Five things we learned from the Premier League weekend | OneFootball

Five things we learned from the Premier League weekend, featuring Aston Villa’s new main man, suffering in Manchester, and Everton’s balancing act.

Is Duran now Emery’s man?

Jhon Duran has made it impossible for Unai Emery to leave him out of late and marked his third consecutive league start with another goal this weekend. The Colombian was a real handful and tormented Manchester City at Villa Park.

After missing a good chance inside the opening seconds, he made no mistake for the opener with a confident finish past Stefan Ortega. He had the ball in the net again with a fine finish but saw the offside flag deny him.

Duran has averaged a goal every 82 minutes in his Premier League career, the best return of any player in the league’s history. At just 21, his potential is clear, and there is an argument that Villa’s succession plan may need to have started sooner than expected. Ollie Watkins’ was the club’s Player of the Season last term after firing The Villans to Champions League qualification, but has endured a stop-start season this time around.

Those achievements can not be discredited, but with Duran bang in form and eight years his junior, Emery might soon oversee a changing of the guard.

Costly sales contributing to City struggles

Manchester City are in relegation form right now. It’s a sentence none envisioned reading just months ago, but the champion’s crisis is extending week on week. City have lost nine of their last 12 in all competitions, while they sit 17th for points won over the last 10 league games.

Aston Villa exposed the flaws of a side who looked aged and lethargic. Among the architects of Villa’s win was Morgan Rogers, outstanding against his former team. The 22-year-old has been one of the breakout stars of the season and was allowed to leave the Etihad for just £1m 18 months ago.

Hindsight, of course, is wonderful but Rogers is not the only case of a costly sale from the Citizens in recent seasons.

Cole Palmer is the obvious one, while there’s an argument that Romeo Lavia, Liam Delap, Pedro Porro, Jeremie Frimpong, Jamie Gittens and Aleix Garcia would all inject life into this squad right now. All of those players have been allowed to move on, some without the benefit of a loan move to test themselves first. A rethink on the pathway to the first team is required.

Dyche’s balancing act still needs work

Enzo Maresca called Everton ‘one of the best teams in Europe in terms of clean sheets’ after watching his Chelsea team frustrated at Goodison Park. The Toffees recorded their fifth clean sheet in five games and restricted Chelsea to an xG of just 0.77.

However, the Blues’ balancing act is in need of work. Everton are the second-lowest scorers in the league and have mustered just 14 goals from 16 games. Dominic Calvert-Lewin, the club’s first-choice forward, has not scored since September.

Is it a personnel issue in the final third? Or is Dyche’s defence-first game plan blunting the Blues? After conceding 13 goals in the first four games, Dyche has shut up shop in search of results. However, Everton will need to turn draws into wins to ensure survival this season.

Currently, their 18.30 xG created is the lowest in the Premier League.

More suffering awaits Manchester United

Ruben Amorim has continued to insist Manchester United will ‘suffer’ before things get better and this weekend’s home humbling against Bournemouth certainly delivered on that assessment. Boos rang around Old Trafford at full-time, as a frustrated fanbase witnessed another sorry showing.

A dramatic derby win aside, United have not enjoyed a new-manager bounce with Amorim having lost four of his nine games in charge. In the bottom half of the table at Christmas for the first time in 35 years, the Red Devils face a fight to salvage their season and a tricky upcoming fixture list.

Amorim’s side visit a Wolves side full of fresh belief on Boxing Day, before clashes with Newcastle, Liverpool and Arsenal in successive games. It could get worse before it gets better.

Where does Mohamed Salah rank among the Premier League GOATs?

Another weekend, another set of records for Mohamed Salah.

No player in the league’s history had ever reached 10+ goals and 10+ assists before Christmas until Salah added two of each at Spurs to swell his totals for the campaign. The 32-year-old is a phenomenon and is fast approaching the Premier League’s top five scorers of all time.

Thierry Henry, widely regarded as the Premier League’s greatest player, is next in his sights and just three gals ahead. Sergio Aguero, the highest-scoring overseas player in the league’s history, could be passed before the end of the campaign. Salah, meanwhile, has a better goal-per-game ratio than Alan Shearer.

He’s not even a centre-forward.

If there is a Premier League Mount Rushmore, the Egyptian is getting ever closer to being carved upon it. Liverpool can not let him leave for nothing in the summer.

Read – Premier League Team of the Week – Isak, Salah, Murillo

See more – Premier League Awards: Sensational Salah, Manchester misery

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