EPL Takeaways from Matchdays 8 & 9

An international break has come and gone yet again, so we find ourselves on the back end of two matchdays that have brought in some more drama into an already drama-packed season. We have a ton of material to ram through from the last two weeks, so without further ado, here are the takeaways from the last two matchdays in the Premier League:

Huddersfield beat United!

It was the second-biggest upset of the season so far, as the perennial underdogs in Huddersfield Town shocked the world after knocking off Manchester United on the back of two goals from Aaron Mooy and Laurent Depoitre. Mooy was instrumental all over the park, while Lossl had fantastic distribution, setting up Depoitre’s goal, and for the majority of the game, the defensive structure didn’t change. After losing to Swansea 2-0, Huddersfield needed to scrape away points, and they did so emphatically.

PALACE WON A GAME…Never mind

So in good news,Crystal Palace was able to beat Chelsea after Wilfred Zaha decided to turn up and sink one into the back of the net, while Azpilicueta felt sorry and decided an own goal would help the Palace side. It did, and then Newcastle United decided they wouldn’t be as helpful. The Magpies left Palace stumped at the bottom of the table after picking up a 1-0 win at home. This leaves the club with two goals scored in nine games, as they sit in dead last. That needs to change this week against West Ham, otherwise Crystal Palace fans will be chanting in the Championship next season.

Tottenham can win at Wembley

Two wins in two weeks sees Tottenham seemingly breaking the Wembley Stadium curse. It definitely was not convincing against Bournemouth, with Christian Eriksen being the difference, as the Spurs scraped through with a 1-0 win. This was not the case against Liverpool, as Harry Kane ran rampant around the Liverpool defense before pulling up with cramps in the 88th minute of play. Sitting thirteen points out of their last fifteen leaves the team only behind Manchester City in terms of the last five games, as they inch ever closer to Manchester United. Could this finally be the year of the Tottenham Hotspurs?

Watford an outside chance at Europe?

The Hornets seem to know how to execute every now and then, upsetting Arsenal 2-1 on home soil, thanks to goals from Troy Deeney and Tom Cleverley. Granted, they lost 4-2 to Chelsea, but that was not without positives coming from the match. Doucoure and Pererya sunk the back of the net on both sides of halftime to give Watford a glimmer of hope for an away win.

Chelsea’s manager, Antonio Conte, ended up making a masterstroke change, with Morata coming off for Matsi Batshuayi. Batshuayi ended up scoring two of the next three goals for Chelsea, as Chelsea ended up with the points. Watford has shown that they can play with the big boys, as they are only one point out of European qualification. Could Watford be in Europe next year?

Brighton is finding their feet

It took a few weeks to see why Brighton & Hove Albion were up in the top flight of English Football, however, after a win away against West Ham and a vital draw at home against Everton, we are starting to see a little bit of why that is. Mat Ryan has been in solid form the last few weeks for Brighton, while Pascal Gross has been superb overall.

With two assists in the last two games, as well as two goals from Glenn Murray, it has helped Brighton get outside the drop zone and into the mid-table battle. The defense has been rock solid at the back, and Brighton is taking advantage of what little possession they have had. A win against Southampton this week would really help their cause for a second season.

Manchester City is untouchable

A huge away win at Chelsea is really the icing on the cake for the City boys. With twenty-two goals in the last five games, only two goals have been conceded against Stoke City. If this run continues, there is a good chance that we will have a repeat of last year and see the winners of the league grab the title a solid month out. They have Arsenal in two weeks, but it is not the hardest of runs for the next four games either, so we could see a few teams hit for six if City keep playing like this.

Manchester United screwed up

How often is it that United screws up a couple of games in a row? It is not very often at all, but that has been the case as Mourinho parked the bus against Liverpool, and despite having 77% of possession against Huddersfield, the club went on to lose 2-1. In the defense of United, all three substitutions were used by the start of the second half.

However, with that much possession, you should be winning against any opponent. The only thing right now that matters is that United lost three points against Huddersfield. Lukaku is always looking dangerous, and either Martial or Rashford seems to always get on the scoresheet, but the defense may be an issue if Depoitre’s second goal is anything to go by.

Newcastle, Burnley quietly sitting pretty

Two teams that you do not really hear about are the newcomers in Newcastle and Burnley, which I am sure they do not mind by any means. Both teams are one game out of the European spots at the moment, and they have bee playing some okay football when they need to. Matt Ritchie has been superb for Newcastle, while Tom Pope has been a revelation in goal for Burnley since Heaton got injured close to a month ago.

Burnley did get knocked around against Manchester City, but they have played good football for the four games prior, while Newcastle currently sits eight points out of the last fifteen. That isn’t setting the world on fire, but it is good enough to keep them in touching distance of the top five, which is all that matters.