It is fair to say there were some surprising results during gameweek 3 – many of which have left the Premier League table looking very interesting after the first three games.
Chelsea fought back from 3-0 down against West Brom to rescue a point, Manchester United were awarded a 98th-minute penalty after the final whistle had already been blown, giving them the three points against Brighton, Everton made it three wins from three, and Leicester pulled off an astounding 5-2 victory over Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
Having made my predictions via Premier Picks for gameweek 3 – it will be interesting to see how they compare against the actual results of the weekend, so let’s take a look…
Brighton 2-3 Manchester United
Graham Potter and his side were unlucky to lose against Manchester United, especially in the fashion in which it was done. The Seagulls played some great football and were on top for the majority of the game, with 18 shots compared to United’s 7 and attaining the most possession throughout the game.
Brighton hit the woodwork a staggering five times during the game, three of which came from Leandro Trossard – but still even managed two goals during the game. The penalty came after the referee had already blown his whistle for a handball from Neal Maupay in the box – and in fairness, to the officials, the Frenchman does put his arm in an unnatural position with the handball, but the controversy around VAR continues, and this result is a long shot away from my prediction of 1-1.
Crystal Palace 1-2 Everton
It’s official, Everton are joint-top of the table – albeit we’re only three games into the season but it has been a great start from the Toffees. Dominic Calvert-Lewin opened the scoring in the tenth minute with a great first-time finish, giving the Englishman his fifth goal of the season.
Palace did well to equalise through Chiekhou Kouyaté with a header in the 26th minute, but again, another controversial decision by VAR meant Everton were awarded a penalty before the end of the first half after an apparent handball from Joel Ward – which led to Richarlison converting the penalty and Everton eventually going on to win the game 2-1. My prediction of 3-1 to Everton wasn’t far off, and Everton did play well with respect to them.
West Brom 3-3 Chelsea
It seemed a frustrating day for Frank Lampard and his side – the Baggies were 3-0 up after just half an hour of the game, and Slaven Bilic and his side looked to be in cruise control, with their first points of the season in sight with a big victory over Chelsea.
A second-half resurgence from Lampard’s side, with goals from Mason Mount, Callum Hudson-Odoi, and Tammy Abraham, giving Chelsea a draw in a game that they realistically should have lost. West Brom played fantastically in the first half to go three up, but Chelsea dominated the game overall and could have easily won the game, with 22 shots throughout the game.
The final result was very different from my prediction of a 4-1 win to Chelsea, and credit to Bilic and his side for getting a point against the Blues, despite them losing their 3-0 lead.
Burnley 0-1 Southampton
Overall it was a very poor game in terms of quality and chances. The two clubs only registered a combined 3 shots on target all game, two for Burnley and one for Southampton – with the one shot on target for the Saints leading to the only goal of the game in just the 5th minute.
It is fair to say both clubs failed to convert their chances, but Danny Ings was the one player to make it matter at the start of the game, giving Ralph Hassenhuttl’s side their first three points of the season – and my 0-0 prediction really wasn’t far off, had Ings not hit the target in the 5th minute to get the win.
Sheffield United 0-1 Leeds United
What a start to life back in the Premier League it has been for Leeds fans, with Marcelo Bielsa’s side getting 6 points from an available 9 – with the club beating Sheffield United 1-0 during gameweek 3. It had been a poor start to the season for Chris Wilder and the Blades, having lost all of their first three games, and have looked a different side compared to the one last season that finished 9th in their first season back in the Premier League.
Leeds played very well on Sunday, with 63.7% possession and 9 shots on target compared to Sheffield United’s 4. Jack Harrison’s fantastic cross met the head of Patrick Bamford in the 99th minute, giving Leeds their second win of the season – and it wasn’t just the clubs attacking outlet that helped with the victory, with French goalkeeper Illan Meslier making 4 fantastic saves to keep a clean sheet. My initial prediction for Leeds to win was spot on, but the 2-1 result I had anticipated.
Tottenham 1-1 Newcastle
Another game clouded in VAR controversy – Newcastle managed a 1-1 draw against Tottenham, who had taken the lead in the 25th minute through Brazilian Lucas Moura, with Harry Kane registering his 5th assist in two games. A 97th-minute penalty after a supposed handball by Eric Dier gave the Magpies a point at the death with Callum Wilson converting the penalty for Steve Bruce’s side.
Jose Mourinho’s side dominated the whole game, with Newcastle’s only shot on target being that of the 97th-minute penalty – and the Portuguese manager was frustrated at the end of the game in his post-match interview. I had predicted Spurs to beat Newcastle 3-1, a result that would have fit the stats of the game overall.
Manchester City 2-5 Leicester City
What a fantastic performance from Jamie Vardy, and a fantastic win for Brendan Rodgers and his side. Going into the game I had predicted for Pep Guardiola’s side to win 3-2, as I felt that despite Leicester’s quality, Man City would likely still get the job done with a well-earned victory – but it appeared to be the complete opposite.
At the ripe age of 33, Vardy is still showing us why he is one of the best strikers in the league, and his hattrick against City showed just that. It was a tough evening for City, who had initially taken the lead in the 4th minute thanks to a wonder striker from Riyad Mahrez – but the Foxes proved too strong and managed to make it three wins from three, putting them top of the Premier League table after game week 3.
West Ham 4-0 Wolves
It was a great day at the office for West Ham, who managed their first three points of the campaign with a stomping 4-0 victory over a Wolves side that has lost two of their opening three games now.
Jarrod Bowen was the star of the show for the Hammers, scoring a brace for his first Premier League goals of the season – as well as an OG from Raul Jimenez and a 93rd-minute header from Sebastian Haller, sealing the game for David Moyes’ side.
The Scotsman may have been absent from the sideline, but his team showed real quality throughout the game and could have scored plenty more goals. I had predicted Wolves to win the game 2-0, but it appears that Nuno’s side was not up to par, and West Ham played extremely well in a dominating victory.
Fulham 0-3 Aston Villa
A flying start to this season for Aston Villa has seen Dean Smith’s side win their opening two games against Sheffield United and Fulham. Another impressive aspect of these defeats is that they have included two clean sheets – compared to their 7 clean sheets from 38 league games last season.
The scoring was opened by captain Jack Grealish in just the fourth minute, with a second coming from Conor Hourihane on the fifteen-minute mark. A third from defender Tyrone Mings at the start of the second half gave the Villans the breathing space they needed, and Scott Parker’s side failed to make a comeback, despite having 65% possession during the game and playing some attractive football at times, but chances failed to materialise and the Cottagers blanked against Villa.
My 2-0 prediction to Villa wasn’t far off at all, and credit to them for making in 6 points from 6 at the start of this season.
Liverpool 3-1 Arsenal
A fine performance from the defending champions saw Jurgen Klopp’s side finish 3-1 victors over Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, ruining the Gunners 100% record for the start of this campaign. Arsenal initially took the lead in the 25th minute thanks to a goal from Alexandre Lacazette, but the Reds quickly responded with Sadio Mané scoring a tap in just three minutes later. Their lead continued just six minutes later, with Andy Robertson getting himself on the scoresheet, making up for his mistake for Lacazette’s goal. Klopp’s side controlled the tempo for the rest of the game when new signing Diogo Jota scored his first Premier League goal for the club on his league debut – giving Liverpool a comfortable ad controlled 3-1 victory to make it three wins from three. Had Robertson not made his mistake, my prediction of 3-0 would have been spot on, but alas, not everything an go your way. This week marks the first without a correct prediction for me – let’s hope next week will be better.