This weekend was a rather low-scoring one for the Premier League which is bizarre but perhaps not as bizarre as Southampton plundering four goals.
Manchester City’s late goal saw them maintain their lead at the top while Crystal Palace appear to be building some momentum at last.
Here’s our two good and two bad performances from the weekend.
MOHAMED SALAH
The clash between Liverpool and Chelsea at Anfield was dubbed the Mohamed Salah derby. Having made just nine appearances for the Blues before leaving for AS Roma where he excelled, the Egyptian had a point to prove to his former employers.
Salah continued his devastating form this season with a fine goal to open the scoring. It wasn’t enough though as Willian’s late equaliser earned Chelsea a point but it was still a timely reminder of what they gave up when they allowed the winger to leave.
In red-hot form: Mohamed Salah
ROY HODGSON
After losing each of their first seven games, Palace are now just three points away from safety. Roy Hodgson hasn’t come in and worked miracles but in all fairness, he’s made them a better unit that now seems capable of grinding out results.
He’s starting to get them organised and despite the criticism that surrounded his appointment, he’s picked up two wins and two draws out of their seven outings.
Roy Hodgson
EVERTON
It just goes from bad to worse for Everton. With their pursuit of Marco Silva proving fruitless, they’ve now turned to Sam Allardyce. It’s not the most inspiring appointment but something must be done to arrest this spiral they’re in.
Just two points above the drop zone, they are in real danger of being dragged into a relegation dogfight which is unacceptable considering their expensively assembled squad over the summer. They looked absolutely listless against Southampton, who have hardly proved themselves an attacking force this season.
They may have invested in their squad out of ambition but it’s gone horribly wrong and may now have to resort to going back to basics.
Everton
TOTTENHAM
During a week in which every other top six side earned three points, Tottenham’s slip up at home to West Brom cost them. They’ve now fallen out of the top four with bitter cross-town rivals Arsenal replacing them instead.
Despite having arguably the best striker in the league in Harry Kane, it hasn’t quite clicked for them this season and with 21 goals, have scored the least among the top six. Mauricio Pochettino must find a way around the Wembley curse which still seems to hover above the team despite a couple of good results at the venue.
Tottenham
