Jamie Vardy continued his scintillating form, whilst Crystal Palace are now in the Champions League places following a decent start. Top four hopefuls dropped points and VAR is still not reliable. Here is a look at the Winners and Losers from the weekend. Bet on football here.
WINNERS
Jamie Vardy
Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy was heavily involved in their win over the weekend as Brendan Rodgers’ side beat Bournemouth 3-1 in an end-to-end contest. The striker seems to be replicating the kind of performances that saw the Foxes win the title four seasons ago. Since the beginning of 2015/16, he has scored 78 Premier League goals and signs are already showing for the new campaign. He does not suffer many injuries and if that were to remain the case you can bet he will have another productive season. Two goals and an assist against Bournemouth took his tally to 13 goals in 16 league matches under Brendan Rodgers’ management.
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace continued their impressive start to the season with a narrow home win against Aston Villa. Jordan Ayew was on target and he will be happy with his improvement lately. He has scored more Premier League goals this season than in his previous 27 matches, a run stretching back to March 2018. Palace might have had concerns with their attacking abilities but Ayew has allayed those fears so far. They are now fourth in the Premier League table and they will be hoping to maintain the standards during the campaign.
Christian Eriksen
Christian Eriksen could have played his last game for Tottenham but he was definitely happy to have scored against Arsenal. The Spurs man has been linked with moves away from the club but he will not be leaving without major milestones to his name. He scored his 50th league goal to be the first Dane to achieve such feat in the Premier League and whereas Tottenham surrendered their early lead, Eriksen would have been very happy with his contribution.
LOSERS
Top-four hopefuls
Chelsea, Tottenham, Manchester United and Arsenal have been considered as the closest teams to Liverpool and Manchester City in the division. However, all four sides dropped points where they should have won. Chelsea and Tottenham surrendered a 2-0 lead each in the first half to be drawing 2-2 at full time against Sheffield United and Arsenal respectively. Manchester United scored first against Southampton but they could not hold on to their lead as well.
VAR
The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) has continued to generate a lot of interest with controversy dogging the new system over the weekend. Aston Villa and Watford were the aggrieved parties while Leicester’s Youri Tielemans had a lucky escape. West Ham were also denied a penalty whereas Newcastle scored against Watford despite the ball bouncing off the arm of Isaac Hayden in the build-up. The inconsistency in the application will be a huge debate in the coming days and referees will need to address it in the future.
Wolves
Wolves suffered a narrow defeat by the hands of Everton and they remain winless in the league since the start of the season. The two are top contenders to challenge the top six sides and this will be a counted as a lost opportunity for Nuno Espirito Santo and his men. They failed to take points from a direct competitor and if they do not make the turnaround soon enough their slow start could cost.