Liverpool had fun against Manchester United (3-0) in the stadium of the historic rival where Mohamed Salah struck again, with a goal and two assists for Luis Diaz. The new coach Arne Slot continues his dream debut on the bench of the “Reds” with a third victory in three Premier League matches, all without conceding a single goal. Jürgen Klopp’s successor follows the pace of the four-time defending champion and current leader Manchester City (1st, 9 points), and offers his supporters a first victory at Old Trafford since October 2021.
In the enemy stadium, Liverpool managed to score twice before half-time, on copy-and-paste actions: Casemiro lost the ball, Salah passed and Diaz scored (35th, 42nd). After the break, the visitors put the nail in the coffin with a shift from Dominik Szoboszlai exploited by Salah (56th, 3-0). The winger started his season like a rocket with three goals and three assists in three matches. For Manchester United, on the other hand, the 2023-2024 season is off to a difficult start, with two defeats already relegating Erik ten Hag’s team to 14th place.
2. Chelsea, it’s stuck
The result at Stamford Bridge did not have the same flavor for the two opponents of the day: frustrating for Chelsea who led and dominated, encouraging for Palace with a first point won. The “Blues” have experienced everything in three Premier League matches: a defeat (2-0 against Manchester City), a big victory (6-2 at Wolverhampton) and finally a draw. It is far from being a dream start for the new coach Enzo Maresca and the American owners, still hyper-active this summer with a dozen arrivals and a good twenty departures, definitive or via loans.
Centre forward Nicolas Jackson opened the hostilities (25th, 1-0) on an assist from Cole Palmer, the fourth this season for the 22-year-old attacking leader. But the team from west London lowered their flag on a strike from England international Eberechi Eze (54th, 1-1), one of the stars of Crystal Palace, now 16th in the ranking. Another setback, Chelsea lost French defender Malo Gusto to injury, forced to come off in the second half.
3. Newcastle, the reverse mirror
The Magpies’ transfer window was much quieter, too quiet for some fans, but Newcastle are unbeaten and fourth after three games, well ahead of Chelsea (11th in the standings). At home, they suffered but beat 2-1 late on a Tottenham team that was always forward-thinking and much more enterprising over the duration of the match. Against the run of play, Eddie Howe’s team converted their goal-scoring opportunities, with Harvey Barnes (37th, 1-0) and Alexander Isak (78th, 2-1), where the Spurs wasted far too many.
Tottenham coach Ange Postecoglou was right to bring on Brennan Johnson at half-time, who was very visible and was the source of the shot catapulted into his net by defender Dan Burn (56th, 1-1). But victory eluded him again, as it did at Leicester (1-1) in the opening match of the championship.
