Man City produce a worrying display in defeat to Tottenham - PL hits and misses

Would the real Man City please stand up

Manchester City fans will have left the Etihad on Saturday with more questions than answers after a performance that was the complete antithesis of last weekend's win over Wolves. Creative, fluid patterns were replaced by unimaginative, misplaced passes.

James Trafford's mistake will hit hardest because it led to a goal but he was far from the worst offender. City were sloppy, undone by a team who looked more confident and assured in their specific roles.

Christian Romero did a number on Erling Haaland. Joao Palhinha, who won more duels than any other player, and Rodrigo Bentancur were more assertive than Tijjani Reijnders and Nico Gonzalez in midfield. Mohammed Kudus more direct in attack.

Defensively they were excellent, too, drawing particular acclaim from Thomas Frank for a 'top mentality'. No signs of Spursy Spurs here.

As for Man City, this is a confusing start. Are they back in contention as title candidates or was matchday one just a ruse? Pep Guardiola insisted his side would "make the click" - but offered no assurances as to when that might happen. Until then, we will be left to ponder what this Man City side, complete with its extravagant summer remodel, are truly capable of.
Laura Hunter

Bournemouth's best bit of business? Keeping Iraola

Some players might be different but the ethos and tactics remain the same for Bournemouth. That is why perhaps the best bit of business the Cherries did this summer was to keep hold of Andoni Iraola. This was very much business as usual for them.

Wolves were swept away at times by the brave Bournemouth press and aggression without the ball. That was on show for the only goal of the game where Tyler Adams robbed Jean‐Ricner Bellegarde in a typical Iraola pressing trap that the visitors fell into. It ended up the game-winning moment. It's this style of football that has played a huge part in the captures of Ben Gannon-Doak and Amine Adli, who offered the home fans a glimpse of his talents in an impressive cameo. With Iraola at the helm, another season of excitement awaits.
Lewis Jones

Ouattara's 'selfless' display lifts gloom over the Gtech

There was, understandably, some doom and gloom around the Gtech after Brentford saw Bryan Mbeumo leave for Man Utd this summer and then Yoane Wissa also ask to join Newcastle United, a double blow compounded by a limp opening-day loss at Nottingham Forest - but Dango Ouattara's impressive debut in the win against Aston Villa has given the Bees and new head coach Keith Andrews a real spring in their step.

It did cost the west London club £42m to replace Mbeumo with the Bournemouth forward, but that looks money well spent on the basis of his match-winning display that saw off Villa on Saturday afternoon to give Andrews his first win as the new Bees boss.

It was not just the confident manner in which the 23-year-old took his goal after being played clean through by Igor Thiago's clever flick that caught his boss' eye.

But also the way the Burkina Faso international spent much of the rest of the game tracking back, man-marking Lucas Digne and going on to win more duels than any of his team-mates, before rightly receiving a standing ovation when he was substituted late on.

"His goal will get the headlines but for me, it was the aspects of the game, the selfless nature of how he approached the game, and knew what was needed to get a result," Andrews said after the game.

"If he didn't stick to that it would've been very difficult to deal with them. He was amazing in the space of a few days [since joining]. I know he'll be a big player for this club, his attributes are there for everyone to see.

"You'll see that more as we get more control of games and feed him a bit more, but the out of possession shift he put in was selfless. I'm not too surprised, right from the first moment I spoke to him I was really impressed with him."
Rich Morgan

Played two, won none, scored none

The third statistic should worry Aston Villa more than the second because results will not follow until Unai Emery's side can look more dangerous.

For a second weekend in a row they were ineffective in front of goal and despite improving after a below-par first 45 at Brentford, managed just a solitary shot on target from their second-half showing.

Emery pointed out after the game that the backs-to-the-wall shift the Bees put in was reminiscent of each of his side's visits to the Gtech since he took over.

But this victory for the hosts ended a six-game unbeaten streak for the Villans. Yes, these are normally tight affairs, but Villa normally have the guile to edge things.

It is easy to point to the loss of attacking players since the end of last season but this was still a line-up including Morgan Rogers and Youri Tielemans, with one of the Premier League's most willing runners - and deadliest finishers - in attack.

On the odd occasion, patterns of play worked well and they looked dangerous. But something is not clicking, and it's not just a lack of new faces.
Ron Walker

Promoted sides showing the fight to stay up

It took until October for all three promoted sides to win a game in the Premier League last season. This season, it has only taken two weeks.

Burnley, Sunderland and Leeds United have already won half as many home games as last Ipswich, Leicester and Southampton last season, too.

It is early days for the newly-promoted trio but all three teams are showing the bravery, determination and quality to secure points in the top-flight.

Whether or not they can maintain this momentum throughout the course of the entire season remains to be seen. However, the early signs are promising.

All three promoted teams dropped back into the Championship last season - that might not be the case this time round.
Patrick Rowe