The New York Times

October 19, 2024: The day West Ham United hit the self-destruct button.

Whether it was Mohammed Kudus’ uncharacteristic dismissal for shoving Micky van de Ven and Pape Matar Sarr in the face, the defensive frailties or a motionless Julen Lopetegui presiding over another second-half capitulation, the 4-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur further exposed their deep-rooted issues.

After eight league games, West Ham’s identity remains a mystery. The head coach has yet to find a system that allows the attacking trio of Kudus, Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio to thrive consistently. The defence remains porous despite the combined £55million ($71.7m at the current exchange rate) summer arrivals of Maximilian Kilman, Jean-Clair Todibo and Aaron Wan-Bissaka. The slow integration of Crysencio Summerville into the XI is no longer justified. Lucas Paqueta’s form has nosedived and the midfielder is careless in possession.

It is a new season reminiscent of the old. West Ham have only won once since August, with five points from their last six games.

Lopetegui retains full support from the board, but the gravity of the situation will do little to alleviate the pressure he is under.

Vice-chair Karren Brady’s true emotions at Tottenham were concealed as she wore sunglasses in the directors’ box. Pre-match, David Sullivan’s red Rolls-Royce was briefly stuck in traffic on Tottenham High Road. Given what he and the fanbase were subjected to, a diversion back to his residence would have been more appropriate. Some supporters left the away enclosure as early as the 65th minute. The reality is Tottenham could have subjected West Ham to more misery.

Before the international break, victory over promoted Ipswich Town was viewed as a turning point. Fans dug deep into their well of optimism for the London derby, but the loss has weakened their hope.

The dread grew as the team conceded three goals in eight minutes after the interval — but it was also no surprise, with defeats to Liverpool (in the Carabao Cup) and Chelsea last month following a similar pattern.

Kudus scored the opener, but the elation was short-lived after his red card — his first dismissal since November 2019. To compound matters, the Ghana international will receive a minimum three-match suspension, missing upcoming games against Manchester United, Nottingham Forest and Everton.

He walked past Lopetegui and his backroom staff as he headed down the tunnel. Kudus, known for being level-headed, lost his cool and there can be little empathy for his actions.

But it is the second time in a month his lack of discipline has been questioned. Kudus and Lopetegui had a frank exchange of words when the attacker was substituted at half-time in the 1-1 draw against Brentford.

“We (Lopetegui and Kudus) are going to talk,” said the head coach after the Tottenham loss. “Not today. It’s not the day to talk, but he will be aware he can improve his actions in these moments because it is not good for him, the club or the team.”

Tim Steidten, the technical director, has previously received praise for the club’s recruitment, but he also now warrants scrutiny.

The club signed an ageing forward in Niclas Fullkrug, 31, for £27million from Borussia Dortmund. He remains sidelined with a calf injury and has only played 63 minutes in the league. Luis Guilherme, the £25million signing from Brazilian side Palmeiras, has featured once totalling four minutes. That is £52million worth of talent. Midfielder Guido Rodriguez is still adapting to Premier League football, while Carlos Soler’s involvement has been restricted to substitute appearances.

Post-match, Lopetegui apologised to supporters and offered reassurance that performances will improve. He wants doubters to reserve judgement until May. It sounds good in theory, but the adage that actions speak louder than words comes to mind.

“The message is we are sure we will have better moments,” Lopetegui said. “The Premier League is very long and we knew we had a hard start. But we are going to improve. I am sure about this.

“Today we are very frustrated and so sorry for them (the fans) above all. We are going to work very hard for the next challenge.

“We have to do better. Maybe I have to improve, too, my translation with my players. The first half was interesting. We did good things. We scored and had chances to score more. After 2-1, the worst thing for me is not being able to keep the mentality. You are losing 2-1 but you have a lot of time in front of you to draw or to win the match. That’s why we have to improve one important step — to handle these bad moments in another way.”

Attention turns to West Ham’s upcoming home game against Manchester United.

Lopetegui and Erik ten Hag find themselves in embattled positions. Whenever a manager is under pressure, there comes a point when they are no longer capable of redirecting the lurching turbulence. Lopetegui will hope he is not subject to such a fate, but failure to turn around the slow start to the season may cost him his job.

(Top photo: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

In the 30th minute of Tottenham Hotspur’s 4-1 victory over West Ham United on Saturday afternoon, the home crowd were feeling restless.

West Ham were leading 1-0 at the time and groans of frustration could be heard at every chance Spurs wasted. Tottenham took 12 corners — more than any other team in the first half of a Premier League game this season. They did not look threatening from any of them.

When, after half an hour, Destiny Udogie broke down the left wing and crossed the ball into the box, Brennan Johnson was presented with an easy chance to score. But instead of guiding a header into the net, the ball bounced off Johnson’s shoulder and past the post.

Everybody had been waiting for two weeks to see how Ange Postecoglou’s side would react after a damaging defeat by Brighton & Hove Albion before the international break when they conceded three times in 20 second-half minutes. Postecoglou said that result was a “good lesson” about the importance of “sticking to their core principles”. Dejan Kulusevski’s fierce strike brought them level at half-time against West Ham, but there was still a lot of work to be done. So how did Spurs end up such comfortable 4-1 winners?

The answer lies in a bold half-time substitution from Postecoglou.

James Maddison is one of the team’s most high-profile players. The 27-year-old has the vision and passing range to carve open teams that sit deep. There were times in the first half when all of West Ham’s defenders and midfielders were camped inside their own box. Maddison’s movement out wide and combination play with Udogie and Son Heung-min were causing their opponents problems. Then he led the counter-attack that ended with Kulusevski’s equaliser.

Even so, it was Maddison who was taken off at the interval for Pape Matar Sarr, a switch that utterly transformed the midfield’s dynamic. Maddison had not necessarily done anything wrong, but Sarr provided more physicality.

It was a gamble that worked perfectly as Spurs ripped West Ham apart by scoring three times in seven second-half minutes. Postecoglou explained afterwards that Sarr’s “running power” was crucial in helping Spurs gain the upper hand.

“When you look at their midfield, they have guys like (Tomas) Soucek who is a big, physical presence and (Lucas) Paqueta and (Guido) Rodriguez who are technically quite good,” Postecoglou said. “You need to win that battle because if they get it to their front players under control, then they are really threatening and all three of them are quick and dynamic.

“We needed to stop it at the source and I thought we did that really well. I said it was a bit of an arm wrestle at the start, but I thought we maintained our intensity and eventually broke them.”

If you compare Maddison and Sarr’s touch maps, what stands out is that the latter was positioned much deeper. Sarr gave Tottenham better protection in case West Ham turned the ball over and tried to counter through Mohammed Kudus, Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio.

That did not prevent Sarr from playing a key role in two of Tottenham’s goals. He pulled out wide and passed to Son before Bissouma scored and then set up the South Korea international with a fantastic through ball for the fourth goal.

It was interesting that Postecoglou went out of his way to praise Kulusevski and Johnson for their work out of possession, too. It can feel like a cliche saying you need to outwork and outfight your opponents, but it clearly applied in this scenario.

“I mentioned it to the lads, I know Brennan Johnson didn’t score today, but I thought that was his best performance for us with the amount of work he did to help out Pedro (Porro) and help out the team in a defensive capacity and still be a threat going the other way,” Postecoglou said.

In the defeat by Brighton, Postecoglou was accused of leaving it too late to make any substitutions by waiting until the 80th minute to change his team. Taking off Maddison — one of Tottenham’s star players — early against West Ham could have backfired. If the visitors had sunk deeper into their own half, Maddison’s tool kit would have been sorely missed.

Postecoglou also risked upsetting a player whose confidence was dented in the summer after he was excluded from England’s squad for the European Championship.

But Postecoglou identified a weakness in his team, corrected it and Maddison will surely accept it benefited the team because it helped them achieve the right outcome.

In the future, that substitution might be viewed as the moment Maddison passed the torch to a different team-mate. Kulusevski has been Tottenham’s best player this season. Moving into an attacking midfield role, which he prefers, instead of playing on the wing has allowed him to showcase all the different qualities he possesses. The Sweden international’s crisp shot from just inside the box was excellent and he executed a clever reverse pass in the build-up to Jean-Clair Todibo’s own goal.

Twelve months ago, this team revolved around Maddison. He took over the No 10 shirt from Harry Kane, quickly became a senior figure in the dressing room and dictated games with ease. He was directly involved in eight goals in the first 11 games of the 2023-24 campaign.

Now, though, it is beginning to feel like Kulusevski is the headline act and the rest of the team is set up to maximise his strengths.

(Top photos: Getty Images)

Tottenham Hotspur scored three goals in eight second-half minutes as they roared back from a goal down and pummelled West Ham United in north London.

Muhammed Kudus, who was later sent off for lashing out at both Micky van de Ven and Pape Matar Sarr, put the visitors ahead before Dejan Kulusevski restored parity.

Then, after half-time, Tottenham sent West Ham into a tailspin, with strikes from Yves Bissouma and the returning Son Heung-min sandwiching an own goal from Jean-Clair Todibo.

Jack Pitt-Brooke and Jay Harris break down the main talking points from a fine day at the office for Ange Postecoglou and his team.

Kulusevski opens the floodgates

The final result looked comfortable for Tottenham but it is worth remembering back to how nervous people were inside the stadium when it was still 1-0 to West Ham.

With Spurs struggling to turn possession into chances, it felt like it could have been another one of those frustrating days. What turned the game, and released the pressure from Spurs, was Dejan Kulusevski’s brilliant strike after 36 minutes.

As Spurs broke forward, Kulusevski cut in from the right, shaped to shoot into the far corner then pulled his shot hard to the near post. Via Alphonse Areola’s hand and both posts, the ball rolled in.

That was the moment the game changed. As soon as Spurs scored once, you could tell they were going to overwhelm West Ham. The dam had burst. The visitors could no longer keep up their diligent early defending, tracking runners and squeezing the space between the lines. Spurs looked like scoring every time they got the ball. Half-time was a relief for them.

The important thing for Spurs was that they started the second half with the same intensity, dominating the ball and employing dangerous movement.

And they did, scoring three goals in eight minutes early in the second half. In truth, they should have finished the game with a few more goals than they did. When Spurs are on it, they attack in wave after unstoppable wave. It just took Kulusevski’s equaliser to get them going.

Jack Pitt-Brooke

The joy of vintage Son

When Son Heung-min got taken off with 20 minutes left, getting a standing ovation from the crowd, he looked like he was proud of his work. He also looked relieved that he was back to doing what he does best after a frustrating start to the season.

This was Son’s first appearance for three and a half weeks, following a hamstring injury, which saw Timo Werner taking his place on the left. But even before that, this had not been a vintage start to the season for Tottenham’s talisman.

He scored twice here against Everton on August 24, almost two months ago, but has not scored since. At times, he has looked like age was starting to catch up with him.

But against West Ham, Son looked back to his best and was unlucky to score only once. When he burst down the right onto Kulusevski’s flick, his shot deflected in off Todibo and was given as an own goal.

But then he scored a vintage Son goal, the sort of goal only he could score, racing onto Sarr’s diagonal, sending Todibo the wrong way with a stepover, and burying a low hard finish past Alphonse Areola.

It was a reminder of what a unique player he is and how potent he can still be. Spurs will hope there are more days like this to come.

Jack Pitt-Brooke

Udogie gets his swagger back

Destiny Udogie received a lot of unwanted attention after Tottenham’s damaging defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion before the international break.

The 21-year-old mishit a clearance in the build-up to Yankuba Minteh’s goal and was outmuscled by Georginio Rutter before Danny Welbeck’s winner.

It was important that he started off strongly against West Ham but, after a few encouraging runs down the left wing, his defensive deficiencies were exposed by Jarrod Bowen. West Ham’s forward received the ball at the back post and, after briefly slipping, he turned past Udogie with ease and drilled a cross into the box, which Mohammed Kudus fired into the net.

Udogie responded brilliantly though and became a key attacking outlet for Spurs. He underlapped Son Heung-min and floated a cross into the box which bounced wide off Brennan Johnson’s shoulder. Then the Italy international created another chance for Pedro Porro, who acrobatically volleyed the ball over the bar.

West Ham could not work out how to contain Son and Udogie, so it was no surprise that they combined with each other for Yves Bissouma’s strike in the 52nd minute. Son found Udogie in the box and he pirouetted on the ball before passing it back to Bissouma for a simple finish.

Tottenham did not have much defending to do in the second half as they overwhelmed West Ham but Udogie made a great block on the line to prevent Kudus from scoring a second goal. It was an encouraging all-round performance, which will have helped rebuild the Italian’s confidence.

Jay Harris

What did Ange Postecoglou say?

We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference.

What next for Tottenham?

Thursday, October 24: AZ Alkmaar (H), Europa League, 8pm UK, 3pm ET

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(Top photo: Benjamin Cremel/AFP via Getty Images)

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Tottenham had a whopping 12 corners in that first half.

Only once since these records started in 2003-04 have they had more, against Aston Villa in December 2012, with 15.

And it's the most in the Premier League since Manchester City had 12 against Manchester United in March 2023.

The game is heating up really nicely now.

At one end, Michail Antonio goes one-on-one in a physical battle of two big men. He knocks it past the Dutchman, but Van de Ven outpaces him and then barges him off the pitch for good measure. Spurs fans loved that.

At the other, Destiny Udogie latched onto a gorgeous flick from Kulusevski, laid it across the box, before onrushing right-back Pedro Porro rattled it powerfully... over the bar.

That would have been a brilliant goal.

First time Spurs have space to break into. Maddison drives forward, Kulusevski cuts inside, shapes to aim for the far corner but actually pulls it to the near corner,

Areola gets a hand to it but it's too powerful, hits the inside post, spins along the line, off the far post and in.

It was poor from West Ham, committing too many players forward and leaving themselves open to the counter-attack after Paqueta lost it.

There was too much time and space for Maddison, who drove forward into open green grass, and he played it out to Kulusevski on the right, with opposite man Emerson Palmieri out of position.

He cut inside past Guido Rodriguez a little too easily and shot across himself, to Areola's near post. The Frenchman got a hand on it but couldn't keep it out!

A very good save from Alphonse Areola now! The ball falls kindly for Pedro Porro outside the box, and everyone knows he loves a long shot.

The Spaniard crashes it goalwards, it takes a nasty deflection off Guido Rodriguez as he tries to block, and Areola does really well to re-adjust his feet, get a hand to it, and is alert to grab the loose ball too, to deny a sniffing Dominic Solanke the rebound.

With half an hour gone, West Ham have a corner, but can't capitalise.

Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario is renowned for being shaky under the high ball, and so West Ham wisely try to crowd players, including the burly Michail Antonio, around him, leading to a warning from ref Andy Madley.

But the ball drifts straight out of play. Disappointing.

At the other end, Brennan Johnson misjudges a pass onto the overlapping Kulusevski and Kilman gets a foot in. For all their possession and nice build-up play, they've still not had a shot on target! West Ham have had two.

It’s taken 11 crosses but Spurs finally get a big break.

That trademark Udogie underlap off Son and a hung-up cross for Johnson to crash onto from the back-post.

Think it comes off his shoulder and Spurs are fortunate to get a corner, not that anything comes from it.

Brilliant opportunity for Tottenham! Their best of the match!

A nice pass down the line to the underlapping Destiny Udogie, a lovely teasing, floated cross stood up into the middle, and Brennan Johnson was in a great spot to score in seven successive matches for Tottenham.

But he fluffed the header. The ball bounced off his shoulder. Has to do better.

It just had to be him! Kudus scores the opener and his second league goal of the season. The winger has been a bright spark for West Ham.

Lopetegui substituted the Ghana international at half-time during the 1-1 draw against Brentford. The head coach was not pleased with Kudus' lack of impact.

The pair had a frank exchange of words, but it has had the desired effort, with Kudus scoring in back-to-back league games since then.

They were warned, Tottenham. It took a good Vicario save to deny Kudus from a Bowen pull-back minutes earlier, but that's exactly how they conceded.

It was poor defending all round. A weak clearance from Van de Ven, straight to Wan-Bissaka, who beat Udogie in the air. Udogie was lax and lackadaisical in marking Bowen, allowing the winger to slip away from him down the line.

Bowen pulled it back from the byline, and Porro was three yards away from his opposite man Kudus as he first marked Tomas Soucek, then rushed back to the goal-line rather than confront his marker.

Brennan Johnson slid in on Kudus but couldn't make contact on the ball, and the Ghanaian didn't make the cleanest contact but managed to bundle it in.

Ange Postecoglou shakes his head on the touchline.

It all seemed to be going uncharacteristically well for Tottenham Hotspur. They were on an excellent run of form and manager Ange Postecoglou seemed to have silenced some of his critics, not least with a resounding 3-0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford. And then came the most Spursy of all capitulations last time out, a 3-2 loss at Brighton as the team somehow contrived to blow a 2-0 lead. The international break has not been a restful one for anyone associated with the club as they look to get back on track.

West Ham are not the ideal visitors to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at this pivotal point. The Hammers are unbeaten in their last three Premier League away games in London while Spurs, for their part, have lost four of their last six London derbies in the league. A home win feels essential if the Australian in charge of the hosts is to avoid having each and every game turn into some kind of referendum on his future at the club.

The visitors have had a pretty miserable start to the season although the 4-1 demolition of Ipswich before the international break certainly lifted the mood.

Lucas Bergvall is the only reported Spurs injury from the international break and the huge news for the hosts concerns star men Son Heung-Min and Richarlison, both of whom Postecoglou believes could feature on the weekend. West Ham supporters could be forgiven for believing their team is cursed when it comes to injuries and will be hoping summer signing Niclas Fullkrug returns to action sooner rather than later.

The good news for the hosts is that, setting aside some high-profile disasters, they actually have an excellent record against West Ham. Indeed, they’ve won 26 Premier League games against the visitors and only have a better record against Everton and, surprisingly enough, Manchester City. The trouble is that incidents like that involving the lasagne on the last day of the 2005/06 season cast a long and terrible shadow for those long-suffering Tottenham fans.

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Tottenham vs West Ham odds

Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium — London

Time: 12:30 p.m. BST (7:30 a.m. ET), Saturday

Streaming: Fubo (US only, try for free)

Form guide (league only)

Tottenham: 3-1-3, 10 points (9th); L-W-W-L-L

West Ham: 2-2-3, 8 points (12th); W-D-L-D-L

Match prediction

Tottenham 3-1 West Ham

The international break came at a bad time for both teams. West Ham would have wanted to build on their most impressive victory of the season while Spurs needed to show the Brighton disaster was a mere aberration in an upwards trajectory. The hosts should have too much for Julen Lopetegui’s team in front of their own fans so let’s go with a 3-1 Spurs win.

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Premier League predicted line-ups: Who do our writers think will start in Gameweek 8?

Niclas Fullkrug’s injury absence is only exacerbating his slow start at West Ham

Ange Postecoglou reflects on Tottenham’s Brighton loss as ‘good lesson’ in ‘sticking to principles’

(Photo of Micky van de Ven: Glyn Kirk / AFP via Getty Images)

Ange Postecoglou says that Tottenham Hotspur’s defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion before the October international break was a “good lesson” that they need to “stick to their core principles”.

Spurs were leading 2-0 thanks to goals from James Maddison and Brennan Johnson but they conceded three times in 20 minutes straight after half-time to suffer their third defeat in the Premier League this season. Afterwards, Postecoglou told Sky Sports he was “absolutely gutted” and “that is probably the worst defeat we’ve had since I’ve been here”.

In an interview with Australian broadcaster Optus Sport earlier this week, Postecoglou said he was “ready to explode” at the players when they returned from international duty. At his press conference on Friday, before their game against West Ham United this Saturday, Postecoglou spoke about how his meeting with the squad was “as much therapy as anything else”.

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“The emotion of what you are feeling straight after the game has dissipated 10 days later but obviously it is important the players get the appropriate feedback for what was a real sort of difficult game for us,” Postecoglou said. “As well as we did in the first half, we were really poor in the second half.

“We were passive with and without the ball. We lacked real conviction and courage in everything we did. It was almost like we felt like we had done enough. I hadn’t seen that before in us and it is a good lesson for the whole group that you need to make sure, irrespective of how a game is going, you stick to the core principles of your football. It is a timely reminder for us, particularly in any game of football and really in the first half we should have finished them off, when you don’t it is very easy for momentum to shift.”

Tottenham’s loss to Brighton meant they became the first team in Premier League history to lose 10 times after leading by two or more goals but Postecoglou called the statistic “irrelevant”.

“Who cares?,” the 59-year-old said. “It doesn’t matter. You say it’s 10 times but it hasn’t been 10 times with me so give me a break. Let me get to 10 and then start putting tags on but you have to accept that, right? People will always find easy kind of ways to if you’ve got a wound, to stick their finger in that wound and if you’re not prepared to accept that when things haven’t gone well, make sure things go well. There is one way to change that. If we want to change the perception of ourselves, it will not come because of, ‘please don’t call us those names,’ it will come because we’re proving we’re a team that can be relentless in our approach and be successful.”

(Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images)

The October international break halted the Premier League at seven matches, but it returns this weekend with a London derby between Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United getting us going in Saturday’s early kick-off.

To give us a refresher of where domestic football stood when the pause button was pushed, we asked our writers to take a look at the league table and let us know what it does (and does not) tell us about each club’s season so far.

A club may have far outperformed where they were at this stage last season, or they may be lagging behind their position back then. New signings may be struggling to fire, injuries may be taking their toll — and which teams are over- or under-performing their expected goals (xG) values?

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Premier League news and analysis

Premier League – the latest table

Premier League fixtures and results

Liverpool

What does the table tell us about your club’s season?

It shows the transition from one era to another at Anfield has been a lot smoother than anyone anticipated. Yes, being top after seven matches doesn’t mean much, but there has been a lot to admire about the opening months of Arne Slot’s reign. Six wins out of seven is impressive, with the only blip coming at home against Nottingham Forest straight after the September international break when Liverpool delivered a sluggish display. They have been playing with a lot more control under Slot and that’s reflected in the fact they have conceded just two league goals — the best defensive record in the division.

What doesn’t it tell us?

The underlying numbers are excellent. Liverpool are also top when it comes to their non-penalty xG difference per game of 1.27. Those six victories have been thoroughly deserved with them packing a punch at one end and being miserly at the other. However, for context, all the teams they have beaten so far currently sit in the bottom half of the table. We will learn a lot more about what’s realistic for Slot’s side in the coming weeks as the calibre of opposition improves. Sunday’s visit of Chelsea is followed by a trip to Arsenal next weekend. There are also league games against Brighton and Aston Villa on the horizon.

James Pearce

Manchester City

What does the table tell us about your club’s season?

They have not been at their best and so probably would not expect to be top, but are still good enough to be challenging (one point behind leaders Liverpool). The last time they did not win the title, they were noticeably not as good as normal and finished well behind champions Liverpool, but still had the Premier League’s most clean sheets and scored over 100 league goals. So that in-built guarantee of generally good results (five wins from seven, no defeats), at the very least, is still going strong.

What doesn’t it tell us?

The table does not tell us this but history does: even if City were well down the table, you could be confident they will come roaring back to win the title. They have won the past four Premier Leagues. Considering it is early in the season, and in recent years their form has stuttered far closer to the run-in, it is probably not worth getting too concerned, but they do look a little susceptible to counter-attacks and do concede some soft goals. Just like much of last season, then.

Thom Harris

Arsenal

What does the table tell us about your club’s season?

Arsenal will know the exact standings do not matter at this stage of the season, but sitting level on points with Manchester City and one behind Liverpool, their consistency as title challengers is clear. They have the same goal difference as City (nine), with the separator being that the champions have both scored and conceded two more goals (17 and eight to 15 and six). Arsenal may be slightly more contained, but they are on par with the competition.

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What doesn’t it tell us?

The context in which Arsenal have maintained an unbeaten record has been more difficult than most would have expected at the start of the season. Mikel Arteta was forced to approach matches more pragmatically, with the absences of midfield trio Martin Odegaard, Mikel Merino and Declan Rice, but his side still managed to get results. Liverpool and Chelsea will provide major tests before November’s international break, but coming away from trips to Aston Villa, Tottenham and City with seven points from the nine available has shown solidity.

Art de Roché

Chelsea

What does the table tell us about your club’s season?

You could say Chelsea have simply continued where they left off under former head coach Mauricio Pochettino. Statistics showed they were the fourth-best team (by points accrued) in the Premier League from late December until the final game of last season, and fourth is where they sit after seven league games under Enzo Maresca. Chelsea are six points better off than they were at this stage last year, which suggests Maresca has got his message across quicker than Pochettino — now the USMNT head coach —managed.

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What doesn’t it tell us?

Chelsea’s home form has been a disappointment. Losing at home to four-in-a-row title winners City in their opening match is perhaps understandable, but 1-1 draws with Crystal Palace and Forest at Stamford Bridge were missed opportunities. Goals have been easy to come by (16) but a shortage of clean sheets — two in the seven games — indicates Maresca is still working on finding the best balance between defence and attack.

Simon Johnson

Aston Villa

What does the table tell us about your club’s season?

There were concerns Aston Villa could drop off in the league this season after qualifying for the Champions League, but Unai Emery’s side can be happy with a start which yielded four wins from seven games. They sit outside the top four on goal difference. As last season, the table shows they are not quite in the group of Liverpool, City and Arsenal but should once again be heavily involved in the battle to finish fourth, with a rejuvenated Chelsea looking like their stiffest competition.

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What doesn’t it tell us?

Not many clubs can boast two strikers with the quality of Ollie Watkins and supersub Jhon Duran, with nine of Villa’s 14 points having come through decisive goals by the latter. Their only loss came against Arsenal but more defensive stability is needed after only one clean sheet. Emery has had to deal with injuries to key players John McGinn, Amadou Onana, Jacob Ramsey and Ezri Konsa, while Boubacar Kamara and Tyrone Mings will help when they return from lengthy absences following knee injuries as Emiliano Buendia continues to get eased back in after his.

Eduardo Tansley

Brighton & Hove Albion

What does the table tell us about your club’s season?

Fabian Hurzeler has made a smooth transition from the German second division to the Premier League as he looks to improve on last season’s 48-point, 11th-place finish under Roberto De Zerbi. It is early days, but sixth in the table shows he’s made an impressive impact. In the 12 points Brighton have accrued, the 31-year-old has also pulled off some eye-catching results (wins over Manchester United and Spurs are among their three victories, plus a draw at Arsenal).

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The Brighton widemen who overran Tottenham - and their importance to Hurzeler

What doesn’t it tell us?

Brighton have already played half of last season’s top eight and only lost against Chelsea, but there is scope for improvement. Summer signings Matt O’Riley and Brajan Gruda, bought for £25million each, have only managed three minutes combined playing time in the league. Midfielder O’Riley suffered ankle ligament damage early into his debut against Crawley Town in the Carabao Cup and is yet to return. Gruda made a fleeting late appearance from the bench against Tottenham in the final game before the international break. The former Mainz winger’s Brighton debut had been delayed by a calf issue. Fellow newcomers Mats Wieffer and Ferdi Kadioglu have also been limited by injuries.

Andy Naylor

Newcastle United

What does the table tell us about your club’s season?

Newcastle are challengers for European qualification, which is the stated goal of their hierarchy. Seventh place and 12 points after seven matches is a decent, if not spectacular, return, given they have had arguably their kindest start to a season, fixtures-wise, in a decade. Having failed to make a summer signing who materially strengthened the first XI, it is unsurprising that Newcastle are in the same league position where they finished the 2023-24 season.

What doesn’t it tell us?

Their underlying metrics feel unsustainable. Newcastle have scored the second-fewest goals (eight) in the top 12 and have conceded the fourth-fewest (seven) in the division. Yet, while the xG is 10.4 meaning they have scored 2.4 fewer goals than “expected”, the xG against figure is 10.3, meaning they have conceded 3.3 goals less than “expected”. Head coach Eddie Howe has also used the fewest players in the Premier League this season (19), which points to a lack of depth. There is a strong core of players, but the quality drop-off still feels significant.

Chris Waugh

Fulham

What does the table tell us about your club’s season?

No Joao Palhinha, no problem. Fulham were expected to struggle after selling their midfield talisman to Bayern Munich for €51million (£42.7m, $55.5m at current exchange rates) in the summer but Marco Silva’s new-look midfield, led by Sasa Lukic, has gelled quickly and his team are eighth. Newcomer Emile Smith Rowe has provided flashes of attacking flair and at the back, the addition of Joachim Andersen’s leadership has helped, with Fulham conceding just eight goals — the same as Tottenham, Chelsea and champions City.

What doesn’t it tell us?

Considering five first-team regulars left in the most recent transfer window, Silva’s selections have been remarkably consistent — he has named an unchanged starting XI in four of the seven games and only Newcastle United (19) have fielded fewer players than Fulham’s 20. The performances and underlying metrics are promising but Fulham have only faced one team from the top five (City, a 3-2 away defeat). They have reduced their expected goals against (xGA) per game from 1.7 to 1.2, showing how they are restricting opponents’ chances. With Villa, Spurs, Arsenal and Liverpool among their next nine opponents, this period will test just how far Fulham have come.

Justin Guthrie

Tottenham Hotspur

What does the table tell us about your club’s season?

Spurs have lost three of their opening seven games, which underlines that they are still a work in progress in year two under Ange Postecoglou. A dominant 3-0 victory over Manchester United filled everybody with confidence… until they surrendered a two-goal half-time lead in a 3-2 defeat at Brighton a week later in their final match before this break. Dominic Solanke’s summer arrival and Brennan Johnson’s electric recent form have helped to solve their problems up front but they are still guilty of costly defensive errors.

What doesn’t it tell us?

Tottenham had a dreadful record from defensive set-pieces last season and Gabriel’s header from Bukayo Saka’s corner in the north London derby in September suggested it was still an issue. But apart from that incident, they have looked much more secure in those situations. Former Central Coast Mariners and Hibernian manager Nick Montgomery joined the coaching staff this summer and he can be seen dishing out instructions at set pieces.

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Jay Harris

Nottingham Forest

What does the table tell us about your club’s season?

Head coach Nuno Espirito Santo is capable of helping Forest to take another step in the right direction. Their start to the season and current top-half position underline how much they strengthened this summer. The additions of Nikola Milenkovic, Elliot Anderson, James Ward-Prowse and Alex Moreno have given Nuno enough strength in depth to be able to expect an improvement on last season’s 17th-place finish.

What doesn’t it tell us?

Forest have addressed some of their problems. They have only conceded one set-piece goal, having shipped 22 of them last season. They have even scored three themselves. Nuno has made Forest tougher to break down. They have the third-best away record (eight points), having collected only five away wins in 38 tries across the previous two campaigns combined. They are yet to win at home, but they will hope to sort that out when Palace visit on Monday.

Paul Taylor

Brentford

What does the table tell us about your club’s season?

Despite selling star striker Ivan Toney and losing his newly-signed intended replacement Igor Thiago to a long-term knee injury, Brentford have made an encouraging start. Bryan Mbeumo has been in excellent form with six goals in seven games, summer arrivals Fabio Carvalho and Sepp van den Berg have settled in well and Mikkel Damsgaard is finally fulfilling his potential in his third year at the club. Thomas Frank’s side flirted with relegation last season but the evidence suggests they will not be in any trouble this time.

What doesn’t it tell us?

Brentford’s first three away games were against Liverpool, City and Tottenham. They made life difficult for their opponents on each occasion but lost all of those fixtures. Next up is a trip to Manchester United on Saturday. The last time they visited Old Trafford, Scott McTominay scored twice in stoppage time to pinch a dramatic 2-1 home win. Brentford will be eager to gain revenge — and claim their first major scalp of this campaign.

Jay Harris

West Ham United

What does the table tell us about your club’s season?

Having taken eight points from the seven games, the table reflects where West Ham should be, but Julen Lopetegui’s camp knew it would be a slow start to his first season in charge, due to some tough fixtures against Villa, City and Chelsea. The squad are still adapting to his methods, but the 4-1 win against Ipswich last time out was a much-needed turn in the right direction.

What doesn’t it tell us?

Summer signing Niclas Fullkrug has missed the past five games with a calf injury, meaning Michail Antonio and captain Jarrod Bowen have had to take turns in the lone striker role. West Ham have scored three fewer league goals than at this stage last season, when they had 13. It is an area in which Lopetegui will be keen to see improvement, with the next two matches being against Tottenham and Manchester United.

Roshane Thomas

Bournemouth

What does the table tell us about your club’s season?

Even though their talisman, Dominic Solanke, moved to Spurs in the summer, others, notably current top scorer Antoine Semenyo (three goals, one assist), have picked up the mantle. A 4-0 home defeat against Arsenal left them second-bottom with three points after seven games last season. Even if the same scoreline befalls them on Saturday when Arsenal visit again, they are well ahead of that sluggish start on eight points. Yet having scored eight goals and conceded 10, that negative goal difference is something to address.

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What doesn’t it tell us?

Bournemouth have been fortunate with a lack of injuries across the squad, which has been pivotal for coach Andoni Iraola. USMNT captain Tyler Adams is the only long-term absentee. While the injury gods have been kind, the clean-sheet ones have not. Bournemouth are yet to record one this season. Perhaps this is down to having played three different goalkeepers — Neto before his loan to Arsenal, Kepa Arrizabalaga after he joined on loan from Chelsea and Mark Travers when Kepa was unable to play against his parent club.

Caoimhe O’Neill

Manchester United

What does the table tell us about your club’s season?

A little over a decade ago, a David Moyes press conference inspired this tweet.

United’s lacklustre league position (14th) and feeble goal difference (-3) after seven games suggest they suffer from a bad case of deja vu. Despite (minor) improvement in injury luck, they have continued displaying many of the same weaknesses from the disastrous 2023-24 season. Manager Erik ten Hag likes to remind people he has won a trophy in each of his first two seasons at United, but his team will have to improve in several areas if he wishes to lift a third in the months ahead.

What doesn’t it tell us?

There is still head-scratching over how Ten Hag corrects this. He has been in charge since summer 2022, making him the seventh longest-serving current manager/head coach at a Premier League club. But there is a lack of clarity over what sort of football he’s trying to implement with his squad. “Game model” is a term Ten Hag has begun to use more frequently in press conferences, but his explanations of “the plan” he repeatedly refers to are vague and sometimes contradictory. Reinforcements from the medical room could solve some issues (United could really do with having a left-back), but the journey to the Premier League summit is a bumpy one.

Carl Anka

Leicester City

What does the table tell us about your club’s season?

The table never lies, as the saying goes, and Leicester knew it would be a difficult start to a challenging first season back in the Premier League. They find themselves in 15th after seven matches, with a three-point buffer above the relegation zone. The 12 goals conceded look reasonable, though goalkeeper Mads Hermansen has been key to keeping that figure respectable. Their position and points total look significantly better following their first victory, 1-0 against Bournemouth in the final match before the international break.

What doesn’t it tell us?

They could have had two more points on the board but for a controversial VAR decision against Palace that Leicester sought clarification over, while key figures in Enzo Maresca’s possession-based side which won the 2023-24 Championship have slowly been replaced by more athletic individuals. Leicester passed their way to promotion last season, but new manager Steve Cooper seems to want them to run their way to Premier League survival.

Rob Tanner

Everton

What does the table tell us about your club’s season?

Getting out of the blocks slowly is nothing new for Everton manager Sean Dyche, who has a win rate of 12 per cent in August — the second lowest of anyone to take charge of at least 10 Premier League games during that month. But even he must have been concerned by his team’s start to 2024-25. Everton have been surprisingly leaky, with only last-placed Wolves (21) conceding more goals than their 15. A strength last season has been an Achilles’ heel so far this time around.

What doesn’t it tell us?

If last season’s sloppy start could be explained by bad luck and poor finishing, this version of Everton are exactly where they deserve to be after seven games. They are 16th in the table, and are also 16th based on xG difference — a measure of the quality of chances they are creating versus the ones they are conceding. Injuries have taken their toll, with Jarrad Branthwaite in particular a huge miss in defence. But now they have a chance to pull clear of trouble, with Ipswich, Fulham, Southampton, West Ham and Brentford as their next five opponents before a tricky December.

Patrick Boyland

Ipswich Town

What does the table tell us about your club’s season?

Ipswich are winless after seven games but sit oh-so-narrowly outside the relegation zone. Their return to the Premier League after 22 years in the EFL has produced positive draws and fortuitous ones, encouraging defeats and defensively inexcusable ones, but no win yet. Ipswich’s net spend of £104million was the second-highest in the Premier League following last season’s surprise promotion, but this remains a new-look and inexperienced squad at this level. Their position in the table reflects this, while also demonstrating that Kieran McKenna’s side have been competitive.

What doesn’t it tell us?

Worryingly, Ipswich are bottom of the xG difference table — the quality of opportunities they are creating is considerably lower than the quality of chances they’re conceding, while six of the 14 goals they’ve shipped have stemmed from individual errors. However, the club’s tough start should be taken into consideration; Opta rates Ipswich’s opening seven fixtures the second most difficult in the 2024-25 Premier League — only last-placed Wolves have had it worse.

Ali Rampling

Crystal Palace

What does the table tell us about your club’s season?

Sitting in the relegation zone, winless and below two of the three promoted sides is disappointing after the sugar-rush of the end to last season for Palace. A minus-five goal difference tells us that defensive changes — seven different centre-back trios in the seven matches — have been disruptive, while selling gifted star man Michael Olise to Bayern Munich is proving a significant loss (just five goals scored — only Southampton have managed fewer).

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What doesn’t it tell us?

Tactically, Palace are not pressing or attacking with the same intensity and purpose as during that storming end to last season, and look more open on the counter-attack. Injuries (Cheick Doucoure) and fitness issues after an exhausting summer (Adam Wharton, Jean-Philippe Mateta), have hampered cohesion. They were also unlucky with refereeing decisions against Brentford and Everton, and in a 1-0 loss against Liverpool. Things should improve in the mid-to-long term as key players recover and new signings including Eddie Nketiah get up to speed.

Max Mathews

Southampton

What does the table tell us about your club’s season?

Things look as painful as they have been. One point, no wins and the fewest goals scored in the Premier League (four) makes May’s play-off final win feel like a long time ago. The table tells the tale of pre-season optimism fast becoming cynicism and the big question of whether sticking with the current style of play is a bit naive.

What doesn’t it tell us?

Southampton are underperforming in front of goal and have made individual errors at the other end. Their expected goals figure of 8.2 far exceeds the actual number they have scored — and is better than that stat for six of the other 19 teams. Five individual errors (not including collective generally poor defending) have led to goals conceded. It also does not tell us that, even if things had gone to plan, this sort of tough start was predictable.

Nancy Froston

Wolverhampton Wanderers

What does the table tell us about your club’s season?

At the risk of stating the obvious, it tells us Gary O’Neil’s side have not been good enough. They have conceded too many goals, not scored enough of them and picked up just one point. It tells us the change of system and style O’Neil sought to implement for his second season in charge have not paid off and Wolves now face the likelihood of a season-long fight to stay out of the bottom three.

What doesn’t it tell us?

That Wolves have had the toughest start of any Premier League side. All three home games have been against clubs currently in the top seven including those in first and fourth and they have yet to meet a side currently placed lower than 11th. Some of the goals conceded have also been unfortunate. But the last game before the international break — a 5-3 away defeat against Brentford — brought some worrying signs that the repeated defeats have eaten away at the belief within the camp.

Steve Madeley

(Top photos: Getty Images)

Tottenham Hotspur defender Djed Spence has signed a contract extension through to 2028.

The 24-year-old has yet to start a competitive game for Spurs since joining the club on a five-year deal from Middlesbrough in the summer of 2022.

Described as a “club signing” by then-head coach Antonio Conte, Spence spent the latter half of the 2022-23 season on loan in Ligue 1 with Rennes — the first of three loan spells away from the London club.

Spence spent the first half of the 2023-24 season on loan at Leeds United in the Championship before joining Italian side Genoa for the remainder of that campaign.

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The former England Under-21 international has made 10 appearances for Spurs and scored his first competitive goal for the club in last month’s Carabao Cup victory over Coventry City.

He has featured in four of Tottenham’s 10 matches this campaign, all as a substitute, and most recently in the club’s three-goal victory at Manchester United.

Spence, who played 42 Championship matches on loan during Nottingham Forest’s promotion campaign in the 2021-22 season, remains understudy to Pedro Porro as Ange Postecoglou’s first-choice right-back option.

(Matt McNulty/Getty Images)

It is 524 days since Josh Onomah last played a competitive football match. It is well over 1,000 since he last completed a full 90 minutes.

They would be troubling statistics for any footballer, let alone one who had been hailed as one of the brightest talents to emerge from Tottenham Hotspur’s academy in years when he broke through in 2015 and who played for every England age-group side from under-16s to under-21s.

It has been a trying period for Onomah, 27, but he is not the sort to give in easily. Now, having signed a short-term contract until January at Steve Bruce’s Blackpool — his first club since being released by Preston North End in June 2023 — he is adamant he can return to the highest level.

“Obviously, I’ve got lots of friends in football. When I was watching them and not at a team, it felt strange,” he tells The Athletic. “That made me miss it.

“I went straight into full-time football after Year 11, so I’ve been doing that about 10 years straight non-stop. I was sort of in a bubble doing that every day but when I’ve come out of there and I’ve seen it from a different perspective, I’ve realised how much I actually love football.”

Onomah was persuaded to find a club by his closest friends in football — Kyle Walker-Peters, Dominic Solanke, Jake Clarke-Salter and Tosin Adarabioyo — who were insistent he did not let his talent go to waste.

He said their support was invaluable during his spell on the sidelines. “They were encouraging me to just go anywhere and get back playing,” he says.

But how does a player who has been touted for such greatness cope with being left in the football wilderness?

“At the start it was about finding the right club,” Onomah says. “After Preston, I went to Stoke to train. They ended up offering me a contract, but I didn’t feel like it was the right move for me. I then had some issues with my agent and after that it was just some personal issues and that sort of prolonged throughout the season. And then it was summer and I was like, ‘I need to get back playing football again because I’ve missed it’.”

Onomah said he worked hard to stay fit with the help of a close friend who is a personal trainer and by using the athletics centre at Lee Valley, close to where he grew up in Enfield, north London.

“I knew I had to maintain some sort of fitness and I couldn’t go at least five or six days without doing something,” he says.

There must have been moments when he felt lonely and struggled to stay self-motivated.

“The people I was working with at the time were all very good at switching up the scenery, the sessions I did, or where I was training, so I wouldn’t fall into that trap,” he says. “But it was tough. Just going and training by yourself is not the same as being in a team.”

Onomah says he was never worried about falling out of football altogether and that his chance at Blackpool came about after a conversation with their sporting director David Downes, who he knew from his time at Aston Villa and Sheffield Wednesday.

At Blackpool, he has been reunited with Bruce for the third time in his career.

“The fan in me came out (when I arrived at Blackpool), it’s a good atmosphere and I just want to get on the pitch as soon as possible,” he says.

Blackpool is Onomah’s sixth club in a career which began at Tottenham, his home town team who he first joined as an eight-year-old.

He was regarded as one of the most gifted players in the academy — with quick feet, elegant balance and eye-catching dribbling — and was handed his senior debut aged 17 under Mauricio Pochettino.

After impressing in his first start for Spurs, a Europa League tie at home to Monaco in December 2015, Pochettino told reporters he was “a special boy, a special player” and said there it was “impossible to set a limit” on what he could achieve. He would make only 13 Premier League appearances for the club before leaving for Fulham in 2019.

So what happened?

“I would say at the time, in my late teens, I wasn’t as focused,” he says. “There were little distractions around that time, I just moved out by myself.”

“If I was talking to my younger self I’d say, ‘There’s plenty of time to do all of that, just right now this is prime time, this is your learning stage, just focus on that. Listen to the older pros around you and when your chance comes, don’t go through the motions, you’ve got to take it’.”

Although Onomah struggled to force his way into the Tottenham side, he played a key role in the England Under-20s’ World Cup success in 2017. He played the full match in the final against Venezuela alongside the likes of Solanke, Walker-Peters, Ademola Lookman and Fikayo Tomori.

Solanke joined Spurs from Bournemouth this summer in a deal worth up to £65million, and has now earned an England recall. Onomah feels pride at seeing his friend doing so well at his boyhood club.

“As a friend, there’s no envy there, I’m just happy for him,” he says.

At Tottenham, Onomah said he owed a lot to Pochettino, who takes charge of his first game as manager of the United States men’s national team on Sunday.

“I could see that he really wanted to push me,” he said. “He’s relentless. You work hard under him. He’s a good guy, a good tactician. He’s not just a good manager, he’s a good person off the pitch as well. He was like a father figure.”

Struggling for game time at Spurs, Onomah was sent out on loan. There was a spell in the Championship under Bruce at Aston Villa, which ended in heartbreak in the 2018 play-off final but at least taught him more about the physical side of the game.

That summer, media reports in the UK linked him with a permanent move to Villa as a makeweight in Tottenham’s attempts to sign Jack Grealish — not that Onomah was aware of any concrete interest.

“I was never told about it,” he says. “The season after (the loan) there were some talks that Steve Bruce wanted me. It was news to me that I was going to trade in with Jack Grealish.”

Shortly after that, Onomah was out on loan again, this time to Sheffield Wednesday, then in the Championship, and where he was joined again by Bruce for the second half of the season. By that stage, however, Onomah’s campaign had been derailed by a knee injury.

From there, he signed permanently for Fulham as part of the £25million transfer that saw Ryan Sessegnon join Spurs. He initially worked under Scott Parker, a familiar face from his time at Tottenham.

At Fulham, there were flashes of brilliance — such as his magnificent solo goal in their play-off semi-final win over Cardiff City on the way to promotion in 2020 — but there were further niggles and he lost his starting place when Marco Silva replaced Parker. He still achieved a further promotion in the 2021-22 season before departing in January 2023.

After five months at Preston, where he was primarily used as an impact sub by Ryan Lowe, he has now dropped down to League One as he looks to resurrect his career under a manager he knows well in Bruce.

“He keeps following me!” Onomah laughs. “I enjoy working with him. You sense his aura around the place. He’s a man with a wealth of experience. He understands the game, his intelligence, I’m always learning off him and he’s a real people’s person. He’s also someone I see as a father figure.”

Under Bruce’s steady guidance, does he feel confident he can work his way back up and reach his former heights?

“Yes, 100 per cent,” he replied. “I believe in myself. I’m always someone that’s believed in my ability. It’s just a case of just getting match-fit again and then who knows what can happen?

“With football, it’s never too late. I played at the highest level, but I’m 27 and I still have a lot to offer. I can obviously still get there and Blackpool have given me an opportunity to get back playing football.

“I’ve got to concentrate on that first and get into the rhythm of things. Football’s a crazy sport, anything could happen. It’s never a case of having regrets in the past, more so living in the moment and expecting big things for the future.”

(Top photo: Onomah on signing for Blackpool. Blackpool FC)

Ryan Mason will be staying at Tottenham Hotspur following talks with Anderlecht about becoming their new manager.

The Tottenham assistant coach spoke to the Belgian club about replacing Brian Riemer, a move that would have ended his long association with Tottenham, and seen the 33-year-old become a permanent first-team manager for the first time.

But following talks this week, Mason and Anderlecht have mutually decided against his taking over. Mason, who is enjoying being part of Ange Postecoglou’s coaching staff, will continue his work at Spurs.

Mason joined Postecoglou’s first-team staff when the Australian arrived in 2023.

He had previously taken the first-team reigns at Spurs on two separate occasions: at the end of the 2020-21 season following the dismissal of Jose Mourinho, and again at the end of the 2022-23 season after the departures of Antonio Conte and Christian Stellini.

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(Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)