Manchester City made something of a statement in their 1-0 win over potential title challengers Chelsea on Saturday, whereas Manchester United seemed to take another step back as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's reign stuttered again.
But Solskjaer is certainly not the only top-flight manager feeling the heat – Nuno Espirito Santo's honeymoon period as Tottenham boss is well and truly over, with the Portuguese now among the favourites to be the first Premier League boss sacked this season following a 3-1 defeat in the north London derby.
Without any further ado, here are some of the more curious facts and stats from across the Premier League this past weekend…
City defence putting the 'guard' in Guardiola
It may not have been the thrill ride neutrals were likely hoping for, but City's 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge was another impressive indicator of just how good Pep Guardiola's team is as a unit.
Of course, they won the Premier League only a few months ago, so saying City are "good" probably won't cut it for analysis – but what is really making people sit up and take note at the moment is how their unity and cohesion is translating into defensive solidity.
City have conceded just one goal in their six Premier League games this term, the fewest they've ever shipped at this stage of any league campaign.
Let's not forget that Chelsea had been widely praised for their own start to 2021-22, yet on Saturday they were prevented from having a single shot on target in a home league game since November 2012, which coincidentally was also against City.
But even more impressive from City's perspective was the fact Chelsea's expected goals (xG) value was just 0.2, the worst they've recorded in a home Premier League game since Opta records began in 2008-09.
While Chelsea fans will understandably be frustrated, it would seem their struggles on Saturday were more down to City being in a groove defensively.
They've only faced six shots on target this season, a record no Premier League has bettered over the first six matches in a campaign since at least 2003-04. If they keep this up, the title will surely be staying at the Etihad Stadium.
Fernandes' penalty miss not Man Utd's big issue
It was another day to forget for United on Saturday as they lost 1-0 at home to Aston Villa.
They were presented with a great opportunity to equalise in second-half stoppage time, but Bruno Fernandes sent his penalty over the crossbar.
Much of the focus afterwards was on Fernandes and his miss, though it would be unfair to pin the blame on him – after all, of the 23 spot-kicks he has taken since his United debut, he's only failed to convert two.
In the same time period, Cristiano Ronaldo – seemingly Fernandes' main penalty rival now – has taken 22 and missed four. This is not a problem that United need to dwell on much.
Instead, they'd be wise to look into their glaring tactical inefficiencies, with Solskjaer's team sorely lacking identity, cohesion and a defined playing style. Too often they are bailed out by moments of individual brilliance, which is an unsustainable approach to solely rely on in a title challenge.
Against Villa, those instances of individual excellence never arrived, despite United mustering 28 shots. That was the most efforts attempted by United without scoring in a home league game since October 2016 (38 shots in 0-0 draw with Burnley).
They have now conceded in each of their past eight league games at Old Trafford, their worst such run in 49 years, and lost three successive home matches (all competitions) for the first time since 1962.
Norwich set new benchmark for worst start
With every match that passes, the light at the end of the tunnel seems to become ever dimmer for Norwich City.
A 2-0 defeat at Everton on Saturday leaves Norwich pointless and with a -14 goal difference after six matches – that makes their start to the season the worst after six matches in Premier League history.
Only twice before had a Premier League side begun a campaign without a single point from six games, the last of which was Frank de Boer's infamous Crystal Palace team in 2017-18 – the Dutchman was sacked after the fourth match in that sequence.
Norwich have at least been a little more patient than Palace, with Daniel Farke's record of overseeing two promotions seemingly ensuring he retains some good will at the club, even if he now has the highest loss percentage (75 per cent, 33/44) of any manager to take charge of at least 20 games in the Premier League.
Most would already consider Norwich to be doomed for relegation, though perhaps there is some reason for optimism.
There have only been nine teams to start a top-flight season (prior to 2021-22) with six or more successive losses, but four of them – including Palace – have avoided relegation.
Vardy joins exclusive club
Jamie Vardy ended up having a peculiar day when Leicester City drew 2-2 with Burnley on Saturday, the former England striker scoring three of the four goals.
It was his own goal that gave Burnley an early lead, while he also got both Leicester equalisers, including one late in the day.
That was his first own goal ever in 360 appearances for Leicester, while he became the first player to net at both ends for the club in a single Premier League game.
It's happened to some of the best, though. He joins an illustrious list containing 11 others who have scored at least 100 goals but also put past their own goalkeeper, with Harry Kane, Steven Gerrard, Paul Scholes, Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney among them.
On top of that, Vardy is now only one of five players in Premier League history to score at least twice at the right end and an own goal in the same game after John Barnes (Liverpool v Spurs 1995), Niall Quinn (Sunderland v Charlton Athletic 2001), Rooney (Man Utd v Stoke City 2012) and Tammy Abraham (Chelsea v Wolves 2019).
But he is still doing more than his fair share at the other end, his brace in this game taking him to eight goal involvements in his past seven league games, which is 89 per cent (8/9) of Leicester's goals in that time.
Bad omens stacking up for Nuno
After three wins from his first three Premier League games in charge, everything was looking rather rosy for Tottenham boss Nuno.
Three matches and three defeats later, some will doubt whether he'll still be in charge this time next month, let alone this time next season.
Sunday's north London derby was his 10th in charge of Spurs and the 3-1 loss made him the first manager to lose as many as four of his first 10 matches at the helm of the club since Glenn Hoddle in 2001.
Hoddle was also the last Spurs boss to conceded at least three goals in three consecutive league games in September 2003, and he was sacked after that run.
Nuno will probably make it to the next match but the last team to begin a season with three wins and then lost the next three (Everton, 1993-94) finish as low down as 17th.
His future arguably rests on getting something out of Kane, who's failed to score in five straight league games for the first time since August 2016, but things aren't looking great given Spurs' 35 open-play shots is the second fewest in the division and their expected goals (xG) total is just 3.2, only higher than three teams.
While a lack of quality chances might usually be masked by Kane's excellence, he's not bailing them out any longer – if that continues, it's difficult to see Nuno keeping his job for the long term.
History paints bleak picture for promoted trio after dismal starts to season
Sheffield United, Burnley and Luton remain without a win since their promotion to the Premier League after the weekend’s games.
It is only the second time a trio of promoted teams have all been winless having all played at least five games and, with those teams making up the current relegation zone, the PA news agency looks at the history of slow starts for Premier League newcomers and what it means for their survival prospects.
Wait goes on after Blades batteredNewcastle set a Premier League record as eight of their players scored in a stunning 8-0 rout of Sheffield United on Sunday, sending the Blades bottom on goal difference, with all three promoted sides on one point each.
Luton opened their account the previous day, albeit with the help of a controversial penalty against 10-man Wolves, while Burnley’s only point came from last Monday’s 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest. The Blades held Everton 2-2 on September 2.
While the Newcastle hammering was the South Yorkshire side’s sixth game of the season, Luton and Burnley have played only five after their season opener was postponed due to reconstruction work at Kenilworth Road.
Only once before, in 2004-05, have all three promoted teams been winless after five games – and even then, Norwich and West Brom each had three draws on the board, with Crystal Palace trailing on one point.
Palace and Norwich were duly relegated that season, but West Brom survived with victory over Portsmouth on the final day – Pompey’s bitter rivals Southampton were the other team relegated.
Indeed, of 17 promoted teams to go five games without a win before this season, the Baggies are the only one to avoid relegation. Bryan Robson’s side also became the first in Premier League history to stay up having been bottom at Christmas, the position they still occupied going into that final game.
More pain in store?All three teams are still some way from the record winless start for a promoted team, with Swindon taking until their 16th game to get in the win column in 1993-94.
Town finished that season bottom of the 22-team table with five wins and 30 points from 42 games in what remains their only top-flight campaign.
Norwich took 14 games in the aforementioned 2004-05 season to break their duck, albeit with eight draws along the way, and 11 on their way to another relegation in 2021-22.
Three other teams – Watford in 2006-07, Reading in 2012-13 and Burnley in 2014-15 – went 10 games without a win following promotion.
The early-season form of this season’s bottom three is prompting talk of Derby’s record low Premier League points total of 11 in 2007-08 – indeed, Luton were identified in some quarters as a candidate for the unwanted record before the season even began.
But even the Rams won their sixth game of that cursed season, 1-0 against Newcastle, before failing to win the rest of the way – that ongoing 32-game run remains a Premier League record over 15 years later.
The Blades have already gone longer without a win, while their counterparts may be looking to October 3’s rescheduled meeting to keep their names out of unwanted company.
How much will Man City miss midfield maestro Rodri and who could replace him?
Rodri will serve a three-match suspension for his sending-off against Nottingham Forest – but how much will Manchester City miss their midfield lynchpin?
Here, the PA news agency looks at the Spaniard’s impact in Pep Guardiola’s side.
“A big miss”
Rodri’s influence has increasingly been recognised over last season and this, peaking with his winning goal and player-of-the-match display in the Champions League final.
Team-mate Phil Foden said after Saturday’s game: “He is one of our most important players and he seems to play all the minutes. He is going to be a big miss.”
While not quite ever-present, Rodri led all City outfielders in playing time last season and had played all but 21 minutes in this season’s Premier League prior to his dismissal for tangling with Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White.
The 27-year-old Spain international leads the Premier League in passes and overall touches of the ball this term, still 67 passes and 87 touches clear of second-placed Brighton defender Lewis Dunk even after his dismissal, and trailed only Dunk in both categories last season.
He is also City’s leader this season and last in tackles and, while the same is true for fouls committed, he had up to now avoided serving a suspension since his arrival at the club in the summer of 2019.
The former Atletico Madrid man had eight Premier League bookings and 11 in all competitions in his first season but has had no more than six in the league or nine overall since then, while Saturday’s was the first red card of his career for club or country.
He ranks third for the club this season in shots and has been outscored by only Erling Haaland in the league and, additionally, Julian Alvarez in all competitions as he seemingly takes on some of the attacking duties left by Ilkay Gundogan’s summer departure.
Call for Kalvin
Gundogan was not the only high-profile player to leave City this summer and, coupled with injuries and now Rodri’s ban, Guardiola’s midfield options are rapidly dwindling.
Kevin De Bruyne lasted 23 minutes of the new league season before aggravating a hamstring injury, with Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic also currently sidelined along with defender John Stones, who excelled in a hybrid role last season.
Summer signing Matheus Nunes and forgotten man Kalvin Phillips could therefore have major roles to play – England international Phillips, who came on in the second half against Forest, has played barely 400 minutes of league football since joining from Leeds last summer.
Foden could also operate in a deeper role but options on the wing are not plentiful either, with Riyad Mahrez and Cole Palmer leaving this summer while Jack Grealish has only just returned from a knee problem. Jeremy Doku has hit the ground running while Alvarez has been used more regularly as a foil for Haaland up front.
James Maddison believes Tottenham are pushing away from their ‘Spursy’ tag
James Maddison believes Tottenham are starting to shed their ‘Spursy’ tag after they continued a fine start to the new season with a battling 2-2 draw at rivals Arsenal.
Spurs had lost on their last three visits to the Emirates and not won there in the Premier League since 2010.
Tottenham’s losing streak to Arsenal could have continued after Cristian Romero’s own goal and Bukayo Saka’s penalty twice put the hosts ahead in the north London derby, but Son Heung-min equalised twice – both from Maddison assists – to earn a share of the spoils.
A lengthy trophy drought coupled with frequent collapses on the biggest of occasions contributed towards the ‘Spursy’ tag growing during the past few years, but the club’s new number 10 hit back following another strong showing by Ange Postecoglou’s team.
“We’re not in there celebrating a point, I think there was a few little moments at the end especially in the dying minutes where we could have maybe won it from a set-piece,” Maddison told talkSPORT.
“I think winning late last week and coming back twice (here), when you hear fans and neutrals talk about Tottenham they often say, ‘soft, weak, they’ll bottle it, Spursy’, all that rubbish. I think the last couple of weeks shows that we might be going in a slightly different direction.
“We scored in the 98th and 101st minute against Sheffield United to win late on when it looked like it was going to be one of those days.
“Here we go behind twice at arguably one of the best teams in the world, we pull it back and we’re still fighting right until the end. Hopefully we can continue that.”
Maddison was crucial to Tottenham leaving the Emirates with a point after he set up both of Son’s goals to make it four assists in six league matches since his summer switch from Leicester.
It could have been a different story had Gabriel Jesus made it 2-0 in the 32nd minute when he robbed the ball from Maddison on the edge of Spurs’ penalty area, but the Arsenal forward blazed over.
Postecoglou continued to encourage his team to play out from the back and that bravery was rewarded with a fine display where Tottenham enjoyed 53 per cent possession, a marked improvement on the 35 per cent they had under Antonio Conte at the Emirates last season in a humbling 3-1 loss.
Maddison added: “I was really proud of how courageous the lads were and how brave we were. There were a couple of occasions in the first half, myself included, where we gave the ball away.
“I gave the ball away edge of the box, they nearly scored and it is so easy to sink and not carry on playing the way the manager wants us to play, but that’s what bravery is.
“It is having big b**** to take the ball under pressure. I gave it away but the manager makes me feel so good that I can get it again and if I give it away, it’s OK because that’s how he wants us to play.
“He won’t be cheering if I keep giving it away on the edge of the box, but it was only once and once was enough to remind me to be a bit quicker because these derby games are a rapid pace.
“After that I thought we passed the ball really well and had spells where we dominated.”
Meanwhile, Maddison was happy to give back some stick post-match to England team-mate Saka, who mimicked Maddison’s own darts celebration for both of Arsenal’s goals, but was turned by the Spurs playmaker for Son’s first goal.
Maddison, who was forced off with a slight knee injury, quipped to SpursPlay: “Me and Bukayo had a bit of banter and a bit of trash talking if you like on international duty.
“I got told he did the dart celebration and he must have still been doing it when I turned him for the first goal.”
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
