Welcome to the latest in our Premier League review series, this week looking at some of the key talking points from matchweek nine. The top-flight saw a number of close encounters over the weekend, and also sprung major talking points on fans, particularly surrounding the use of VAR.
VAR Takes Centre Stage on Matchweek Nine
Tottenham Hotspur Scrape a Point at Home to Watford
Tottenham Hotspur survived yet another humiliating defeat with an 86th-minute equaliser at home to Watford.
The Hornets, who are still yet to win in the Premier League season, took the lead in the sixth minute through Abdoulaye Doucoure. It was the result of an excellent move by the visitors, as Daryl Janmaat received the ball on the right-hand side and then placed a perfectly weighted cross into the box for Doucoure to hit home.
Tottenham’s search for an equaliser was faltering, as they created very few chances. The home side only had two shots on target in the entire game, paying testament to their current fortunes.
However, controversially, Dele Alli equalised four minutes before injury time. Watford failed to clear their lines, which gave the 23-year-old the opportunity to equalise at the death. After VAR checks concluded a dubious handball by Alli, the goal was given.
Leicester City Maintain Their Top Four Position
Leicester City maintained their top-four position by coming from behind to beat Burnley 2-1 at the King Power Stadium.
The visitors took the lead in the 26th through a Chris Wood header. A ball into the box from Dwight McNeil found the towering Wood, who beat his competitors to head past Kasper Schmeichel.
Leicester then equalised on the cusp of half-time. In similar fashion to the opening goal, a ball into the box found Jamie Vardy, who rose above Ben Mee to place his corner into the right-hand corner of the net.
Buoyed with confidence, Leicester went searching for their second as the second half began. In the 74th minute, it was found as Youri Tielemans, in acres of space in the box, hammered home past Nick Pope.
LWOF Predicts
Each week we take a crack at predicting the results of each fixture. How did we do on matchweek nine? Actual results are shown in bold, whereas our predictions are shown in italics.
Everton 2-0 West Ham – Everton 1-2 West Ham
Aston Villa 2-1 Brighton & Hove Albion – Aston Villa 2-0 Brighton & Hove Albion
Bournemouth 0-0 Norwich City – Bournemouth 1-1 Norwich City
Chelsea 1-0 Newcastle United – Chelsea 3-0 Newcastle United
Leicester City 2-1 Burnley – Leicester City 2-1 Burnley
Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Watford – Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Watford
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-1 Southampton – Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 Southampton
Crystal Palace 0-2 Manchester City – Crystal Palace 1-1 Manchester City
Manchester United 1-1 Liverpool – Manchester United 0-3 Liverpool
Sheffield United 1-0 Arsenal – Sheffield United 2-1 Arsenal
Up Next
The next round of Premier League fixtures kicks-off on Friday 25 October. All kick-offs are 3pm unless stated.
Southampton v Leicester City – Friday 25 October, 20:00pm
Manchester City v Aston Villa – Saturday 26 October, 12:30pm
Brighton & Hove Albion v Everton
Watford v Bournemouth
West Ham United v Sheffield United
Newcastle United v Wolverhampton Wanderers – Sunday 27 October, 2:00pm
Arsenal v Crystal Palace – Sunday 27 October, 4:30pm
Liverpool v Tottenham Hotspur – Sunday 27 October, 4:30pm
Norwich City v Manchester United – Sunday 27 October, 4:30pm
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