Gameweek 6 would kick off with a South Coast derby as Southampton played host to AFC Bournemouth at St. Mary’s. The following day Leicester hosted Spurs while Watford travelled to Manchester City. Sheffield United travelled to Everton while Burnley faced Norwich City at Turf Moor. Sunday would see West Ham faced Manchester United at the London Stadium. Arsenal would play Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium while Chelsea hosted Liverpool in the game of the weekend. Anyway, here’s the FPL Updates gameweek review…
Goalkeeper
Aaron Ramsdale – One of the success stories of the season so far is Bournemouth ‘keeper Aaron Ramsdale, who has come into the side this campaign. His side travelled to St. Mary’s on Friday night, and took the lead through Nathan Aké early on. They doubled the advantage when Harry Wilson swept home from close range. Southampton pulled one back through a James Ward-Prowse penalty. However, when Ramsdale’s long ball ran all the way through Callum Wilson converted to secure a good three points for the Cherries.
Defenders
Nicolas Otamendi – Manchester City knew that there would need to be a reaction after their loss to newly-promoted Norwich. They will have been concerned with the lack of fit centre-backs at Pep Guardiola’s disposal going into their game against strugglers Watford. However, this provided a chance for some players, such as Nicolas Otamendi, to stake their claim for a starting place later in the season. He found the net as City obliterated Quique Sanchez Flores’ Watford side on the day. Watford will be concerned by the scoreline…
Aaron Cresswell – West Ham United will have fancied their chances when a struggling Manchester United side turned up at the London Stadium on Sunday afternoon. One player who has more than his fair share of doubters among the Hammers faithful is full-back Aaron Cresswell, whose form has varied massively since joining from Ipswich some years ago. However, he may have won a place in the hearts of the London club when he struck a brilliant free kick deep into the second half to seal a win for the Irons.
John Lundstram – Sheffield United have made a solid start to the season upon their return to the Premier League and secured their best result of the season as they upstaged Everton on Saturday afternoon at Goodison Park. The home side’s fans were noticeably frustrated when the Blades went in front courtesy of a Yerry Mina own goal at the end of the first half. In the second half, the Toffees came out fighting, but missed a host of chances, which came back to bite them when Lys Mousset sealed the points late on.
Ricardo Pereira – Leicester City hosted Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday and found themselves a goal down courtesy of a brilliant improvised finish from Harry Kane. Serge Aurier thought he had doubled the advantage, only to see his strike controversially ruled out by VAR. This opened the door for the Foxes who equalised when Ricardo Pereira equalised just minutes later. With the game in the balance, it would be Leicester who struck a winner courtesy of James Maddison, who drilled home five minutes from time.
Midfielders
Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Riyad Mahrez & David Silva – Manchester City hit Watford for eight on Saturday afternoon as the City attackers’ quality shone through. Watford have a poor record away at City, and it looked to be getting no better as they were a goal down in under a minute. However, Hornets fans could be forgiven for being seriously concerned as the Hertfordshire side found themselves five goals down within just eighteen minutes. City seemed to ease off from then, but still found another three goals to signal their intent following a tough week.
Andriy Yarmolenko – It’s been a tough year for Ukraine winger Andriy Yarmolenko, who suffered a season ending injury early on last campaign after starting very well for the Hammers. After a long recovery, he’s now returned to fitness and seems to be getting back into the swing of things. He netted the opener as his side secured a superb win against Manchester United on Sunday afternoon. West Ham look like they may be a real force this season and may well have struck a balance with flair and organisation.
Forwards
Chris Wood – Norwich City came crashing back down to Earth after their massive win over Manchester City as they faced Burnley at Turf Moor on Saturday afternoon. Sean Dyche’s side present a very different challenge and the Canaries were undone by two quickfire first half goals, courtesy of Chris Wood. The former Leicester City and Leeds man forms a dangerous frontline with Ashley Barnes and is vastly popular among the Clarets faithful. Norwich shouldn’t be too disheartened after a decent start to the season.
Written by Ryan Nevin (@RNevin7)
