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Tom Carnduff's Notebook: Arsenal's approach, Brighton's high line, Championship stars
Super Sunday was better than expected, so that was a nice bonus from the weekend's action.
Arsenal's trip to Manchester City turned out to be an unexpected goals fest, more on that later, while Forest managed to strike two at Brighton, erm, more on that later too.
Other key talking points from the Premier League involved Fulham's win over Newcastle (see above to save me repeating the line again) and Tottenham bouncing back with a convincing victory against Brentford.
The EFL, not to be outdone as ever, saw a number of favourites turned over - Huddersfield (odds of 1/3) and Stockport (4/5) the two eye-catching losses of the weekend.
This edition of the Notebook focuses on five key points with a couple of players to keep in mind ahead of the next round of fixtures.
A return to the 90s
It'd be hard to write any column this week without referencing Sunday's clash between Arsenal and Manchester City.
It turned out to be surprisingly good, to be fair. Everything pointed towards a game lacking action in which both teams would cancel each other out, based on the recent meetings, so four goals was nice to see.
Game state dictated it this time around but the latest version of Arteta-ball is an extremely defensive - some would argue negative - approach to securing victory.
Hello, George Graham.
The system in the draw with City saw them far deeper in their positions than when winning last season. Again though, we have to factor in the ten men following Leandro Trossard's red card.
But it's not just Sunday in which we've seen the Gunners willing to sacrifice attacking output in order to secure a result. Arsenal have averaged 10.0 shots per game across their opening five of the league season - a considerable drop from the 17.3 we were seeing in 23/24.
The 2.39 goals per game has also shifted to 1.60. Over 2.5 goals was a winner in 63% of their contests whereas Sunday was the first time it's landed this season.
With a defence first approach seemingly prioritised, there could be value in taking low-scoring games when they're a short price for home success.
Brighton's problematic high line?
Brighton have been an entertaining watch over the early stages of the season. Fabian Hürzeler's side are still unbeaten after five games, although three of those have ended up with the points shared.
They're a team intent on attack. The summer transfer business looked top heavy in reinforcing the options up front. They've managed to score eight and sit middle of the pack in terms of the quality of chances created.
Defensively, they've also been solid but the high line they operate with is starting to look a little problematic. A good counter attacking team like Nottingham Forest capitalised in the 2-2 draw on Sunday.
Both goals came as a result of Albion being pushed further up the pitch, but the second was a particularly good example of how teams may continue to exploit it across the course of the season.
A BIG first Forest goal for Ramón Sosa! 💫 pic.twitter.com/Ex9BXtzAf0
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) September 22, 2024
The initial pass found Jota Silva, who drove forward before laying it to Ramón Sosa for a simple tap in. Both players capitalising on gaps that emerged for a through ball.
Not only do they push their defensive line higher, but Brighton seem to operate with a man-to-man approach as well. This leaves them vulnerable to opponent teams punishing them with quick passes through.
Given what Chelsea are like under Enzo Maresca, Saturday's meeting between the two could be a high scorer.
Leading the line
Fulham's performances and results have gone a little under the radar it seems.
Two wins and two draws represents a more than solid start to the campaign, with the one loss being at Old Trafford against Manchester United on opening weekend.
They beat Newcastle 3-1 last time out and Raúl Jiménez got onto the scoresheet. That being assisted by Adama Traoré gave us a feeling similar to the one experienced by Alan in Jumanji - 'what year is it??' indeed - with the former Wolves duo now linking up at Craven Cottage.
It was Jiménez's second start of the season and the evidence so far suggest that goals will follow. He's scored in both with six shots across those two outings.
They've been good quality chances too - all of them coming from inside the area. Five of the six have also been on target, the other in a substitute appearance at Ipswich.
His performances are more than likely to keep him in the starting XI going forward, and with Fulham facing Nottingham Forest next up, there's every chance the run continues.
One in a Million
Narcís Pèlach's era at Stoke began with a defeat to Hull on Friday night - a 1-0 lead thrown away to three second-half goals.
In fairness to Pèlach, he'd only been appointed a couple of days before so hardly had time to work with the team. However, there were a couple of interesting changes which took place.
One of those was the position of Million Manhoef and he's a player I'll have on my radar across the next few weeks.
Having played as a winger on the right, Pèlach opted to deploy him more centrally and the result saw season-high figures in key areas.
Manhoef's five shots was the joint-highest of his six league appearances, while the four chances created was also the most so far.
They were some good quality chances too. Friday's game saw him return 25% of his total expected goals (xG) figure for the season alongside 28% of his total shots.
I'll be hoping for continuation of this and taking him to score when they travel to Middlesbrough on Saturday.
Curious case of George
Millwall have been a surprisingly creative side this season, even if their position in the Sky Bet Championship table suggests otherwise.
In terms of the quality of chances seen, Millwall sit third after six games on 10.91 xG for their nine goals - only Middlesbrough (11.04) and Leeds (10.95) have created more.
Duncan Watmore has scored five of the nine, but it's a surprise to see that George Saville is yet to get on the scoresheet considering the high amount of shots he's returned across the opening six.
Watmore (15) is the only player to post more than Saville (13). He may be a defensive midfielder in terms of the set-up but he posts a significant threat from both open play and set-piece situations.
Saville is averaging 0.30 xG per 90. For context, a 'big chance' is ranked as anything at 0.35 or above, so Saville is seeing nearly a 'big chance' worth of opportunities in every game so far.
Perhaps crucially, he's played every minute too, meaning involvement with him as a goalscorer is 'safe' from the potential of an early substitution.
With Preston at home next for Neil Harris' side, there should be chances for Saville to grab his first goal of the campaign.
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