What we learned in the Premier league this week

It was another action packed weekend in the premier league, with important games at the top and bottom of the table. Chelsea consolidated their lead at the top and there were contrasting results for two new managers with teams at the wrong end of the table. Sunday was billed as Merseyside versus Manchester and both games certainly lived up to the hype with controversy and incident aplenty.

It seemed to be a case of the changing of the guard as Chelsea gained a comfortable 3-0 victory over defending champions Leicester City. Claudio Ranieri’s side were no match for the league leaders and were never really in the game. With Diego Costa missing from the side and seemingly unsettled, following a reported approach from a Chinese super league side, it was an unlikely double from Marcos Alonso which put the blues on the way to a victory and a seven point lead at the top of the table.

Tottenham climbed to second with an impressive 4-0 victory over an overwhelmed West Brom side. Spurs’ were outstanding throughout and were simply too strong for a West Brom side that had ‘keeper Ben foster to thank for keeping the score in single figures. Harry kane claimed a clinical hat-trick and on this form Spurs will still believe they can catch Chelsea and claim a maiden Premier League title.

Paul Clement had a nightmare start to his managerial career at Swansea as his side were dismantled 4-0 at home by Arsenal, a game that included two own-goals, and looked shambolic at the back on a number of occasions. Swansea could have had a penalty when Ki Sung-Yeung felt he was felled by Laurent Koscielny in the area but received a booking for diving, after that it was all Arsenal and Clement will have huge concerns about his side’s defending and where their goals will come from following rumours that both Gylfi Sigurdsson and Fernando Llorente could be leaving in the January transfer window. If they do leave it’s hard to see how Swansea can survive without two of their most influential attacking players.

It was a different story for Hull City and their new manger Marco Silva as they gained a vital three points with a 3-1 win over Bournemouth. Hull fans must have feared the worse when Junior stanislas converted a spot-kick after only three minutes but Silva will be hugely encouraged by his side’s fightback which included a well-taken brace by Abel Hernandez on his return from injury. With Crystal place and Sunderland both losing it means that just a point separates the bottom four and it’s looking increasingly likely that it will be three of those four sides who will go down.

Sunday’s games pitted the Merseyside clubs against their Manchester counterparts as Everton faced Manchester city and old rivals Manchester United and Liverpool locked horns. Pep Guardiola conceded that the title was now out of reach as his side were hammered 4-0 by Everton at Goodison Park. City had the majority of possession but failed to convert this in to solid chances and were eventually punished as Everton scored four times from just six attempts on goal. Teenagers Tom Davies and debutant Ademola Lookman both scored, meaning that Everton have now joined Arsenal as the teams with the most Premier League goals scored by teenagers with 17.

Manchester United and Liverpool shared a 1-1 draw in a game that didn’t quite live up to expectations on the field. Liverpool took the lead through a James Milner penalty after Paul Pogba handled the ball in the area. United looked out of sorts until Jose Mourinho brought Marouane Fellaini off the bench and opted for a more direct approach and this eventually led to the equaliser as Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s precise header claimed a valuable point for United and maintained their unbeaten run. There was certainly tension in the dug-outs as Mourinho and Jurgen Klopp seemed to have an animated disagreement following an incident on the field involving Roberto Firminho and Ander Herrera. Mourinho later said that it was a misunderstanding and that Klopp had wrongly believed that he had been trying to get Firminho sent off after the Liverpool player appeared to push Herrera to the ground. In the end a draw seemed a fair result and brought another fascinating Premier League weekend to a close.

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