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Premier League is a Gift that Keeps on Giving!

It began with a history making moment in Bedfordshire and ended with a dramatic, and somewhat controversial, conclusion in North London.

The Premier League really is the gift that keeps on giving as far as drama and headlines are concerned.

After four straight wins, no one will be surprised to see the side which scooped pretty much everything last season are favourites once again with the SBOTOP Premier League betting odds.

And it must be said they got a huge stroke of fortune as they saw off Fulham at the Etihad on Saturday.

In fact, it wasn’t even good fortune, Fulham were basically wrongly done to by a decision which should never happen with VAR in place.

Yet I wish to focus on Premier League highlights in three other contests ahead of the first international break of the new campaign.

Not since April 1992 had Kenilworth Road hosted a game in the top flight of English football.

Luton Town have been through so much since then, from the agony of dropping out of the Football League in 2010, to the ecstasy of last season’s improbable promotion, so in that context it hardly mattered that a few renovations were required before they could finally play at home this season.

UEFA EURO 2024
France
Republic of Ireland
1X2 Draw @ 5.60
Over 2.75 @ 1.94
First Half Under 1.00 @ 2.13
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.

The charms of the stadium remain and it warmed the cockles to read, before their Friday night clash with West Ham, about some of the associated idiosyncrasies.

For example, for away fans to get into the Oak Road Stand they have to walk through a row of terraced houses.

Once inside they will find terracing where the seats are so tightly packed as to make standing up compulsory. The Main Stand has stood for more than a century and is made of wood. To get to the toilets you have to stoop to pass through the exit. As for the toilets themselves, they are even described as “awful” by the club’s own historian.

The home fans had done everything to make Kenilworth Road’s first taste of the Premier League an occasion to remember, keeping the volume high from start to finish, and it would have been quite something if Carlton Morris had taken a late chance to equalise moments before Kurt Zouma scored the goal that carried West Ham to all three points.

Ultimately, goals from Zouma and Jarrod Bowen extended West Ham’s soaring start to deny Luton on their big return but the fact they were in that position was the real story of the night.

Moving onto Saturday, I read that the momentum was firmly with Chelsea as they welcomed Nottingham Forest to Stamford Bridge.

What followed suggested otherwise as Anthony Elanga scored his first Forest goal to secure a hard-fought Premier League victory in a meeting between two of the Premier League’s most active clubs.

How much is wholesale change a reasonable excuse for the west Londoners is unclear because Forest haven’t exactly been shy in the market either, signing seven players during a productive deadline day – including the club-record £30 million capture of PSV Eindhoven midfielder Ibrahim Sangare.

Chelsea’s record-breaking summer outlay of more than £380 million on 10 players eclipsed everyone else of course, yet when substitute Elanga struck shortly after the break, racing onto the in-form Taiwo Awoniyi’s pass and slotting home, it ultimately settled the contest.

Nottingham Forest celebrate their second win in the Premier League 2023-24
Coach Steve Cooper celebrates with Nottingham Forest players after winning against Chelsea

Nicolas Jackson missed a glorious opportunity to equalise inside the final 10 minutes and Forest held firm under late pressure to secure a significant win.

A beaming manager Steve Cooper embraced Elanga following the full-time whistle as the travelling fans celebrated only their second win in 21 away games since making their Premier League return last season.

As for his opposite number, Mauricio Pochettino, there should be faith in him but he will need time to merge a group of strangers together.

If the fairytale story of deadline day was written on the south coast, so another was written on the pitch 24 hours later.

What Ansu Fati made of his new side, after joining on loan from Barcelona, is unclear, but he will surely revel getting the chance to play with someone who I think is destined for great things.

Deep down, he is someone I wanted my club, Manchester United, to sign this summer and, after Saturday, there may as well be an extra zero at the end of his price tag.

In teenager Evan Ferguson, there was another demonstration of his remarkable potential as Brighton outgunned Newcastle.

When boss Graham Potter left for Chelsea, Roberto de Zerbi came in and made them better. When left-back Marc Cucurella went to the Blues for £60m, Pervis Estupinan replaced him and made them better.

Their key midfielders Moises Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister went to Chelsea for £100m and Liverpool for £35m respectively this summer. And here they are on three wins from four games.

Ferguson, as prodigious a talent as he is, might not have been given a regular run of games at another club after moving from Bohemians in 2021.

He is managed carefully by De Zerbi and he repaid him again on Saturday teatime with a hat-trick to down the Geordies.

Only Michael Owen (28), Wayne Rooney (15) and Francis Jeffers (12) scored more Premier League goals before their 19th birthday than Ferguson.

In the case of the former two, that is some company.


 

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