Where does football go as it moves on from Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo?
Full Results (Matchday 11)
Tottenham 2–2 Manchester United
Everton 2–0 Fulham
West Ham 3–2 Burnley
Sunderland 2–2 Arsenal
Chelsea 3–0 Wolves
Aston Villa 4–0 Bournemouth
Brentford 3–1 Newcastle
Crystal Palace 0–0 Brighton
Nottingham Forest 3–1 Leeds
Manchester City 3–0 Liverpool
Game of the Matchday
Sunderland 2–2 Arsenal
Oh what a match! Chaotic from start to finish and it also shook up the title race in a way nobody saw coming. Much was made up of Arsenal's elite defense in the lead up to the match that many overlooked Sunderland had the joint second-best defensive record. Sunderland scored twice against a team who last conceded a goal 8 matches ago. After falling behind, the Gunners flipped the game with goals from Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard, which usually means another routine win. Instead Sunderland refused to fold and turned the entire match into a wild back and forth. The Stadium of Light erupted towards the end of the game as Brian Brobbey acrobatically put the ball past David Raya. With this draw the Black Cats continue their outstanding record of not losing at home while the leaders dropped points for the first time in over a month.
Biggest Surprise
Aston Villa 4–0 Bournemouth
There were a couple of options for the Biggest Surprise but I picked Aston Villa smashing Bournemouth 4–0, a scoreline that felt completely wild when you look at how even the match actually was. On paper this was supposed to be a tight, competitive game and the stats backed that up, with both sides creating similar levels of chances and neither really dominating the flow of play. Yet somehow Villa walked away with a four goal win, turning every meaningful chance into a goal while Bournemouth got nothing to show for their efforts. That gap between what the numbers suggested and what the scoreboard ended up showing is what made the result surprising, a ruthless and borderline absurd level of efficiency from the Villains sent a loud reminder of their European ambitions against a direct contender.
Best Team Performance
Chelsea 3–0 Wolves
Chelsea finally looked like a side that knew exactly what it wanted to do for the full ninety minutes. They controlled the game with real authority, created chance after chance, and looked sharp in every phase. Alejandro Garnacho ran the show with two clever assists, while Malo Gusto, Joao Pedro and Pedro Neto finished the job with confidence. And even though this performance came against a team that has not won a single game this season, what stood out was how balanced Chelsea were from back to front. Considering how inconsistent they have been this season, this was the type of performance that makes you think that if Chelsea play like this more often, they have the ability to trouble anyone in the league.
Player of the Matchday
Jeremy Doku (Manchester City)
Where do you even start with this one? Jeremy Doku was in full beast mode. He has always had a knack for dominating Liverpool fullbacks, but too often it came without the end product to match the chaos he caused. This season though, he looks like he has finally unlocked that next level, playing like someone who is actually reaching the ceiling everyone kept talking about. From the first whistle he tore into Liverpool with absurd pace and confidence, leaving defenders guessing every single time he touched the ball. And even when they knew the trademark Doku shimmy was coming, stopping him still felt impossible. He finished with seven successful dribbles, created chance after chance, and even won the penalty Haaland ended up missing. And then he topped it all off with the moment everyone was waiting for, a brilliant goal curled from outside the box. A goal which he fully deserved. He even became the first player since Eden Hazard in 2019 to hit double digit take-ons, win ten duels, create three plus chances, get multiple shots on target, and score in one Premier League match. Just unstoppable.
Honorable mentions - Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (Everton), Alejandro Garnacho (Chelsea) & Daniel Ballard (Sunderland)
Moment of the Matchday
Brian Brobbey's late equaliser against Arsenal
Watch the late chaos here
While what happened at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was wild in its own way, and I might be a bit biased, but there is hardly anything better in football than a raucous home crowd exploding at full volume late in a match, and it hits even harder when it is the underdog’s home stadium. With Arsenal clinging to a 2-1 lead and looking minutes away from a tricky away win, all hell broke loose, bodies flying everywhere, the ball pinging around like it had a mind of its own. Amidst the chaos, Brian Brobbey stayed the calmest man in the stadium, reacting quicker than anyone and stabbing it in acrobatically from point blank range. The madness didn't stop there, it got even crazier, because right after the equaliser, Daniel Ballard had to pull off a desperate goal line block to stop Arsenal from stealing it right back. Sunderland fans are loving life in the Premier League again after so many years away, and moments like this are exactly why.
Looking Ahead – Matchday 12 Fixtures (IST Kick-offs)
Saturday, 22 November (IST)
Burnley vs Chelsea - 6:00 pm
Bournemouth vs West Ham - 8:30 pm
Brighton vs Brentford - 8:30 pm
Fulham vs Sunderland - 8:30 pm
Liverpool vs Nottingham Forest - 8:30 pm
Wolves vs Crystal Palace - 8:30 pm
Newcastle vs Manchester City - 11:00 pm
Sunday, 23 November (IST)
Leeds vs Aston Villa - 7:30 pm
Arsenal vs Tottenham - 10:00 pm
Tuesday, 25 November (IST)
Manchester United vs Everton - 1:30 am
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