Another hectic week of Premier League action has been and gone, with 30 goals going in across 10 games.
The highlight of the weekend was Liverpool, who recorded their first win of the season in style, beating Bournemouth 9-0 at Anfield, while West Ham also got their first win of the season courtesy of a scrappy 1-0 win over Aston Villa.
A late recovery from Arsenal kept their 100% record alive against newly promoted Fulham, while Manchester City fought back from 2-0 down to win 4-2 against Crystal Palace in a game in which one man dominated the headlines.
There were also hard-fought wins for Chelsea, Tottenham and Brighton, while Wolves and Newcastle shared the spoils.
But who stood out for their sides this weekend? 101 takes a look.
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📰 Table Of Contents
- 1 GK: Aaron Ramsdale
- 2 RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold
- 3 CB: Armel Bella-Kotchap (Southampton)
- 4 CB: Kurt Zouma (West Ham United)
- 5 LB: Marc Cucurella (Chelsea)
- 6 CM: Pascal Gross (Brighton and Hove Albion)
- 7 CM: Martin Odegaard (Arsenal)
- 8 RW: Raheem Sterling
- 9 ST: Roberto Firmino
- 10 ST: Erling Haaland
- 11 LW: Luiz Diaz
- 12 Monday’s transfer rumours: De Jong, Aubameyang, Gordon, Neves, Neto and more
- 13 FC Barcelona forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang ‘robbed & beaten’ in early hours of morning
GK: Aaron Ramsdale
After an indifferent end to last season, Ramsdale seems back to his best for Arsenal, making a pair of fine saves from close range to preserve their goal advantage in a game where the Gunners were far from their best, but ground out a result against a fired up Fulham side.
𝗦𝗮𝘃𝗲 from Aaron Ramsdale. 🧤
𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸 from Benjamin White. ⛔️Colossal. 💪 #afc pic.twitter.com/cfR302NDlP
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) August 28, 2022
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold
WHAT. A. HIT. 🎯
Enjoy every angle of @TrentAA‘s strike against AFC Bournemouth, presented by @Sonos 👌 pic.twitter.com/dEU9WU3pxo
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) August 28, 2022
CB: Armel Bella-Kotchap (Southampton)
It is rare for a defender on the losing team to end up in the team of the week, but Bella-Kotchap was the standout player on the pitch as his Saints side fell to a narrow defeat against Manchester United on Saturday lunchtime. The 20-year-old looked fast, strong, and confident on the ball, and if he can find the consistency he is certain to be sold to a bigger side for big money in two seasons’ time.
Armel Bella-Kotchap’s game by numbers vs. Manchester United
100% tackle success rate
100% ground duels won
81% pass accuracy
60 touches
5/8 aerial duels won
5 long balls
2 blocks
2 interceptions
1 goal-line clearanceImpressive performance. 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/eMQVbEOhHb
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) August 27, 2022
CB: Kurt Zouma (West Ham United)
West Ham picked up their first points of the season over a poor Aston Villa side in what was a low quality-affair, summed up by a deflected goal proving the winner. Zouma, however, excelled. The Frenchman made 11 clearances and won all three of his aerial duels, as well as completing 4 out of his 7 attempted long balls.
His fitness will be key to any European hopes that the Hammers have this season.
LB: Marc Cucurella (Chelsea)
Marc Cucurella has taken to life at Chelsea like a duck to water, and impressed as an orthodox left-back at the weekend in their win over Leicester City.
The Spaniard continued to bomb on even with his side down to 10 men, and is already showing signs of a promising relationship with Raheem Sterling down the Chelsea left. He got an assist for his troubles.
2 assists in 3 starts… 🔥
Marc Cucurella’s start to life at Chelsea. 👏 pic.twitter.com/a0KwazPDfP
— LDN (@LDNFootbalI) August 27, 2022
CM: Pascal Gross (Brighton and Hove Albion)
31-year-old Gross scored the winner for Brighton, but in truth could have had more, with the German at the heart of Brighton’s good work as they made light work of high-flying Leeds United.
Graham Potter’s side have hardly missed a beat despite losing Yves Bissouma and Marc Cucurella over the summer, and Gross’ 3 goals and an assist have gone way to making that the case
Der Kaiser does it again! 👑 @BrightonTools pic.twitter.com/UV0rcWzGIs
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) August 27, 2022
CM: Martin Odegaard (Arsenal)
In previous seasons, Arsenal would not have won this game when a Gabriel mistake handed Aleksandr Mitrovic his 100th goal for Fulham and the Cottagers the lead, but this is not previous seasons.
Central to their comeback was Norwegian midfielder Martin Odegaard, who continued his fine form with the equaliser, but in truth ran the game for the Gunners. Still just 23-years-old, Real Madrid’s decision to sell the youngster continues to baffle.
Ødegaard grabs an equaliser for Arsenal! ⚡
“𝙃𝙚’𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝” pic.twitter.com/HDVQ2Umrm3
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 27, 2022
RW: Raheem Sterling
In a game low in quality, Raheem Sterling provided 2 moments of it to ensure that his new side took all three points from a tricky encounter with Leicester City. His link up with Marc Cucurella is already exciting, and Sterling will be hoping that now he has opened his Chelsea account, the goals will begin to rush in.
Off the mark for the club! 🤝 pic.twitter.com/tscYDIScC8
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 27, 2022
ST: Roberto Firmino
After a poor start to the season, Roberto Firmino and Liverpool both blew away the cobwebs in their demolition of Bournemouth, who in truth look well short of Premier League level.
The Brazilian was brilliant as he grabbed 3 assists to go with his two goals, and he made Liverpool fans forget about the absence of Darwin Nunez for 90 minutes.
3️⃣ assists
2️⃣ goalsA stunning Bobby Firmino performance earns him the @carlsberg Player of the Match award 😍 pic.twitter.com/fb2XohMkjE
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) August 27, 2022
ST: Erling Haaland
The first of what feels like many hat-tricks to come from Manchester City’s new no.9, Haaland scored three typical strikers goals: a header, a tap in at the far post and a classy finish into the corner after holding off a defender.
Given that Manchester City fell to a 2-0 disadvantage early in the piece, Haaland’s hat-trick was even more important, helping his side pick up a massive three points.
.@ErlingHaaland‘s first City hat-trick! 💫#ManCity pic.twitter.com/vZQKnkITzU
— Manchester City (@ManCity) August 27, 2022
LW: Luiz Diaz
Liverpool’s best player in the early part of the season, Diaz got the rout up and running with a fine header, before wrapping up the game with the 9th goal. The Colombian thrives even as those around him have struggled, and has taken some of the pressure off of Mo Salah to be the main man at Anfield.
The @LuisFDiaz19 header that got things going in #LIVBOU 😎
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) August 27, 2022
