Every football season needs a tale of the unexpected. Leicester City‘s 5000-1 title triumph in 2015-16 was the mother of all shocks, and how many people thought Aston Villa would finish in the top four last season while Manchester United ended with a negative goal difference for the first time in the Premier League era?
So after six matchdays this season, which teams and players might spring a surprise this time round?
You have to start with Chelsea — dismissed by most observers as a circus club on a supermarket dash to sign way too many players. But reason has broken out, and new manager Enzo Maresca has moulded a team that have climbed up tp fourth place on the back of three successive wins.
Cole Palmer, with four goals in the first half against Brighton on Saturday, might be the best player in the league right now, and Chelsea are top scorers in the whole division with 15. Less remarked on is the fact that midfielder Moisés Caicedo is at last starting to show why the club invested £100m in his services.
Chelsea’s London neighbours Fulham are raising eyebrows, too. They followed a 3-1 win over Newcastle by ending Nottingham Forest‘s unbeaten start at the City Ground. Sixth place represents dizzy heights for this highly watchable team. The Cottagers have as good a defensive record as Arsenal so far, with only five goals conceded in six games.
Mexico international Raúl Jiménez‘s return to top form at Fulham, after four years in the doldrums following his horrific fractured skull injury while playing for Wolves, is a heartwarming story. The striker started the season on the bench but has now scored three times in three matches. Manager Marco Silva deserves enormous credit for his patience in restoring Jiménez’s confidence, and he is also getting a tune from winger Adama Traoré, who has previously driven his coaches to distraction by his failure to turn his searing pace into chances and goals.
Arsenal’s 17-year-old midfielder Ethan Nwaneri looks incredibly gifted; striker Jhon Durán at Villa is a maverick who has scored four times as a substitute; Brighton’s Jack Hinshelwood is versatile and dependable in midfield or defence; and Nottingham Forest have found a proper centre-back in Nikola Milenkovic, who arrived from Fiorentina. Also, winger Harvey Barnes is at last forcing his way into the team after a flurry of well-taken goals for Newcastle, whose barren summer in the transfer market is not causing as many issues as some warned.
Should we be surprised by the continued struggles of Manchester United and Erik ten Hag? I’m afraid not. The display against Spurs was pitiful, and Ten Hag can surely not survive a repeat anytime soon. He is running out of time, and pleas for “patience” are not going to wash.
No shocks either from Manchester City, unless you count the absence from the team of last season’s PFA Player of the Year Phil Foden, who has started only two games — against Watford in the Carabao Cup and Slovan Bratislava in the Champions League. He was ill a while back, but is there something we do not know here?
As for Liverpool, now top of the table, the only shock is that the transition from Jurgen Klopp to Arne Slot has gone so smoothly. They are enjoying coming up the rails in the shadows while the headlines are full of City and Arsenal, Pep Guardiola vs. Mikel Arteta. They will both need to watch Arne’s “Slot machine”!
