The weekend’s Premier League action has brought Arsenal’s first dropped points of the season, Ipswich Town’s first point of the season, yet another Erling Haaland hat trick and more. Saturday got off to quite a start with Declan Rice being sent off for the Gunners and Bournemouth overturning Everton’s lead late for their first victory for the end of the season but Haaland closed the day out the best he could. With back-to-back hat tricks, the Premier League Golden Boot race could be over as he already has seven goals. Let’s take a look at what happened:
Premier Leauge scores and scheudule
Saturday, Aug. 31
- Arsenal 1, Brighton 1
- Nottingham Forest 1, Wolverhampton 1
- Leicester City 1, Aston Villa 2
- Ipswich Town 1, Fulham 1
- Brentford 3, Southampton 1
- Everton 2, Bournemouth 3
- West Ham United 1, Manchester City 3
Sunday, Sep. 1
- Chelsea vs. Crystal Palace, 8:30 a.m. ET (Peacock)
- Newcastle United vs. Tottenham, 8:30 a.m. ET (USA)
- Manchester United vs. Liverpool, 11 a.m. ET (Peacock)
Haaland, Haaland and more Haaland
Manchester City are inevitable and part of the reason behind that is the presence of Haaland, the destroyer of worlds. The Norwegian completed another hat trick and made it look easy. Four shots, three on target, and three goals. When he can score with varied finishes, it makes City unstoppable, especially with Ilkay Gundogon there to bolster the midfield. Haaland already has seven goals this season and is on pace to outdo his inaugural season with 36 goals in league play.
With 70 league goals for City already in 69 appearances, Haaland is skyrocketing up every record board there is, and there’s nothing that can stop him and it shows the power of a number nine in the title race. The only question now is what will City do when he’s not on the pitch. Julian Alvarez is off to Atletico Madrid so for now, there is no recognized second striker in the squad.
Given the talent that City has, it may not be an issue but a long-term absence is where things become concerning. They’re now used to looking for Haaland atop the XI but there’s only one player in the world who can make chances out of the shots that he does. If forced to play without him, that’s when teams like Arsenal may have a shot at the Premier League but as long as Haaland is healthy, they’re going to be unstoppable yet again.
An early challenge for Arsenal
No one wants to become the first team of the title contenders to drop a point, especially in how Arsenal’s halftime lead against Brighton evaporated. Rice was dismissed quickly after the half before Joao Pedro scored to level the match for Brighton. It’s Rice’s first red card ever and it was an avoidable one as he fell for Brighton’s trap. Mikel Arteta is always one to preach about the mentality of his teams but now Rice leaves Arsenal with a challenge. Not only will they need to make up points in coming matches but they’ll also need to replace Rice in a North London derby against Tottenham.
With new signing Mikel Merino also injured after picking up a shoulder injury, much of Arteta’s international break will be spent ensuring that he has an adequate setup for facing their rivals. On the bright side, going without Rice will give Arsenal a chance to prepare for rotation that will be needed when Champions League play comes up. Arteta will also be pleased that down a man, the Gunners were still able to create a big chance in the second half to try and get all three points out of the match. While it’s never good to drop points, doing it early with such a big game looming will show where Arsenal’s mentality is early this season.
Bournemouth for Europe?
Don’t look now but the Cherries are unbeaten after three matches even following the sale of Dominic Solanke to Tottenham. It was an epic comeback against Everton to snatch all three points with three goals after the 87th minute as Andoni Iraola’s side are rising up the table. Antoine Semenyo has taken a step forward with two goals and an assist already this season but it’s a true team attack where everyone in the side can hurt you. They’ve been flexible with styles and in Dean Huijsen there’s a young defender who will be a dynamic addition once he’s fully up to speed.
Comfortable taking the ball out of the back, he can help offset matches like facing Everton where Evanilson is marked out of the game. Not having European commitments currently means that the Cherries will have their chances to take points off of other tired teams around the league as the season wears on.
For Everton, while they were able to score during the match, this will be when concern begins to creep in for Sean Dyche. Three matches into the young season, the Toffees have conceded 10 goals only scoring two and they sit at the bottom of the table. While odds are on them turning things around, it’s pretty important to do that sooner rather than later.