Last weekend was possibly one of the strangest, most exciting, and surprising weekends of Premier League football in a long time, with some shock results and big upsets to really shake up the table early on in the season.
Saturday’s results included a big 4-0 victory for Frank Lampard’s Chelsea over Crystal Palace, a step in the right direction for the Blues, as well as a 4-2 win over Brighton for Everton, taking them to top of the league with four wins from four.
Sunday produced some of the most incredible football that many haven’t seen for some time – with West Ham beating Leicester 3-0, Tottenham beating Manchester United 6-1, and Premier League champions Liverpool losing a jaw-dropping 7-2 to Aston Villa.
Let’s take a closer look at those results, and compare them to my Premier Picks predictions for gameweek 4…
Chelsea 4-0 Crystal Palace
It was a stark contrast from my prediction of a 2-2 draw between the two sides, and all credit to Chelsea for that, with Frank Lampard’s side finding their feet in the second half to produce a 4-0 victory over a Crystal Palace side that had started the season well.
New boy Ben Chilwell the opening goal of the game on his debut, and was the provider for the club’s second, with a header from fellow defender Kurt Zouma.
It was a tough game for Palace, who didn’t see too much of the ball during the game with only 29.1% possession, leaving them with 6 points from a possible 12, and Chelsea with 7 from the same.
Everton 4-2 Brighton
What an incredible start to the season it has been for the Toffees, with their new look midfield ticking just the way they’d of hoped. Their 4-2 win over Brighton put them top of the table after the opening four games, and they have produced some great results with some great performances to go with them.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin kicked off the scoring in the 16th minute, which was then met with a Brighton equaliser through Neal Maupay late into the second half before Yerry Mina restored their lead just before half time. A second-half of dreams from James Rodriguez gave the Toffees a 4-1 lead, with Yves Bissouma gaining another consolation goal just before the full-time whistle.
My prediction of a 2-1 win for Everton was not a bad one, but I should know by now that this season will be filled with high scoring games after some of the results we have seen so far this campaign.
Leeds 1-1 Manchester City
It was a fantastic matchup between Leeds United and Manchester City, who hadn’t played each other for more than 7 years since their FA Cup tie in 2013. Manchester City took the lead in the 17th minute with a goal from Raheem Sterling, but Leeds were determined to keep control of the game and managed an equaliser just before the hour mark with Rodrigo scoring his first goal for the club.
The game ended fairly, with both sides playing some attractive football at times, and the final result differed greatly from my 3-1 prediction in Manchester City’s favour, and all credit to Leeds for putting in such a performance to take a point from the game.
Newcastle 3-1 Burnley
Newcastle finally returned to winning ways on Saturday with a 3-1 victory over Burnley, who have failed to win any of their opening three games, leaving them in 18th place at the start of the season. The Toon started the game very well and dominated proceedings from the off, with Allan Saint-Maximin scoring in the 14th minute to give Steve Bruce’s side the lead.
The game continued with both Saint-Maximin and new boy Callum Wilson in tandem, with the pair involved in all three of Newcastle’s goals, thanks to Wilson’s brace in the 65th and 77th minute. Burnley did manage to level things up just after the hour mark, but Wilson’s double restored the Magpies lead and have them a deserved three points for GW4. My prediction of a 1-1 draw was certainly dashed aside by Bruce and his team and rightly so.
Leicester 0-3 West Ham
One of the big upsets of the weekend was West Ham’s surprising 3-0 victory over Leicester City, a club that had won their first three games of the season, including a 5-2 thrashing of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
The scoring was opened by Michail Antonio in the 14th minute and was continued just 20 minutes later through Pablo Fornals. Leicester had controlled the game for most, with 69.5% of possession at full time, but only registered 4 shots and not a single one on target. West Ham on the other hand knew what to do when in possession, with 14 shots and 6 on target throughout the game – with the final nail in the coffin coming from Jarrod Bowen in the 83rd minute to seal a 3-0 win.
I had predicted the same score for the game, but in Leicester’s favour much like many other Premier Picks users, but credit to David Moyes’ side for an impressive victory.
Southampton 2-0 West Brom
Southampton piled on more misery for the West Brom faithful, with the Baggies now losing all four of their opening games, The game started slow, but Southampton nicked the lead just before half-time through Moussa Djenepo.
The Saints dominated the game overall, with 61.6% possession at full time, and a stunning second-half volley from Oriol Romeu sealed the three points for Ralph Hassenhuttl’s side.
This now leaves Southampton with two wins from four and sets them up well ahead of the international break. My prediction of a 2-0 win was spot on and is the only correct prediction for GW4 sadly.
Arsenal 2-1 Sheffield United
It was another fine performance from Mikel Arteta’s side, who managed their third win of the season in a tough performance against a stubborn Sheffield United side.
Youngster Bukayo Saka managed to break the deadlock just after the hour mark, with a header from a Hector Bellerin cross, and just three minutes later was followed up by a fine goal from Nicolas Pepe, who managed to sneak a low curling shot past Aaron Ramsdale into the bottom corner.
Sheffield managed a consolation goal with six minutes to spare through David McGoldrick, but it wasn’t enough to salvage anything from the game for Chris Wilder’s side, who now sit 19th in the table with four losses from four games. I had predicted a 2-0 win for the Gunners, but McGoldrick’s goal canceled out a second correct prediction for me this weekend.
Wolves 1-0 Fulham
Wolves managed to return to winning ways this weekend, with a nervy 1-0 win over Fulham, who went into the game without a win from their first three games of the season.
A single goal from Pedro Neto was enough for Nuno’s side to secure the three points, despite the Cottagers dominating the game overall with 52.9% possession overall, but never managed to make an impression on the game with just 2 shots on target. I had initially predicted Wolves to win the game 2-1, but Fulham’s lack of attacking intent meant they fired a blank at the end of the game.
Manchester United 1-6 Tottenham
It was a tough day at the office for Manchester United, who had taken the lead within the first minute thanks to a Bruno Fernandes penalty. Things went downhill quickly, however, with Spurs quickly equalising just three minutes later through Tanguy Ndombele – which was then quickly followed up by another goal from Heung-min Son after another three minutes.
Anthony Martial’s rec card just before the half-hour mark put a sour taste in the mouths of the United players, but with just 10 men on the pitch Spurs continued to open up the Red Devils defence, with the game ending 6-1 at full time with braces from both Harry Kane and Son, as well a a goal for Serge Aurier.
My prediction of 1-1 couldn’t have been further from the truth, and all credit to Jose Mourinho and his side for such a dominating performance.
Aston Villa 7-2 Liverpool
It was a day to forget for Jurgen Klopp’s side, with Aston Villa managing the biggest shock of the weekend, trumping Spurs’ 6-1 route of Manchester United. Despite Liverpool playing extremely poor throughout the game, credit where credit is due to Dean Smith and his side, who played fantastically well and dominated the scoring opportunities with 18 shots overall and 11 on target, despite only having 30.2% possession throughout the game.
Liverpool did manage two consolation goals trough Mohamed Salah, who was the only player in the Reds’ side who actually had a good performance – but Villa’s continued peppering of Liverpool’s goal meant a hattrick for Ollie Watkins, as well as a brace and three assists for captain Jack Grealish. My prediction of a 4-1 win for Liverpool was a world away from reality, but I’m sure no one would have predicted Villa to win in the fashion that they did.