Winners
Wolves and Adama Traore- There has been a lot of talk this season about how the Europa League would affect Nuno’s team in the league, but last Sunday’s result has shown they might just be getting used to it. After getting their first league win against Watford, Wolves set off to Istanbul to take on Besiktas and came away with a last-minute winner courtesy of the colossal Willy Boly. So, with the next game being Man City away many had written off Wolves especially as City had two days rest and no travelling as they played Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday. Not only were there some heroic performances at the back but Wolves could seriously have been 3-0 up at half-time but Raul Jimenez and Patrick Cutrone were guilty of missing great chances. I thought myself we would pay for this but no, we got stronger and it was a player who is now proving people wrong who stole the headlines.
Traore has come on so much this season under Nuno, he makes the right runs, passes when he should, crossing improved and like he proved on Sunday he can take chances now, as he produced two calm finishes to down the reigning champions. Regular listeners of the podcast will know the meaning of ‘Crapid’ well Traore is no longer crapid, and Nuno has now unlocked one of the most devastating and unique players in world football. He is proving his doubters wrong and who knows if he continues in a front three he could be a great option at 5M in FPL.
Aaron Connolly- The 19-year-old Irish international took centre stage for Brighton as they piled the misery on a Spurs side in crisis mode winning 3-0. I was impressed with how direct he was especially for his second goal as Toby Alderweireld did not look confident at all dealing with him. Time will tell if Connolly has cracked the first team or this was just a flash in the pan, but what it does mean potentially is…. WE COULD HAVE A GENUINE 4.5M STRIKER WHO CAN SCORE! Move over Mason Greenwood there is a new guy in town.
Crystal Palace and Roy Hodgson- After a summer transfer window full of turmoil for the Londoners over whether Wilfried Zaha would go and the lack of signings it has not gone too bad to say the least so far this season. Palace currently sit in sixth and are only two points behind Man City who they play next…. It really is quite amazing how Hodgson manages to keep getting so much out of a team who never look that impressive, saying that he must know all the tricks in the book he probably managed teams in stone age. As usual Palace came to West Ham went 1-0 down but slowly and surely came back into the game to win 2-1 thanks to a VAR intervention. Quite incredibly since the start of last season only Manchester City and Liverpool the two top teams in the country boast a better away record than Palace. Quite an achievement for a side with not a lot of quality. Roy is king of getting the shithouse results and you have got to respect that.
Losers
Norwich- From the highs of beating Man City at home to the lows of being slapped by Aston Villa 5-1. Much has been said about the injuries especially to their defenders which is unlucky, but the manner in which they conceded the goals especially to Wesley were shambolic. It was no secret that they were not the best at the back even with their first choice defenders, but at the minute they are looking just as bad as Fulham last year defensively. So to simply win a game at the minute they need to score three goals which is extremely unlikely at this level and with a Bournemouth side away up next Callum Wilson should be a serious captaincy consideration for his owners. I admire how Norwich play but they are also horribly exposed by it right now.
Manchester United- Not the first or last time Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side will be in the losers column. To say Ole’s wheels have fell off now is a bit of an understatement, it is more like they have literally been blown apart by an atomic bomb. United are a shambles from top to bottom and some of this is not in his control but it is clear that a parting ways is becoming inevitable. If results go against them this weekend and they lose to Liverpool on Sunday they could find themselves in the bottom three….. Yes they should be doing better but I honestly just think this United side has some very bang average players which can do no more. Lingard, Young, Fred, McTominay, Periera, Rojo, Jones, Lindelöf and at the minute Marcus Rashford just do not look capable of doing anything to stop the slide. Newcastle lost to Leicester 5-0 last week yet it looked like United who had taken the beating last time out. The 1-0 defeat to Newcastle did look to be a nail in the coffin but Ole is still standing just about…… If you have any United players in your teams then sell, sell sell!