Arsenal and Brighton stick it to critics but Pochettino, Liverpool and pathetic Palace the biggest losers | OneFootball

What a fine Premier League weekend it was

Arsenal will ignore Celebration Police officers Carragher, Neville and Ferdinand. Brighton were brilliant. But Chelsea, Liverpool and Palace were awful.

Winners

Richarlison’s surgeon There can hardly be a more glowing reference than Callum Wilson and Michail Antonio’s punchbag suddenly becoming the continent’s foremost purveyor of goals after simply going under the knife.

Aston Villa Not many teams hand out a better paddlin’.

Arsenal Some will tell them to “just get down the tunnel” all while savouring every Jurgen Klopp fist pump to the fans in victory. Others will continue to peddle the idea of “immaturity” permeating a team characterised by the exact opposite qualities. Arsenal will appreciate that the precise same stick would have been used to beat them if the result was reversed, such is the narrative surrounding Mikel Arteta’s side.

Whether they win the Premier League title or not come May, the Gunners can take solace in the fact that these were the sort of games in which they used to crumble. There would be no shame in finishing behind Manchester City or Liverpool, and these two phenomenal sides have been made to look ordinary at the Emirates.

Mikel Arteta deserves far more credit than he receives for not just closing but essentially eradicating that gap. The usual critics can try to have their cake and eat it with the same tired tropes about Arsenal that have not been true for years, but Arteta and his players will know better than to be distracted by the noise.

Brighton There have only been four younger starting line-ups named in the Premier League this season than the side Brighton put out against Crystal Palace. They had garnered some poor results: Burnley drawing with Fulham and losing to Manchester City; Chelsea losing to Everton and themselves narrowly beating the Eagles with a last-gasp penalty.

Brighton had no such trouble making their youthful exuberance count, two teenagers scoring again in Jack Hinshelwood and Facundo Buonanotte, neatly underlining their exciting academy and peerless transfer business. No Premier League player has scored more goals in all competitions than 22-year-old Joao Pedro, whose 19 matches Erling Haaland and trails only Kylian Mbappe, Harry Kane and Lautaro Martinez across Europe.

But this was a necessary victory delivered with more than a helping hand from Brighton’s senior pros, Lewis Dunk opening the scoring and Pascal Gross solidifying his status as one of the great modern bargains.

All in all, it was the most Brighton of weeks, victory and defeat both delivered in ludicrous extremes. Only Aston Villa, Liverpool, Manchester City and Newcastle have won a higher number of games by three goals or more; just Bournemouth and Sheffield United have lost more games by at least four goals.

Brighton midfielder Pascal Gross

Burnley Only Sheffield United (32) have used more players in the Premier League than Burnley (30) this season, but Vincent Kompany will point to the impact of three of his four most recent debutants to justify the extent of some often infuriating tinkering.

While Han-Noah Massengo has understandably struggled to influence the last two games in closing-stage cameos, the club’s three January additions have already established themselves among their best signings in a transfer-heavy campaign.

David Datro Fofana became the first Burnley player to score twice in a Premier League match since Maxwel Cornet in October 2021. Maxime Esteve replaced Hjalmar Ekdal at half-time and was infinitely more composed. Lorenz Assignon capped an excellent performance from the start with an assist for the first goal.

There are points to be made about Burnley’s current predicament stemming largely from an inability to adequately replace the loanees they relied on heavily in their promotion campaign, and how subsequently leaning on borrowed players in their bid to survive is problematic. But if Burnley do manage to stay up, Kompany will not mind kicking the can down the road in terms of squad building if he gets a second crack at getting a Premier League pre-season right.

Luton, the great Brexiteers Luton have scored more (17) and conceded fewer goals (19) against the eight Premier League sides who qualified for Europe last season, than they have against their 11 peers who did not (15 scored, 23 conceded).

Ross Barkley noted that opponents “might be really surprised at how good we are now” after their low-key Newcastle draw but if that remains the case there really is no excuse for such ignorance. Luton have long provided an obvious threat from set-pieces and on the counter in particular, but they are punching laughably far above their weight in terms of the flowing moves they are starting to build consistently, of which England hero Barkley himself is the chief orchestrator. Only Liverpool and Spurs have outscored Luton since the November international break.

The way they have finetuned their gameplan and grown in confidence has been one of the stories of the season. Luton completed 189 passes in their first game (the 4-1 defeat to Brighton), one of five times they have made fewer than 200 passes in a league match, each of which came in or before November. They completed 324 passes against Newcastle, the fourth time they have managed more than 300 passes in a league match this campaign, with two of the other instances coming within their last three fixtures (against Burnley and Chelsea), a September draw against Wolves the outlier.

That ability to develop and evolve their style over time without impinging on any core values has formed the backbone of a valiant survival bid – and sets them apart from every other relegation candidate – in which Luton can take immense pride.

Everton For the first time since April, Everton came from behind in a Premier League home game to earn at least a point. “I know the mentality is growing,” Sean Dyche said then, praising the “outstanding mentality” of his players after they channelled the spirit of Goodison Park to cancel out Harry Kane’s penalty with Michael Keane’s stoppage-time stunner.

Before then, Everton last conjured a point from a losing situation at home in August 2022, when Demarai Gray equalised in the 88th minute after Nottingham Forest had been put in front by Brennan Johnson. The thought of being defeated by the Welshman is clearly a strong motivator.

Everton will at least be grateful that Sean Dyche has rediscovered his fondness for streaks. Four consecutive wins were followed by three successive wins and now as many draws on the bounce – the sort of form he cultivated to immense success at Burnley. Luton have decided to establish the most potent attack in the entire country at the most awkward time but any sign of that robustness will give Everton a chance to capitalise if the Hatters ever do stop scoring.

Manchester United Five straight matches unbeaten for the first time since last March, a run which also marks the previous time Manchester United scored at least two goals in as many as five straight matches.

“You didn’t believe me,” said Erik ten Hag of their recent improvement, inspired in no small part by actually having most of his better players available. That cannot offset just how disastrously Manchester United nor the manager coped in terms of establishing viable alternatives, but at least it is possible to see the vision again.

And that shot of Rasmus Hojlund, Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo celebrating is lovely. At least the entire club has never allowed itself to get massively carried away by a single picture before, letting it shape all their decisions for years to come.

Gary O’Neil, the world’s greatest attacking coach Even the typically British downplaying of his role in Matheus Cunha’s transformation – “all we’ve managed to do, really, is change an unbelievably talented footballer into an unbelievably talented footballer” – cannot mask just how thoroughly O’Neil has upgraded the attack he inherited at Molineux.

Cunha had two goals and no assists in his half-season under Julen Lopetegui, compared to nine and six respectively in roughly as many games this campaign. Hwang Hee-chan’s eight goals in 57 Premier League appearances before this season have been dwarfed by 10 in 20 matches in 2023/24. This is already the best season of Pedro Neto’s career for league assists.

Ruben Neves had the most combined Premier League goals and assists for Wolves last season with seven. The most combined goals and assists any Wolves player managed in a single Premier League season from 2020/21 to 2022/23 was Neto’s 11 a few years ago. Cunha (15) and Hwang (13) have already beaten that tally, with Neto himself (10) among those on course to surpass it. All thanks to O’Neil and his “important little” tweaks.

Losers

Chelsea The only thing a manager must dread more than a board’s vote of confidence is Thiago Silva’s wife’s social media disapproval. Graham Potter was dispensed with a matter of weeks after a Chelsea supporter’s post about the ‘deadbeat, tacticless coach’ was liked by Belle Silva, who called for ‘change’ in the aftermath of defeat to Wolves.

Something certainly must change, and when the justification for keeping Pochettino has reached the ‘you can’t just keep changing managers’ phase, it seems to be headed only one way. The two-year contract he signed in the summer was hardly a show of immense faith and must have been written with this scenario in mind.

Chelsea cannot simply keep swapping coaches to oversee this project, yet equally so much has been invested in this hilariously disjointed mess of an overhauled squad that, for a variety of reasons including but not limited to FFP restrictions, it is far more difficult to switch the players instead.

If an imminent League Cup final is keeping Pochettino in a job, that path to Wembley carved out through beating one Premier League side in 90 minutes and overcoming Championship opposition in the semi-final, that is a suitably pathetic way to run a football club.

Pochettino has now managed as many Chelsea games as Potter (31), with a marginally better win record (14 victories to 12) but losing as often (11 defeats each), while both scoring (54 to 33) and conceding (43 to 30) far more.

It is not clear precisely which manager is properly equipped to turn Chelsea around, but it is becoming more obvious Pochettino really might not be the one.

Crystal Palace There should be little doubt in response to Roy Hodgson’s claim that “we are doing our best”, but in a season characterised by the manager’s media mistakes, he likely doesn’t recognise quite how damning that statement is for Palace.

It probably is as much as this side can manage, a humiliating result to their bitter rivals. A starting line-up which betrayed the transfer market neglect which comes from resting on one’s laurels; archaic, almost non-existent tactics; a limp attacking display from a creatively barren midfield and laughably blunt forward line; and a defence which once gave Palace a steady foundation and chance to at least compete in most games, but is now being breached with daunting regularity.

Praising young debutant Adam Wharton while saying “he lost the ball in midfield trying to turn with it which led to a third goal”. Bringing Michael Olise on to fight a lost cause at 3-0 down, only for the Frenchman to suffer another hamstring injury in this overworked season. The passioned and passive-aggressive defence of Steve Parish, perhaps the only reason Hodgson remains in Premier League employment, yet the same man equally desperately scouring a desolate market for potential replacements. Palace supporters might as well resort to a spot of Hodgson bingo in the spare time they have after entirely understandably leaving games early.

It is a mess as lamentable as it was predictable and avoidable. This season was sacrificed when Hodgson was given the post full-time, at which point the absolute best Palace hoped for was consolidation and survival. That they had no back-up plan in case that failed and are scrambling for solutions who are equally rushing to reject them in February is embarrassing.

Liverpool A first indisputable Premier League defeat of the season, delivered in breath-taking style. There is nothing quite like a Liverpool capitulation.

The hope is that it was all concentrated within those 90 chastening minutes rather than a harbinger of what is to come. Jurgen Klopp has harnessed the momentum from their excellent end to last season impeccably but it was always going to be interesting to see how they would react to a defeat of this nature when it came. The unique context of the Spurs loss in September only fuelled them further but this was different, more damaging.

Time will tell how important a factor it is, but Liverpool only winning one of six Premier League games against other members of the current top six so far feels unusual. Klopp built his dynasty on thriving in that mini-league but Arsenal seem to have wrestled that particular title from them at least.

Newcastle The only team to have already conceded more Premier League goals this campaign than in the entirety of last season, which is a reflection of the solidity, organisation and imperiousness on which Eddie Howe founded his success at Newcastle, but also of what the Magpies have long since lost.

On most if not all defensive metrics, Newcastle have regressed far beyond what became their identity. Their abating injury crisis provides one compelling caveat but the only Howe side they currently resemble is the old Bournemouth one which was famed for scoring and conceding in equally lavish measure.

“I had this reputation of not being a good defensive coach, and I didn’t particularly like that,” Howe said just over a year ago, adding that he had “worked on” that aspect of his game during his career break, “but it’s not to say we know everything or have fixed everything”.

Taking Dan Burn off was one quick fix Howe ignored to his detriment against Luton, Chiedozie Ogbene’s victim spared a substitution at least in part because of the sort of loyalty Newcastle cannot afford to let blind them if they are to establish themselves as a true force.

Something has certainly been broken in recent months and after denying the Magpies were “open” despite facing 34 shots in defeat to Liverpool last month, little has changed. No side has conceded as many shots nor registered a worse xGA since Christmas, and though the darkest clouds have shifted somewhat, the forecast remains uncomfortably dark for a team which has quickly gone from boasting the best defensive record in the league to having the second-worst in a top half they barely inhabit.

Spurs Across Europe’s top five divisions, only Inter (21) have taken the lead in more games than Spurs (20) this season. A four-point advantage atop Serie A compared to a seven-point gap to the Premier League summit underlines the difference between two clubs at contrasting stages of their respective development.

In the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue Un, just Brentford (23), Borussia Monchengladbach (23) and Nottingham Forest (21) have dropped more points from winning positions than Spurs (18), whose need to “kill games off” was stressed by both Ange Postecoglou and Micky van de Ven after a painfully familiar flaw undid them against Everton.

Through a positive lens, having one clear, unequivocal and eminently improvable area on which to focus on can be a good thing; this is a work in progress but it is easy to see almost every other element of this machine functioning properly, with certain tweaks and refinements needed to take it to the next level.

That said, learning to exert proper control in games like these is a small but significant step which will require patience and precision, particularly as opponents start to sense a theme in their current complacency and carelessness. And as Guglielmo Vicario’s recent treatment has shown, any sign of a potential target on a team’s back will be exploited to the fullest until and unless adjustments are made.

West Ham The only thing more damning than West Ham having to use Ben Johnson as a right winger at Old Trafford is that the peripheral full-back was their most effective attacking outlet and perhaps even their best player again.

Couple that with the continued struggles of Kalvin Phillips and that January transfer window is being made to look worse with each game.

The imminent return of Lucas Paqueta cannot come soon enough but that will bring us no closer to addressing the pretty much even supporter split over the future of David Moyes, who at least made some more history at Old Trafford: no manager has suffered more than his 239 career Premier League defeats.

Sheffield United Four members of the bottom five drew, each trailing at one stage in games they salvaged something from. Sheffield United wisely eschewed that drama to simply suffer the sort of humiliating performance and embarrassing result which helped cost their previous manager his job.

Chris Wilder did at least “accept that responsibility in terms of the way that the team set up,” blaming his own switch to a back five in which there was no starting place for the “outstanding” Jack Robinson.

But good lord, they really might be one of the worst Premier League teams to ever do it.

Fulham The only club to face the side currently in second twice in the Premier League this season and not lose to them. One of two teams – along with Luton – to face the side currently second-bottom twice in the Premier League this season and not beat them. A fundamentally stupid entity.

Bournemouth That was the second-most possession (54%) Nottingham Forest have had in a Premier League away game since promotion. Their highest proportion remains the 57% they had at the Vitality Stadium in May. They’re not that good, Bournemouth. No reason to fear them so.

Nottingham Forest Only Sheffield United (four) have fewer points against bottom-half sides this season than Nottingham Forest (11). And three of those bottom-half points for the Tricky Trees came at home to the obviously quite bad Sheffield United.