Six things you might have missed from Saturday’s 3pm kick-offs

It is already matchday seven of this fascinating Premier League season, and once again the Saturday 3pm kick-offs have produced some interesting results.

Manchester City have once more asserted their dominance and climbed to the top of the table after beating Brighton 2-0, while north London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham also picked up vital wins against Watford and Huddersfield respectively.

Elsewhere, Everton picked up their second win of the season after fending off Fulham in a 3-0 victory, and Newcastle United remain discouraged and in the bottom three after losing out to Leicester City.

Finally, Wolves have really cranked up the pressure on Mark Hughes after Nuno Espirito Santo’s side eased past Southampton 2-0 at the Molineux.

So, after another highly entertaining Saturday afternoon of Premier League action, what did we learn?

1. Seven heaven for Wolves

Wolves have now named an unchanged starting XI for all seven of their Premier League matches this season, becoming only the third team to do so in the competition’s history, alongside side Leeds United and Aston Villa.

Nuno Espirito Santo is a strong advocate of the three-at-the-back system – as he has been since joining the club – deploying Ryan Bennett and Willy Boly at the heart of his defence, while captain Conor Coady is positioned in a sort of libero role between his defensive team-mates.

Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho are the nucleus of the team, acting as a double-pivot dictating the tempo of play, while Matt Doherty and Jonny Castro function at either flank as modern full-backs, supporting the deadly trident of Diogo Jota, Helder Costa and Raul Jimenez in attack.

It has worked at treat so far this season, with the club picking up credible points against both Manchester clubs, while this afternoon they produced another promising performance, scoring twice and keeping a clean sheet to clinch a third win of the season.

2. Spurs’ match-made-in-heaven

Since the beginning of last campaign, no Premier League player has provided more assists for another player than Kieran Trippier has for Harry Kane, with the English full-back laying it on a plate seven times for his Spurs and Three Lions team-mate.

Trippier demonstrated his knack of picking out an inch-perfect pass during the World Cup, with the defending providing a pivotal assist in Russia, adding to the eight he registered last term for club, and he has now picked up where he left off, leaving thousands of Fantasy Football fans purring with today’s performance – an assist and a clean sheet.

Lucas Moura surged into the Huddersfield box with 25 minutes on the clock, but he was eventually forced out wide, before teeing up Trippier who delivered a sumptuous ball back into the box, picking out Kane with an almost perceptible instinct.

There is a telepathic understanding between both players, and when you combine the positional awareness of Kane with the expert delivery of Trippier, then you have a deadly concoction, and Spurs are reaping the rewards of this fine partnership.

3. Fulham continue diabolical form away to Everton

Fulham have never won an away match against Everton in any competition, a run that has now spanned across 27 encounters between these two sides, with the Cottagers having lost 23 of those matches, and drawn just four.

Prior to this afternoon’s meeting, the last time these two sides locked horns was in March 2014, the season Fulham finished nineteenth in the Premier League and suffered relegation to the Championship – Martin Jol and then Felix Magath’s sides lost both matches against Everton that season.

What is even more frightening for the west London club is that they have only won twice in the last 15 matches against Everton across all competitions, but  Slavisa Jokanovic has built a very solid squad and will be looking to rectify that statistic when the two sides meet again later this term.

Fulham would have been hoping to travel back down to London with at least a point having held firm for 55 minutes, but Gylfi Sigurdsson delivered the goods for the home side, before they eventually ran riot, securing Marco Silva his second win as Toffees boss.

4. Sigurdsson misses his first penalty…but tops the long-range chart

Gylfi Sigurdsson has missed his first ever penalty in the Premier League after he attempted to chip the ball into the back of the net, but unfortunately for the Icelandic, his audacious effort rattled the crossbar, promptly ending his run of six consecutive spot-kick goals.

Despite this, the Everton talisman made amends moments later after curling a delectable strike past Marcus Bettinelli in the Fulham goal. The finish ensured Sigurdsson has now scored 18 goals from outside the box since the 2011/12 season – the most of any player currently plying their trade in the division.

Only one player currently eclipses that record, Philippe Coutinho, who rifled home an astonishing 19 goals from outside the box during his time on English soil. Now at Barcelona, Sigurdsson closes the gap and is just one behind the Brazilian on that front.

Sigurdsson’s goals helped secure three vital points for Marco Silva after his side endured a difficult start to the Premier League campaign. The 29-year-old has now netted 10 goals since relocating to Merseyside last season.

5. Over to you, Chelsea and Liverpool 

Manchester City, in typical Guardiola fashion, have now ramped up the pressure on Chelsea and Liverpool after clinching a vital win against Brighton this afternoon; in truth, no-one was expecting anything other than a win for City, but they duly delivered in brilliant fashion to go top of the league.

Raheem Sterling opened the scoring in the first-half, ensuring he has now been directly involved in 34 Premier League goals for Man City since the beginning of last campaign, netting an exceptional 22, while providing 12 assists along the way – only Mohamed Salah and Harry Kane better his contributions tally.

Sergio Aguero finished the Seagulls off after the restart, putting Guardiola’s men two to the good, and in turn, taking the Argentine to his fifth league goal of the season – he has now scored 15 goals during his last 11 Premier League matches on home turf.

Liverpool and Chelsea lock horns later this afternoon, and given the emphatic start all three teams have already made, this match may prove decisive come the end of the season, but for now, City sit in their habitual position at the summit of the league.

6. Emery continues resurgence in fine fashion

Having lost his opening two matches in charge of Arsenal – albeit against Man City and Chelsea – Unai Emery has now won seven matches on the bounce in all competitions, and while they may not be humbling teams in the manner of Liverpool, or City for that matter, the Gunners have been quietly going about their business and getting the job done in a professional manner.

The club were struggling to break down a resilient Watford side this afternoon, but an own-goal courtesy of Craig Cathcart broke the deadlock in north London, and from there, Emery’s men asserted authority.

The statistics look grim for Arsenal fans, with the club having only registered two shots on target and nine overall, compared to the Hornets’ four on target and 13 overall; Arsenal of course bossed the possession stats, but that rarely counts for much these days – look at Chelsea last week.

Everton should have arguably been ahead against Arsenal last week, but Emery’s men eventually came out on top with a 2-0 win, and once more they have produced the goods to clinch three points; it may not be vintage Arsenal, but this is a work in progress and the encouraging sign is that the results are coming.

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