What we learned: Premier League Week 8

Sport360 staff 11:08 17/10/2016
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  • MAHREZ AND VARDY’S CHEMISTRY 

    The Mahrez-Vardy combination was one of the most lethal in the Premier League last season but so far this term they’ve failed to gel. It’s 250 minutes now since Mahrez completed a pass to Vardy in a league match, which alone, is an extremely worrying situation for Claudio Ranieri. This lack of supply is having a clear affect on the Leicester striker as his shots per game is down by 50 per cent, from 3.2 to 1.6.

    KOEMAN GAMBLES ON AGEING LEGS

    There’s no denying Ronald Koeman has improved Everton defensively, a remarkable achievement in such a short space of time after the disasters of the latter days of the Roberto Martinez era. However, for all the organisation Koeman has provided his back-four, fielding Gareth Barry, 35, Phil Jagielka, 34, and Ashley Williams, 32, as your defensive core is eventually going to catch up with you. The Toffees got lucky at City with the two missed penalties but may not be so fortunate in the future.

    JOE ALLEN IS DOING A ‘REVERSE PIRLO’

    He may have defined what it is to be a deep-lying playmaker this century, but Andrea Pirlo started life in his youth as a No. 10, before gradually moving further towards his defence. Joe Allen is mockingly referred to as the ‘Welsh Pirlo’ but his positional arc is going in the opposite direction. So often stuck in the anchor role at Swansea and Liverpool, he’s now become Stoke’s central attacking creator and has scored a truly incredible four goals in three games. The jokes stop here.

    BRADLEY MUST BUILD FROM BACK

    Getting anything from his first Premier League in charge was going to be a tough ask, given the Swans’ daunting trip to the Emirates, but Bob Bradley’s team showed enough in the final third to imply they’re much better than definite relegation strugglers. The key, as the American is more than aware of, is tightening up a defence with one clean sheet all season – on the opening day against Burnley – and prone to individual errors.

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