Premier League weekend review: What we learned

Following a weekend of Premier League drama, Alex Keble looks at the key talking points and tactical lessons.

- Why Liverpool's direct approach paid off
- Sheff Utd's change of formation
- Son inspires Postecoglou's Spurs
- Chelsea getting into bad habits
- Ferguson an emerging star for Brighton

Alexander-Arnold takes advantage of Villa’s high line

The tactical pattern of Liverpool’s 3-0 win over Aston Villa was just as predicted, with Jurgen Klopp utilising Darwin Nunez’s runs to get in behind Unai Emery’s high defensive line and race into a 2-0 lead.

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Trent Alexander-Arnold was tasked with playing those passes, and Liverpool were aggressive in pursuing this policy.

Alexander-Arnold completed four through-balls, five key passes, and seven final third passes, all more than any other player on the pitch, dictating the tempo as the Reds happily emptied midfield in pursuit of their main tactic.

It was perhaps a surprise that Emery did not see this coming and change tack. Villa have caught the second most offsides this season with 14, thanks to their bold strategy, but having seen Nunez score twice against Newcastle United, it might have been sensible to drop the line a little.

Focussing on what Villa got wrong may be unfair following what was, by some distance, Liverpool’s best performance of the season. Their high press, in particular, was superbly organised, stopping Villa from building out from the back and leading to their lowest possession share (34.8 per cent) of the Emery era.

Dominik Szoboszlai was outstanding and Nunez - though wasteful - looked lively again. It was Alexander-Arnold, with his 10th Premier League assist of 2023, who was the standout player and chief orchestrator.

Archer’s arrival allows Sheff Utd to return to their 3-5-2

It was so nearly a perfect debut for new signing Cameron Archer and his strike partnership with Oliver McBurnie, who was denied a late winner by Jordan Pickford’s brilliant double save.

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Nevertheless, Sheffield United’s first point of the season was something to be celebrated – and there is certainly reason to be cheerful about how Archer and McBurnie linked up as an old-fashioned big-man-little-man forward line.

Pickford's stunning double save

Archer, who at 21 years and 267 days became the youngest English player to score on their first Premier League start since Newcastle's Matty Longstaff in October 2019, was lively throughout, scoring the hosts’ first goal from a McBurnie layoff.

He then set up the second goal with a shot that cannoned off a post and went over the line via the unfortunate Pickford for an own goal.

Archer's debut goal

Evidently adding a striker of his talent - Archer contributed 17 goals and assists in 20 Championship matches for Middlesbrough last season - is a big boost for Paul Heckingbottom. It is equally important that Sheff Utd can now move back to their usual 3-5-2 system.

This is the formation Heckingbottom deployed throughout 2022/23 (in 40 out of 46 Championship matches), and yet he was forced to use a 3-4-3 in the defeats to Nott'm Forest and Crystal Palace, before using William Osula and Benie Traore – both more natural on the wing – as strikers in a 3-5-2 against Manchester City.

It’s no surprise that back in their preferred formation, the Blades recorded an Expected Goals (xG) of 1.2, almost double their highest figure across the first three matches (0.7 xG v Man City), and their seven shots on target were more than the six from their other three matches combined.

Archer is a gifted player and, on this evidence, a perfect fit to bounce off McBurnie, while allowing Heckingbottom to reinstate the system that won Sheff Utd promotion.

Son’s hat-trick inspires Postecoglou’s best day so far

Good starts can be deceiving. This time last year, Tottenham Hotspur also had 10 points from four matches under Antonio Conte – and in fact were lurking near the top of the Premier League table until things began to unravel in mid-October.

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But it’s hard for Spurs fans not to get carried away with how Ange Postecoglou has begun life in north London, not just because of the results or entertaining attacking football, but because he is problem-solving so effectively.

Richarlison hasn’t exactly sparkled as the new No 9, and after Son Heung-min impressed as the Brazilian’s replacement in second-half rejigs against Manchester United and AFC Bournemouth, Postecoglou decided to deploy Son as the centre-forward against Burnley.

See: The numbers that show how Postecoglou has transformed Spurs

It was a fairly bold move considering Richarlison looks short on confidence, but clearly it paid off. Son was exceptional as the striker, scoring three very different goals, each one with the kind of finish we would have expected from Harry Kane.

Son's third goal v Burnley

Son had his worst Premier League goalscoring return last season, finding the net only 10 times, and having looked a little crowded out on the left in 2023/24, it seemed as though his downturn would continue.

Instead, Son's fourth top-flight hat-trick for Spurs has surely confirmed him as Postecoglou’s first choice No 9.

Maddison's goal v Burnley

Beyond the goals, Son’s movement into the channels helped create space for James Maddison, notably for latter's goal: with all eyes on Son, Maddison was left free to pick up possession and find the bottom corner.

Son’s selection up front also made room in the team for Manor Solomon, who provided two assists on his first Premier League start for the club.

Forest break a habit; Chelsea begin to form one of their own

Here was a genuinely shocking, habit-breaking Premier League result.

Nottingham Forest ended a run of nine matches without a victory against Chelsea (stretching all the way back to January 1997) with a 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, recording their first away win of the campaign – and therefore matching their record across the entirety of 2022/23.

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Forest managed only one away win last season (beating bottom club Southampton 1-0 in January), making this such a special and psychologically-crucial three points.

Steve Cooper’s side have finally shown that they can scrap for points on the road, taking pressure off their matches at the City Ground, where Forest won 30 of their 38 points (79 per cent) last season.

It was won in familiar style as Forest, sitting deep and defending doggedly, frustrated Chelsea by holding only 24 per cent possession before scoring on the break with their first shot on target, a neat finish by substitute Anthony Elanga.

Elanga's composed finish v Chelsea

Forest were helped by a profligate Chelsea side who, looking inexperienced and toothless in the penalty area, are beginning to form a bad habit of their own under Mauricio Pochettino.

Chelsea had 21 shots, but only two hit the target, giving them a shooting accuracy of 9.5 per cent, their lowest in a Premier League match since a 1-0 defeat against Queens Park Rangers in January 2013.

Pochettino’s side have now had the same number of shots (66) as Manchester City this season, yet only scored five goals from an xG of 8.4. Only Everton have underperformed against their xG to a greater extent than Chelsea.

Nicolas Jackson hasn’t quite settled in front of goal yet, but arguably the main reason for their wastefulness is that Chelsea are a little green. They are snatching at chances, lacking the kind of experienced player who will take proceedings by the scruff of the neck and make something happen.

Ferguson raises the bar with a hat-trick

Excitement about the potential of Brighton & Hove Albion's 18-year-old striker Evan Ferguson was already high enough, but things have gone to a whole new level after his hat-trick against Newcastle United on Saturday.

At 18 years and 318 days, Ferguson became just the fourth different 18-year-old to score a Premier League treble and the youngest since Michael Owen against Nott'm Forest in October 1998.

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He has scored 10 League goals with only three players – Owen (28), Wayne Rooney (15), and Francis Jeffers (12) – having scored more in the competition before their 19th birthday.

As if that wasn’t enough to fuel the hype, Ferguson is only the second non-English player to register at least 10 Premier League goal involvements aged 18 or younger, after Cesc Fabregas.

These are Premier League legends and while it would be unfair to pile pressure on to the teenager’s shoulders, it’s hard not to start wondering what Ferguson can achieve, given that over the last 365 days, he is averaging 0.78 goals per 90 – putting him in the 97th percentile among players in Europe’s big five leagues.

Roberto De Zerbi has been managing his minutes well, and indeed it is arguably the Brighton head coach’s frequent rotation that keeps the team fresh, keeps opponents guessing, and keeps the goals flowing: Brighton are the top goalscorers in the division so far, with 12.

Newcastle are moving in the opposite direction. They have only scored twice since their 5-1 win over Aston Villa on the opening weekend, and have lost three successive Premier League matches for the first time since April 2022.

In fact, last season it took 24 league matches for Newcastle to reach three defeats, and they only lost five overall.

It was always going to be a tall order to repeat the successes of 2022/23. But three points from their first four matches has made it all but impossible.