Who Fared Well? – Winners And Losers Of Premier League Gameweek 7
Football is unpredictable, especially when it comes to the English Premier League. Sometimes, even the mightiest of the clubs can see defeat at the hands of the most feeble. Similarly, the less mighty can also conquer the indomitable.
Gameweek 7 shed light on some of the Premier League’s emerging talents while some of the more experienced players saw despair. Let’s take a look at the winners and losers of last week’s Premier League action.
Winners
Peter Crouch
The former Liverpool striker might be 36, but he still looks like his younger version in front of the goal every time he comes off the bench. Crouch managed to seal a win for the Potters with just 5 minutes remaining in the game. What makes it even more special is that Stoke barely had 30% possession in the game against Southampton.
Richarlison
One of the lesser-known summer signings, the Brazilian forward hasn’t taken taken too long to get attention in the Premier League. The 20-year-old has scored 3 goals in just 7 appearances in the League for the Hornets. The £11.5m shelled out by Marco Silva could turn out to be a real bargain as time flies by. He saved the game for Watford with a late header against West Brom last weekend.
Rafael Benitez
Apart from Philippe Coutinho’s magical long-range goal, Newcastle were solid in defence for the entirety of the game and came away with a deserved 1-1 draw at St.James’ Park. Benitez was at his tactical best as he kept Klopp’s goal-hungry attack at bay for most of the game. The Spanish manager made a mediocre Newcastle side look like a top team as the crowd at SJP adorned his side with their support.
The likes of Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah had no answers to Benitez’s defensive setup and struggled to make things happen for their side. Despite not keep much of the possession, Newcastle ended up getting a favourable result in the end.
Losers
Ronald Koeman
The Dutch manager is slowly starting to feel the heat as the Toffees continue to struggle in front of goal. Everton looked dreadful at Goodison Park against Burnley as they lost 1-0 to the impressive Sean Dyche’s side on Sunday. Despite the embarrassing defeat, Koeman insisted that was happy with his side’s performance, which isn’t a good sign for the club or the fans when the team is clearly struggling.
He said,
“I can’t complain about my players, they did everything. Maybe we could create more but it is not so easy against Burnley. We tried everything; the commitment and spirit of the players were really positive and the final result was not.”
Koeman might continue to struggle if he doesn’t bring in some genuine talent in January.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan
From being Premier League’s Player of the Month to being substituted by Jesse Lingard, Mkhitaryan has clearly seen a drop in form. The Armenian looked lost against Palace and was unlike his usual self in the game. Juan Mata, on the other hand, looked sensational and full of confidence.
Daniel Sturridge
Liverpool fans were crying out for Sturridge to start a game and Klopp gave the English striker a start against Newcastle. But the 28-year-old looked rusty in front of goal as he ended up missing a few big chances in the game that could have given Liverpool a comfortable win. Sturridge might have had his last chance to impress Klopp but he clearly blew it up.