New Delhi: This weekend’s Premier League action gave us a lot to talk about with upsets taking place over multiple games while late drama ensued in some of the other ones. Bournemouth and Newcastle produced major scalps as they defeated title contenders Manchester City and Arsenal respectively while Ruud Van Nistelrooy took charge of his first Premier League game as Manchester United’s interim manager.
Nottingham Forest’s impressive start to the season continued with a convincing win over West Ham as the Garibaldi are sitting pretty on third while Hammers boss Julen Lopetegui moves increasingly closer to the sack. While Forest continued their impressive start, Wolves’ horrid start to the season carried on with a draw against fellow strugglers Crystal Palace. Let’s dive in to find out the five things we learnt from Matchday 10 of the season.
5) Last minute goals shock Ipswich Town once again
🎬 🤩
This move, this angle 🤌 pic.twitter.com/3uNGsQQCBt
— Leicester City (@LCFC) November 4, 2024
Kieran McKenna’s Ipswich Town have been a mixed bag ever since the Premier League season started. They went from having a couple of losses early on to sneaking away draws that wasn’t expected of them. However, patience might be growing thin amongst the Ipswich faithful after the last two gameweeks. On matchday nine, they gave up a two goal lead to Brentford before equalizing towards the end of the game, only to lose 4-3 in the end via a last minute winner.
This past weekend, things looked like finally going in their favour after left-back Leif Davis had put his side ahead with an exquisite volley. The left-back was tremendous in attack over the past two seasons and has shown glimpses of his attacking prowess in the Premier League as well. He seemed to have handed his side their first win of the season but late drama struck the Tractor Boys again and a last-minute strike from Leicester City’s Jordan Ayew helped the Foxes earn a point.
4) Southampton finally end winless run
📊 Aaron Ramsdale vs Everton:
• 90 Minutes Played
• 10 Recoveries
• 5 Saves
• 2 High Claims
• 55 Touches
• 2 Clearances
• 100% Aerial Duals WonEnglands numbers one 🏴 #saintsfc pic.twitter.com/ARnPeZk15E
— Southampton Centre (@TheSaintCentre) November 2, 2024
Southampton had been looking like one of the worst teams in the league till this matchday before they finally got something that the Saints faithful could cheer about. In a battle between two keepers vying for the England jersey, it was Southampton’s Aaron Ramsdale that came out on top against Everton’s Jordan Pickford after Southampton’s Adam Armstrong’s late strike wrapped up the points for his side.
This was the Saints first win of the season, marking an end to a 22-game winless run for Russell Martin’s side. The last time Saints won a game in the Premier League season was back in March 2023, when they beat fellow promoted club, Leicester City. This win over Everton would also help relieve the pressure on under-fire manager Russell Martin, who faces enormous pressure to keep hold of his job.
3) Pressure builds on Gary O’Neil and Julen Lopetegui
The defeat to Nottingham Forest has put Julen Lopetegui on the brink at West Ham.
The Hammers could appoint former Borussia Dortmund manager Edin Terzic as the 58-year old’s successor.
(via @FabrizioRomano) pic.twitter.com/J5ezRn5iNX
— West Ham Fan Zone (@WHUFCFZ) November 4, 2024
The two managers whose jobs are most at risk currently did themselves no favours this past weekend. Gary O’Neil’s Wolves sit bottom of the table after the first 10 games of the season and following their 2-2 draw at home to fellow strugglers Crystal Palace. They’re the only remaining team in the league apart from Ipswich Town that are yet to win a game this season and the writing seems to be on the wall for Gary O’Neil.
On the other hand, West Ham have had a horrid start to the season as well following their hugely promising exploits in the summer transfer window. The Hammers’ summer spree hasn’t yet gone to plan and a 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest shows exactly that. Their inconsistency over the last four gameweeks, where they’ve won two and lost two is creating more pressure on new manager Julen Lopetegui, who hasn’t been able to win the fans over till now.
2) Enzo Fernandez might not be the first name on the sheet anymore
“Maybe not always do you need to see who is the most expensive player”
Winston Bogarde believes that Enzo Fernandez should be benched as Moises Caicedo & Romeo Lavia’s partnership has strengthened!#AstroEPL #MUNCHE #Chelsea pic.twitter.com/Itc60M8HxS
— Stadium Astro 🇲🇾 (@stadiumastro) November 3, 2024
For the majority of last season, Chelsea had a midfield duo they paid well over £200 million for as both Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez started for Chelsea. When Enzo Maresca was appointed as Chelsea manager in the summer, question arose over how Fernandez could fit in Maresca’s system but he was included for the majority of the games. However, ever since Romeo Lavia has been back from injury, Lavia and Caicedo seem to be Maresca’s preferred options in midfield.
Lavia has impressed massively whenever he’s played for Chelsea and what makes his performances even better is that his only starts this season have been against Manchester City, Liverpool, Newcastle and Manchester United. He’s impressed against the big sides Chelsea have played this season and the Blues look much more comfortable in midfield when both Lavia and Caicedo forming the midfield pivot.
1) Bournemouth’s historic win over Manchester City
Man City’s club-record unbeaten run in the Premier League ends on 32 games ❌ pic.twitter.com/XiC9U3n35e
— OneFootball (@OneFootball) November 2, 2024
Andoni Iraola is brewing some special magic with his Bournemouth side this season. The Cherries have been spectacular in this campaign and had already claimed victory over Arsenal earlier in the season. Heading into this past weekend’s game against Manchester City, Bournemouth had never beaten the Cityzens in their history but goals from Antoine Semenyo and new signing Evanilson wrapped up three points for the Cherries.
This historic win for Iraola’s men was Bournemouth’s first against City in 22 attempts and the emotions showed by the players evidenced that. This was also a landmark achievement for the Cherries as their win over the Cityzens ended the Manchester club’s 32-game unbeaten run. The last time City lost a game in the league was back in December 2023, when they were handed a 1-0 loss by Unai Emery’s Aston Villa.
