1) West Ham give Bilic reason for hope once Payet returns
Unlike last year’s corresponding fixture, when West Ham beat Manchester City 2-1 at the Etihad, Slaven Bilic’s side came up short this time but they gave Pep Guardiola’s men a scare during a post-interval resurgence and the Croat can be optimistic for the season. He said: “In the second half we put them under a bit of pressure, the goal helped, but the second half I am more than happy. It gives us hope when the players are out injured. We stayed in the game. I wasn’t happy at half-time, I asked the guys to show character and spirit and a different mentality, which they did. Praise for the team for the second-half performance. A few will be back after the international break. It should be [Manuel] Lanzini and then [Dimitri] Payet. That will change the shape of the team and the quality of the team.” They only have three points from three games but expect Bilic’s team to start rising up the table. Jamie Jackson
• Match report: Manchester City 3-1 West Ham
• West Ham sign Zaza on loan with view to permanent move
2) Relentless Chelsea suggest Conte can lead title charge
Chelsea topped the fledgling Premier League table on Saturday night, their record still pristine under Antonio Conte, but the Italian is offering only realism when he assesses his own immediate impact at Stamford Bridge. The early season momentum is significant only because it permits his players “to trust my methodology” more. He is not resting on his laurels after wins against West Ham, Watford and, most impressively, Burnley. “But we know we can improve,” he said. “We must improve, and improve a lot, and [we can do that] only through work. But I’m pleased today because I saw, also, the idea about our football.”
That is not all about scintillating pace and skill on the flanks. Or rugged defence in securing a first clean sheet at home since Scunthorpe visited in January. Conte, his usual demanding self on the touchline, actually reserved his most ferocious, manic show of appreciation for an interception mustered by Oscar deep inside his own half. That selfless industry and desire to put the team first is at the core of his philosophy. Chelsea have bought into what he wants, and that only bodes well for his team’s title challenge. Dominic Fifield
• Match report: Chelsea 3-0 Burnley
• Daniel Taylor: Gray’s sorry tweeting case far from straightforward
3) Benteke-Townsend combination offers hope to under-fire Pardew
If Alan Pardew’s tenure at Selhurst Park could be encapsulated in a single game then surely this was it. Terrible for one half, yet fantastic in the next, Scott Dann’s injury-time equaliser must have come as a huge relief for their embattled manager after a difficult start to the season. Some supporters have already lost patience with the club’s former midfielder after the dreadful run of just two wins in 2016, with Tottenham’s bid for the club’s player of the year, Wilfried Zaha, last week only serving to heighten anxieties. But after breaking their transfer record twice this summer and with the prospect of two players to arrive before the transfer deadline, there could be brighter times ahead. Christian Benteke’s combination with Andros Townsend for the cross that led to Palace’s first goal in the league this season was a promising start, although Pardew will know he needs plenty more where that came from after the international break. Ed Aarons
• Match report: Crystal Palace 1-1 Bournemouth
• Pardew to speak with Wilfried Zaha about his Crystal Palace future
4) Koeman’s pragmatism a welcome relief for fans after Martínez
Ashley Williams was only named in one press conference, and it wasn’t by the manager who committed £12m to bring him to Goodison Park. Yet while Stoke’s Mark Hughes complained about the Everton newcomer’s part in securing the debated, decisive penalty, his impact was apparent in both boxes. Ronald Koeman took heart from the clean sheet his side kept. That owed much to Williams, a paragon of solidity in his newly formed partnership with Phil Jagielka. They have a combined age of 66 and their experience was allied with that of a still older centre-back: the manager himself.
- Appearances
- 2
- Shots blocked
- 0
- Clearances
- 8
Koeman introduced Ramiro Funes Mori and removed Ross Barkley in the closing stages, successfully protecting the lead by deploying a five-man rearguard. Such pragmatism was welcome at Goodison Park. While Stoke only recorded one shot on target, this felt the sort of game Roberto Martínez’s self-destructive team would have contrived to find a way not to win. Koeman’s side emerged with three points. Last season Everton only mustered six home league victories at Goodison Park, five against the eventual bottom five. While Stoke prop up the table now, they are probable mid-table finishers. So although this may seem a routine home win and came coated in controversy, it represented progress nonetheless. Richard Jolly
• Match report: Everton 1-0 Stoke City
5) Guidolin’s odd selections leave Swansea looking lost
All is not well at Swansea City. Another defeat and another listless performance should be ringing a few alarm bells at the Welsh club. It came as a surprise when Swansea gave Francesco Guidolin the manager’s job on a permanent basis in the summer, and that decision seems likely to come under greater scrutiny over the coming weeks, unless there is an improvement. Guidolin’s side looked clueless against Leicester. There was no pattern to their play, no leadership, and it was worrying to see how brittle they are in central defence now that Ashley Williams has departed. Even the team selection seemed curious – Leon Britton and Nathan Dyer have both recently signed new contracts but were not even in the 18, while Gylfi Sigurdsson, the club’s most influential player last season, was withdrawn in the second half. Their next five league fixtures: Chelsea (h), Southampton (a), Manchester City (h), Liverpool (h) and Arsenal (a). It could be a long season. Stuart James
• Match report: Leicester City 2-1 Swansea City
• Leicester in talks with Sporting Lisbon over £30m Slimani deal
6) Hull’s precarious position makes Phelan the smart choice
Hull City’s protracted takeover is now in the hands of the Premier League after the club’s vice-chairman Ehab Allam confirmed before this defeat to Manchester United that his family is close to selling up. A purchase by Chinese investors is imminent but, given the timing and Wednesday’s transfer deadline being so close, whoever the new owners select to be their first permanent manager will have to deal with a hugely difficult situation. Mike Phelan says deals for new players are lined up but even if they get a few new faces in by the deadline, the squad will still be extremely thin. Given Phelan’s ability to get the best out of limited resources so far this season, it may be a smart move to continue with him for the foreseeable future. Phelan said: “I think it’s now a serious time to make those decisions and make those correct calls.” James Riach
• Match report: Hull City 0-1 Manchester United
• Fellaini rescues fan caught in crush amid United elation
7) Mané shows Pochettino – and Levy – what Spurs are missing
The biggest positive that Mauricio Pochettino could take from Tottenham’s draw against Liverpool – apart from the fact that his team did not lose a match in which they were often sluggish and predictable – was that the performance should help him convince his employer of the need to sign at least one more forward this week. So far the club’s interest in Wilfried Zaha has succeeded only in annoying Crystal Palace and Pochettino would like a deal to be done for Marseille’s Georges-Kévin Nkoudou. Liverpool’s performance helped him to spell out further what he wants. “We need a player who is more direct, more aggressive offensively,” said Pochettino. “Because we have players like Eriksen, Son [Heung-min] or Lamela, who like more to play into feet, we need someone who has characteristics like we saw from Liverpool, like Mané, the type of player that can break the defensive line.” Over to you, Daniel Levy. Paul Doyle
• Match report: Tottenham 1-1 Liverpool
• Wanyama: ‘Failing is just when you’re not ready to fight. I am ready to fight’
• Klopp backs Henderson as Liverpool rebuilding continues
8) Losing Koné would send Moyes back to square one
It was almost job done for David Moyes until a journalist asked the Sunderland manager about the immediate future of Lamine Koné just as the Scot thought there were no more questions. With the transfer deadline lurking, Moyes’s body language was enough to know the club faces a real fight to keep the defender, who impressed on his return to the starting lineup against Southampton, beyond 11pm on Wednesday. “I thought he played well today, I can’t really say too much on what else might happen between now and the end of the week,” said Moyes, before exiting the press conference suite at St Mary’s. Koné submitted a transfer request earlier this month after Sunderland’s proposed offer of an improved contract failed to materialise. Since then, Everton have increased their efforts to sign the Ivory Coast defender who arrived on Wearside from Lorient in January.
- Appearances
- 2
- Shots blocked
- 1
- Clearances
- 12
“He’s done what he’s had to do, and we’ll see what materialises during the week,” said Moyes. “It was an easy decision to play him because we’ve got no other centre halves. But when you’re a player who has got a four-year contract, and you’ve only served six months of it, I can’t see that worrying about your contract situation should be in your head when you’re in the third game of the season. We will see what materialises this week and what happens.” Sunderland put on a sturdy defensive showing against Southampton, until Jordan Pickford’s late mistake allowed Jay Rodriguez to score his first goal since last September. The £8m summer signing, Papy Djilobodji, partnered Koné in defence, allowing Jack Rodwell to move into midfield and the defence was stronger for it. For Moyes, it feels very much back to square one if Koné is to depart. Ben Fisher
• Match report: Southampton 1-1 Sunderland
• Southampton close to signing Boufal for club record fee
• Sunderland’s £7m bid for Iborra accepted by Sevilla
9) Deeney and Ighalo must bully their way back to form
That Watford not only stayed up last season, but did so with relative ease, was significantly down to the work of Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo; Deeney scored 13 league goals and Ighalo 15. This season, on the other hand, Deeney has yet to score in the league and Ighalo has yet to score at all, which helps explain Watford’s sketchy start: one point and a home defeat to Gillingham describe a team in difficulty. But to focus solely on their strikers’ goal returns is to miss what was special about them; it was not simply how many they scored, but what absolute misery they inflicted on anyone whose misfortune it was to mark them. Walter Mazzarri must remind his busy, bustling bullies that their job is to take defenders where they don’t want to go and upon arriving, knock them about with gay abandon; if he does, he might find that the goals follow. Daniel Harris
• Match report: Watford 1-3 Arsenal
• Wenger praises ‘excellent’ Özil on Arsenal return at Watford
10) Berahino’s time at West Brom is surely over
There was a time when the prospect of losing Saido Berahino would have come as a major disappointment to West Bromwich Albion supporters, yet the reception the striker received when he came off the bench against Middlesbrough suggested that patience has finally run out. Berahino was booed and so was his contribution at times during a 19-minute cameo when the 23-year-old gave the impression that he was going through the motions. His time at Albion now looks certain to be over and with the benefit of hindsight, it would have been better for both parties if he had been allowed to join Tottenham Hotspur when they submitted bids of £18m and £22m for him this time last year. With one goal in his last 27 Premier League appearances, Berahino has badly lost his way and needs a fresh start to reignite a career that is at a crossroads. Stuart James
• Match report: West Brom 0-0 Middlesbrough
• Michael Cox: West Brom’s direct route cut off as Pulis struggles for answers
