5 talking points from today's Premier League action

Featuring Manchester United’s defeat of Fulham, Asmir Begovic’s incredible goal and other discussion points.

1. Arsenal midfield consolidates its reputation as best in the Premier League

Not many sides would be able to go without two integral players — Jack Wilshere and Mathieu Flamini — and still comfortably overcome a strong Liverpool side.

Yet Arsenal barely missed the duo at all, as Aaron Ramsey and Mikel Arteta among others more than compensated for their absence by producing two fine performances.

Ramsey, in patrticular, showed the type of vastly improved form that has many, including Sky pundit Gary Neville, calling him the “player of the season” so far.

Hence, while Liverpool may have the best strike partnership in the Premier League, the presence of Suarez and Sturridge was tonight rendered virtually irrelevant thanks to the hosts’ conspicuous superiority in midfield.

2. United’s downfall has been exaggerated

Granted, Manchester United’s start to the season has been poor, but it is nothing like as dour as some critics have suggested.

The team, at this stage, does not look good enough to win the league, but they provided a reminder today of their strengths, with star strikers Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie pulling the strings in their 3-1 win against a Fulham side bereft of confidence.

The incredibly difficult start must also not be overlooked, as they’ve already faced most of the sides above them in the table, whereas Arsenal, for instance, of all the top eight sides, have only come up against Liverpool and Tottenham.

Consequently, the league table placings are surely somewhat deceptive currently.

3. Asmir Begovic channels his inner Pat Jennings

YouTube credit: XrevzXGaming

The Stoke goalkeeper today scored what was surely the most incredible goal of the season so far amid Stoke’s 1-1 draw with Southampton.

The astonishment derived not just from the fact that his 90-yard shot was on target, but also because of Arthur Boruc’s limp attempt to save it.

Begovic is such an accomplished goalkeeper that comparing him to Pat Jennings on his shot-stopping ability alone is not unreasonable.

Nevertheless, he resembled Jennings today in another sense — the Irish stopper once scored a very similar goal to Begovic’s effort in his Tottenham days against Manchester United.

4. English goalkeeping crisis goes from bad to worse

While Begovic had a day to remember, more than one high-profile English goalkeeper will be eager to erase this afternoon from their memory as soon as possible.
Joe Hart’s absence from the Man City lineup ultimately proved immaterial to the result, as his replacement was hardly tested at all by Norwich.

However, another player vying for the number one jersey endured somewhat of a nightmare.

The visitors’ goalkeeper, John Ruddy, conceded seven goals — not all of which were unstoppable — as Norwich were thrashed by Manchester City.

Such a performance places further questions on the English goalkeeping spot, and increases the possibility that Roy Hodgson could ultimately be forced t0 turn to Celtic’s Fraser Forster, who has been in impressive form both domestically and in the Champions League.

5. Just when you thought the Premier League was starting to retain a vestige of predictability…

This season has been characterised, more than anything else, by a lack of predictability.

Manchester United have had a dreadful start, while bigger sides have frequently been beaten by smaller clubs.

Today was no exception to this trend, as Chelsea — many people’s favourites for the Premier League title — were defeated 2-0 by Newcastle.

By this stage in the season, there are normally two or three sides who remain as realistic contenders to win the league.

Nonetheless, there are currently just eight points separating Manchester United in eighth position and leaders Arsenal, with others in between them also eminently capable of securing the coveted prize.