Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca doesn’t wish to put additional strain on his younger group however it’s more and more onerous to disclaim that they’re Premier League title contenders.
The Blues despatched out an emphatic assertion with a 4-3 win on the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday, after Arsenal had been held at Fulham, to maneuver simply 4 factors behind leaders Liverpool.
The end result makes bleak studying for Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou, whose group are eleventh within the desk, only a single level forward of struggling Manchester United.
AFP Sport seems to be at three speaking factors from the Premier League weekend.
Chelsea – the true deal?
Enzo Maresca has formed a giant Chelsea squad into an efficient combating drive simply months into his tenure at Stamford Bridge.
Final week he predicted a vibrant future for the Blues, who haven’t gained silverware since lifting the Champions League trophy in 2021, saying they may go on to “dominate” English soccer.
“We’re comfortable that our followers are comfortable,” the Italian mentioned after his group got here again from 2-0 right down to beat Spurs.
“They’ll dream, they will suppose the whole lot as a result of on the surface it’s fairly clear, additionally inside, the fact is that I mentioned many instances for me we aren’t able to be there, however the vital factor is we enhance day-to-day.”
However Chelsea at the moment are inside touching distance of Liverpool after a fourth straight top-flight win.
For Tottenham, the result’s one other main blow — simply two weeks after they blew Manchester Metropolis away 4-0 on the Etihad.
Man Utd again in disaster
Ruben Amorim loved a brand new supervisor bounce after arriving at Manchester United final month — however he can be beneath no illusions as to the size of his activity now.
The previous Sporting Lisbon boss predicted the “storm will come” and it’s right here sooner than perhaps he anticipated.
United went down 2-0 to high-flying Arsenal in midweek and on Saturday misplaced 3-2 at dwelling to Nottingham Forest, paying for defensive lapses.
The 20-time champions are thirteenth within the desk with 19 factors, their lowest place after 15 league matches for the reason that 1986/87 season.
Amorim has urged United’s gamers and supporters to belief the method, saying it is going to be a “lengthy journey”.
However there was extra upheaval off the pitch on Sunday because the membership confirmed the shock departure of sporting director Dan Ashworth simply 5 months after he took up the function.
With away video games in opposition to Manchester Metropolis and Liverpool within the subsequent few weeks, United may face a battle simply to cling on to their dignity.
House candy dwelling
Brentford are a Jekyll and Hyde group — their dwelling type is the perfect within the Premier League however their away type is horrendous.
Thomas Frank’s males had been at it once more on Saturday, romping to an exhilarating 4-2 win over Newcastle on the Gtech Group Stadium — a seventh win in eight dwelling video games, with the opposite a draw.
It was the fourth time in 5 dwelling matches that the Bees had hit 4 or extra targets.
Solely second-placed Chelsea have greater than Brentford’s total whole of 31 targets this season.
“The variety of targets we have scored within the league, I do not suppose any of us perceive how loopy good that’s,” mentioned Frank.
Brentford are ninth within the desk on 23 factors regardless of their woeful type on the highway, the place they’ve skilled six defeats and one draw of their seven video games.
Flip that round and so they could possibly be pushing for a European spot, with lots of the larger golf equipment struggling for consistency.
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