Premier League Matchday 6 saw Liverpool lose to Crystal Palace, Arsenal gain ground in the title race, and Manchester City hammer Burnley 5-1. Let’s look back at these results and the rest of Matchday 6 to see where each club stands ahead of Matchday 7.
20. Wolves (–1)
It feels harsh dropping Wolves back down to 20th place after their gutsy 1-1 draw against Tottenham, but someone has to be last, and they are definitely deserving candidates. Vitor Pereira’s side have just one point this season and the league’s worst goal difference through six matches (-9). They’ve pulled off great escapes before, but it’s looking pretty unlikely this season.
19. Burnley (-1)
Burnley’s 5-1 loss to Manchester City was the most expected result of the weekend. I guaranteed City would win by two goals in our Premier League predictions for Matchday 6. With that in mind, there’s not a lot to take away from this match. The Clarets have a tough defense that can keep them in matches against poorer sides, but they’re always going to get torn apart by the big boys.
18. West Ham (+2)
West Ham’s 1-1 draw against Everton was not that impressive. Yes, it was better than a loss, but the main reason they’ve moved up two places in our Premier League power rankings is because they’ve sacked Graham Potter. The Hammers desperately needed a change and Nuno Espírito Santo is a great replacement.
I’m also optimistic because it’s clear Nuno has already made a difference. The club played in a compact low block that kept them in the game against Everton, which allowed Jarrod Bowen to score the equalizer in the second half.
17. Nottingham Forest (–4)
Ange Postecoglou has been in charge of Nottingham Forest for five matches. The Reds haven’t won any of them. On Matchday 6, they lost 1-0 to Sunderland, despite having 65% possession and 22 shots.
On one hand, you could say that Forest were unlucky. For me, though, this is proof that Postecoglou was a bad hire. This team is not good at playing possession-based football. In fact, it was one of their worst aspects under Nuno Espirito Santo. I’ll never understand why Evangelos Marinakis doubled down on this weakness by hiring Postecoglou. At this rate, Big Ange might not make it to the New Year.
16. Brentford (+1)
Brentford and striker Igor Thiago ran riot against Manchester United on Matchday 6. The Bees took a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes and didn’t let up. You’d never guess that they lost their manager and so many key players in the summer. Brentford are obviously limited by their talent, but they are one of the most fun teams to watch in the Premier League right now.
15. Leeds (=)
Leeds conceded their first goals at home of the season, but they won’t care. The Whites picked up a point in a solid draw against Bournemouth. They now sit 12th in the table, four points above the relegation zone. The real challenges will come later in the season, but this Leeds team look far more pragmatic than Daniel Farke’s old Norwich sides, which bodes well for their chances of staying up this year.
14. Manchester United (–2)
It turns out Manchester United’s 2-1 over Chelsea was just a mirage. The Red Devils went right back to the same poor form we’ve come to expect from them against Brentford. Rubem Amorim’s team suffered a 3-1 defeat, and that was a flattering scoreline.
Outside of a few stretches of possession in the first half, United were completely outclassed. If this Brentford team can do that to Man Utd, things might be worse than I thought.
13. Aston Villa (+3)
Aston Villa started the season as one of the worst teams in England. They were winless through six matches in all competitions, and scored just one league goal. However, Unai Emery did what he does best and used European football to jumpstart his club’s season.
The Villans beat Bologna 1-0 in the Europa League on Thursday and carried that result into the league, beating Fulham 3-1. They play Feyenoord later this week before taking on Burnley at home in Matchday 7. Both those games are winnable, but they will be a real test to see if Villa are back to their best.
12. Fulham (–1)
Fulham suffered yet another loss to Aston Villa at Villa Park. The Cottagers have won only one of their last 22 trips to Birmingham. With that in mind, it’s hard to knock Fulham too much for the loss. They played better than the 3-1 scoreline indicates. Marco Silva’s team also had to deal with Raul Jiménez (their goalscorer) getting injured 11 minutes into the match. It was a tough result, but Fulham should be fine going forward.
11. Brighton (+3)
Brighton bounced back from their collapse in Matchday 6 against Tottenham with a 6-0 win over Barnsley in the Carabao Cup and a 3-1 comeback victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. The Seagulls benefited from a red card against the Blues, but they deserved to win. They were already growing into the match before Trevoh Chalobah was sent off. The question now is whether Brighton can deliver this kind of performance consistently.
10. Everton (=)
Everton conceded their first goal at their new Hill Dickinson Stadium against a struggling West Ham on Monday. If you ignore the storylines surrounding West Ham, it was a pretty typical result for the Toffees, a 1-1 draw with lots of crosses. Jack Grealish also played well. It’s really hard to say more about this David Moyes team. They’re solid and will finish somewhere between 10th and 14th this season.
9. Bournemouth (–1)
Bournemouth are one of several mid-table teams that suffer from the problem of being able to beat Big 6 clubs, but not smaller teams. That problem was on full display on Matchday 7. The Cherries were lucky to earn a draw against Leeds. They conceded two set-piece goals, while not creating a single big chance for themselves. Leeds, meanwhile, created three big chances and missed them all. As long as Bournemouth keep losing these kinds of matches, their ceiling is upper-mid-table.
8. Sunderland (+1)
If you predicted Sunderland would be in the top five heading into Matchday 7, you should buy a lottery ticket. The Black Cats have lost just one of their opening six matches. On Matchday 6, they showed they can do it away from home too. Régis Le Bris’s team scored their first goal away from The Stadium of Light in an impressive 1-0 win at Forest.
7. Newcastle (–1)
Newcastle were content to let Arsenal dominate possession, and it came back to bite them. The Magpies had just 37% possession and allowed the Gunners to take 20 shots and 12 corners. Eddie Howe’s side leads the league in clean sheets, so their defensive strategy is clearly working. However, it puts a hard ceiling on what we can expect from Newcastle this season.
6. Chelsea (–2)
Chelsea had a man sent off for the second consecutive week. It was Robert Sanchez against Man Utd and Trevoh Chalobah in their 3-1 loss to Brighton. Because of the circumstances, it feels harsh to drop Chelsea too far down our EPL power rankings.
That said, Enzo Maresca’s response to going down to ten men has been really concerning. His first instinct is to play conservatively —even when the Blues desperately need a goal. That exact pragmatic instinct derailed Chelsea’s season last year. Seeing it rear its head already this year in such extreme circumstances is worrying.
5. Crystal Palace (+2)
After stunning Liverpool at Selhurst Park on Saturday, Crystal Palace are the only unbeaten side left in the Premier League. Their unbeaten run now stands at 18 matches in all competitions. The advanced numbers back this up. Oliver Glasner’s team have the third-best xG difference in the league (per Fbref).
The only thing the Eagles don’t excel at is possession (40% on average), but they don’t need it. Palace are efficient, well-coached, and look on track to qualify for Europe this season. At the very least, they should finish higher than 12th.
4. Tottenham (–1)
When Spurs replaced Ange Postecoglou with Thomas Frank, I thought they would shake off their bad habit of losing to poor teams. I was wrong. “Doctor Tottenham” were back in the office against Wolves on Matchday 6. Frank’s side gifted Wolves their first point of the season.
The worst part about this draw for Spurs was that it was 100% the right result. Tottenham had just one more shot than Wolves, created fewer xG, and just barely managed to grab a point thanks to a 94th-minute goal from Joao Palhinha.
3. Manchester City (+2)
After starting the season with two losses in their first three matches, Manchester City are now unbeaten in their last five matches in all competitions. They conceded just two goals during that stretch, and scored five on Saturday against Burnley. It’s too early to say whether the City of old are back, but this team should definitely be in the title race this season, unlike last year.
2. Liverpool (–1)
I’ve seen a lot of people say that Liverpool’s luck ran out against Crystal Palace, but I think it was more than that. Arne Slot’s side were outplayed. Arsenal may rely too much on set pieces and be a bit boring to watch sometimes, but I can’t ever imagine them being cut apart like Liverpool were by Palace on Saturday.
1. Arsenal (+1)
The Gunners went down 1-0 to Newcastle, but managed to get a win thanks to, you guessed it: two great headers from corners. Arsenal have now scored 15 more corners than any other Premier League team since the start of last season.
Typically, I’d say they need more than set-piece goals to win trophies, but with Liverpool and Man City struggling, this could be Arsenal’s year. Mikel Arteta’s team are just two points back from Liverpool and have been by far the most consistent team in the league through six games.
