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Premier League October Review: Liverpool, Chelsea pile pressure on table-toppers Manchester City
Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea are locked in a three-way battle at the top of the table.
The Premier League season is already ten gameweeks old and although there was a week’s break this month due to international duties, the action did not lack any quality or thrill. While the battle between Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool to claim the top spot continued, things also heated up in the bottom of the table where eight teams are still stuck at single digit points.
Three-way battle
It was a somewhat similar story at the top of the table as City, Chelsea and Liverpool extended their unbeaten run in the league to ten matches. City and Liverpool faced each other in the first gameweek of the month and the match ended in a stalemate with both teams showing glimpses of brilliance. City were fired up after the result as they hammered Burnley 5-0 at home and then followed it up with an important win over Tottenham. With six different scores in two matches, Pep Guardiola’s men are in brilliant form and they will be looking to extend their winning run in November.
Liverpool did find it hard to beat Huddersfield in their second encounter of the month but it was business as usual for the Reds as they routed Cardiff City 4-1. Sadio Mane was the top scorer for Jurgen Klopp’s side as they are tied with City at the top of the points table. On the other hand, it was a tough period for Chelsea as they defeated Southampton and Burnley but were held by Manchester United. The Blues struggled to find their form against a defensive United side and it took a late goal from Ross Barkley to safeguard their unbeaten record in the league as they are third with 24 points.
Mixed luck for Arsenal, Tottenham
The Unai Emery era has started on a positive note for Arsenal and they were able to continue their progress despite a draw against Crystal Palace. With Pierre Emerrick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette looking in good touch, they steamrolled Fulham and Leicester City before their winning run was halted by Crystal Palace where they were held to a 2-2 draw after conceding two penalties.
For Tottenham Hotspur, it has been a tough couple of weeks with striker Harry Kane struggling to find the back of the net and that was quite apparent against a top class side like City. After two narrow wins against Cardiff City and West Ham, there were not able to compete with City’s disciplined passing game and a goal from Raheem Sterling handed them their third defeat of the season.
Good month for Manchester United
With the media reporting constantly after Jose Mourinho getting the boot and the team languishing at the wrong end of the table, it was a tough time for United. But the Red Devils pulled off two fighting wins over Newcastle and Everton to claw their way back into the top 10. However, their most impressive performance came at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea when they looked in great touch and were unlucky to miss out as Ross Barkley scored late in stoppage time to level the scores.
Bournemouth leapfrog Watford
The mid-table battle took an interesting turn with Bournemouth claiming the sixth spot with 20 points ahead of Watford, United and Everton. Although they were held to a goalless draw by Southampton, they thumped Fulham 3-0 and then defeated Watford 4-0 to take the Europa League spot. Watford remained close on their heels despite the heavy loss and with wins over Huddersfield and Wolverhampton Wanderers, they are currently in the seventh position with 19 points from 10 games.
Relegation contenders
It is a tight battle at the bottom of the table with two teams at three points and two teams at five points. While Newcastle and Huddersfield are looking like early favourites to suffer relegation, Fulham and Cardiff City are also struggling with seven losses from ten encounters. Just above them in the table are Southampton with seven points while West Ham took just one point from three games to find them tied on eight points with Burnley and Crystal Palace (both losing two games this month).
