The last game of Gameweek 2, the one between Manchester City and Everton, wrapped up what had been a weekend of exciting Premier League action. As if to continue from where it stopped, Matchday 2 in the world’s most watched football didn’t disappoint.
While we will discuss some of the actions, great play and amazing goals, we will also be looking at how the referees seem to be taking centre stage as the Premier League continues into its third Gameday. After seeing a couple of things in the first round of PL fixtures, what other things have we learnt so far?
- Not Every Team can Play Three at The Back
Credit to Antonio Conte for bringing to England a model so successful in Italy, it helped him win almost everything in sight – except the UEFA Champions League of course. After successfully using 3 at the back for the most part of his title-winning season, more clubs have followed suit ever since.
Now while a coach like Ronald Koeman has successfully used it for his side, Pep Guardiola has not seen so much success, a fact made even more obvious in Manchester City’s first two games. His insistence on playing three at the back, while it gives his defense something different, stifles the creativity his side is notoriously feared for.
Looking over at Arsenal, there’s also a very apparent struggle to play 3 at the back, even though Wenger’s headache is more of not having the square pegs to put into the square holes. Yes, 3-4-3 is a great formation. But as we learned this past weekend, it’s not for every team.
- Manchester United and Manchester City: The Two Deadliest Sides in the Premier League
Forget every other thing that you know – or may think you know. Manchester is the city to turn to if you’re looking for the deadliest clubs as far as this current PL campaign is concerned. One side has scored 8 goals in just two games – without conceding a goal – while the other created as many as 19 efforts on target in the game against Everton.
Another win for Mourinho or a surprise defeat?
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For the red side, they’ve been as clinical as possible, with Lukaku, Rashford and the Armenian being as ruthless as can be. On the blue side, the chances have come as quickly as you can count them. And while Pep’s side is still struggling to decide on a starting XI, it’s obvious which two teams in England are the deadliest.
Another win for Mourinho or a surprise defeat? The Cityzens have been goal-shy in their last two Premier League game.
Will all that come to an end against Eddie Howe’s side? Over 2.5 Goals maybe?
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- The Referees
The center refs again took center stage during the second Matchday. From Robson-Kanu to Kyle Walker and the Schneiderlin, match officials seem to have taken a very stern stance against anything and everything that falls foul of the rules of the game.
Shoves, sliding tackles that show studs and even dives now earn players cautions as quickly as possible. While both sending offs in the Man. City vs. Everton game were debatable ones, it’s obvious match officials have decided to be stricter this time around…or so we think.
- The Debut Goals Continue
While Only Rooney and Lukaku seemed to continue their goal scoring run of form, Stoke City’s new buy, Jese Rodriguez also registered his name on the goal scorer sheet with his goal against Arsenal. It raises again, for the umpteenth time, the question of whether the Premier League is becoming easy or not.
- 6 Points, 34 More to Go!
If you check the standings, you may notice a certain Huddersfield side sharing the top table position with Manchester United. With four goals scored – none conceded – they’re placed second on the log. Early days you may say but we’ve seen something different.
We noticed it’s the move of a side that wants to remain in the Premier League. They may not be good enough for an European spot but they’re racking up the points for when they will matter, May 2018. They may not mention it but the aim, just like how the bear operates, is to gather as much points as quickly as possible before “winter” appears.
Will their winning run continue or will the Saints give them a proper welcome to the Premier League?
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The 2017/2018 Premier League season is already two games old. Next weekend will see the titanic clash between Liverpool and Arsenal, among other fixtures. We can’t wait. We know you can’t too! While you’re anticipating the games, remember that you can place your bets on all the Gameweek 3 games and earn yourself some extra cash.
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Tags: English premier league, EPL, premier league lessons
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