Who is the most important player in the Premier League, and did we just learn that it’s one who did not play in Week 6?
Rodri may well win the Ballon d’Or this season, and his absence was noticable as Manchester City dropped points for the first time this season in a 1-1 draw with Newcastle United at St. James’ Park.
But Cole Palmer would like a word, too, as his four-goal haul for Chelsea versus Brighton highlighted an attack that contend for any trophy this year. And Jarrad Branthwaite’s return to the Everton lineup delivered a first win, a deserved one given his partnership with James Tarkowski.
All this before a sneaky fun Monday affair which will see Southampton visit Bournemouth for a ‘New South Coast derby’ (Watch live at 3pm ET on USA Network and streaming online via NBC.com).
Here are 10 thoughts about Week 6 from our writers, as Joe Prince-Wright, Andy Edwards, and Nick Mendola share their observations from the latest nine games of the 2024-25 Premier League season.
Chelsea flash high potential
Chelsea’s collective foot was down on the gas pedal early as attackers Nicolas Jackson, Jadon Sancho, Noni Madueke, and Cole Palmer roared forward against a Brighton team who wanted to do the same. Robert Sanchez’s pair of gaffes at the back made the score line closer than it should’ve been, because Enzo Maresca almost certainly has his best front four and it’s a unit that looks capable of delivering chance after chance. The Blues recorded four “big chances missed” according to fotmob from a game they scored four times. Do the math there, and look at Palmer’s history-making stats below. If Chelsea can keep piling up chances, the sky really feels the limit because their depth in attack is insane with Joao Felix, Christopher Nkunku, and Pedro Neto among the options off the bench (or starting in other competitions, with the Conference League opening up on Thursday). — Nick Mendola
A wildly illogical second half for a wildly illogical era at Manchester United
Manchester United 0-3 Tottenham Hotspur
Take everything you expect about sports and throw it out the window when it comes to the Erik ten Hag era of Manchester United. The more talented team rarely looks it. A team who nearly gets ousted from a cup by a lower-division side in a semifinal can beat the best team in the world to the trophy. And a team that looked disinterested and thoroughly outclassed for 50+ plus minutes, down a man and two goals, can suddenly seize possession and manufacture more chances than the ascendant side for nearly a half-hour. Who are Manchester United now? How in the world are we supposed to make sense of them, when heralded names like Ugarte, De Ligt, and Mazraoui come into a side and somehow look as ordinary as their new teammates? Spurs won’t care, and no one in the Premier League is going to give the Red Devils a break or even worry at the one-time fortress now known as a fun place to play a game: Old Trafford. Given all that, might as well pen them in for wins at Porto and Aston Villa over the next week. And, honestly, it wouldn’t be a surprise if a couple of PL games without Bruno Fernandes show a more difficult side to break down. — Nick Mendola
Another Arsenal victory by corner kick
For the third week running, Arsenal scored a decisive goal from a corner kick. The Gunners had a staggering 17 corner kicks in Saturday’s game, and they needed nearly every single one of them to secure the win. The winning goal goes down as an own goal by Wilfred Ndidi, but it was Leandro Trossard who got on the end of Bukayo Saka’s service and put it in play. A late Arsenal winner felt inevitable from the moment Leicester equalized, and the fact it was from a corner kick was hardly a surprise as xG was an eye-popping 4.12-0.27 xG in the end. Anything other than an Arsenal win would have been highway robbery. — Andy Edwards
Solid Liverpool don’t need their best to win
Liverpool weren’t bad on Saturday aside from an Ibrahima Konate error that led to a confused concession for Wolves, but surely any Reds player would tell you they weren’t not firing on all cylinders. Luis Diaz, perhaps the star of the season so far, was quiet and the first sub. Alisson looked rusty (and beardless). Virgil van Dijk was fine but a bit leggy. But Arne Slot’s men still held control for most of the game, attacked the box through Andy Robertson and Konate to go ahead, and quickly responded to going level by finding a penalty in the Wolves box. Liverpool are first on the table and they deserve it even if Slot has mentioned a tame schedule to start the season (a little dig at Man United to boot). That changes soon with Chelsea, Arsenal, Brighton, and Aston Villa fixtures and cups sprinkled between coming out of the October international break. First place now isn’t about first, but top-four insulation (First place is also, obviously, first place. Never a bad thing). — Nick Mendola
Man City fail to close it out with Rodri’s physicality missing
Newcastle United 1-1 Manchester City
City took the lead just before half time and clicked into a composed gear aside from a Joelinton’s snapshot well-saved by Ederson. That was until just before the hour mark when they lost control. Newcastle bullied them with physicality all over the pitch and it took its toll. Joelinton ran the show in the second half with his physicality causing so many problems, and was allowed too much time and space to slot through Gordon in a central area and Ederson brought him down to give away the penalty kick which led to City coughing up two points. Late on Newcastle had a big chance to win it through Sean Longstaff who was in acres of space when he scuffed a cutback wide and in both of those instances you asked yourself: would that have happened if Rodri was sitting in front of the back four? City are of course going to miss the best holding midfielder in the world right now. This performance proved how much, as Rodri’s injury has sent a seismic shock through this City side. Rico Lewis and Mateo Kovacic are superb on the ball and can mop up extremely well. But they are not Rodri. Nobody is. His imposing stature and physical nature has helped City close out so many close games like this over the last few years. His absence is going to be felt for the rest of the season and at Newcastle we got a glimpse, if we needed it. — Joe Prince-Wright
McKenna wins (er, draws) battle of stubborn bosses
Kieran McKenna’s had less success in his young career than Unai Emery’s had in his longer, illustrious one, but that didn’t stop the former from keeping to his principles as an upset grew more reasonable. Emery’s Aston Villa was a little sleepy on the day — perhaps with an eye to the Champions League and Bayern Munich — and Ipswich sensed it and were ready to pounce. There was discipline in Ipswich’s defensive structure and their counter attack found several times to skewer Villa’s back line. What really worked for the Tractor Boys is that they never acted like anything but a win was the aim of the side. Make no mistake, though — they’ll be quite happy with the draw. And Liam Delap has so much pace for a man his size. Phewf. — Nick Mendola
Branthwaite-Tarkowski duo takes little time to shine
The long-awaited return of English center back Jarrad Branthwaite wasn’t an instant clean sheet scenario for Everton, but it was the closest thing to it considering Palace’s goal came with both Branthwaite and CB partner James Tarkowski occupying other marks. Branthwaite looked sensational at the back despite having to contend with the pace of Eddie Nketiah on his side as well as the power of Jean-Philippe Mateta. Tarkowski shone, too, even with Mateta’s physical challenge multiplied by keeping an eye on Eberechi Eze. Jordan Pickford only needed to make three saves as the Tarkowski-Branthwaite duo played behind a monstrous, 15-duel winning defensive midfield combination of Orel Mangala and Abdoulaye Doucoure. Sean Dyche will have loved this. — Nick Mendola
Manchester United may have a Bruno Fernandes problem — and it has nothing to do with his red card
Manchester United 0-3 Tottenham Hotspur | What’s wrong with Manchester United?
Bruno Fernandes is Manchester United’s captain and best player. He has incredible vision, is capable of the sublime, and cares deeply about the club. But Erik ten Hag has struggled mightily to put Fernandes in a system that allows the Portuguese to be his playmaking best. United is not the only Premier League team to have a defensively-challenged creator in the center of the park, and there are different ways to make that players contribute to success. Kevin De Bruyne is given license to roam at Manchester City, where the rest of the midfield and defense is aligned to allow for De Bruyne’s gaps. James Maddison at Spurs is part of a system that is simply designed to out-gun the opposition. Ten Hag has an idea of what will work best with Fernandes, and the Manuel Ugarte buy is surely meant to work with Kobbie Mainoo or Casemiro to lock down the midfield behind Fernandes and in front of Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez. Maybe that will be better in time, but Game #1 saw Fernandes spend most of the first half hanging out next to Joshua Zirkzee as if they were a strike pairing waiting for their team to reclaim possession. And with Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho the wide forwards, that made four players whose strengths are decidedly not thwarting attacks. On Sunday, the same could be set for poor Lisandro Martinez and Dalot. It will be very intriguing to see if United are more difficult to beat while Fernandes serves his suspension for a straight red card. It will be more intriguing to see United’s table status once he returns following PL meetings with Aston Villa and Brentford. — Nick Mendola
No lead is ever safe with Brentford
On one hand, scoring in the 1st minute is clearly a great way to start every game. On the other hand, defending one-goal leads for 89 minutes has proven an impossible task for Brentford, as they have just one point to show for their record-breaking run of three-straight games with goals inside of 60 seconds. The first two were written off as Manchester City and Tottenham are two ultra-attacking teams, but this is a problem that runs much deeper than three weeks in September. The Bees have now dropped 38 points from winning positions since the start of last season, six more than anyone else in the PL. Maybe try waiting until the 90th minute to score next week. — Andy Edwards
Fulham’s “nearly men” solid and more than adequate for a top-half charge
Every part of Fulhams set-up sees players and staff who have at one point been billed as set for the elite tier or the at least the next big thing. From one-time Arsenal starlets Emile Smith Rowe and Alex Iwobi in attack along with Barcelona burner Adama Traore to former Manchester United prospect Andreas Pereira in the midfield and Arsenal scapegoat Bernd Leno at the back, almost the entire team knows the top level as well as expectations. Heck, Marco Silva was once the next big thing in Premier League management. All of these players are playing with the same tantalizing potential that earned them earlier flowers, plus now there are chips on their shoulder as Fulham remain an ornery bunch under Silva. It’s the sort of thing that makes you look at transfer rumor mill names like Antonee Robinson and think, “Why wouldn’t they stick around a bit longer?” or at least not jump at a substandard offer. — Nick Mendola