Tips

News

Predictions

Blogs

Videos

Quizzes

Betting Sites

Five Things You May Have Missed in the Premier League this Weekend
Blogs

Five Things You May Have Missed in the Premier League this Weekend

27/01/25 09:57

The Premier League table has overseen some tectonic shifts in the last couple of weeks. Chelsea have dropped out of the top four, Bournemouth now lie above them, and Tottenham have fallen nine places since the end of November.

However, the changes in league position did not prevent ever-unfolding storylines developing some new plot points, with plenty of action that went under the radar. From (almost) disastrous debuts, to referee howlers, here are five things you may have missed from matchweek 23 in the Premier League.

5. Jamie Vardy never changes

At age 38, a lot of professionals would be considering hanging up their boots, and some would argue that the majority already would have. But Jamie Vardy is different.

The man clearly loves the game. Think about it. Had Leicester city not picked him up for the measly sum of just over £1 million, Vardy would have been more than content plying his trade at non-league Fleetwood Town, simply due to his love of the game.

However, in a turn of fate that would send shockwaves through world football, Leicester’s recruitment team were fortunate to stumble across the Englishman, and the ramifications of his move to the Foxes were exceptionally wide-reaching.

Winning a Premier League, FA Cup and reaching a Champions League quarter final are all massive achievements, even more so when playing for an atypical “big team", which tend to focus more on effective recruitment and sales rather than becoming a global franchise.

So it is no surprise that Vardy has earned himself a few bragging rights. Notorious for winding up rival fans (Crystal Palace, Sheffield United and Wolves have all been casualties so far), his goal against Tottenham showed everyone that his striker's instinct was still as sharp as ever. Moreover, it showed his “shithousery” hadn’t diminished one bit.

Standing in front of the Spurs fans, who were already miserable courtesy thanks to a run of seven league matches without a win, he held up one finger and then pointed to the Premier League logo on his sleeve.

As if he hadn’t made the point, he then pointed to the Spurs faithful and made a zero with his hands. It was a clear message that he had a more powerful league legacy than anyone at Spurs, and in fact the club itself.

Had Leicester gone on to lose the game, his gesture would have seemed poorly timed and misplaced. However, with Leicester’s 2-1 win, their first in 9 games, Vardy’s signalling only served to rub the result in their opponents face just that little bit harder.

There are three things that are certain in life: death, taxes, and Jamie Vardy being Jamie Vardy.

4. Khusanov avoids nightmare debut

Picture this: You are the first Uzbek player to ever grace the Premier League. You have just been bought for £34 million. And the team that purchased you is none other than the four time defending Premier League champions Manchester City.

That is the exact scenario that faced Abdukodir Khusanov on Saturday evening as his new side hosted an out of form Chelsea. With an opponent currently misfiring in attack, Pep Guardiola saw this as the perfect opportunity to blood his new defender.

Starting alongside Manuel Akanji, Khusanov rounded off a formidable starting lineup, one which most thought would sweep Chelsea aside with relative ease. However, that prediction took a hit inside the first 180 seconds.

A high ball from Trevoh Chalobah found the Uzbek and Nicolas Jackson duelling for position in an aerial battle. With both misjudging the flight of the ball, the ball bounced kindly for Khusanov, who with his back turn to the field, thought the safest option was to head back to Ederson in order to reset.

However, he completely miscued his connection, almost missing the ball entirely, allowing Jackson to streak past him and create a two vs one situation. One square ball to Noni Madueke later, and Chelsea led at the Etihad. Not the debut he would have been dreaming about the night before.

Two minutes later, Khusanov was dispossessed by former City youth product Cole Palmer, and in his haste to redeem himself, wiped out Chelsea’s star man, and earned himself a yellow card. Less than five minutes in, and he had single-handedly given Chelsea the lead and was now treading on thin ice.

Anyone who had cruelly bet on him to be sent off pre-game would have been grinning from ear to ear at that point in time.

Incredibly though, Khusanov recomposed himself, and didn’t put a foot wrong until his substitution in the 54th minute. In addition, the Uzek’s howler at the start was completely overshadowed by what can only be described as calamitous goalkeeping by Robert Sanchez up the other end, allowing Haaland to give City the lead for the first time.

Goals from Josko Gvardiol, Erling Haaland and Phil Foden saw the Cityzen’s eventually ease to victory, sparing Khusanov’s blushes. And while he may not have had the start to Premier League life he had been hoping for, there is certainly a silver lining. The only way from here is up.

3. Lisandro Martinez vs Adama Traore

In one of the most unexpected off-field dramas of the season, Man United centre back Lisandro Martinez and Fulham speedster Adama Traore became reacquainted in United’s 1-0 on Sunday.

Context must be provided. During United’s win by the same scoreline in both sides' season opener, Martinez claimed he had “sent Traore back to the gym’ after easily barging him off the ball at one point in the match.

In an Instagram story following the game, Traore posted a picture of himself looking particularly be-muscled, with the short caption saying “don’t worry, we will meet again.”

And meet again they did. While Traore didn’t start in Sunday's game, he came on early in the second half in Marco Silva’s attempt to terrorise a somewhat slow Man United back-line. With Traore’s introduction, Martinez switched mode, from centre-back to assassin.

Just six minutes after Traore was brought on, the Spaniard was carrying the ball towards the box, with Martinez set to meet him and force him out. However, instead of choosing the orthodox approach and forcing him wide, Martinez thought the best plan of action was to come at him from the air.

Jumping into the air, Martinez came down heavily in an ugly two-footed lunge, with his boots thankfully landing either side of Traore’s legs. Traore’s momentum saw him knock over the Argentine defender, and deservedly so. Once getting rid of the ball, Traore looked back at Martinez in disgust at his challenge, one which could have severely injured him had it gone wrong.

15 minutes later, Traore worked some space for a shot, but his attempt narrowly missed the target, with Traore holding his hands to face wondering what could have been. Martinez approached him and got in his face, riling the Spaniard up further, and forcing him to robustly shove him away. Leny Yoro eventually got between the two so the game could continue.

Incredibly, Martinez seems to thrive on dysfunction, and so it came to be three minutes later, as the centre back wandered forwards and had a pop from 25 yards. Thanks to a huge deflection, the ball looped up and over Bernd Leno and into the Fulham net.

Poetically, Traore was situated right behind the shot, and got the best view in the house as the ball deceived his goalkeeper and put his side behind, rubbing salt into the already raw wound of his personal rivalry with “the butcher”.

Martinez’ goal proved to be the only one of the game, handing an out-of-form United a precious three points. And while Martinez might be caught up celebration’s right now, and Traore recovering from defeat, both men will remember the conduct of the other. No doubt this rivalry has a couple of chapters left at the very least.

2. Moyes Celebrates 700 Games in Style

I think I speak for everyone when I say that David Moyes returning to Everton just seems right. The Toffee’s head coach from 2003 up until 2013, the Scot became inextricably linked with the club, having dragged them up the table through the years, and successfully turning them into a club competing for European places season on season.

Since he left to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson at United in 2013, Everton’s fortunes have been considerably different. They have been in or around the relegation battle for the last five or six years, and rarely look likely to defend a lead.

And you can’t say they haven’t tried with their managers. Top quality coaches such as Roberto Martinez, Rafa Benitez, Marco Silva, Ronald Koeman, and even now Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelloti failed to make things stick at Goodison Park.

It seems that David Moyes is simply the chosen one. After defeat in his first game to Aston Villa, in which he still had to get to grips with the squad on his hands, he has guided Everton to two wins in a row, this weekend overcoming a talented Brighton side away from home.

What is more, the fixture against Brighton was Moyes’ 700th game in charge of a Premier League side, seeing him become just the third manager to do so, alongside fellow managerial greats Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson.

While it wasn’t the controlled, classy display we were used to seeing from Moyes’ mid-2000’s Everton, it was a brilliantly backline display full of excellent blocks, memorable saves and clutch tackles. It became an even more impressive rearguard display once the Toffee’s took the lead through an Iliman Ndiaye penalty.

In total Everton had just three shots on goal, whereas Brighton took 16 in all. However, the players stuck to the plan, stayed compact and well-organised, and it was hard to say they didn’t deserve the win after such a stubborn performance.

In his post-match interview, Moyes said: “I’m not in any way boastful, but 700 games is quite the achievement in the Premier League … and to be behind Wenger and Ferguson is quite pleasing.”

He followed up with the fact that he would be celebrating that night with a glass of wine - once again I speak for all of us when I say it’s well deserved.

1. Lewis-Skelly - Red or No Red?

Seeing as it was the most fortuitous and widely publicised incident from this weekend's Premier League action, it is not so much something you may have missed as something you couldn’t have missed.

Just before half-time, 18-year-old Arsenal talent Myles Lewis-Skelly was shown a red card by referee Michael Oliver in what can only be addressed as the softest red card the Premier League has seen in years.

0-0 between Arsenal and Wolves in the 43rd minute, a Gunners corner was headed away to Matt Doherty, who looking up, saw the opportunity to run into space and counter-attack.

Lewis-Skelly, hanging at the edge of the box in the event of a loose ball, came across and seemingly tripped Doherty over; a professional foul and a likely yellow card most people thought, but nothing more.

So you can imagine the ripple of surprise throughout the away end when Michael Oliver brandished the red card to a stunned Lewis-Skelly. What is more, VAR then checked the challenge to be absolutely certain, and told Michael Oliver to confirm his decision, without asking him to go over to the screen to provide a second opinion.

Looking at the challenge in slow motion, the teenagers' studs were showing, and did catch Doherty on the side of the calf. But due to the speed at which the Irishman was running, the contact was fleeting at most, and the way in which he fell may have influenced the referee’s decision somewhat.

It goes further though. Michael Oliver has something of a taste for showing red cards to Arsenal players. Lewis-Skelly’s straight red was the club's 8th red card shown to them by Oliver, 9% of their total Premier League red cards since its first season in 1992.

Does he have something of a vendetta against Arsenal? Well, it would be silly to publicly admit such a thing, as it would invite investigations into corruption and match-fixing at the highest level of the English game, and perhaps he was justified every time he sent a man off the pitch.

However, the decision to send off Lewis-Skelly looked nothing short of comical, and with hindsight, it doesn't get any better.

Oliver has received a considerable amount of abuse following the game, something which no one should condone, and no football fan should ever be party to. But Arsenal fans are angry, and in my view, justifiably so.

However, the result will sting considerably less as the Gunners picked up a narrow 1-0 thanks to a second half winner from Riccardo Calafiori, and they will feel that Karme did it's job, as Wolves' Joao Gomes was also sent off for a second yellow offence in the second period.

Benji Kosartiyer
Journalist
Harry Pascoe

Lead Writer

English League One
28/01/25 19:45
Exeter City

Exeter City

Leyton Orient

Leyton Orient

13/10
Leyton Orient to Win
Go To Details

Videos

See more
From Non-League to the AFCON Final - The Story of Kwesi Appiah
Listen to our full podcast with Kwesi Appiah as he discusses his sensational rise from non-league all the way to starting in the AFCON final.
Is it time for Luton Town to make THE DECISION?!
Watch out latest edition of EFL Hot Takes as the lads give their opinion on the Rob Edwards situation at Luton Town.
WHO is in our Championship TEAM OF THE SEASON so far?!
Find out how we would put in our Championship Team of the Season so far on YouTube as we approach the busy period.

Join our newsletter

Become a part of our community and never miss an update from Football Park.