Matchday four of the 2019/2020 Premier League served fans with a lot of entertainment and surprising results. Title favourites, Manchester City saw off the challenge of Brighton, while Liverpool made it four wins out four with a 3-1 victory over Burnley at Turf Moor.
Top four hopefuls, Chelsea were held to a disappointing 2-2 draw at home by newly-promoted Sheffield United, while Manchester United could only manage a 1-1 draw with Southampton at the St Mary’s stadium.
In the biggest match of the week, Arsenal played out a thrilling 2-2 draw against North London rivals, Tottenham at the Emirates on Sunday evening.
Leicester and Everton who are both hoping to break into the top six this season earned wins over Bournemouth and Wolves respectively.
Liverpool continue to lead the way with 12 points after four games followed by Manchester City who have 10 points. Leicester and Crystal Palace round up the top four.
Following a week of exciting action, Soccernet.ng takes a look at some of the talking points.
Chelsea’s Defensive Struggles: When Lampard arrived, it was expected that Chelsea were going to struggle going forward because of the loss of Eden Hazard. But that’s not been the case as they have been brilliant in the attack.
However, defensively, the Blues have been all over the place. Despite being the better team in their opening match, they conceded four against Manchester United. The Blues also conceded two in the win over Norwich
And last weekend, their defensive issues were laid bare again as newly-promoted side, Sheffield scored twice to secure an unlikely point at Stamford Bridge. The Blues have now conceded nine goals in four premier league matches and that’s not good for a team hoping to challenge for the top four.
If the Blues are to finish in the top four this season, then Lampard will need to find a solution to the team’s defensive lapses.
Dream Debut For Iwobi: After missing the first two league games for Everton, Iwobi was brought on to make his debut in the Toffees 2-0 loss against Aston Villa on Matchday three. Although Everton loss, Iwobi showed a glimpse of what he will bring to the team.
He almost scored in that game but was denied by the post. However, on his first full debut for the Toffees, he showed why Everton decided to shell out 40m pounds for his services by scoring in the Blues league cup win over Lincoln.
The Nigerian international will not stop there as he marked his home debut with a goal in Everton’s 3-2 win over Wolves on Sunday. It must be said that the two goals Iwobi scored were headers which showed his aerial prowess and ability to get into promising positions.
He has indeed settled in quickly at the Merseyside and the move is a good one for his career. If he keeps up this form, the Nigerian international will become indispensable in the Everton team-something Arsenal could not offer him.
Liverpool On A Mission: Liverpool lost the Premier League title last season by the narrowest of margins. Despite amassing 97 points which would have been enough to win titles in all but one of the previous 26 premier league campaigns, it was not still enough as Man City pipped them by a point.
Although they won their sixth European Cup, the Reds would have still been disappointed with how they missed out on the league title.
However, it appears that has spurred them on the season and they look like a team on a mission. The Reds boast of a 100% record in the league which include last Saturday’s win over Burnley. While it is still early days, it appears the Reds are prepared to wrestle the crown away from City this time.
Leicester Can Break Into Top Six: Everton, Leicester and Wolves are some of the teams that are hoping to break the Top six dominance. But looking at the results from early season, it looks like the Foxes are the one in prime position to do that.
Brendan Rodgers side are yet to lose a game this season and they showed their quality in last Saturday’s 3-1 win over Bournemouth. They have also picked up an impressive point away at Chelsea.
With the Blues and Manchester United struggling, it will not be a surprise if the Foxes pushes one of them out of the top six this season.
Premier League At Its Best: Match Day four saw a lot of excitement and shows why the premier league is considered to be the best in the world. From Chelsea’s 2-2 draw with Chelsea to Everton’s 3-2 thriller and then Arsenal’s thrilling derby draw with Tottenham, last weekend was a great advertisement for the league.
The League will take a two-week hiatus because of the pesky international break but expect it to return with more action when it resumes.
