The 100% record is over! After 8 rounds of football, Liverpool was the only team to have won all of their games, but a Round 9 trip to Old Trafford brought an end to their streak as they could only manage a 1-1 draw courtesy of a late Adam Lallana equaliser, though they remain the only team without a loss to their name heading into November and a loss for Manchester City at home to Wolves saw their lead grow. Chelsea were the only team to get maximum points in October with wins over Southampton, Newcastle and Burnley. Every team earned at least a point this month, but Southampton will be worried after dropping into the bottom 3 following a huge 0-9 loss to Leicester and with a trip to the Etihad next up in the league.
Premier League Round-up
- August 2019
- September 2019
- October 2019
What a VARce
It took until Round 10 for VAR to overturn a decision relating to whether a penalty should be awarded, but once it started, the floodgates opened. The first decision to be overturned was for Michael Keane catching Aaron Connolly in the box as they both went for an aerial ball forward – initially not given, but a penalty soon awarded by VAR, which was well dispatched by Neal Maupay. With the floodgates opened “dive” from Wilfried Zaha was overturned into a penalty for Crystal Palace, scored by Luka Milivojević to begin their comeback from 2-0 down to 2-2 at the Emirates, while Manchester United were awarded a penalty after VAR adjudged that Ben Godfrey had had illegally pushed Daniel James over.
While it is great to see VAR finally being willing to overturn a referee’s initial decision, this has ended up really muddying the water. While Zaha was clearly fouled, both of the penalties VAR awarded were extremely soft and less clear-cut than Jan Vertonghen’s challenge on Gerard Deulofeu, where VAR upheld the referee’s decision to play on. To muddy the water even more, VAR adjudged that Manchester City had scored against Aston Villa following a review, deciding that David Silva had not made contact with Kevin De Bruyne’s ball in, so Raheem Sterling was not offside, however Silva appeared to be trying to claim the goal with the referee and it was officially given to him by the Dubious Goals Panel (in which case the goal should have been disallowed for offside).
The most disappointing thing about all of this is that every Premier League ground has a screen pitchside for the referees to use alongside VAR if necessary, but is yet to be used in a match. As it stands, the screen is for if what the referee is being told dos not tally with what they are seeing. Surely that is the case with every VAR referral, or otherwise the referee would have made a different decision. Not only that, but aside from offside, most VAR decisions are subjective, so surely it would be beneficial to have the referee come over and look at the picture on the screen and talk it through with the VAR official rather than stand uselessly in the middle of the pitch with a finger in his ear.
The Premier League is possibly the best domestic league in the world, and VAR is definitely a step forward, but the league needs to figure out how to utilise it correctly, otherwise the league will become a laughing stock.
Early goodbyes
The official figures state that 28,726 fans attended Southampton’s Round 10 match against Leicester… There definitely weren’t that many by the end! A man down and with 3 goals conceded after just 30 minutes, the home fans were already beginning to leave in droves.
Now I don’t want to make this sound preachy, and I understand in this case it was a Friday night with horrible weather and the chances of a comeback were slim-to-none at best (they eventually lost 0-9), but I don’t understand why fans would leave so early. Tickets to a match are far from cheap, so to leave early just feels like throwing away money. I also can’t imagine how that must feel as a player to see so many of your fans walking out early – if your head wasn’t already dropping, surely that would finish you off.
When teams are struggling they need their support more than ever, hopefully this run of bad results doesn’t put people off going to cheer on their team.
Gunning for the captain
There is something not right at Arsenal at the moment. Think back through the years at the players who have captained Arsenal, does Granit Xhaka really fit the mould? The Swiss midfielder has never really cemented himself with the fans due to a number of costly fouls and moments where his desire have been questioned, so to make him the captain highlighted the depth of leadership options available at the Emirates.
During Arsenal’s 2-2 draw at home to Crystal Palace, there we ugly scenes as Xhaka (who had again struggled to positively impact the match) was substituted to a chorus of boos from the Arsenal fans. Things only got worse as he reacted to the boos while walking off, goading the fans even more before taking off his shirt and walking straight down the tunnel.
Now I don’t think it’s nice seeing fans boo their own players, but they are invested in their team and have a right to be heard if they feel players aren’t pulling their weight. Xhaka meanwhile is the captain of this team and has to set an example. Like I just mentioned about Southampton, the support of the fans is huge, and they need to have them on their side. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Xhaka taken out of the firing line for a game or two, but then the question of who captains the team starts again. I bet they’re regretting letting Aaron Ramsey leave right now…
Fantastic Foxes
In the 2015/16 season, Leicester City shocked the world by winning the Premier League in only their 2nd season back in the top flight. After 10 rounds, they find themselves in 3rd place, just 2 points behind Manchester City and ahead of Chelsea on goal difference. Just how far can they go this season?
Leicester have been in great form since bringing in Brendan Rodgers, while Jamie Vardy continues to defy my expectation that he will begin to decline now he is beyond 30, with 9 goals in 10 league games this season. They may have lost Harry Maguire over the summer, but put the money to good use by bringing in Ayoze Pérez from Newcastle and Youri Tielemans from Monaco, both of whom have played big roles already this season.
While Leicester have improved, they have also done so at a time when a number of the classic big 6 are struggling. Chelsea and Manchester United are in the middle of a rebuild, Arsenal are struggling for consistency and Tottenham find themselves in the bottom half of the table, already 8 points behind the Foxes.
Can they keep a top 3 spot? Personally, I think that the other clubs mentioned still have the strength in depth that Leicester are missing, but I am confident that they will be able to keep a place in the top 5, and if pushed to make an exact prediction right now, I would guess that they will finish 4th, with Chelsea jumping above them.
Eyes on the Ball 