What we've learned from Matchweek 12 so far

Football writer Alex Keble highlights the hot topics and tactical lessons from Matchweek 12, including:

- Eze takes advantage of passive Spurs midfield
- Classic Dyche tactics show Slot needs to make major changes
- Little wiggle room in title race for Man City
- West Ham too brittle for Nuno's ultra-defensive changes
- Emery smartly corrects tactical errors
- Brighton victory helps avoid the usual slump
- Chelsea reliance on Caicedo increases despite another win
- Edwards unable to triumph as tricky run begins
- Sunderland’s brilliant start might be coming to an end

Eze takes advantage of passive Spurs midfield

Eberechi Eze’s brilliant hat-trick against Tottenham Hotspur was a coming-of-age moment for the new Arsenal No 10 and, perhaps, a decisive moment in the title race after Manchester City had dropped points at Newcastle United a day earlier.

Here was evidence that Eze doesn’t just provide Arsenal with greater depth when Martin Odegaard is out.

Eze is also a notable point of difference; a slaloming, powerful attacker who can provide the knockout blow in a team that can sometimes be criticised for being too careful in their build-up play.

But on this occasion, Eze was the beneficiary of poor defending from Spurs, whose overly cautious tactics have supporters wondering if Thomas Frank’s reactive instincts align with the club’s philosophy.

In a 5-2-3 formation, Spurs sat deep in their own half from the outset, rarely applying pressure to the ball and hoping that a defensive shape would do enough.

But a two-man midfield of Rodrigo Bentancur and Joao Palhinha was easily bypassed, not only because Arsenal pack the middle with bodies but because the passive nature of the Spurs setup meant little direct or aggressive support given to the two midfielders.

Bentancur and Palhinha failed to close down Mikel Merino, giving him an age to turn, look, and find the pass for Leandro Trossard's opener, and then Eze weaved too easily through the same Spurs pair for the second.

It was after this second goal that Gary Neville, on the Sky Sports commentary, described the Spurs players as "mannequins".

Spurs have recorded the two lowest Expected Goals (xG) totals in a Premier League game this season, 0.07 against Arsenal and 0.1 against Chelsea; a hunched shape, passivity in midfield, and mannequin-like defending of their own third are not new traits.

Frank must quickly come to realise that, unlike at Brentford, the Spurs job requires assertive and forward-thinking football in every single match.

From Nuno Espirito Santo to Jose Mourinho to Antonio Conte, historically Spurs supporters have not taken to managers who don’t embrace the club’s motto, "to dare is to do".

Classic Dyche tactics show Slot needs to make major changes

The Nottingham Forest performance at Anfield was everything you might expect it to be, and yet it was as if Liverpool did not see it coming.

Sean Dyche had his team sit deep, compressing space around the penalty area to slow Liverpool down, and then play long balls forward to hit on the counter-attack.

It was one such counter, funnelled quickly down Liverpool’s right (their well-known weak spot) that earned the corner from which Murillo scored the opener.

Forty-four per cent of Forest’s attacks were down that side, a targeted – and simple – tactic that hit Liverpool’s vulnerabilities in all the usual ways.

Liverpool became just the fourth defending champions to start a season with six or more defeats in their first 12 games, after Blackburn Rovers in 1995/96 (six), Chelsea in 2015/16 (seven) and Leicester City in 2016/17 (six).

The Reds have also lost six of their last seven Premier League matches, as many as their previous 58 beforehand, and have lost back-to-back league games by a margin of three or more goals for the first time since April 1965 under Bill Shankly.

For Slot, this has to be the moment he realises enormous changes are needed.

That might mean dropping Ibrahima Konate, Alexander Isak, and perhaps even Mohamed Salah.

It might mean a new formation or tactical setup, be it simplifying their approach with a conservative setup or going all-in on ultra-attacking football.

Whatever it is, it needs to be radical.

Little wiggle room in title race for Man City

A resurgent Newcastle with five consecutive home wins in all competitions were always going to put up a stern resistance and, on the face of it, there is nothing disastrous about Man City losing this.

But defeat at St James' Park taught us that Man City’s early wobble in August and September has left them without any wiggle room in the title race.

Pep Guardiola’s side appeared to be ominously building momentum. One single defeat punctures that.

Man City have now lost four of their first 12 league games of a league season for the first time since 2013/14. It is also the first time a Guardiola team has ever suffered as many defeats in the opening 12 league matches of a season.

Over the past 10 Premier League seasons, the average number of defeats by the eventual champion is 3.8.

The highest was Man City’s six in 2020/21. Already being on four, then, suggests they cannot challenge for the title this year.

That might sound dramatic considering they are only seven points behind Arsenal, but a stuttering start in autumn means Guardiola's side need to overcome a decade of statistical evidence to reclaim the crown.

West Ham too brittle for Nuno's ultra-defensive changes

At half-time, two Callum Wilson goals had West Ham on the verge of their third consecutive Premier League victory - and all was right with the world.

But then Nuno made substitutions and tactical changes that invited pressure and his team collapsed in on themselves.

In the 52nd minute, Tomas Soucek came on for Wilson, a clear instruction that Nuno wanted his team to be more defensive.

West Ham dropped significantly deeper and, as the stats show, Bournemouth accepted the offer to come forward.

Bournemouth stats in first and second half

This kind of swing in momentum often works for Nuno, whose calculated risk to preserve a lead paid off many times at Forest.

However, on Saturday he learnt that confidence is too brittle at West Ham for a similar approach to work so early in his tenure.

While the players remain fragile, with the bottom three in view, the Hammers need to feel proactive and play with their chests puffed out – especially when they’re 2-0 up.

Emery smartly corrects tactical errors 

For the first 45 minutes at Elland Road, Aston Villa were very predictable.

Both wingers tucked infield to create an ultra-narrow shape which, coupled with slow passing out from the centre-backs, meant Leeds United's physical midfield could bully them.

Villa lacked pace, width, and a direct option to bypass a bruising Leeds midfield – until Unai Emery made the necessary half-time changes to turn the game around.

Bringing on Donyell Malen and putting him alongside Ollie Watkins, Villa were now two-versus-two on the defensive line and searching for the more direct route forward to isolate the Leeds centre-backs.

It was a longer vertical pass forward from John McGinn to Matty Cash that opened Leeds up for the Villa equaliser, before a long ball from Youri Tielemans saw Ross Barkley break through and win the free-kick for Morgan Rogers' winner.

Rogers' goals v Leeds

This was by no means the first time in 2025/26 that Villa’s opponents have correctly predicted the starting tactics, nor that Emery has gone more direct to fix things.

Greater width and speed from the outset should help Villa when they face Wolverhampton Wanderers’ low block next weekend.

Brighton victory helps avoid the usual slump

Brighton & Hove Albion have made another superb start to the season. The challenge for Fabian Hurzeler is to break the club’s usual habit and keep this going.

After 12 matches of the 2024/25 Premier League season Brighton had 22 points, beating Bournemouth 2-1 on 23 November to put themselves within one point of second spot.

They then went eight Premier League matches without a win.

Hurzeler, now in his second season, will be well aware this was precisely the moment his good start fell apart a year ago.

This follows a longer trend for Brighton, who so often perform well in the first 12 matches – and then drop off.

Brighton points-per-game comparison by season

Brighton will face four of last season's top seven teams in their next six games, although this includes Forest and Liverpool, two opponents struggling significantly compared to last season.

If Hurzeler can navigate December, then perhaps – for the first time in years – Brighton can build on their fast start rather than find themselves disappointed come May.

Chelsea reliance on Caicedo increases despite another win

Prior to Pedro Neto’s 37th-minute opener, Burnley looked the more likely to score, predominantly because they were able to breeze through a wide-open Chelsea central midfield.

A lot of analysis after this match praised Andrey Santos for his defensive performance, with Moises Caicedo watching on from the bench, but a closer look at the first half shows that Chelsea did miss their star midfielder.

Santos was regularly too deep, leaving space that Burnley repeatedly exploited. The example below, in the 32nd minute, reflects this during a spell in which Burnley had enjoyed 48 per cent possession.

On another day, Burnley might have made their strong first-half performance count. Caicedo, by his absence, showed he is by far Chelsea’s most important player.

Edwards unable to triumph as tricky run begins

Rob Edwards will have known Wolves needed a fast start – a classic new-manager bounce – if they are to avoid relegation under his management, which is why Saturday’s limp 2-0 defeat was arguably the most significant result of their season so far.

There were no tangible signs of improvement.

Edwards switched to a 5-3-2 formation in order to answer the fans’ request to play their two strikers, last season’s star Jorgen Strand Larsen and new signing Tolu Arokodare, who scored 21 league goals for Genk last season.

But it didn’t work and Crystal Palace ran out comfortable 2-0 winners.

Wolves’ two points from 12 matches is the third-fewest in top-flight history after 12 games, behind Man Utd in 1930/31 (zero) and Sheffield United in 2020/21 (one). Both Man Utd and Sheff Utd were relegated at the end of those seasons, both in last place.

Wolves travel to Villa Park this weekend, before hosting Forest and Man Utd and then playing Arsenal away. It could hardly be more difficult for Edwards.

Wolves' next five PL fixtures

Sunderland’s brilliant start might be coming to an end

Sunderland have gone three Premier League matches without a victory and it would appear that performances are slowing down.

Fulham had 24 shots on Saturday, their most in a Premier League game this season, while the Expected Goals (xG) of 2.1 that Sunderland conceded was their highest of the campaign.

It was inevitable that at some point Regis Le Bris’ side would go through a more difficult period, but what might worry supporters is that the downturn precedes a tough set of games. Sunderland face Bournemouth, Liverpool, Man City, Newcastle, and Brighton in their next five.

Sunderland's next five PL fixtures

By the end of that sequence Fulham, currently five points behind Sunderland, might have leapfrogged above them.

Marco Silva’s side have won four of their last five Premier League home matches, an impressive run that signals Fulham can pull clear of the relegation battle.

More on Matchweek 12