done-by that they had a clear penalty shout ignored before Leicester had equalized... and then that the added-on time was allowed to run on so long. But it felt to me like just about the right result overall. Facundo Buonanotte - and perhaps his new sidekick Abdul Fatawu too - will surely start attracting a lot of interest from FPL managers after another fine display.

Everton are looking increasingly fluent and dangerous in attack, with McNeil and Ndiaye in outstanding form (Calvert-Lewin rather less so; the nearly 300,000 FPL managers who've impulsively piled in for him over the past five or six weeks might be starting to have second thoughts); but they need a sterner test than Ipswich to convince me about their solidity in central midfield. I hope McKenna can pull Ipswich through; I think he's the best manager at one of the promoted sides this year; but he is perhaps lumbered with the weakest of those three squads.

Arsenal's bad history with red cards is becoming a worry - difficult to see why it's happening, as they don't look a particularly physical, aggressive, or cynical side; but that's already their third this season, and it's costing them dearly. There wasn't really any dispute about the decision, either: Saliba obviously accepted it meekly, and even Arteta had no whinge about it afterwards. But frankly, the Gunners had looked a bit lacklustre even before that, and a much improved Bournemouth would probably have given them a very hard fight even without the man-advantage.

You have to wonder what's going on with Pep and Phil Foden. I suspect the young star has committed the cardinal sin of complaining about his ration of minutes - resulting in him being punished with even shorter minutes. He doesn't seem to have any injury problem, and there is no conceivable tactical reason for his repeated omission this season. Savinho continues to be far too much of a yellow-card magnet; and he might again have had two in this game (it was unfathomable that he was let off his early professional foul!). And oh dear, Gvardiol got another screamer - so, all those dupes who spent over-the-odds on him expecting this kind of thing every week will feel vindicated for a while. Of course, he might score in each of the next four games... but then not hit the net again for another two years; that's how it goes with goalscoring defenders. Given City's complete inability to keep clean sheets this year, he really needs a goal every four or five games to justify the 6-million price-tag, and I seriously doubt if he can keep that up. (And he was lucky not to concede an own goal! He created a problem by charging back directly towards his keeper when he was about to make a block, just as in the Todibo-Areola incident on Saturday, and he had no idea where the ball would end up when the rebound off Ederson cannoned off his knee - must have been very relieved to see it fly just wide of the post.)

Sa kept Wolves in the game with a trio of full-stretch saves. But they'd often troubled City on the counter-attack, and really looked well worth a point. I don't think I've ever seen Guardiola and Lillo looking so miserable in the dugout: frustration quickly gave way to despair; and indeed, on a few occasions, it looked as if they were resorting to prayer.  It was such a pity Wolves couldn't quite weather that blizzard of corners in the last few minutes of added-on time. (Though, not for the first time, City had begun to look much more incisive after Foden and Grealish came on late in the game; and you have to question why they weren't playing from the start.)  I hope that they won't be too demoralised by that last-gasp failure, and that this will be a turning-the-corner moment for them: if they continue to play like this, they should be able to pick up lots of points in the much easier run of fixtures they now face until the end of the year.

Liverpool v Chelsea was a lovely, open, thrilling game - almost marred by dodgy officiating. Chelsea should have had a penalty early on, when Trent stamped on Sancho's foot; but Chelsea might have been a man down even before that with Tosin's professional foul on a breakaway Jota. At least VAR corrected the ref's bad decisions on the penalty against Sanchez and the offside against Jackson (though the latter seemed to take an awfully long time, for what looked like a very clearcut call). The temporary loss of two stalwarts in their defence probably cost Chelsea here (I can't see a very rusty-looking Reece James having reclaimed the start from Gusto with this performance). This was a match that could easily have gone either way (with both Jackson and Palmer having very near misses), and I don't think Chelsea should be at all discouraged by their unfortunate failure to come away with anything; for me, they're still looking good value for a top four finish. Liverpool, though, might well be poised for a title charge - as City and Arsenal stutter slightly.

It was difficult to divine much about the Monday night game from the very brief highlights posted by the League. Palace looked a bit hard done-by - enjoying lots of possession, and having some very near-misses: Nketiah and Eze both smashed the woodwork, and Sels pulled off enough saves to earn maximum bonus points in the game. Wood, on the other hand, seemed to be going off the boil rather, missing a number of good chances; and his eventual late winner, though a sweet strike from outside the box, was essentially down to a goalkeeping error from Henderson. In our funny old game', Forest have so far been massively over-performing, while Palace, despite showing a lot of promise, have failed to recapture the excellent form they showed at the end of last season. I expect both of those trends to change - but wouldn't like to predict how soon, or how strongly. I fear that Palace, with Spurs and Villa up soon, and City and Arsenal in the run-up to Christmas, are likely to be still deep in the relegation zone going into 2025.

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.....

GW6 - What did we learn?

City v Newcastle was a real 'game of two halves', the home side much more enterprising and determined after the break - and really looking like they might have been able to steal the win from a City side who, without Rodri or DeBruyne or Foden, looked pretty lacklustre. They really ought to have had a second penalty for Walker's clumsy challenge on Joelinton; and City needed a sharp performance from Ederson in goal to keep them alive. Newcastle are much less incisive without the outstanding Isak to lead the line, although Gordon does a decent job filling in as a No. 9, and at least this switch allows Harvey Barnes and/or Jacob Murphy, also both outstanding, to play from the start. Newcastle still look very shakey at the back; but they have more than enough attacking threat to be well up in the European places again.

Arsenal rode their luck rather, after allowing Leicester back into a game that they should have had comfortably sewn up - their further two goals very late in the game were extremely fortuitous, and harsh on a Leicester side who had fought so bravely, and showed great defensive organisation against Arsenal's many, many set pieces (astonishing that they had 17 corners in the match yet Gabriel didn't score!!). Saliba didn't have a great game, and both he and Calafiori were very fortunate not to pick up two yellows and a sending-off. I didn't see anything in Faes's challenge that would have justified a penalty award, and 'victim' Calafiori didn't really complain, so I don't think Arteta or Arsenal fans have got any valid gripe there; since Trossard snatched their second goal only moments later, it was irrelevant anyway. Arsenal's attacking performance should give a lot of comfort to FPL managers who are sticking with their assets during Odegaard's absence; although they would not have been able to enjoy such extended periods of dominance against a side who posed more of an attacking threat than Leicester. Leicester fans might feel a bit hard done-by that Arsenal's initial breakthrough goal clearly should have been disallowed for a foul on Vardy which enabled the turnover of possession. But they can at least feel good about a very encouraging defensive display, and an exceptional performance from their keeper Hermansen, who registered an incredible 13 saves (giving him a decent FPL return for the week, despite conceding 4 goals).

Teams are obviously going to have to wise up to Brentford's 'quick starts'. But after that early firecracker goal from Mbeumo, Brentford again failed to show much; their defense continues to be a worrying mess. While West Ham are - very slowly - starting to find a bit of rhythm. Both still looking like they'll struggle to be better than lower mid-table, though, and not offering any tempting FPL options - apart from the currently on-fire Mbeumo... and maybe Bowen?

Sanchez again had a bit of a 'mare for Chelsea, being at fault for both Brighton goals (though somewhat redeemed himself with a fine save from Baleba very shortly after the second); if he carries on being this awful on the ball, I can see him being replaced fairly soon (good though he is as a shot-stopper, I am really struggling to grasp why he's got the start anyway). Baleba, though sometimes a bit clumsy in defence, is starting to look as if he has some goalscoring potential too, and might perhaps enter the crowded competition for cheap 5th midfielder. Jackson failed to convert three very good chances in the second half, but again looked very lively overall; fickle FPL managers who just brought him in after last week's excellent performance might immediately be 'disappointed' in him, but no-one with any sense should be. And Cole Palmer - dear me!!!  Some people apparently didn't think he'd been playing that well so far this season. They have perceptual difficulties. First EPL player ever to net 4 goals in the first half??!! The really astonishing thing here is that he might actually have had 7 goals and 2 or 3 assists, for a record-smashing 45 or 50-point gameweek! Sancho also had another very good game. Chelsea are looking on the up; Brighton are having their fundamental weaknesses increasingly exposed.

Everton finally managed to register a win, and really looked good for it - against a Palace side who are still struggling to find much cohesion. However, Palace might well feel aggrieved that they were denied a very clear penalty when Tarkowski flattened Mateta from behind on the edge of the box (what is VAR doing these days???).  The return at last of Jarrad Branthwaite to the defence is no doubt a big lift to Dyche's team. And Dwight McNeil is in absolutely outstanding form, seems to be relishing being switched into a more consistently influential No. 10 sort of role. Ndiaye is also emerging as a major force (though this is probably bad news for all those who piled in for Calvert-Lewin in the last couple of weeks; the lively Senegalese striker now looks set to be at least taking a major share of Everton's goalscoring, if not stealing DCL's thunder altogether). Jack Harrison, though, continues to be strangely anonymous; I have hopes of him emerging as a potential FPL asset too; but at the moment, it's just not happening.

Forest, even at their intimidating home ground, were predictably underwhelming without their talismanic playmaker Gibbs-White. Murillo was a little lucky to escape conceding a second penalty to Fulham after bumbling into the back of Tete; but the earlier challenge on Perreira looked slight, and there seemed to be no really clear view of it on the TV cameras - so, it seemed somewhat bizarre that VAR thought the referee should take a second look at it (is this the first time this season we've seen such an instruction?). Despite this reservation about the refereeing, though, Fulham, despite also playing somewhat below their recent best, were worth the win. Smith Rowe and Adama Traore were a little quiet in this one, but will surely be back among the FPL points soon; Raul Jimenez continues to look like a very tempting pick - perhaps currently the most tempting - for that cheap third striker spot.

Liverpool had another one of their below-par games, and were really a bit lucky to go away with all three points; the late penalty award seemed pretty soft to me. Wolves, at last, are starting to show a bit more organisation, a bit more fight. They really don't deserve to be dead last in the league now; and I remain confident that Gary O'Neill can get them back towards the middle of the table by the turn of the year.

Villa were perhaps a bit fortunate in the end to hang on to a point against a very plucky Ipswich side. Martinez had to pull off a couple of outstanding saves from Phillips and Delap (to deny him a hattrick) to keep them in the game. I am quietly chuffed that Delap, who I'd tipped as one of the best cheap striker options in pre-season, is starting to prove me right. One of my other most controversial pieces of advice, though - that Morgan Rogers isn't yet worthy of inclusion in an FPL team - might appear to be under challenge, as he's now got among the points two weeks in succession. For now, I hold to my view. His debut goal this week found him drawn into the central attacking position because Ollie Watkins had, somewhat unusually, pulled out on to the left wing; the ball was actually played to him by a defender's mis-kicked clearance; and even then his first instinct was to lay the ball off to Watkins rather than attempting a strike himself; only when that pass drew three defenders towards Watkins, and Watkins returned it to him to allow him  a fairly easy finish, did he grab his chance. I haven't seen Rogers's 'touch map' for the game, but I'd guess that might have been the only time he got on the ball in the box. My feeling so far has been that, good - potentially great - though he is, Rogers has been mostly playing far too deep to get many assists or goal opportunities; and even when he does get up around the box, he's tending to be too unselfish - always looking for Watkins (or Bailey, or someone else) as the goal outlet. Perhaps he will gradually start pushing forward more, especially as McGinn, usually Villa's most attack-minded midfielder, is now out for a while with a hamstring problem. I don't at all write off the chances for Rogers becoming a significant FPL asset; I'm just very sceptical as to whether he's become that yet.

Bruno's sending-off was clearly unjust; but United can't really blame the size of their loss solely on that. They were playing dismally and being completely dominated by Spurs even before that. Yet again, the Reds looked disorganised and lacking enthusiasm for the fight - and that has to be on the manager. For whatever reason, Ten Hag just hasn't worked out as a coach there, and should have been replaced long since; a mid-season departure now looks almost certain - it's just a question of when. Very encouraging performance for Spurs fans, that they were able to play so fluently and incisively even without Son. Brennan Johnson is another fringe FPL player who will be starting to get attention for his hot form.

Difficult to tell much from very brief highlights, but it did look as though Southampton - despite taking a bit of a thrashing from Bournemouth - are improving; they looked quite resolute in defence in the latter part of the game, and created a fair bit of attacking threat too. A good win will no doubt give Bournemouth some confidence, but we'll need to see them tested against sterner opposition before we can make a decision on bringing in any of their players. Evanilson got off the mark with a very good finish, but it's too early to get excited about him as a third striker prospect - particularly as competition is so fierce at the budget end of the forward category this year.