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World Football, WrapUp

For fans of two of England’s biggest and most successful clubs, Manchester United and Liverpool, October 4 will be earmarked as a “Black Sunday” in the annals of Premier League history.

In fact, to call what happened to these two fierce rivals a disaster is to really put it benignly and honestly, a total disrespect to the word ‘disaster’. In 180 minutes, both clubs conceded a whopping 13 goals to Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa in the most difficult football league in the world.

To put that into context, that is just one goal fewer than Everton, Aston Villa, and Leicester City, top 3 clubs so far this season, have conceded combined.

But while fans of both clubs continue to grieve their humiliation, who were the real winners and losers from both games?

Ollie Watkins, Aston Villa

Some Premier League football fans around the world (especially Liverpool fans) may have christened him the best defender to ever play in the league, but Virgil van Dijk was reduced to a Sunday league player by an unlikely forward.

Step forward, Watkins, apology accepted if you’re just knowing about him. In a blistering first-half display, the 24-year-old Englishman wrote his name into Villa and PL history books as he became the first player to net a hattrick against the Kops in 10 years.

He did it in a superb manner, left foot, right foot, and a header – just the perfect way to walk away with the match ball.

But while the praises have been effusive for the forward, the man himself has rather, heartlessly, expressed his disappointment he didn’t score more.

“I came away with a hat-trick but think I could have got more. It is bittersweet,” Watkins told the BBC. Ouch Liverpool fans, that has to sting.

Jose Mourinho, Tottenham coach

Tagged ‘yesterday man’ following a very difficult time at Manchester United, Spurs’ comprehensive win on Sunday is a form of closure for Jose Mourinho.

Sacked as United manager December 2018, the Portuguese time at Old Trafford may have produced three cup wins, but he is not fondly remembered by fans of the club who remained unshaken in their belief that Mourinho was not fit enough to be at the club.

His first game against the Red Devils as Spurs boss ended in a narrow defeat, but on Sunday, Mourinho’s revenge, though delayed, was a sweet victory for the two-time Champions League winner as Spurs hit United for six.

Losers

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Manchester United manager

Ole’s time at United had been one of mixed feelings. At times the Red Devils have looked brilliant, other times it has been a total shambles.

Last week, United avoided an embarrassing defeat at the Amex as BHA hit the post five times in another bizarre match involving Ole and his boys.

The signs were there, the defeat was coming and on Sunday, everything that could go wrong did as Spurs totally humiliated the 20 times champions.

For many United fans, they have had enough and it is time for their Norwegian manager to go back home. The goodwill seems to be over, rumours of the imminent signing of Edinson Cavani and Alex Telles won’t be enough to assuage the fans.

The mood around United is summed by this United fan who said after the game;

“This thing (United defeat) is painful, of all the teams to lose to, we lost to Mourinho’s?”

Liverpool

While most will consider Liverpool’s defeat a ‘blip’, for our in-house analyst, Slake, it was one he saw coming months ago.

“I’ve been waiting for this day for so long. Liverpool have enjoyed an insane amount of good fortune to cover loads of bad performances,” he said.

“They couldn’t keep getting away with it. I don dey talk am since last season. xG say dem get 22 extra undeserved points. It’s beyond the realms of insanity, even for xG.”

The Kops are the defending champions but looked anything but that against the Villains. The Reds were terrible without two of their first-choice players in goalkeeper, Alisson Becker, who was sidelined for several weeks due to an injury, and Sadio Mane, who tested positive for COVID-19. 

SociaLigaFPL managers who sold Heung-Min Son, Tottenham

Ahead of the United game, many SociaLigaFPL managers were forced to leave the Tottenham star on the bench as he was flagged to miss the game at OT.

Son was a major doubt for game week 4 after he picked up a suspected hamstring injury against Newcastle United in Gameweek 3.

However, when the team news was announced,  the South Korean not only started for the visitors but went on to score two goals and assist another in a solid display from Jose’s men.

According to the OfficialFPL stat, Son was the most transferred out player for GW4 with over 1.4million managers ditching him.

In other news EPL news,

Arsenal win again

Arteta’s side continued their impressive march towards respectability with a win against Sheffield United. Despite missing out on their top targets in the transfer market in Aouar and Partey, Arsenal continues to rack up wins with a midfield of Dani Ceballos, Elneny, and Xhaka. We for one are curious about how far Arteta can take this band of misfits.

Everton is unstoppable

Don Carlo Ancelotti and his flying Toffees are the real deal. They continued their 100% start to the season with a comprehensive win over the weekend with James Rodriguez looking so far like the transfer of the summer and DCL continuing his red hot form. Can they pull a Leicester this season with uneven performances from the Man City and Liverpool? We say why not? For now, we can enjoy their breath-taking performances and fire dancing.

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