The Sky Sports writers deliver their verdict on Saturday's Premier League action, starting with Chelsea's dismantling of West Ham in the early kick-off; electric Luis Diaz adding goals to his game for Liverpool; how Man Utd used Diogo Dalot to bring control
Saturday 21 September 2024 23:26, UK
Christopher Nkunku's winner from the bench against Bournemouth, after Nicolas Jackson had missed earlier chances, led to a clamour for him to start against West Ham on Saturday.
But Enzo Maresca backed Jackson as his first-choice striker in his pre-match press conference and the 23-year-old repaid his manager's faith with a player-of-the-match, two-goal display to help secure a third consecutive Premier League away win for the Blues.
Jackson was helped, of course, by the dreadful West Ham defending that allowed him to waltz through on goal for each of them. But he was still required to finish coolly and he did just that.
His double took him to four Premier League goals for the season and 18 since the start of last term. Having set up Cole Palmer's late third, he also has seven assists in that timeframe.
They are healthy numbers for a 23-year-old striker who was new to the competition last term, especially given the criticism he has had to withstand during more difficult periods.
Unsurprisingly, there was more praise from Maresca afterwards, who highlighted the importance of his work-rate out of possession. "It was a complete performance," the Chelsea boss added. Nkunku's wait for a starting spot looks likely to continue.
Nick Wright
Guido Rodriguez suffered the ignominy of being hooked after 38 minutes in West Ham's loss to Chelsea. He had been wretchedly poor and he was not the only one. But the bigger issue was the tactical tweak which left the home side overrun in midfield.
Having used a back four in West Ham's first four Premier League games of the season, Julen Lopetegui switched to a three, with Edson Alvarez asked to drop between Max Kilman and Konstantinos Mavropanos in the heart of their backline.
It hurt West Ham on two fronts. Firstly, because Alvarez looked desperately uncomfortable in the role, his lack of pace exposed. And secondly, because it ensured the home side were outnumbered in midfield, with Rodriguez and Lucas Paqueta unable to cope.
Lopetegui did not acknowledge Rodriguez as he came off but, to his credit, he took the blame for the early change himself in his press conference. "When a coach changes a player before half-time, it's not the fault of the player, it's the fault of the coach," he said.
The players, collectively, must take their share of the responsibility too, of course. Especially given their baffling lack of intensity and aggression in the early stages continued in the second half. But the boos of the home fans at the London Stadium when Lopetegui substituted Crycensio Summerville in the second period showed they put the blame in the same place as the man himself.
Nick Wright
Luis Diaz has five goals to his name already this season. It took him until November last season to reach that milestone which suggests Slot, who has a reputation for improving attacking players, is having an impact on the uptick of Diaz's output in front of goal. He's working at a rate of a goal every 72 minutes - not quite Erling Haaland's levels of one every 39 minutes, but it's still a phenomenal early-season purple patch.
Both his goals were all about energy. Diaz nipped in to control a direct ball on his thigh, rounded Kepa and fired past the covering Julian Araujo on the line. The second was equally as clinical, Mohamed Salah laying off a quick pass to Trent Alexander-Arnold who was given free rein to carry forward, delaying his pass to Diaz who shifted it onto his left foot before firing home.
He is electric when in this mood.
Lewis Jones
It may not have felt like it having watched the game but Bournemouth's tally of 19 shots was the most Liverpool have faced in a game at Anfield since 2014 when Everton also registered 19.
That statistic implies they perhaps deserved more than the 3-0 defeat. But they didn't.
Liverpool were comprehensively the better side.
This is the thing with Andoni Iraola's football at Bournemouth - they do so many things right and play such an aggressive game that opens teams up but can't get results against the elite.
They have now failed to win any of 13 Premier League games vs last season's top-six - winning just two points from a possible 39.
Those 19 shots only equated to an expected goals figure of 1.03 which tells you the shots they were taking on were low probability ones. Across their last two games they have posted 38 shots but have failed to score. It's something the manager must address.
Lewis Jones
When Arne Slot explained how Liverpool tore United apart in a 3-0 win at Old Trafford earlier this month, he picked out one detail in particular. "Their full-backs are sometimes really high."
The outcome was the opposition wingers, in that case Mo Salah and Luis Diaz, would often find themselves in one vs one scenarios, while the holding midfielder, on that occasion Casemiro, was left stranded.
One small tweak from United's coaching staff at Crystal Palace went a long way to addressing that. Diogo Dalot was told to invert and his presence in the midfield helped United to outnumber Palace.
"Dalot is coming inside as a No 6 almost and controlling the game from there," Phil Jones, a Premier League winner with United, said in the Sky Sports studio at half-time. "With Dalot coming inside they're creating overloads."
Palace were left flummoxed by the passing game of Dalot, Kobbie Mainoo and Christian Eriksen for large parts of the game, with United firmly in control. Not something we could say often last season.
Some of that control was relinquished after second-half changes, but United still finished the game with 66.8 per cent possession, the most they have had in any league game this season.
Old problems persist, however, with Ten Hag's side lacking the ruthless edge required to claim all three points, despite having enough chances in the first-half alone to do so.
It has been a running theme this season, with just five goals scored after five league games despite having an xG of 9.53. Southampton are the only side underperforming in this metric by more.
Reports suggest United's ability to dominate games will be a key factor in INEOS' assessments of Ten Hag this season. There is undoubtedly progress going by this game, but results and goals must follow.
Zinny Boswell
Crystal Palace were as bad as Oliver Glasner has seen them since he took charge in the first half of the stalemate with Man Utd. The only thing keeping them in the game was Dean Henderson
The England goalkeeper, who finished with seven saves by the close of play, had made four by half-time. There was a bit of help from his crossbar, too, but not so much from his team-mates.
That all changed after the break, but it would not have been possible without Henderson.
His heroics came at the perfect time for Palace, who are still winless in the league after five games. Had they gone a few goals down to United at half-time a worrisome narrative could have taken hold.
But with the breathing room provided by Henderson's interventions, Palace were able to show the threat they possess and perhaps should have won the game through Eberechi Eze.
There is plenty to work on for Glasner, but thanks to Henderson he can do it out of the spotlight.
Zinny Boswell
Rodrigo Muniz was understandably chosen to lead Fulham's line at the start of the season after his excellent form in front of goal in 2024, but that role has now gone to Raul Jimenez after the former's slow start to the campaign - and the Mexican looks determined to hold on to it.
Everyone knows about the fractured skull the striker suffered while at Wolves three years ago and it has been a long road back for him, but gradually he looks to be returning to his best.
Jimenez was on target in the draw with West Ham last weekend and the 33-year-old was at it again against Newcastle, opening the scoring with a brilliantly taken effort as he took down Adama Traore's ball in from the right in one movement, before sweeping home a low shot for his eighth goal in just his last nine Premier League starts.
His manager, Marco Silva, was purring in his praise of his frontman, noting what a key ingredient confidence is in any sportsman's armour, with Jimenez now looking to make that striking role his for good.
Richard Morgan
Newcastle headed to the capital looking to end the day sitting top of the Premier League having made their best start to a campaign since Kevin Keegan was in charge almost 30 years ago, but ended it with more questions than answers after what manager Eddie Howe called their worst performance of the season.
The visitors produced a strangely error-strewn display in west London, with Fulham's second and third goals the result of poor individual mistakes from, of all people, normally reliable goalkeeper Nick Pope and captain Bruno Guimaraes.
All of which begs the question: was this simply a one-off blip, or was their previous unbeaten run merely a mirage papering over more worrying, long-term cracks?
Howe would not be drawn on that after the match, saying every game is different, but we may find out more on Tuesday night when he takes his side to League Two high-flyers Wimbledon for a tricky-looking Carabao Cup third-round clash that the Magpies cannot afford to lose.
Richard Morgan
When Tottenham click they can be devastating. By far their most complete display of the season, Spurs' big hitters all stood up to the count, and took collective responsibility for delivering an 'Ange-ball' style performance.
Dominic Solanke opened his Spurs account, Brennan Johnson scored in consecutive matches for the first time since joining a year ago, and James Maddison scored and assisted in the same game for the first time since May 2023.
Ange Postecoglou called his team relentless, registering 23 efforts on goal - 10 on target - and generating an xG of 3.51 - their highest of the season. This was a triumph of patience.
It was only a matter of time before new parts began to sync with old, in a more cohesive and productive way, Postecoglou had insisted. But doubters pointed to Spurs' profligacy in games up until this point.
"We haven't got just rewards until now," Postecoglou responded. Now he must back it up.
Laura Hunter
After his side surrendered their lead for a third consecutive game, Sean Dyche's reaction to the lightning that painted the sky above the King Power Stadium - and resulted in a delayed start to the second half - was hardly surprising.
"The way things are going for me, I probably would have got hit," the Everton boss said.
The Toffees remain winless in the Premier League after Stephy Mavididi cancelled out Iliman Ndiaye's opener to earn Leicester a 1-1 draw.
As the travelling fans hauled on ponchos, the doom and gloom of it all would have been hard to miss. But, with proverbs hanging in the balance, Everton's attackers acted as silver linings on a cloudy day.
Ndiaye, the standout, netted his first Premier League goal, darting in from the left wing to receive Ashley Young's pass before chopping beyond a defender and powering the ball into the bottom left-hand corner.
This was not the only moment of quality that the Senegal international produced. Earlier, in the fourth minute, the winger had spun past his marker on the left flank and floated a pinpoint cross towards the back post, which Jesper Lindstrom volleyed wide.
Lindstrom is yet to find the net in three Premier League appearances since arriving on a season-long loan from Napoli, but that is a reflection on his finishing struggles, not a lack of attacking threat.
The 24-year-old registered an xG of 0.47 across four shots which was more than any player on either side and almost half of Everton's total (0.97). If he can show more composure in front of goal, something that may develop as he adapts to his new club, then his well-timed bursts into the box will add real threat to the Everton attack.
The form and fitness of Dominic Calvert-Lewin may also determine Everton's attacking potency moving forward and he continued his quietly impressive start to the season here.
Breaking on the counter in the 65th minute, McNeil played in his striker as he strode into the right-hand side of the Everton box. A powerful effort was directed toward the far corner but Mads Hermansen reacted well to push it away.
Jonny Coffey
His socks are low, his feet are tricky and he was born in 2006. Tyler Dibling has had a promising start to the season and looks primed to continue to impress.
Last time out his positive play drew Manchester United's Diogo Dalot out to earn a penalty and he followed that up with his first Southampton goal against Ipswich that very nearly handed his side their first win of the season.
Dibling's goal was well taken, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way as he slotted his side into an unfamiliar lead. It was more than his goalscoring that caught the eye though, his influence was spread throughout everything Southampton did well during the game. The 18-year-old showed no fear, completing three of his four dribbles as well as winning eight of his 16 duels.
His boss Russel Martin was high in his praise for the youngster saying he's a player who can do things that "not many" others can.
"Tyler was excellent," Martin said after the game.
"But we also need to bear in mind his age and be patient. It's not just going to be easy and a linear path to being the best he can be.
"But he can do things that not many other players I've ever seen can do. I love working with him, I love watching him play.
"I'd pay a lot of money to watch him play football and fortunately I'm the guy that gets to work with him and try and develop him."
In 2022 Dibling signed for Chelsea before returning to Southampton just two months later, if his form continues, one would imagine it won't be too long before the elite clubs come calling once again.
William Bitibiri
