Winners and Losers: Premier League Gameweek 7

It was a disrupted weekend of football as 6 teams had their games postponed, yet there was a lot to get our teeth stuck into. The players are already jet-setting around the world to make it to their national team camps, but for now, let’s focus on the winners and losers from the weekend’s action.

Also read: The Spanish Take: La Liga Roundup Matchday 6

Winners

Heung-Min Son

There’s only one place to start this list, and that is by tipping our hats to one, Heung-Min Son. After a bit of a hiatus, the ‘Prodigal Son’ returned with a vengeance, and unfortunately for Leicester, they were the ones to face the brunt of it. A scintillating 13-minute hattrick off the bench to remind everyone who he really is. Last season’s Golden boot winner has had a torrid start to the season, going goalless for eight games straight.

When he stepped onto the turf at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, he had the ‘eye of the tiger’. First, a brilliant curling effort into the top corner, then from the edge of the D- almost caressing the ball in the goal, and finally a cheeky flick past Ward to cap off a splendid hattrick. He’s back!

Fabio Vieira

Nothing shy of a dream debut for Arsenal’s creative gem Fabio Vieira who polished off his evening with a peach of a goal. The Portuguese player has had to miss the start of the season due to an injury but now, fit and firing, he’s showing what he’s got. With him in the team and looking at how well he played on his debut Arteta has a plethora of attackers at his disposal.

Odegaard’s absence thrust him into the start XI faster than the manager would have liked, but boy, did he deliver. Any questions about his ability to fill in, let alone impose himself in such a key area for the team, were quelled. Vieira is a brilliant player, by the looks of it, who has a feather touch and the eye for a pass. Yet his willingness to get stuck in and get involved in the dirtier aspects of the game really caught my eye.

Tyrone Mings

Another player with a horrid start to the season, for Mings, it was more off the pitch. It was seen as a harsh decision at the time when Gerrard stripped the captaincy off him and even dropped him for the season opener. But Stevie G seems to have done the trick as Mings looks like a man reborn. He was the standout performer against the Saints in a pretty drab affair overall.

The Villa faithful won’t care, this was a victory and a much-needed clean sheet, their first since April. After giving a very good account of himself against Haaland, Mings needed to back that performance up, and he sure did. A consistent season with good performances could see him sneak into Southgate’s squad to Qatar.

Losers

Brendan Rodgers

He is really hanging on by a thread, isn’t he? At this point, it’s just not working. He’s done his time, taken Leicester to great heights even won two trophies, but maybe it’s time to go. Brendan Rodgers isn’t a bad manager, but he’s run his course with the Foxes, the players are fatigued of him, and he’s unhappy with the management, while they won’t sack him due to the high compensation.

Battered 6-2 by Tottenham, languishing at the bottom of the table, the only team yet to win a game. It’s six straight defeats now, Leicester need to get their act together quickly or find themselves in a battle to survive relegation.

Eddie Howe

All the possession yet not incision for Newcastle. The Magpies were frustratingly held to a 1-1 draw by the Cherries. They were cut open by a swift Bournemouth counterattack and had to be rescued by an Isak penalty to get the point. Newcastle did surprisingly little to trouble Neto for a team with 72% possession and 20 shots.

Eddie Howe needs to inject some creativity into this team and find a way to get Isak more involved in the play. Baring the penalty he barely had a sniff at goal and he was surrounded by 3-4 Bournemouth kits at all times.

Nathan Collins

A performance to forget for the CB as he got a straight red for a ludicrous kung-fu kick on Jack Grealish. He left his team in an impossible situation, 2 goals down and a man down against the best team in the world. Collins sulked off the pitch, incensed and seemingly distraught, and down the tunnel. He knew he got this one terribly wrong.

This leaves Lage in a tough situation as the only fit CBs now are Toti Gomes and Yerson Mosquera; hardly household names. Two trips to London await the Wolves as they face West Ham and Chelsea post the international break.