
The final gameweek before December's torrid run of games saw lots of drama in unexpected places. A London Derby between Arsenal and Chelsea brought plenty of drama as expected at the top of the table, but there was drama aplenty at the other end as the teams in and around the relegation places scrambled for points. As we head into December's unforgiving run of matches, here are all the winners and losers from gameweek 13.
Chelsea have had more players sent off than any other team in the league this season. However, the difference in Maresca's approach to game management when down to ten men was clear for all to see on Sunday. You could argue that he panicked and made changes too quickly against a lacklustre Manchester United team when Robert Sanchez got sent off a few months ago, the first of many such sendings-off. However, against Arsenal, it was clear that Maresca had learned; there was no panic, and the changes were rather calculated, not hurting Chelsea's ability to stay in the game while one man down. Ultimately, they came away with a very valuable point, and you could argue that they deserved to come away with all three points.
It's been a horrible week to be a Tottenham fan. Defeat last weekend in the North London Derby, defeat in midweek against PSG in the Champions League, the weekend's fixture against Fulham offered them a chance to stem the negative tide, and they squandered it. Defeat to Fulham meant that Tottenham had now lost two London derbies in a row and slipped to 12th on the table. It's not a good look for the North London club heading into the busy December rush of fixtures. Thomas Frank and his boys need to do something, and they need to do it fast.
The away curse is finally broken! Newcastle had not won a single game away all season until they showed up at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday. The return of their first-choice fullbacks from injury had already inspired them to a 2-1 victory over Manchester City the weekend before. This time, they ran out 4-1 winners against an Everton side trying to build on a fantastic performance against Manchester United on Monday. Two wins on the bounce see Newcastle move up to 13th on 18 points, and with the gap between 13th and 5th being just a mere 4 points, Eddie Howe's team could be back in the UCL places by the time December is done.
With no wins in the last four games (three defeats and a draw), Andoni Iraola's project has hit a few stumbling blocks in November. Their latest defeat against Sunderland might arguably be the worst of the lot. They were 2-0 up within 15 minutes, and it looked like they would run away with it against a Sunderland side that seemed like they were beginning to lose momentum. But Sunderland came roaring back to snatch all three points and leave Iraola with more questions than answers at the end of the game. Iraola will need to find answers quickly as they head into a busy period that will see them play Manchester United, Arsenal, and Chelsea twice in the space of a month.
Back-to-back wins at last for Marco Silva and Fulham, and I just know that the air around Craven Cottage will feel remarkably cheerier this week. And in true Fulham fashion, they've gotten the points in games you would have considered them to be underdogs. They beat Sunderland two weeks ago and beat Tottenham this gameweek to lift themselves to 15th place on 17 points. Fulham have now put space between themselves and the pack of clubs in relegation places, and they can now focus on building on this foundation to climb up the table slowly but steadily.
Forest are still hanging around the relegation spots. Only 2 points separate them from Burnley in 19th place, and defeat against Brighton at the weekend meant that they will spend December at least trying to stay above the drop zone. It doesn't help that back-to-back wins for fellow strugglers Fulham means that Marco Silva's boys have opened up a five-point gap, throwing Forest's form into relief when you compare them to the other clubs around the drop zone. Of course, the managerial upheavals at the club haven't helped at all, and the players are still getting used to playing football Sean Dyche's way. They will need to put some points on the board soon if things are going to stabilise, especially if they want to avoid having a fourth manager before the season is halfway through.
5 comments
another great Premier League round up from @chukwukaosakwe on @thefalsenine Maresca, Newcastle, Fulham the big winners, and this week Liverpool are not on the Losers list 😅 https://paragraph.com/@thefalsenine/epl-gw13-winners-and-losers
Enjoyed reading this! Maybe, I should start sharing my opinions on /chelseafc if you allow me
that would be great! we’re always looking for talented writers
Yay not on the losers list 😅 another brilliant write up @chukwukaosakwe
finally Liverpool off the losers list 😅 maresca killing it!