Matchday 11 - Quick Round Up

Match Day 11 Round Up

Saturday 8th November

Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 Manchester United

A dreary game that exploded into life in the last ten minutes or so, as Spurs suddenly seemed to remember they were at home and needed a result. Up until that time, despite Man Utd not looking particularly good, they were sauntering to a very easy 1-0 victory. In the end, they required a last gasp goal to get a draw. It must be said, neither team were inspiring, but Spurs were absolutely dreadful for long periods. Frank is struggling to get them going and he has having even more of a problem getting the fans on side. There really is a disconnect between the team and the fans at the moment, which needs to be fixed soon or they are in real danger of another disaster season.

Starmen:
De Ligt - scored the opening goal and was very good for the first 75 minutes particularly.
Odobert - his arrival on to the pitch changed things as he ran at United's defence and had real joy against Diallo, who had been moved to wing-back.

Flops:
Sarr - runs around a lot but achieves very little.
Simons - he is not working out so far, which is no surprise as I fail to see what he offers.
Muani - taken off at half-time after barely even seeing the ball, let alone touching it.
Cunha - a brilliant player, but he had an off day.
Sesko - made a mess of an easy chance and somehow injured himself doing it.

West Ham United 3-2 Burnley

A much more comfortable win than the scoreline suggested. Burnley picking up a very late goal was little more than a consolation. The Hammers look to be finding their feet under Nuno, even if it is not the greatest performances, they are picking up the points now and edging towards safety. Burnley, on the other hand, look like a team that has been worked out and are sinking fast.

Starmen:
Nuno - his subs came up trumps for him, scoring the second and third goals.
Fernandes - added energy and mobility in midfield.
Wilson - the team looks better with a proper centre-forward up front.
Flemming - added another goal for Burnley.

Flops:
Areola - unfortunately he is prone to these kind of costly errors.
Parker - he is far too unadventurous and is going to throw away any hope of survival with his overly defensive set up.

Everton 2-0 Fulham

A very easy win for the Toffees as Fulham showed a lack of bite, particularly once Lukic picked up a booking. After that, Fulham were dominated physically and offered very little in the way of attacking threat. It was one of the more one-sided victories of the season, which begs the question of whether Fulham were just really bad or Everton made them look bad or, more likely, a bit of both? Fulham are just too nice and have a soft underbelly that can be a real problem for them. Everton could have had a much more comfortable victory, but they had three goals ruled out for offside, though I remain to be convinced that the third one was the correct decision.

Starmen:
Ndiaye - once again his skill and work rate stand out.
Garner - looks much better at full-back than in midfield.
Dewsbury-Hall - full of running and picked up an assist.
Gueye - was key to the Everton win.

Flops:
Barry - yes he worked very hard, and had a goal ruled out for offside, but he needs to offer more and stop pretending to be injured when he messes up.
Lukic - after picking up an early booking he was anonymous, having to be too careful and lost a huge portion of his game.
Wilson - too lazy for a game like this and weak as a day old puppy.

Sunderland 2-2 Arsenal

Who would have thought that, ten games into the season a match between the Mackems and Gooners would be a top of the table clash? I am not sure even the most optimistic Sunderland supporter believed the season would start so well. Once again they proved that it is no fluke that they are competing near the top, giving Arsenal more trouble than just about anyone else this season. You can only applaud their heart and desire, though you do wonder how long can they keep it up for? As for Arsenal, it was just a little blip for them, but they do need to find a solution to rotate/cover Gyokeres, as without him they do lack a focal point. That was the big issue for them, that lack of a goalscorer to pen the Mackems back.

Starmen:
Ballard - the ex-Arsenal youngster came back to haunt his childhood team with another excellent performance.
Sadiki - he pops up everywhere and has good technical skills and great mobility, a very good find for Sunderland.
Xhaka - once again he produced a captain's performance and was still going strong at the final whistle.
Saka - a top class player who performs so consistently.
Rice - he is arguably a complete midfielder now. Having his physical presence allows Zuibimendi to play.

Flops:
Mandava - could not handle Saka at all.
La Fee - gave the ball away so often I was beginning to wonder if he had forgotten which team he was playing for. Truly awful game for him and cost his team a goal.
Eze - needs to do more and get more involved
Arteta - his natural caution cost Arsenal again, when he brought on an extra defender to try and see out the match. That just invited Sunderland on.

Chelsea 3-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers

I did not think it was possible, but Wolves were even worse after getting rid of Pereira than they were with him! They desperately need Rob Edwards to work some kind of voodoo as right now they are in danger of ending the season as the worst team ever to play in the Premier League. The only reason Chelsea scored just three is simply because the Blues spent so much time passing it around the back they did not have much time for anything else! That was an embarrassingly one-sided affair.

Starmen:
Fernandez - had the freedom of the park and made the most of it.
Neto - made sure the Wolves' fans were rueing his sale with his goal and celebration.
Garnacho - you know a team is woeful when Garnacho actually has a good game against them.

Flops:
Everybody connected with Wolves - let their fans down badly with a terrible performance and lack of real fight.

Sunday 9th November

Aston Villa 4-0 Bournemouth

Another completely one-sided game. For Bournemouth, this international break is very welcome as they look to be running out of steam due to injuries. Their complete lack of quality at the back, after selling most of their defence in the summer, is now coming back to bite them on the backside. Iraola has performed a minor miracle so far, but it was never going to last all season without reinforcements of better quality at the back. Villa under Emery are a team that are always capable of beating anyone and it is a mark of their level now that this result was not a surprise, especially now they are starting to get players back from injury.

Starmen:
Martinez - saved a penalty.
Buendia - not just for his goal, but his all-round effort and performance alone would have got him in this list.
McGinn - when he plays well, usually Villa do too.

Flops:
Watkins - desperately needs a goal.
Semenyo - failed to convert a penalty, though it probably would have made no difference anyway.
Bournemouth recruitment - had a wad of cash but have left Iraola with a complete lack of squad depth and quality in defence.

Brentford 3-1 Newcastle United

Unfortunately this game will be remembered due to shambolic officiating, rather than for the match itself, which is a shame for the Bees who won this match by being the better team. Newcastle are devolving into a proper Howe team, with shambolic defending, but interspersed with Howe's new style of thuggery. Actual team play in the Premier League has completely vanished, along with effort and they look like a team that could find itself in a relegation dogfight if they are not careful. Though you would expect they have too much height and too many setpieces to drop down. Brentford won at a canter, but did not really look outstanding doing so. However the match will probably mostly be remembered for a tale of two penalties, one that should have been given but wasn't and one that was given but shouldn't have been! You also have to wonder about the intelligence of Burn, to make the same idiotic attempt to win a ball he was never going to get twice. He should have been sent off the first time, even he knew that, but he just went and did it again anyway to make sure he got that card! Unreal how stupid professional footballers can be at times.

Starmen:
Schade - can be a bit of a headless chicken sometimes, but his pace and hard graft were a major plus in this game. He ran Newcastle ragged.
Thiago - a great focal point for them and has now started to add goals to his game.

Flops:
Kelleher - flaps at things he should be catching. He is going to cost them unless he sorts that out.
Trippier - anonymous throughout.
Burn - was absolutely lost against Outtara's pace and he was always going to be the weak link, even if he stayed on.
Howe - got it completely wrong, especially playing Burn up against a pacey winger.

Nottingham Forest 3-1 Leeds United

Another manager getting it completely wrong and ended up with his team getting beaten very easily. It seems to be a theme this week. This time it was Daniel Farke, who once again is overly negative away from home, with a team that simply is not built for defensive holding actions. It is strange how a manager can be so good in the Championship, yet so completely out of his depth in the Premier League because he suddenly becomes negative. The example Sunderland are setting is being ignored. Forest and Dyche seem to be a very good fit so far, it has not been perfect, but he seems to be able to get them playing some decent football and winning matches again. I wonder where this was when he was in charge of Everton? Forest are still in the relegation zone, but now it looks like just a short term issue and they are going to stroll to safety, unlike under Ange and Nuno this season, when they looked dead and buried. With West Ham also on the rise, Fulham, Leeds and Burnley look in real danger of sinking. Even more of a surprise were the goalscorers for Garibaldi, none of whom would have figured amongst players you would have expected to score!

Starmen:
Williams - drive and energy, this time from the left. The Welshman is growing into a key player for Forest.
Anderson - it was a penalty, but still a big surprise to see Anderson pick up a goal.
Gibbs-White - normally you have to wonder if his boots are on the wrong feet when he gets anywhere near the goal, but he also managed to notch one.
Sangare - possibly the biggest surprise goalscorer.
Hutchinson - had a very impressive run out after coming on as sub.
Nmecha - matched Calvert-Lewin's total for the season in just one game.

Flops:
Farke - just far too negative with his tactics, giving Leeds no chance. His substitutions were, at best, unhelpful as well. He is woefully out of his depth every time he gets in the Premier League due to his unwillingness to be brave.
Harrison - was run ragged in the final minutes by Hutchinson. Though it is probably only fair to point out that he was playing out of position at full-back.

Manchester City 3-0 Liverpool

To end the matchday, we had yet another entry in the theme of outplayed teams due to poor tactical choices by the manager. This time it was Liverpool who were badly outmatched and lucky to come away with nil, even though they had a very debatable goal ruled out. It made no difference to the result and would have been undeserved, but the same referee gave an almost identical goal for Man City last season against Wolves, so it does feel odd that he is now deciding that is offside! Either way, Citeh cruised to victory against a Liverpool team that barely played a forward pass even when losing. It was more of a crushing than a win. After such good performances against Villa and Real Madrid in the last two games, questions need to be asked of Slot for returning to the terrible tactics that saw the team slide down the table in October. City got their tactics spot on and were able to play well within themselves and still run out very comfortable winners. I doubt they have had an easier victory over Liverpool in the Premier League.

Starmen:
Guardiola - got his tactics spot on and completely outmatched Slot in a way he was never able to do with Klopp. Such a huge turn around from last season!
Doku - while Haaland has been getting all the press, Doku has been excellent this season, but this was the best performance I have seen from him yet. He, like Haaland, has clearly been working hard on his game since joining City and now he has added end product to his brilliance at running with the ball, he has become a top class winger.
Haaland - did have a penalty saved, but he was a constant menace to the Liverpool defence and marked van Dijk out of the game when Liverpool had the ball.

Flops:
Ekitike - barely saw the ball but did not work hard enough to help the team.
Mac Allister - miles off the pace once again, after a couple of decent performances from him. He just is not mobile enough for the role he is asked to play.
van Dijk - allowed himself to be completely marked out of the game by Haaland when Liverpool had the ball. When defending, he was back to his laissez-faire worst, not doing anything like enough and lacking aggression.
Konate - he has been the worst player in the Premier League almost every single week, yet somehow he gets in the team. Another in a long line of dog muck performances from a player that is going to be looking for a Championship team next season, rather than a Champions League one, if he carries on playing like this. It is laughable that he was not dropped months ago.

Written by Tris Burke November 11 2025 05:50:50