Monday Cannon Fodder: great fun

I tweeted this observation yesterday from TSF Twitter, but I wanted to reiterate: that was a great weekend of football. The matches were exciting, close, and played with just that bit of nastiness that really pulls you in. Some of the results could have been better for Arsenal, but the Gunners have had such a good run of poor results from their rivals that it was bound to turn back the other way at some point.

The only match that disappointed from start to finish was Southampton - Everton. The Toffees weren’t up for it and are true relegation contenders. I think they’ll stay up based on talent, but it’s going to be an extremely uncomfortable three months on the blue side of the Mersey. The Burnley 3-0 win over Brighton wasn’t super interesting either, but it was a pretty big upset and anytime Burnley score three, it’s newsworthy.

The other matches were fantastic. Newcastle pegged back then held off West Ham (which was a good results for Arsenal, shout out to Joe Willock for scoring). Norwich City took a stunning 1-0 lead in the second half over Liverpool before getting ground into paste. Watford upset Aston Villa. Chelsea left it extremely late against Crystal Palace. The Manchester City - Tottenham match was insane (and I now proper hate Manchester City for failing to take points off Spurs). The Leeds United - Manchester United was nasty and fun to watch. And the Wolves - Leicester game was a back-and-forth affair.

This season has felt disjointed with COVID-postponements, an extra international window, and the table being difficult to read because of games in hand. It was quite nice to get a dose of the things about the Premier League that keep us coming back for more.