We round up the weekend’s Premier League action by jumping to five conclusions based on a single round of matches.
Every week here on Opta Analyst, we do away with our usual approach of diving deep into the data and instead come to a load of conclusions based on a single round of Premier League fixtures.
Will any of our latest five knee-jerk reactions hold up in the weeks to come, or will they be disproven as the season goes on? Read on to see what you think.
Chelsea Are Broken
There was a great deal of change at Chelsea over the summer but there have been plenty of indications in the early part of the Xabi Alonso era that his could be a productive reign.
But in Saturday’s dismal home defeat to Tottenham, this was Chelsea back to their self-destructive worst.
Yes, they were missing first-choice goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez and first-choice number nine João Pedro. And yes, Tottenham were very good and fully deserved the win. But this was a defeat in a game that Chelsea just do not lose – before this they had lost only once at home to rivals Spurs in the Premier League era.
Concerningly, though, losing has become too normalised for this club, and although it was a shock to see them beaten by Tottenham of all teams, the fans have had to grow used to seeing their team lose. In fact, since the start of March, Chelsea have lost 14 games – more than any other side not just in the Premier League, but in any of the top five European leagues.
Discipline remains a major issue, too, and several managers have been unable to resolve it. After Cole Palmer’s dismissal, Chelsea have picked up nine red cards since the start of last season, four more than anyone else. Morgan Rogers might have been sent off late on, too for a challenge on Conor Gallagher.
They have consistently had problems in goal, too, and on the evidence of his own goal here, Mike Penders could be yet another error-prone goalkeeper.
There are still big problems for Alonso to fix.
With Rediscovered Set-Piece Threat, the Title is Arsenal’s
Last week, we can’t have been the only ones wondering what had happened to Arsenal’s set-piece threat. After breaking the Premier League record for goals from corners last season, they had gone seven games this season without scoring a single goal from a corner, or any kind of set-piece, for that matter.
That said, Arsenal had been more than making up for any issues with enough goals in open play, often scoring after long passages of possession with all of their players involved. They had won all but one of their games and looked far more convincing than last season, too.
But they were always going to run into some difficulties at some point, and Bukayo Saka’s injury is a hurdle they’ll have to navigate.
He is integral to their attacking play and Arsenal always look slightly less fluent without him. So it was no surprise that the display against Everton this weekend with Saka absent was a little more disjointed than some of their other performances this campaign.
But with Ezri Konsa’s seventh-minute opener, Arsenal proved they haven’t entirely lost their set-piece mojo. It was their first set-piece goal (excluding penalties) since May, ending a run of 13 games without one, and set them on their way to a win that felt like it belonged to last season, in that they broke the deadlock with a set-piece and then always looked like holding on.
They are a better team than last season, and set-pieces won’t be as necessary a route to goal, but winning through them is something they need to keep on doing, because they will have off days. If they do this many more times, they’ll stroll to the title.
This is a Low-Quality Premier League Season
The 10 teams involved in Sunday’s games completed just 75.8% of their passes. It was the lowest pass completion rate on a single day of Premier League football with at least five matches played since 14 December 2019, nearly seven years ago.
Some might assume the stormy conditions were the reason for so many passes going astray, and they might well be right. But there was also some really poor football on display, a lot of unconvincing performances and, most strikingly, almost everyone showed they have real weaknesses. That wasn’t limited to Sunday, either.
Brighton, who were supposedly in the title race last week, were comfortably seen off by a Liverpool side who hadn’t won a league game at Anfield this season before this weekend. Manchester United were battered by Bournemouth, who had only just won for the first time this season last week. Hull and Brentford, and then Sunderland and Leeds, played out poor draws.
On Saturday, Manchester City, who were looking to make one of the best eight-game starts to a top-flight season in English football history, were beaten by an Aston Villa side who only a few weeks ago lost at Nottingham Forest. Chelsea were brushed aside by Spurs, who were said to be nailed on for another relegation battle not long ago.
Everyone – apart from maybe Arsenal – has significant flaws. Maybe that will make for an exciting season.
Isak and Barcola Can Prove Worth Every Penny
Any footballer signed for a fee over £100 million is always going to have their performances scrutinised in the context of how much they cost, and the many expensive parts of Liverpool’s attack are no different.
Florian Wirtz continues to divide opinion, and his shot that led to the Pascal Groß own goal that put Liverpool in front changes little, but Alexander Isak is hitting his stride in his second season at the club. He has now scored in three consecutive Premier League appearances for the first time since January 2025 – when he did so for Newcastle – and has six goals in his last six league games for Liverpool. Only Erling Haaland is ahead of him in the top scorers’ stakes this season.
Bradley Barcola has had far less time to settle but put in his best performance since signing for £123m this summer, giving a few glimpses of the player he could be.
Most notable was his jaw-dropping change of pace to leave Olivier Boscagli for dead before crossing for Isak to double Liverpool’s lead. He hit a higher max speed (34.8 km/h) than any other player in the match.
After an injury disrupted first season, Isak is looking much more like the player Liverpool had thought they’d signed, and Barcola is already suggesting he could be a good fit for a team that attacks at lightning pace under Andoni Iraola, too.
Bournemouth Have Done it Again
Every year, Bournemouth lose a load of their players and people start fearing for them. Relegation is always seemingly looming.
This summer, the threat was especially strong because manager Andoni Iraola left for Liverpool, replaced by Marco Rose, respected in the game but unproven in the Premier League.
And after six winless games to start the season, confirmation bias left those same aforementioned people feeling vindicated. This was surely the year that Bournemouth would sink.
But as is the case with every other year, they have regenerated once again, and this one might be their most dramatic yet.
They won 3-0 at Old Trafford on Sunday in one of the most convincing away wins you’ll see there. Incredibly, for a club that was in the fourth tier this century, it is the third time they have gone 3-0 up at Manchester United. Only Liverpool and Manchester City have done so as many times in the history of the Premier League.
And they also beat European giants Milan by the same score last week in the UEFA Europa League. It is an incredible time to be a Bournemouth fan.
Rose has proven he is a capable replacement for Iraola to continue this club’s remarkable journey in the top flight. Once again, they will be looking up the table rather than down.
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