What did Saturday’s games teach us?
It has been an intriguing Saturday of Premier League action, with hiccups from the big boys proving to be the defining feature of the day’s fixtures – Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur were all shocked by teams in mid-table and below, whilst Manchester City could only just squeeze past Everton at the Etihad Stadium.
SEE MORE:
Man United target five stars in £100m raid
Ronaldo dive video
Here are five things that we learned from the day’s action:
A trip to Stoke is like a trip to the dentist for Arsenal
Jeff Stelling said that Mark Hughes was applying the drill to Arsene Wenger and his Gunners during Soccer Saturday – and a trip to Britannia Stadium for Arsenal really is about as enjoyable as an evening in the dentist’s chair. Arsenal have won just one of their last eight trips to the Potteries and have been outfought and outmuscled on previous occasions – just as they were today, with a young and inexperienced defence crumbling at the hands of a high tempo Stoke outfit.
QPR’s home form will probably keep them up
Harry Redknapp’s Queens Park Rangers may be pointless on the road, in more ways than one, but their fine form at Loftus Road is looking increasingly likely to keep them in the division. For such an insipid and lifeless team away from West London, Rangers are vibrant and exciting on their own patch – successive wins over Leicester and Burnley could prove to be huge once we reflect on the season in May.
Jose Mourinho is still a terrible loser
It had been so long since Chelsea lost that we had almost let this fact slip from our minds – but Blues manager Jose Mourinho really is a particularly sore loser. After today’s 2-1 reverse at St. James’ Park, Mourinho laid into the Newcastle ball boys and claimed that they only raise their game against Chelsea, rather than giving credit to a side who had outplayed his own. For all of his class as a manager, Mourinho can really lack it as a person.
Liverpool are simply a bad team
There has been a lot of soul searching surrounding Liverpool recently as the media try to get to the bottom of their malaise, but it is looking increasingly likely that the Reds are simply not a very good football team. For all of the talk of tactics and the absence of Steven Gerrard, Liverpool’s players just looked poor against Sunderland and may well have been dragged along kicking and screaming by Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge last season.
Tottenham Hotspur lack any sort of identity
Mauricio Pochettino must be wonder just what he has let himself in for – after a relatively vibrant and promising display against Everton last week and a reasonable effort at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night, Spurs were simply dreadful against Crystal Palace today. Slow and lifeless, Spurs were very lucky not to be beaten by a Palace side who were extremely wasteful in front of goal. They’re going nowhere as it stands.