Liverpool saw off Arsenal with a convincing 3-1 victory at Anfield, and elsewhere in the Premier League there are plenty of other interesting developments to keep an eye on, not least next week’s opponents…
Wan Bissaka gets an assist… for his old club
Since Man United signed Aaron Wan Bissaka, the former Crystal Palace right-back appears to have become by default the nearest challenger to Champions League winner Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Some even believe that he has overtaken the Scouser as the best young English right-back around, based on little more than a handful of games at Old Trafford.
Wan Bissaka is a good player, and the right-back position for England is in good hands for many years to come thanks to himself and Alexander-Arnold, but the over-the-top praise from some fans, especially when comparing him to the Liverpool man, is doing him no favours at the moment.
Much of the focus is on his tackling, and he appears to be a good defensive right-back, but he only has to make so many tackles because Man United sometimes aren’t that good.
As he tackled Wilfried Zaha in the area during the dying minutes of the game against Palace on Saturday, it was another job well done, covering for other players as the opposition were somehow able to find away into United’s box as they failed to secure a point against Roy Hodgson’s side.
But unfortunately for Wan Bissaka, none of his team-mates were around to pick up the loose ball, which was instead picked up by former team-mate Patrick van Aanholt, who powered his shot through De Gea.
Meanwhile at Anfield, Alexander-Arnold was part of a dominant Liverpool performance against Arsenal, picking up his second assist of the season to go with six key passes, and just the one tackle needed.
Farke News
Daniel Farke will probably tell you the best young English right-back around is 19-year-old Max Aarons.
Norwich’s German manager is instilling the type of togetherness which has seen Liverpool become successful under Klopp, and could give the newly promoted side a fighting chance of remaining in the Premier League.
The Canaries were impressive despite falling to defeat at home to Chelsea, and in Teemu Pukki they have the most in-form striker in the division.
Todd Cantwell is another promising young English player, and 21-year-old midfielder, dubbed the Dereham Deco by Chris Sutton, was on the end of one of the more impressive moves of the weekend.
Norwich impressed in spells at Anfield, and look like they will do some damage against other teams in this division.
Unfortunately they were defeated by Chelsea when some poor defending from Grant Hanley left Tammy Abraham free to score his second of the game, and Chelsea’s third.
It gave the visitors their first league win under Frank Lampard, but there have been enough positives for Farke to believe his side can remain in the division.
Lancashire hot shots
A forward threatening to match Pukki’s early return is Burnley’s Ashley Barnes.
The former Austria U20 international has four to his name already this season, and is part of the reason for Burnley‘s impressive start.
It might not be as fashionable to speak about Clarets boss Sean Dyche in the same terms as Farke, or other fashionable non top six topics such as Sheffield United’s overlapping centre-backs, Eddie Howe’s free-flowing Bournemouth side, or Wolves’ continental style, but the Englishman is just as effective.
He’s had Burnley playing Premier League football for four consecutive seasons now — no mean feat — and this is their fourth consecutive season in the top flight.
They came up against Wolves this weekend with Barnes on the scoresheet again, but they couldn’t hold onto the win, conceding a cruel equaliser in the 97th minute, when Raul Jimenez scored from the spot.
Klopp spoke of his respect for Dyche’s side in his post-match press conference this weekend, and Liverpool will not be taking anything for granted at Turf Moor next week.
Harry Wilson adds another free kick to his highlight reel
All Harry Wilson can do is score long range goals, they say.
But if he does it with this regularity, he’s a dangerous weapon for any Premier League side.
He was at it again against defending Champions Man City, curling a free kick into the top corner, leaving Ederson sprawling helplessly across his goal.
But the only shot which found the back of the net was Wilson’s free kick which had an xG of 0.08 according to Understat.
The data may encourage players to create good chances in the box, but there is nothing better than seeing a long-range strike fizz past an outstretched keeper.
Wilson has established himself as something of a specialist in this area, and Bournemouth will certainly be glad to have him around the place this season. Will he be around Anfield next?
Notes
- VAR isn’t working properly
- Strikers Joelinton, Wesley, Moussa Djenepo, Sebastien Haller, and Oliver McBurnie all scored their first goals in the Premier League.
- Southampton were the only side to keep a clean sheet in Saturday’s Premier League games, much to the dismay of Fantasy Football managers everywhere.
- Harvey Barnes scored one of the best half-volleys you’re likely to see.
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— Leicester City (@LCFC) August 24, 2019
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