Ranking All 20 Premier League Teams' Performances on Matchday 6
In this post-verdict world, Premier League points no longer have the same heft to them. Manchester City currently lead the division with a faultless record from the first six games of the season, but what good will that do them if the independent commission dolls out a swingeing points deduction?
The tangible reward for City's second-half romp through a crumbling Liverpool could soon be erased, but the quality of their performance, that strike from Erling Haaland, the ingenuity of Rayan Cherki, is crystallized in the moment. On these shifting sands, everyone has to hold onto the few certainties there are.
Ranking Criteria Performance: This is the crux of the exercise: How well did each team play when considering the flow of a game divorced from the final score. If it was simply a judgement of scoreboard statistics you may as well go straight tothe table.
Expectations: Not all results are equal. Teams that upset the odds with their display are rewarded more favorably.
Venue: As the behind-closed-doors season of 2020-21 proved, playing in front of your home fans is a huge advantage, so any away results are given a little extra bonus. Brighton) It wasn't a good day for Sunderland.
The Black Cats had 62% of the ball against a team so used to being the protagonist but came up short of ideas without Brian Brobbey to look for. Chelsea) Marco Rose needs a win.
"The last games we had some good performances," the incoming manager admitted, "but today we struggled. Tottenham) If this was a clip from the Bundesliga it'd have 50k likes.
Rather than running statistics, Michael Carrick would be wise to dwell on how his collection of players (or strangers?) can look so woefully exposed against a Tottenham Hotspur side that started the game in 20th. Old Trafford has been a far more forgiving atmosphere than most grounds throughout the club's 13 years of angst since Sir Alex Ferguson but even match-going fans are starting to lose their patience.
Carrick has no defense, in a metaphorical or literal sense. I understand the disappointment," he shrugged, "the reality is what it is."