Despite the chilly, December air, drama in the Premier League kept us warm. Over the weekend, standout goals, shocking losses and VAR controversies headlined the action.
Stat of the week
Mo Salah has a new nickname: double centurion. During Saturday’s 2-1 win over Crystal Palace, the 31-year-old scored his 200th goal for Liverpool. At the same time, he became the fifth player in Liverpool history to record this achievement. With his goal, which was his 150th in the Premier League, Salah became the joint-10th all-time top-goalscorer in the English top-flight. Not a bad afternoon for The Egyptian King.
Salah is not a classic, through-the-middle center-forward, instead doing his damage cutting from out-to-in. In that sense, he’s carrying on the lineage of Thierry Henry and Cristiano Ronaldo. But has any player in league history ever been so effective as an auxiliary striker while starting, ostensibly, out-wide? Henry played plenty of seasons as a more orthodox striker. Ryan Giggs scored 109 goals for Manchester United playing out on the wing. Raheem Sterling is on 120 goals and counting, having played a similar inverted-forward role for multiple clubs. But only Henry comes close to Salah – and the Egyptian is now just 25 goals behind Henry on the all-time scoring charts.
Adding to Salah’s individual excellence: Liverpool have now won 15 points from losing positions in the Premier League this season, more than any other team. You can read that two ways: as a sign that championship, cliche ability to win while playing ugly; or as a sign that they’re often too scrappy, too grubby and too open defensively to be a legitimate title threat. Still, three points are three points, and their come-from-behind win took them to the top of the table – for now, anyway.
The ‘shaken, not stirred’ award
After missing the last three games with a muscle injury, Alisson Becker returned in style. His stupendous save in the 27th minute denied Jefferson Lerma the opener and further solidified his world-class credentials. The strength, agility and cool the Brazilian used to block the close-range shot was reminiscent of James Bond at his best. Give Becker a Vesper martini (shaken, not stirred), and it would be easy to mistake him for Ian Fleming’s leading man.
It’s hard to overstate the impact of Alisson on Liverpool’s title aspirations. It feels like no week goes by without Alisson pulling off a jaw-dropping stop. Since the start of last season, he laps the league’s goalkeepers in post-shot xG saved, which is a fancy way of saying he makes saves he has no business of even being close to.
Despite the Brazilian’s brilliance (which kept Liverpool in the game), Lerma should have found the net. Jordan Ayew’s cross was put on a plate for Lerma, and how he didn’t score from such close-range is beyond me. I guess that’s how Bond’s nemeses felt when they thought they had beaten their rival.
Goal of the week
While there were plenty of show-stoppers on offer, John McGinn’s opener over Arsenal earned top marks. Shortly after an incredible performance in Villa’s 1-0 win over Manchester City, McGinn made his mark once more when his quick shot found the net seven minutes in. For such a relentless runner without the ball, it’s McGinn’s calmness and composure that stand out when he has it.
WILD MAN JOHN MCGINN. ⚽️pic.twitter.com/Ui8YCqLN23
— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) December 9, 2023
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The goal helped Villa beat one of the league’s top teams and extend their impressive unbeaten run at home. Will anyone say we’re in a four-way title race?
The ‘Maryanne Oketch’ award
And now for our regularly scheduled Sean Dyche praise-athon. Dyche’s Everton continued their impressive climb from the relegation zone after their point deduction, and demonstrated they have everything Chelsea lack: intensity, control and belief.
Everton came into the match with a plan and executed it to perfection in their 2-0 victory over Mauricio Pochettino’s side. Chelsea don’t appear to have an identity or style of play, which Everton exploited. Outside Unai Emery, no manager has had a more immediate impact over the last 12 months than Dyche. Everton were relegation fodder under Frank Lampard. With Dyche at the helm, their form is closer to that of a team fighting for a place in Europe.
Brilliant reference point? Well, here it is:
Everton's Non-Penalty xG Differential trendline since the beginning of 2021-22.
I have also pinpointed where the home fixture vs Newcastle last season is.
Progress is obvious, isn't it? https://t.co/DmiEZ68lTi pic.twitter.com/1C7cy1V5ET
— Michael (@greenallefc) December 8, 2023
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Despite their 10-point deduction, Dyche has Everton four points above the bottom three. By Christmas, they could be nearing mid-table. The league should get onto the Manager of the Year award engravers now, to save some pennies in the winter sales.
A special shoutout to Lewis Dobbin, too, who scored his first Premier League goal only minutes after coming on to the pitch. Dyche was even impressed with Dobbin’s celebration. “It was a really authentic reaction,” Dyche said. “I commended him afterward. Everyone nowadays wants to dance and all that nonsense. He’s run over, slid in the corner and said ‘have that’. And everyone went with him. Who even thinks of doing a dance? I can’t work it out.”