Winners and Losers: Premier League Gameweek 6

With another exhilarating round of Premier League games coming to an end before the Champions League games kick off this week, let’s have a look at the Winners and Losers of gameweek 6.

Also read: Winners and Losers: Premier League Gameweek 5

Winners

Graham Potter

With the loss of important players like Bissouma, Cucurella, and Maupay, you’d think Brighton would struggle this season without them. But Graham Potter has worked his magic on this side that currently sits 4th in the league with just 1 loss all season.

The Seagulls’ boss has been regarded as one of the best English coaches in the country for a while now, and it is not hard to see why. With so many key players moving elsewhere, a lot of managers would’ve complained and crumbled under the circumstances.

But Potter has not just dealt with these challenges head-on, he’s also done it with some style, as evidenced by his side’s 5-2 win over struggling Leicester at the weekend.

Brighton might be forced to sell their players to bigger clubs, but as long as they keep their manager, they should be fine.

Manchester United

Club-record signing Anthony scoring on debut, Rashford back amongst the goals with a brace, Arsenal’s perfect start ended, 4 wins in a row, and 5th on the table ahead of Chelsea and Liverpool; the red half of Manchester is buzzing.

All the frustrations of the summer regarding the Glazers, and the situation around Ronaldo seem to have suddenly disappeared. Erik Ten Haag has managed to somehow get a tune out of his players after 2 losses in the first 2 games, and suddenly it looks like the Red Devils are a force again.

It is certainly too early to tell if this is just a purple patch or if United really are on the upward curve again, but the signs from Old Trafford look positive.

Ivan Toney

Brentford have lost just once this season, and a large part of that is down to the brilliance of their talisman Ivan Toney. Bagging a hat trick at home against Leeds, he took his goal tally to 5 for the season.

Scoring a penalty, a free kick, and completing his hat trick with a brilliant chip from outside the box, the Bees striker has been prolific in front of goal. Since August of last year, Harry Kane and Tammy Abraham are the only Englishmen who have scored more than Toney.

With his current form, an England call up may not be too far away. Thomas Frank pitched a good case for him as well saying, “England have been in a few penalty shootouts and if they want to win one, they need to pick Ivan”.

All eyes on you Gareth Southgate.

Losers

VAR (again)

VAR seems to be making a habit of gettin on our ‘Losers’ list every gameweek.

There was plenty of controversy over the weekend, and at this point, is anyone surprised? VAR was introduced to make things smoother and turn all the focus towards the football on the pitch, but rather it has done quite the opposite.

Dodgy decisions over the weekend at games in the Merseyside derby, at Stamford Bridge, St. James’ Park and the Amex stadium, have caused uproar among players, coaches, pundits and fans alike.

It’s been so poor that even the usually bullish PGMOL has taken note of this weekends’ events and asked for a further review of the decisions. Truly shambolic.

Nottingham Forest

Forest bottled a 2 goal lead at home against a struggling Bournemouth side who themselves are currently in crisis mode, and this result sees the Reds 19th in the table with just 1 win all season.

The newly promoted club created an English transfer window record by signing a staggering 21 players. After having spent close to £150 million, the club’s owner Evangelos Marinakis will be heavily disappointed with the poor start to the season.

Despite having guided them to promotion last season, Steve Cooper will be under considerable pressure to turn things around at Forest. They will need their new team to settle in quickly if they are to have any hopes of staying up this season.

Brendan Rodgers

Things seem to be taking a turn for the worse at Leicester City with the club winless in 6 games and sitting rock-bottom in the league with just a solitary point all season.

The Brendan Rodgers-led side won the FA Cup and the Community Shield just over a year ago when they were flying with back to back 5th placed finishes in previous seasons. But now the midlands club seem to be struggling both on and off the pitch.

The loss of some big players and the lack of investment have only compounded Rodgers’ problems. Succumbing to another heavy defeat this season, the Northern Irishman is the bookies’ favourite to be the next manager to get the sack.

With European football no longer a viable excuse for poor league form like last season, things are not looking very good for Rodgers.

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