Premier League Roundup: Week 5
The most highly anticipated match up of the Premier League's match day 5 was the first game of the weekend, as Liverpool traveled to London, determined to give Chelsea their first loss of the season. Jurgen Klopp's side came out firing as the Reds were able to build a 2-0 halftime lead thanks to a goal by Dejan Lovren and a wonder strike from Jordan Henderson. Golden boot co-leader Diego Costa was able to draw Chelsea within 1 in the 61st minute, but it wouldn't be enough as Liverpool were able to see out the frantic final half hour and pick up 3 big points from the Blues. With the win Liverpool jumped to 6th in the league table and face an increasingly out-of-form Hull City squad on Saturday. Meanwhile the loss dropped Chelsea to 5th place as Antonio Conte's side have only managed 1 point from their last 2 league matches after starting the season with 3 wins. Their road doesn't get any easier this week as they travel to North London for their clash with Arsenal.
Speaking of the Gunners, they pasted Hull City 4-1 over the weekend, with goals from Theo Walcott, Granit Xhaka, and a brace from Alexis Sanchez. A Jake Livermore 40th minute red card didn't do the Tigers any favors, but Arsenal looked to be the dominate side no matter how many players Hull had on the pitch. Arsenal have looked terrific since their shaky start to the season and now sit 4th in the table after taking 9 out of 9 points from their last 3 games. However, the Gunners face a huge test on Saturday when a slipping Chelsea side, eager to get their season back on track, comes to town. Hull are quickly learning that there's no rest for the weary in the Premier League as they get to take on a surging Liverpool team at Anfield on Saturday.
Everton continued their brilliant start to their season with a convincing 3-1 win over a surprisingly talented Middlesbrough side. After falling behind 1-0 on a Maarten Stekelenburg own-goal in the 21st minute, savvy veteran Gareth Barry equalized just 3 minutes later before Seamus Coleman gave the Toffees a 2-1 lead in the 42nd minute. To the delight of Everton supporters, Romelu Lukaku extended his scoring streak to 2 games as the Belgian buried his 4th goal of the season just before the half to put the game out of reach. Everton now sit 2nd in the table and have yet to suffer a loss in league this season. Ronald Koeman's side faces a tough Bournemouth team this weekend. Boro have now lost their last 2 league matches and play 3rd place Spurs on Saturday.
Leicester City rebounded well from their 4-1 drubbing at Anfield with a 3-0 win against Brugge in their midweek Champion's League fixture and followed it up with a 3-0 league victory over Burnley on Saturday. Behind a brace from Islam Slimani and a Ben Mee own-goal, the foxes were able to secure 3 points and gain some momentum heading into their big match up against Manchester United.Leicester currently sit 11th in the table while Burnley continue to struggle to replicate their magic against Liverpool and fell to 17th in the league.
West Ham continue their free fall on Saturday, this time at the hands of West Brom. The Hammers lost 4-2 in a game that was 4-0 by the hour mark. Despite controlling 70% of the possession, West Ham were unable to generate anything truly threatening in the final third. They have now conceded 11 goals in their last 3 league matches and have dropped all the way to 18th in the table. A season that began with hopes of challenging for a top 4 spot has quickly turned into a battle to stay out of the relegation zone. The only bright spot for the Hammers so far has been the consistent scoring of Michail Antonio, who tallied his 5th goal of the season last weekend and currently sits tied with Diego Costa for the Golden Boot.
On the other end of the league table spectrum, Manchester City strengthened it's position atop the league with a 4-0 blowout victory over Bournemouth. Even without the services of suspended star striker Sergio Aguero, City had no trouble scoring as Kevin De Bruyne, Kelechi Iheanacho, and Raheem Sterling all notched goals in the win and continued their good runs of form. Man City have now won their first 5 games of the season and look like they're getting stronger by the week. Swansea City are the next lambs to the slaughter for City, and I don't expect the scoreline to be much different. Bournemouth will attempt to regain their dignity against second place Everton on Saturday in another tough match for the Cherries.
Across the city, United supporters are in full apocalyptic panic as Jose Mourinho lost his third match in a row, 3-1 to Watford on Sunday. After losing to rivals City last weekend and then dropping their midweek Europa League clash with Feyenoord, United fans were desperate to get back on track against mid-table Watford, but the Hornets had other plans. Watford took a 1-0 lead in the 34th minute off of an Etienne Capoue strike. Marcus Rashford evened the score in the 62nd, but Juan Zuniga scored the eventual winner in the 83rd minute to seal Watford's first win over the Red Devils in 30 years, and handing Mourinho his first 3 loss streak since he managed Porto. After starting the season 3-0-0, Jose Mourinho's side have dropped their last 2 league matches and have fallen from tied atop the table to 7th. United supporters have begun to reach for their pitchforks as their praise for the Portuguese manager has been replaced with anger and hopelessness. They will attempt to snap their losing streak this weekend at home against a resurgent Leicester side, while look to continue their 2 game winning streak against struggling Burnley.
Elsewhere on Sunday, Stoke City continued their own downward spiral as they were pounded 4-1 by Crystal Palace. Palace are now on a 2 match win streak and have quietly climbed to 8th in the league, just behind Manchester United. Stoke, on the other hand, continues to struggle mightily as they sit dead last in the league and are still searching for their first win of the season. It's not only the fact that the Potters have lost their last 4 games, and only have 1 point on the year, it's the margin of their losses that is so alarming. Over their last 4 losses, Stoke have conceded 13 goals while only managing to score 2. Stoke has talent on their roster, but unless they can stop the flood of goals at the back they don't have a prayer of staying in the top flight.
In the final game of match day 5, Spurs defeated struggling Sunderland 1-0 in a game that wasn't as close as the scoreline. Harry Kane provided the winner for the North Londoners, who currently sit 3rd in the league and have yet to lose this season. The Black Cats struggled to generate any offense all game and fell to 19th with the loss. Sunderland have failed to score in their last 2 league outings, but will attempt to get back on the score sheet this weekend against Crystal Palace. Tottenham look to continue their unbeaten streak as they take on Middlesbrough on Saturday.
