The Premier League heads into an international break this week as all 20 top-flight teams come out of matchday 4. The next week and a half will see Premier League football on hiatus. We have a lot of time to think about the 5 things we learned from Premier League matchday 4 before the next round of games.
Are Leicester City and Crystal Palace for real?
Leicester City and Crystal Palace are third and fourth in the Premier League respectively after four matches. Leicester City, in particularly, are receiving a lot of praise after gaining eight points from 12 possible. Despite a great start, Leicester City haven’t played a team in the upper half of the table.
Crystal Palace’s position is more surprising than Leicester City’s spot. The Eagles may have beaten Manchester United, but a win against Aston Villa was slightly less spectacular. If any of these teams are to finish in the top six, it will be Leicester City as the top teams continue to drop points.
VAR has made referees scared
Since Manchester City’s winning goal against Tottenham Hotspur on matchday 2 was overturned by VAR, it appears officials running the replay system are scared to overturn calls.
Leicester City’s Youri Tielemans made an ankle breaking stomp on Bournemouth’s Callum Wilson which was incredibly obvious. The match referee didn’t see the foul and VAR backed him up. Had a call been made, the Foxes would have had 10 men and Bournemouth could have got back into the game.
Manchester United are still bad
Manchester United fans overreacted to the team’s 4-0 win over Chelsea on opening day. The Red Devils are just as bad as they were last term. However, now they are relying on Daniel James to score all of their goals.
Marcus Rashford is not a 20-goal a season striker, his best return thus far has been 10 in the Premier League, and there is no one else to step up. Manchester United’s decision to sell Romelu Lukaku looks even dumber after the former striker scored two goals in two matches for Inter Milan.
Chelsea are just a s*** Derby County
Newly promoted Sheffield United claimed a 2-2 draw away to Chelsea and as the game finished, Blades fans chanted, “Chelsea are just a s*** Derby County!”
Manager Frank Lampard may be getting good play out of striker Tammy Abraham, but his veterans are letting him down. Perhaps it is because Lampard’s tactics are lacking.
His substitution decisions have been lacking as well. On Saturday, Lampard sent on 18-year-old child Billy Gilmour in the second half against the Blades which has seen the manager criticised heavily.
Where is Bournemouth going?
No one expects Bournemouth to challenge the top 4. However, with the transfer spending the club has done in recent seasons, especially the amount of money they have given Liverpool, the Cherries should be doing better.
Manager Eddie Howe seems iron-clad to keep his job and criticism seems to never be aimed at him. Howe has spent much of his playing and managerial career with the Cherries and helped lead them to the Premier League promise land.
Despite bringing Bournemouth up and keeping them in the Premier League, it appears they aren’t going anywhere and it feels like Howe has taken them as far as possible.
