Arsenal embrace the hustle and bustle of title contention as Chelsea’s depth increases again and Leeds face their biggest week of the season – Premier League hits and misses | Soccer News

Arsenal embraces the hustle and bustle of title contention

Mikel Arteta held a meeting with Arsenal players this week following last weekend’s defeat to Manchester United. The Arsenal manager said the meeting was “beautiful” and the topic was how the team would deal with noise.

Arsenal were in a slump. The best defense in the league was leaking goals, the attack was faltering, and debates arose over who should be center forward and who should play behind him in attacking midfield.

Injury topics then resurfaced as they lost Bukayo Saka in the lead-up to the Leeds game and Mikel Merino was also absent. They had to change their travel plans to Leeds at the last minute on Friday.

A number of issues have been derailing Arsenal lately. But instead, Arsenal overcame a thorny problem. After this meeting, seven goals were scored, including goals from centre-forward options Victor Gokeres, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus.

Leeds’ defense was solid once again, with just one shot on target. Martin Odegaard came on as a substitute and played a big role in the third and fourth goals at Elland Road. Substitute Noni Maduke’s performance showed that Arsenal will not be adversely affected by Saka’s attack and that they are not as reliant on him as they were last season.

Yes, it’s just Kairat Almaty and Leeds, but when it comes to Arteta’s team, the opponents are almost irrelevant. Their biggest threat to the title is themselves – it is often quipped that only Arsenal can stop Arsenal from winning the title.

After some clearing talks, the Gunners seem to have accepted the noise and are enjoying playing football again.
Sam Blitz

This is Leeds’ biggest week of the season.

It’s just two defeats in 11 games for Leeds, so losing to Arsenal in this way is not a disaster. However, they are still not completely safe. they can’t be satisfied.

West Ham’s resurgence has pushed them further out of the relegation zone, and although Leeds believe Daniel Farke is doing a good job maintaining their ‘points per game’ numbers, there is a risk that 38 points won’t be enough this season.

This week is probably Leeds’ biggest week of the upcoming season. Deadline Day on Monday will be an important checkpoint in their season.

Having a centre-forward like Jorgen Strand Larsen would add more goals and relieve some of the pressure on Dominic Calvert-Lewin, but on the other hand, with Lucas Perry and Karl Darlow unable to grab the number one spot, a goalkeeper at the other end could be needed.

Next Friday’s big home game against Nottingham Forest will be broadcast live on Sky Sports. Leeds will get back on track if they put in their effort and win. But there’s a trapdoor lurking there.
Sam Blitz

Incredible Chelsea comeback only heightens squad depth issues

If you had asked every Chelsea fan at Stamford Bridge during the interval what they thought the full-time score would be, no one would have predicted this. The stadium became unstable and on the verge of anarchy, but Liam Rosenior headed to the bench and turned the game on its head.

Seven changes were made to the starting XI, apparently with the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Arsenal in mind. However, it appeared that Rosenior had left the academy. His players lacked sharpness and ideas. Alejandro Garnacho played just two forward passes in his 45 minutes on the pitch.

Add Joao Pedro, Marc Cucurella and Wesley Fofana and suddenly Chelsea look like a different team. All three have contributed to the goals, and at the end of the day all that matters is the points. However, we cannot overlook the fact that Rosenior still has problems that no one at the club has been able to solve, despite the huge amount of money he has spent in recent years.

Rob Green’s verdict could not be more true: “Everyone knows who the (regular) starting XI are, but the players who aren’t there are far from starting XI.” Rob Green’s verdict couldn’t be more true. Chelsea’s best team can compete with any team in the Premier League. However, removing some of these components has proven to have dire consequences.
Callum Bishop

Will this be the decisive blow that ends West Ham’s hopes of survival?

The first half could not have gone any better for Nuno Espirito Santo. And with three straight wins in all competitions, you can imagine confidence in the West Ham dressing room has been very high during the break.

Now it shatters. Their chances of survival may be just as good.

Defeat will hurt, but the way they do it will be the decisive blow. Nuno now has the task of overturning a five-point deficit that leaves them in the bottom three. But how can the players recover from this? It will be some kind of task.

Of course, there are positive aspects as well. The first half was full of them for West Ham. But they probably couldn’t have played any better. The fact that that wasn’t enough could mean a match, a set and a match for Premier League safety.
Callum Bishop

Will vintage Liverpool return?

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what this season’s ‘vintage Liverpool’ looks like. It’s such a pretense. Mainly instability and inconsistency. But it was a timely reminder of what Arne Slott’s team can do in free flow. Finally, Liverpool resemble something vaguely recognizable, with pace and a willingness to take risks and attack. There will be fewer shackles.

In recent months, many of those threat factors have been suppressed. Slott’s attempts at control robbed him of much originality, but he remained unbeaten in 13 games in all competitions until Bournemouth dashed any excitement with a last-minute 3-2 win last Saturday.

Liverpool needed to find the courage to start playing with fluidity again, especially at Anfield. They had to do so or risk losing their identity completely. Against Newcastle they were perfectly balanced despite Eddie Howe’s plans to punish with speed. After Anthony Gordon’s stunning opening goal, they were forced to bow to Liverpool’s wishes and were forced to finish at an elite level. The hosts earned 4 points from an xG value of just 0.92.

Hugo Ekitike was furious at the team he almost joined in the summer as Florian Wirtz continued to mock those who doubted his Premier League suitability. It may be too early to declare ‘Liverpool is back’, but the signs of improvement are clear. Slott hopes that confidence continues as he enters a crucial period of the season.
laura hunter

Things could get worse in Brighton

Booing erupted inside the Amex Stadium at full time. The atmosphere in Brighton has the potential to be tense, although fans are not used to this kind of behavior in recent years.

This is the second consecutive week that the Seagulls have conceded a goal late in the game. Last Saturday, Harry Wilson’s late goal gave them a point, but Beto’s rebound save gave them two points in the home frame.

As it stands, Brighton are hardly in a relegation battle, but they are in a slump. After dominating the first 20 minutes, they were unable to produce much of an impact until Pascal Gross’ goal. There are also obvious problems with concentration and watching the game.

They have won just one of their last 11 Premier League games, with just one of those coming against Burnley.

Coach Fabian Hürzeler said the loss was “painful” but added that they must take responsibility. Brighton face rivals Crystal Palace next Sunday and the powder keg could explode if the same situation happens again, especially if they lose.
charlotte marsh

Everton finds goal – but doubts remain

Everton earned one point in their second consecutive away game in the Premier League with a come-from-behind win.

In another dramatic situation against Brighton, Beto scored the equalizer in the 97th minute. This is Everton’s latest result-changing away goal in the Premier League on record (since 2006-07), second only to Yerry Mina’s equalizer at Wolves in May 2023 (98:54).

Fighting back at the likes of Elland Road and the Amex Stadium is no mean feat, but despite two strong results, there will be some questions left for David Moyes and Everton fans alike.

In both games, the Toffees had a sluggish first half but improved significantly after the break. Although the situation is improving, some may wonder why it got off to such a slow start in the first place.

Next is chance creation. For the third time this season, Everton failed to get a shot on target in the opening 45 minutes. Their xG was zero and they had just four touches inside the opponent’s box.

Their xG rose to 1.2 by the end of the game, and they actually ended up having more shots on target than Brighton, although Moyes admitted his team needed to improve their shot output.

“The truth is we still need to create chances and create more,” he told Sky Sports.

However, Everton have now lost just one of their last seven Premier League games, with one goal in their last four games enough to take a point.

But one thinks that if they can improve their starts and chances, they could easily challenge for the top four in the Champions League next season.
charlotte marsh

Bournemouth have achieved success again with star player Crupi Junior

We already know the answer, but where do Bournemouth continue to find these players? Eli Crupi Jr. is the latest player to emerge from the conveyor belt at the Vitality Stadium after an outstanding season of scoring goals in the French second division last season *check notes*.

Fast forward less than a year and he is two goals away from hitting double figures in the Premier League in his debut season, and has the highest shot conversion rate of any Premier League player to score five or more goals this season, all before he turned 20. The only teenager to have scored more goals in Europe’s top five leagues this season is Lamine Yamal. Not a bad yardstick.

The France Under-21 forward’s finishing is impressive, but he can also be combined, forming an increasingly fruitful partnership with fellow forward Evanilsson at a time when managers are often reluctant to play two out-and-out forwards. But he’s too good to break out.

“We’re trying to find a way to play with two number nines,” Iraola told Sky Sports after Crupi Junior’s goal against Wolves on Saturday. “In possession, if we can have Junior and Evanilsson around the box, we become more of a threat. We can provide a threat. I’m happy with his work and he’ll be able to stay on the pitch.”

Bournemouth’s accuracy in finding hidden gems has made them the envy of their Premier League rivals. It’s early days, but Crupi Jr. still has the potential to be one of their best.
Ron Walker