After the conclusion of Matchweek 7 of the 2024/25 Premier League season, football writer Alex Keble looks at the key talking points and tactical lessons, including:
- How Fulham almost pulled off upset win at Man City
- Martinelli looks back to his best for Arsenal
- Lopetegui's West Ham take big step forward
- Big tests still await Slot and Liverpool
- European hangover a factor in Spurs collapse
- Buonanotte can lead Leicester's revival
- Missed opportunities for youthful Chelsea v Forest
- O'Neil needs to make tactical changes for Wolves
- Man Utd's defence overshadowed by struggling attack
- First clean sheet a major boost for Everton
Silva’s Fulham tactics deserved Etihad win
“We have to be really unhappy with the result,” Marco Silva told BBC Sport. “We had the clear chances to get a different result.”
That is an accurate assessment of a near-perfect tactical performance at the Etihad Stadium from Fulham, who managed to poke holes in a Rodri-less Manchester City side and should have scored two or three more.
Silva switched to a 5-4-1 formation for this match, using Alex Iwobi at right wing-back and switching Adama Traore over to the left, where he made frequent runs in behind the City high line.
Traore had two one-on-ones, both saved by Ederson, and he skied a brilliant chance from seven yards out just moments after Fulham had taken the lead. Better finishing and they would have pulled off a smart smash-and-grab win.
xG = Expected Goals
That they looked so dangerous is no consolation for Fulham, but it is another positive sign for Man City’s title rivals.
Pep Guardiola’s side looked a little passive in central midfield without Rodri, which – again – allowed the opponent to get through-balls away and break the high City line.
Martinelli back to his best is huge news for Arsenal
Gabriel Martinelli’s smart finish to put Arsenal 2-1 up within eight minutes of coming off the bench took his season tally to four goal involvements (two goals and two assists) in his last three Premier League appearances.
That’s as many as he managed in his previous 20 in the competition.
Arsenal made clear strides between 2022/23 and 2023/24, moving from 84 points to 89 points, but the one area of regression was on the left flank, where Martinelli dropped from 20 goal involvements (15 goals and five assists) to 10 (six goals and four assists).
Martinelli's last three seasons
| Season | Apps (sub) | Goals | Assists | Goals & assists |
| 2022/23 | 34 (2) | 15 | 5 | 20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023/24 | 24 (11) | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| 2024/25 | 5 (2) | 2 | 2 | 4 |
It is potentially huge news for their title challenge, then, that Martinelli appears to be back to his best. He is already at 40 per cent of his 2023/24 tally for Premier League goals and assists.
A fit and firing Martinelli could be the difference between another runners-up medal and a first title in 21 years.
First home win is a big step forward for Lopetegui
Some of the criticism levelled at Julen Lopetegui was a little bit unfair.
West Ham United might have lost their first three home matches of the season, but Aston Villa, Man City and Chelsea is a very difficult start.
The visit of Ipswich Town was arguably Lopetegui’s first chance to show the fans what his football is all about – and he passed with flying colours.
The hosts were patient in possession, calmly controlling the midfield for the first time under Lopetegui, thanks in no small part to Michail Antonio’s stress-relieving opener after only 48 seconds.
West Ham had 13 shots on target, their most on record in the Premier League (since 2006/07), and accrued an Expected Goals (xG) of 3.0, their second-highest figure in a league match since December 2021.
Some supporters were running out of patience with the new regime, but all of a sudden West Ham enter the international break in confident mood.
For a must-win fixture, West Ham made it look easy.
Liverpool still top but real test about to begin
Arne Slot’s excellent start as Liverpool head coach continued with another win, another clean sheet and another frictionless 90 minutes.
He is the first Liverpool manager in history to win as many as nine of his first 10 matches in charge of the club, a remarkable feat that has put Slot’s side top of the Premier League at this early stage.
But we shouldn’t get too carried away.
Liverpool actually have one point fewer than they won in the corresponding fixtures last season (excluding the Ipswich encounter), which suggests a very kind set of matches is behind Slot’s good start.
Liverpool results against same opposition 23/24 & 24/25
| 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
| - | 2-0 v Ipswich (W) |
| 3-0 v Brentford (W) | 2-0 v Brentford (W) |
| 2-2 v Man Utd (D) | 3-0 v Man Utd (W) |
| 3-0 v Nott'm Forest (W) | 0-1 v Nott'm Forest (L) |
| 3-1 v Bournemouth (W) | 3-0 v Bournemouth (W) |
| 1-3 v Wolves (W) | 1-2 v Wolves (W) |
| 1-2 v Crystal Palace (W) | 0-1 v Crystal Palace (W) |
| Points: 16 | Points (exc. Ipswich): 15 |
The real test begins after the international break, when Liverpool face home fixtures against Chelsea, Brighton and Villa, along with a trip to Arsenal, in their next four Premier League matches.
We will know a lot more about Slot’s Liverpool after that spell.
Spurs’ intensity drop suggests Thursday-Sunday hangover
Ange Postecoglou pulled no punches following Tottenham Hotspur’s second-half collapse at Brighton, describing it as “probably the worst defeat since I've been here".
“It's an unacceptable second half - we were nowhere near where we should be. Maybe we got carried away with how we were going,” he said.
“We lost all our duels, we weren’t competitive and if you're not competitive, irrespective of what you do tactically, it is not going to work.”
Analysing the Brighton goals shows Postecoglou is right: this was about intensity rather than tactics, suggesting the players suffered from a continental hangover after a 2-1 victory at Ferencvaros in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday.
The first two goals were built in almost identical fashion down the left, as Brighton entered the final third without any pressure applied to the ball - from centre-back to Pervis Estupinan to Kaoru Mitoma (example during build-up of Brighton's second goal shown below).
Spurs always play at a furious pace, topping the Premier League charts for PPDA (passes per defensive action, which measures the success of their pressing) with 8.0, but as the Thursday-Sunday schedule takes its toll, Postecoglou may have to slow things down a little.
Buonanotte can lead Leicester's revival
The biggest win of the weekend came at King Power Stadium, where Leicester City finally took three points at the seventh time of asking.
All of a sudden they look like they belong in the top flight. Steve Cooper’s side are up to 15th in the table and, having lost just three of their seven matches, are starting to look like stubborn opposition.
Cooper’s defensive tactics might not be easy on the eye, but he provides a solid foundation that allows Leicester’s 19-year-old revelation to flourish in a freer roles.
On Saturday Facundo Buonanotte became the second-youngest South American player to reach 10 goal involvements in the Premier League, behind only Alejandro Garnacho.
He has four goal involvements in six Premier League appearances this season, the latest being by far the best: a brilliant solo effort to take the three points against AFC Bournemouth.
If Buonanotte and Jamie Vardy can stay fit, their flourishing partnership could be enough to keep Leicester in the Premier League.
Wasteful Chelsea show the inconsistency of youth
Chelsea have by far the youngest average starting XI in the Premier League this season, and it is starting to show.
Their inability to overcome 10-man Nottingham Forest - despite accruing their second highest xG of the season, 2.46, and despite scoring 13 goals in their previous three matches in all competitions - is the kind of inconsistency we must come to expect for a team so young.
That doesn’t make it any less frustrating for supporters. Chelsea had nine first-half shots without scoring, their most without a goal since October 2023, and yet it was second-half misses that linger in the memory.
Cole Palmer had two shots saved by Matz Sels in quick succession, while Christopher Nkunku’s header in the fourth minute of added time was a golden opportunity to win the match.
Nevertheless, Enzo Maresca will be pleased with the overall performance.
Forest’s defence has been exceptional this season, but Chelsea hit an xG of 2.46, almost twice as much as anyone else has managed against Nuno Espirito Santo's side in 2024/25.
O’Neil needs to make big changes
Only a week ago the consensus was that Wolverhampton Wanderers have been unlucky this season, but after conceding five at Brentford to make it seven matches without a Premier League win – their worst run at the start of a top-flight campaign since 2003/04 – the narrative is shifting.
Gary O’Neil certainly doesn’t think bad luck has anything to do with it.
“It’s the worst game I’ve been involved in as a coach,” he told BBC Match of the Day in a scathing review of his team.
“It’s the furthest I’ve seen the group from what we wanted to look like. We were wide open. Crazy, crazy goals we gave away. Crazy decisions with and without the ball. It was so loose. It’s an unbelievably disappointing afternoon for us.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it has left O’Neil pondering major changes.
“The proof there today is that they weren't able to carry out what we needed to. So there needs to be a rethink around how we go about things,” O'Neil said in a separate interview.
“The fact that the players are making mistakes means there's a disconnect somewhere in understanding of what's being asked or where they need to be.”
Wolves have now taken six points from their last 17 Premier League matches stretching back to 30 March.
A tactical change sounds like a good idea.
Man Utd’s defence overshadowed by another blank
There are clearly positives to be taken from Manchester United’s 0-0 draw against Aston Villa.
A fourth clean sheet in the Premier League already this season leaves United on the same goals against figure as Man City, with eight, providing further evidence that Erik ten Hag has successfully improved the defence.
But at what cost? Only in 1972/73 have Man Utd scored fewer than five goals from the opening seven encounters of a top-flight campaign, while Ten Hag’s side have now gone three matches in a row without scoring.
It speaks volumes that a commendable point at Villa Park still brings with it new record lows. United’s eight points from their opening seven matches is their fewest at this stage of a league campaign since 1989/90, when they went on to finish 13th.
Worse, they are winless in five matches in all competitions.
Ten Hag needed to go for the win on Sunday. Up against a lethargic Villa, the visitors will perhaps rue their decision not to push for more.
First clean sheet of season a huge moment for Everton
After the difficult start they’ve made to the 2024/25 campaign, it doesn’t seem possible that since the start of last season, only Arsenal and Liverpool, with 21 and 15 respectively, have kept more Premier League clean sheets than Everton's 14.
That tells us just how important clean sheets have been for Sean Dyche’s side – and therefore how transformative their first of the season could prove to be.
Anthony Gordon’s missed penalty was a huge moment for Everton, who did not allow a single shot on target after that Jordan Pickford save in the 35th minute.
They are now unbeaten in three, up to 16th in the table, and looking more like their old selves.
