🔬 The Debrief as Chelsea falter again, Arsenal star and Newcastle stumble | OneFootball

Saturday’s Premier League fixtures delivered as always.

Here is a low down on what you may have missed from the four fixtures which took place.

What happened?

Brentford now have more wins since April at Stamford Bridge since Chelsea as Bryan Mbeumo assisted one and scored another in the visitors’ 2-0 win.

Eddie Nketiah scored a hat-trick as Arsenal thrashed Sheffield United 5-0 at home, deputising ably for the injured Gabriel Jesus.

Elsewhere, Philip Billing’s strike from just inside his own half fired Bournemouth to their first win of the season at Burnley’s expense, while Wolves twice came from behind to earn a point at home to Newcastle.

Player of the Day

Who else but Nketiah?

The first Premier League hat-trick of his career sunk the Blades as he brought his tally since the start of last season to 14 in all competitions, which is just one fewer than Gabriel Jesus in the same span and saw him become the first Englishman to net one for the Gunners in the league since Theo Walcott eight years ago.

“For me he is top level and he needs to enjoy this moment,” Mikel Arteta said of the man of the moment. “He fully deserves this and hopefully there is much more to come.”

Key Detail

If some reports were to be believed, Andoni Iraola was hanging on by a thread as Bournemouth boss prior to their clash with Burnley.

And after they fell a goal down early to a rare Charlie Taylor goal, things began to look very grim for the Spaniard but they responded superbly to that setback and ran out deserving winners in the end.

They did have to ride their luck somewhat, with Philip Billing’s 45-yard winner coming thanks to a big goalkeeping helping hand and they also faced an agonising injury-time wait for a potential Jay Rodriguez equaliser to be ruled out for offside.

But Iraola is up and running at least. Is this the start of the revival?

Stats of the Day

Brentford are the only side in Premier League history to win on each of their first three visits to Stamford Bridge.

Callum Wilson moved up to third place in Newcastle’s Premier League record scorers list and his 18 goals since the start of April are more than any other player in that time frame.

In addition, Wilson’s 94% penalty kick conversion rate is bettered only by Matt Le Tissier (96%) and Danny Murphy (95%) from Premier League players who have taken a minimum of 15 spot-kicks.

What this means

Arsenal closed the gap on top-of-the-table Tottenham to two points ahead of Manchester City’s derby against United on Sunday.

Brentford leapfrogged Chelsea, who they knocked into the bottom half with their win, as Newcastle temporarily moved back into the top five.

Sheffield United and Burnley stay 20th and 19th respectively but Bournemouth’s first victory of the campaign sees them move out of the drop zone.

What they said

Mauricio Pochettino called on Chelsea to find their ruthless streak following their loss: “We’ve had bad luck like the Christopher Nkunku injury because he’s someone who has shown he can score goals at the top level but if you don’t score, you have to blame yourself. We weren’t nasty or clinical in front of goal.”

After one point from 10 games, Paul Heckingbottom was asked if he fears for his Blades future: “This is probably an issue that I know the least about if I’m honest. I hear the noise but I’m not the kind of person who goes seeking assurances.”

What comes next?

EFL Cup action returns in midweek. Of the teams in action today, Newcastle travel to Manchester United, Arsenal are at West Ham, Bournemouth take on Liverpool at Anfield, Chelsea play host to Blackburn and Burnley are at Everton.