Winners and Losers: Premier League Gameweek 5

The midweek Premier League games saw Manchester City give newcomers Nottingham Forest a proper thrashing, while Liverpool sealed back-to-back wins for the first time this season as they beat Newcastle in added time (on added time!).

An upset at St. Mary’s for Chelsea, Arsenal’s perfect start to the season, and Manchester United’s upturn in form – there’s plenty to discuss and dissect in this gameweek’s Winners and Losers.

Also read: FPL: TFTWC FPL Analytics Report (Part I) – GW 1 to GW 4

Winners

Erik Ten Hag

It’s been quite a turn of events at Old Trafford for Manchester United in the past 2 weeks. With 2 new star signings in Brazilians Casemiro and Anthony, 3 wins in a row for the first time since April 2021, 5th in the table above Liverpool and Chelsea – maybe the opening 2 league losses that included the 4-0 humbling to Brentford was exactly the wake-up call that was needed for Manchester United to get their season up and running.

Ten Haag’s men have suddenly found steely resolve in defence which seemed to be missing at the start of the campaign. Lisandro Martinez has settled in nicely at the back after his shaky start against Brentford, with Diogo Dalot and Tyler Malacia on either flanks completing this new-look defence which has now kept 2 cleansheets in a row, United look impressive.

With Casemiro taking to the field for the Red Devils on Thursday night at the King Power, and with record signing Anthony now available for selection for the weekend, there is a sense of optimism building in the red half of Manchester, which has been missing for several months if not seasons.

Ten Hag seems to be weaving his magic as United fans have started to witness a unified change in the pressing style of the team, which seemed so non-cohesive under previous managers.

His handling of the precarious Ronaldo situation where he has not succumbed to the powers that be, has shown how he isn’t looking at the short term and isn’t just a ‘yes’ man as many might have perceived him to be.

The Dutchman is quickly growing in stature as a likable figure at Old Trafford and is doing his reputation no harm in how he has turned United’s fortunes after what seemed like a hopeless start to the season.

Liverpool

How do they manage to do it time and time again? Liverpool have a knack for comebacks and last-minute winners, but this was late even by their standards.

After their 9-0 thrashing of Bournemouth, it seemed like the Reds were back on track, but those hopes quickly evaporated as Newcastle’s new star signing Alexander Isak helped the Magpies take the lead.

But Anfield did what Anfield does best. And that’s to never give up and roar their team on to a tetchy, but morale-boosting comeback win at a time when they haven’t looked like their usual consistent selves.

Man City haven’t lost a game this season and already sit at 2nd place with 13 points, and anything other than a win might have put fears amongst the Liverpool faithful about their title challenge this season.

The fact that new signing Fabio Carvalho scored the late winner, and now has 2 goals in his previous 2 games will also give Jurgen Klopp some encouragement about his squad depth with the tight fixture list coming up.

The deadline day signing of Arthur Melo on loan might also just be the perfect way to deal with their midfield injury woes. After a bleak start to the season, things seem to be slowly getting back to normalcy now for the Reds.

Aleksandar Mitrović

He’s not just breaking his captain Thomas Cairney’s car window shields in training but is also breaking records in the Premier League. The Fulham striker now has 5 goals to his name this campaign in as many games, and isn’t showing any signs of stopping any time soon.

Having scored just 3 goals in his last season in the Premier League in 2020/21 when Fulham got relegated, he has had a lot to prove. The Serbian netted a record 43 times in the Championship last season under Marcos Silva, but he has always struggled to translate the same sort of form in the top flight.

Having already scored against top opposition in Liverpool and Arsenal, he will have his eyes set on extending his goalscoring run against London rivals Tottenham and Chelsea who Fulham face next.

With his best start to a Premier League season, he has already embarked on his mission to erase the ghosts of his past seasons and prove that he isn’t a one-trick & one-league pony.

Losers

Everton

After the relegation scrap last season where Everton stayed up in the Premier League by the skin of their teeth, Frank Lampard would’ve hoped for a better start this time around to help the Merseyside club steer away from the bottom 3 in their opening fixtures. But the Toffees are winless after 5 games and find themselves in 17th position.

Everton have failed to replace the prolific Richarlison over the transfer window as the Brazilian decided to join Tottenham. They have consequently struggled to conjure up goals in his absence due to the lack of other reinforcements up front.

The team mustered just 7 shots on goal, with only 2 of them being on target against Leeds, and failed to once again hold on to their lead. With 3 back-to-back 1-1 draws and just 4 goals scored all season, Frank Lampard will hope Anthony Gordon can put his flirtations with Chelsea over the summer behind him and continue his good form.

With Dwight McNeil being Everton’s only forward signing this season, their attack looks threadbare. With Liverpool and Arsenal coming up in the fixture list, Everton’s search for their first win of the season might carry on.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Ronaldo has searched all window long for an exit route from Mancehester United, with his agent Jorge Mendes having offered him all around Europe in search of Champions League football. But in a scenario no one would have imagined, the five-time Balon d’Or winner couldn’t find a single taker suiting his needs.

Having disgruntled his faithful fans at Old Trafford and not being picked by Erik ten Haag either, the Portuguese legend has found himself in an unprecedented situation where he isn’t the first name on the team sheet anymore.

With just 1 start in 5 gameweeks so far, it isn’t looking good for Ronaldo at Manchester United at the moment as he seems surplus to Ten Haag’s plans in his high-press system.

The 37-year-old, who is possibly on his last legs in European football, is desperate to have one last hurrah in the Champions League, a competition he has won a staggering 5 times and in which he is the top scorer of all time.

But with the prospect of playing Europa League football on Thursday nights for the first time in his career and the transfer window being shut, Ronaldo might just have to bite the bullet and work his way into being in Ten Haag’s plans for the remainder of the season.

Chelsea

Chelsea succumbed to their second loss of the season at Southampton, in what has been a shakey start to their campaign. The Blues took the lead at St. Mary’s through Raheem Sterling’s opener but quickly lost the lead before halftime as they failed to turn the game around in the second half.

As Thomas Tuchel said in his post match press conference,”It is too easy to put us off balance, to beat us, to confuse us. It is too easy.”; Chelsea fans will have echoed the same sentiment.

Despite Koulibaly’s return to the eleven, they looked fragile at the back, and wasteful in attack in the absence of Reece James. Injuries to N’Golo Kante, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, the suspension of Conor Gallagher, and the lack of a fully fit Kovacic has left Tuchel struggling for answers as Chelsea sit in 10th in the table with just 7 points.

Having completed 3 signings after the game and just before deadline day with Wesley Fofana, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and Denis Zakaria heading to the Bridge, Chelsea will have spent upwards of £250 million in the window under the new ownership.

It’s certain that all this money spent by Chelsea in the transfer window will result in Tuchel coming under a lot of pressure. The German boss has to quickly find a solution to make the team click if they want to stay within reach of the top 4, let alone pose a title challenge.

Despite the optimism surrounding the slew of new signings, Chelsea look like a club in transition and in search of answers, and there hasn’t been much to cheer about for fans on the field apart from their performance against Spurs at home which now feels like a distant memory.

Also read: Winners and Losers: Premier League Gameweek 4