The Premier League returned last weekend and provided the thrills and spills we’ve all been waiting for.
Aston Villa and Crystal Palace completed miraculous comebacks, Arsenal and Tottenham played out a fierce north London derby and (expectedly) Erling Haaland scored a few more goals.
But what have we learned from these results?
Well, we’re glad you asked.
Here we have four things 90 minutes learned from the weekend’s action.
I’m sorry everton fans, but guess we’re stating the obvious here.
Having watched the Toffees make their worst start to a season in 66 years by losing their fourth game back to back despite holding a 2-0 lead at one point against Aston Villa, it’s pretty clear that the The club’s days in the top flight are numbered. .
It was also an avoidable situation.
They needed to heed the warning of narrowly surviving the 2023/24 drop by improving their squad over the summer and, quite simply, they didn’t.
As a result, Everton could be trying to fill a new 52,000-capacity stadium in the Championship in 2025/26. It will be fun.
To be honest, we were all a bit confused by the sheer volume of interest in Jhon Duran, a striker who only started three Premier League games last season, during the summer transfer window.
Four games into 2024/25, and that interest is much more understandable.
The young striker has been truly fantastic in the opening weeks of the new season, scoring three goals in just 103 minutes of football.
His third, and Villa’s third, in their win over Everton is also one of the first goals of the season. A beautiful
Whisper it, but Jadon Sancho could be back.
The wide forward received a Premier League Chelsea’s lifeline at the end of the summer transfer window, signing on loan for the Blues and early signs show he is determined to repay that faith.
Sancho’s appearance from the bench at the Vitality Stadium at the weekend completely turned the game in his new club’s favour. As well as causing problems with his dribbling ability, he also set up the only goal of the game – cutting inside to deliver an incisive pass to the feet of Christopher Nkunku.
It was the sharpest he has looked in the Premier League in a long time.
For a team that has failed to win a Premier League title, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal certainly played like a team that did.
The Gunners, despite dealing with a host of injuries, showed their mettle in the north London derby on Sunday afternoon. Arsenal hit the front thanks to a Gabriel header in the first half, and were then able to hold their form against an attacking Tottenham line-up to seal all three points.
It’s the kind of game Arsenal probably wouldn’t have won a few seasons ago. Now, however, after a few near-title misses under their belts, they seem to have figured out how to win ugly.
