GOAL US unpacks the main weekend storylines from the Premier League, La Liga and other top competitions in The Euro XI
Thank you, Estevao, for giving us a title race. This needed to happen. Liverpool had to lose. Someone else had to win. Those around them also had to play their part. It has not been a pretty week on Merseyside. The Reds have dropped three in a row. Arsenal and Man City have responded with wins.
But that's kind of what it's all about. You shouldn't be able to walk to the title. This should be hard. The Premier League is on.
The same goes for La Liga. Barca were good. Madrid were bad. Then the roles reversed. Neither side is particularly convincing, and no one really deserves to be top of the table – which is why Madrid have a two-point lead. The good news? This is now far more compelling. Wins there and losses for Barca all amounted to a fun weekend in Spain, too.
GOAL US presents The Euro XI, with 11 key observations from the weekend.
AFP11Crisis time on Merseyside?
It was always going to be a tricky weekend for Liverpool. The Reds had lost two in a row going into their match at Chelsea. The Blues had their injury issues, but Arne Slot's side had hit a bump. A win would have been a vital reset. A loss, and, well, welcome to crisis.
After 95 minutes, an agreeable draw seemed on the cards. Everyone goes home happy.
But then a lovely bit of play from Chelsea changed things. Enzo Fernande slipped through to Marc Cucurella, who squared to the far post. Estevao – a Brazilian teenager who has shown immense yet little end product – slid in at the back post to send the Bridge into raptures. Chelsea are still imperfect. Liverpool certainly are no longer perfect.
AdvertisementGetty Images10Can Chelsea now deal with adversity?
More on those tricky Blues for a second. Chelsea's transfer strategy reads like this: buy everyone. And it does a nice job, at times. When you have a load of good footballers, you have a good chance of winning games. But there are issues here.
Chief among them? There's not tons of experience. The result is a brittle unit that snaps when the pressure cranks up. That can only be learned over time. It's a game-by-game thing. 95th minute win over Liverpool might just be a perfect example.
Getty9Erling Haaland, evil space demon
Here are Erling Haaland's stats so far in the Premier League this season: seven games, nine goals, one assist.
That's just a bit unfair.
Man City, once again, were unconvincing at the weekend. They're still lacking in a bit of fluidity, perhaps even short on attacking ideas. Turns out that in good ol' English style you can just 'oof it up to the big man up front. Haaland scored one. City didn't need another. 1-0 win, title race loading.
Getty Images Sport8Arsenal keep it calm
"Arsenal are too emotional to win the league."
That was the criticism of the Gunners for the last three years (second-place finishes: three). This was a team that didn't quite get over the line, were too frantic in the big moments. In American sporting terms: they often choked.
And that may yet be the case this year, but Arsenal, so far, have done all of the right things. They have conceded just once from open play this season, and made it all look very easy with a 2-0 win over West Ham on the weekend. Bukayo Saka is healthy. We've got a title race, guys.