Premier League Round-Up: Talking Points

The Premier League title race is getting more intense by the week while the bottom 3 desperately cling to the bit of hope they have to survive. This week there has been action for 5 successive days with midweek action and Bet Central brings you all the talking points.

Leandro Trossard is now a starter

Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Jesus have had plenty of opportunities to make the Arsenal no.9 role their own and both haven’t quite been able to lock down this position. Leandro Trossard showed in the game against Burnley that he could be the solution to this problem.

Leandro Trossard is a dream bench player because of his versatility and ability to both score and create late in the game, but the time seems ripe to persist with him at 9 at the moment with his current form. His movement is so difficult to read and could trouble defenses as Arsenal still fight for the title under Mikel Arteta.

Burnley look like they have thrown in the towel

As good as Arsenal were at Turf Moor, Burnley on the other side of the coin was terrible on the day. They played with no intensity or drive to resemble a team desperate for Premier League survival – they looked like they had given up on staying in the top flight.

The fact that the higher-ups at Burnley have persisted with Vincent Kompany till now in the season is an indication that they believe in his vision even if they have to go start from scratch in the Championship. Either way, Burnley looks like they threw in the towel.

Simon Adingra carries AFCON form with Brighton

2 late goals from Simon Adingra in a 5-0 victory over Sheffield United provided the gloss on a superb performance from the Ivorian youngster. The newly crowned African champion hit the ground running in his 1st appearance for Brighton since returning from the AFCON.

Roberto de Zerbi will be hoping his young star doesn’t burn out before the end of the season as he still pushes for a place in European competition despite a 9-point difference between his side and 5th place. If the unlikely feat is to happen he will need Adingra firing on all cylinders.

Rasmus Hojlund finally repaying the faith

Many have called Rasmus Hojlund overpriced and perhaps that was fair considering his output for the 1st part of the season, but since the turn of the year the Danish striker has been brilliant scoring 7 goals in 6 games.

2 of these goals were scored in the win against Luton Town in the Premier League clash which gave Manchester United a narrow win. The youngster is on a hot streak and Erik Ten Hag will be desperate to keep him in the right frame of mind to ensure he continues in this rich vein of form.

Man City and Liverpool refuse to let up

Man City and Liverpool continue to be the most dominant teams in the Premier League as they have been for the best part of the last 10-odd seasons. Both clubs were in action midweek and they showed their dominance when they took over the games and beat their opposition.

Man City beat a stubborn Brentford as Erling Haaland scored a breakaway goal to edge the West London side to keep the pressure on Liverpool. The Merseyside team had an early scare from Luton Town before they put 4 goals past their opposition in the 2nd half – an utterly dominant 2nd stanza.

VAR continues to frustrate in the PL

After the conclusion of one of the great AFCON tournaments, all eyes returned to the domestic leagues and thoughts were that the domestic VAR officials would do better with the technology after seeing the exemplary work done in the AFCON.

Unfortunately, VAR in the Premier League went a different direction with a few decisions still full of controversy which begs the question. When will VAR officials make scrappy decisions despite having the technology available to them?