EPL Matchday Seven Takeaways
Matchday seven of the English Premier League ended up being one of the better weekends so far, as we witnessed Burnley pull off an upset away from home, Huddersfield getting slaughtered, Palace’s struggles on offense, and Leicester holding on for a much win against Bournemouth. Without further ado, let’s get cracking on this weeks takeaways in the top flight of English football.
Manchester United Sinks Crystal Palace
I asked last week in the takeaways whether United was going to be able to put five goals away against Crystal Palace, and boy were they close. Juan Mata put Palace to the sword early with a third minute goal, and it all went downhill from there. Marouane Fellani put in his first brace of the season, one on each side of halftime. Meanwhile, Rashford and Lukaku caused all sorts of issues within the front third, before the combination of Martial and Lukaku sunk in the fourth on 86 minutes to send Palace tumbling even further. Sitting at seven games with no goals and a -17 goal differential, it’s a long way back up for Palace.
Did Everton Lose? Or Did Burnley Win?
Burnley easily had the win of the round, as they went against the run of possession to take the cake away from home. Everton had twenty-five shots and over sixty percent of possession, yet they weren’t able to get it between the sticks. Burnley went up through a goal by Jeff Hendrick, as they were able to keep their unbeaten away record intact. Everton just can’t get the ball into the back of the net, and that needs to change quickly.
Are West Ham Back?
West Ham did something I didn’t think they would do after the first month, as they managed to rise up from the depths of relegation and condemn Swansea City to the bottom three. A 90th minute goal by Diafra Sakho was all that was needed for West Ham to bag the points at home, but it was by no means convincing. Swansea still had the bulk of the possession, but they just couldn’t get their shots on target. That loss leaves Swansea without a win since late August, and with only one point from September, the signs aren’t promising for Swansea.
Bournemouth Botches a Winning Chance
Bournemouth had over sixty percent of possession, a home crowd advantage, and nineteen shots, but they still couldn’t get one past Kasper Schmeichel. Despite the fact that Bouremouth had double the shots of Leicester, four on target to Leicesters’ one, and seven corners to five, they just couldn’t put one in the back of the net. It was a perfect chance, as they have Tottenham, Stoke and Chelsea in the next three games, and they will not be as forgiving.
Huddersfield Town Meets the Welcoming Committee
Huddersfield Town got hammered on the weekend, and there is no if’s, and’s or but’s about it. Their first true test of the campaign came against Tottenham at home, and they failed. After a dream start to the season, Huddersfield is pulling a Hull City and plummeting back down the table. After only being able to scrape up three points from their last five games, they are now sitting in twelfth place. It doesn’t get much easier now, despite a big chance next week at Bournemouth. Manchester United and Liverpool both await the Terriers, but a win next week could settle them down.
Fun Fact of the week: The teams from 12th – 20th have scored one more goal together than the two Manchester teams over the first seven weeks.
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