English Premier League 2024/25 – Gameweek 9 Preview

Premier League Gameweek 9 commenced with a game on Friday this time around. This weekend has some mouthwatering encounters; the big one between Arsenal and Liverpool being the Super Sunday fixture.

Let’s take a look at the happenings in Gameweek 9 of the Premier League – 

Leicester City 1-3 Nottingham Forest

Leicester City welcomed Nottingham Forest to the King Power Stadium. Nottingham have had a brilliant start to the season under Nuno Espírito Santo and they continued to impress with a massive away win against the Foxes. Nottingham started on the front foot and it was Ryan Yates who scored the surprise opener in the 16th minute when he struck a low shot into the far post beyond a diving Mads Hermansen. Nottingham could have had more but Hermansen made a superb save from point-blank range to deny Nicolás Domínguez. It was the Leicester veteran Jamie Vardy who restored parity when he poked home a pass from an inviting ball from Harry Winks in the 23rd minute.

The two teams went into the break at 1-1. Leicester City imploded in the second half though with defensive errors losing them the game, giving Nottingham a win. The Forest forward Chris Wood was in sublime form scoring a brace and killed off the game. His first goal came in the 47th minute with a classy on the turn shot from fifteen yards and his second came from mis-judgement on a long pass by the Foxes defender Wout Faes which Woods headed into the net. Leicester never looked like coming back with Forest returning home with the three points and sitting comfortably in a surprise fifth position in the Premier League table. 

Manchester City 1-0 Southampton

Manchester City went top of the Premier League table with a narrow win against the Saints. City scored within five minutes through Erling Haaland who poked in the goal from a Matheus Nunes pass. The Cityzens had ample opportunities to put the game beyond the visitors with Haaland missing two-three clear cut chances. Southampton had a glorious opportunity with a 1v1 chance for Cameron Archer but his shot hit the post just before the break. 

City kept most of the possession and missed chances but Russel Martin’s side were dangerous on the counter and their stoic defense didn’t let another goal in. Manchester City looked far from convincing in front of goal but managed to get over the line against a team from the bottom half.

Brentford 4-3 Ipswich Town

A pulsating end-to-end affair at the GTech Community Stadium that saw the home team coming back from a 2-0 deficit and earning a massive three points. Ipswich were the better side in the initial half an hour and earned two well earned goals in a space of three minutes, first through Sammie Szmodics in the 28th minute and then through James Hirst in the 31st minute. The Home fans were stunned into silence but the home team started taking control with Yoane Wissa cutting down the lead to one in the 44th minute. Two minutes later, A Yoane Wissa shot was carried in by Ipswich defender Harry Clarke to restore parity.

The second half saw Brentford have the majority of possession and they reaped their reward when Clarke dragged down Keane Lewis-Potter into the box and Brentford were awarded a penalty. Bryan Mbuemo took the spot-kick and converted to take the 3-2 lead. Things got worse for Kieran Mckenna’s side when Clarke fouled Potter at the edge of the box in the 69th minute to be dismissed for a second yellow. Even being 10 men down, the visitors showed intent and equalised through their in-form forward Liam Delap who poked in from a Leif Davis cross with four minutes remaining. Ipswich could have salvaged a draw if not for a Bryan Mbuemo’s inswinging cross that Muric couldn’t save late in stoppage-time. 

A seven goal thriller with fortunes turning after every few minutes in this one; which is why we all love the Premier League so much.

Aston Villa 1-1 Bournemouth

This was a game that Aston Villa dominated from the start but would be rueing poor finishing and an inspired goalkeeping performance from the opposition goalkeeper. Villa attacked from the outset but were denied several times by Mark Travers. They also scored through Mcginn but the VAR replay showed the ball had gone out of play in the build up,  denying them the goal. 

The second half saw Villa pile on the pressure and the telling blow arrived in the 76th minute when Ross Barkley managed to turn the ball in goal from close range. Andoni Ireola’s side had barely threatened the opposition goalkeeper Emi Martínez but still kept out Villa from getting a second. However, it was the Cherries who grabbed a point in stoppage time when Evanilson headed home from a sumptuous cross.

Unai Emery’s men will be disappointed with the dropped points even after displaying so much domination.

Brighton and Hove Albion 2-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers

The Seagulls hosted Wolves at the Amex Stadium in a late, late comeback by the away side. Brighton dominated the first half but couldn’t manage to finish their chances which hurt them in the end. The hosts found the opener through a Rutter pass for Danny Welbeck when José Sá’s sloppy pass helped Brighton to counter and the Seagulls took a 1-0 lead going into the break.

The second half didn’t see Wolves threaten much and when Evan Ferguson scored Brighton’s  second goal in the 86th minute it seemed all but over for the Wolves. However, two minutes later, Left-back Rayan Aït-Nouri handed Wolves a lifeline when he latched onto a loose ball from a corner kick and scored. Brighton then, scuffed a 4 on1 situation that started the Wolves counter with Matheus Cunha finding the equaliser deep in stoppage time to grab a point for his side in extraordinary circumstances. 

Everton 1-1 Fulham

The Cottagers were the dominant side in the first half but couldn’t find an opener. Everton did score through DOminic Calvert-Lewin when he scored off a rebound from the cross bar with an  Idrissa Gueye shot but VAR deemed it offside. The first half ended 0-0. 

The second half. saw former Everton player, Alex Iwobi delivering the crushing blow on Goodison when a superb run by Emile Smith Rowe aided him for the opener but Fulham couldn’t find a second goal to ensure the three points and a 1-0 lead is always a dangerous one as it proved in stoppage time. Everton substitute Beto equalised with a  close-range header in the fourth minute of stoppage time grabbing a point for his team. Everton are now five games unbeaten in the league and 15th in the league table.

West Ham United 2-1 Manchester United

Manchester United will look back at this game and bemoan their woeful finishing in front of goal. The Red Devils had the majority of possession and missed several chances with Garnacho and Dalot having glorious opportunities to score.West Ham were under huge pressure in the first half with goalkeeper Fabianski keeping them in the game with some excellent saves. The Hammers rode the wave of pressure and kept United at bay with both teams going into the break at 0-0.

The home side looked much better in the second half and started to have a couple of chances of their own. United’s lack of finishing cost them when West Ham opened the scoring in the 74th minute through Crysensio Summerville’s sliding tap-in at the far post with Bowen providing the assist. United did equalise through a Casemiro header in the 81st minute.However, Premier League games hardly end without drama or controversy and a 90th minute penalty awarded to West Ham by a VAR review did seem a bit unfair to the visitors. The on-field referee David Coote was called on the monitor for a foul on Danny Ings by United defender Mathijs De Ligt, the United team was incensed but the decision was given, Jarrod Bowen stepped up and converted the spot-kick to give his team the much needed win. Erik Ten Hag’s team would be disappointed as they were the far better team and should have won comfortably if not for so many missed chances.  

Crystal Palace 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur

Palace’s dismal start to the season has seen them languishing in the bottom half of the table and hence beating a dangerous Spurs would have given Oliver Glasner’s side a huge shot of confidence. Palace started on the front foot and created a few decent chances.The hosts opened the scoring at the half-hour mark when Eze found Jean-Phillipe Mateta in the box from a beautiful cross by Daniel Munoz. Spurs had a great opportunity to equalise with Brennan Johnson’s shot hitting the post. Dean Henderson made a fine close-range save to deny James Madisson as well.The hosts went into the break with a 1-0 lead. 

Spurs did create a fair few chances in the second half but it was the Palace side that had the better chances with Eze finding the net but was  found to be offside. Spurs keeper Guglielmo Vicario, who made five saves, kept out efforts from Eze, Ismaila Sarr and Adam Wharton in the latter stages to avoid the hosts going two goals up. With their first win of the season, Palace lifted themselves out of the relegation places and will hope to continue getting more such results. 

Chelsea 2-1 Newcastle United

The Magpies continued their poor run of form with defeat at Stamford Bridge.Chelsea started with great intent and thought they had scored through the main man Cole Palmer within four minutes but he was marginally offside and the goal was rightly disallowed. However, you can’t keep Palmer away from action and a gorgeous through ball deep from his own half saw him releasing Pedro Neto on the counter with Nicolas Jackson finding the finish for their first goal in the 18th minute. The Magpies did start to find their feet and created chances with Harvey Barnes providing an easy tap-in for Newcastle frontman Alexander Isak to restore parity in the 32nd minute. The two teams went into the break tied at 1-1.

Chelsea raced off the traps in the second half with Palmer yet again giving them the lead within a minute of the restart. However, his low shot near post should have been saved by the Newcastle goalie Nick Pope.Alexander Isak had a glorious opportunity in the 74th minute to equalise when he shrugged off a Chelsea defender and was on goal but fluffed the chance.Chelsea had a penalty shout denied for a foul on Nkunku but there wasn’t much contact and hence deservedly not given. Chelsea had a late scare when Reese James almost headed a clearance into his own net late into stoppage time. The Blues held on though to grab all three points. 

Arsenal 2-2 Liverpool

This was probably the biggest challenge for Liverpool’s new manager Arne Slot in his fledgling tenure at Anfield so far. While he might not have passed it with flying colours, his team’s improved second half performance meant they didn’t go home empty handed. Arsenal started the game on a high tempo with Bukayo Saka particularly causing Andy Robertson and Liverpool a lot of problems and it reaped instant rewards when Saka was 1v1 vs Robertson and hit the roof of the net near post to open the scoring for the Gunners in the 8th minute. Liverpool then restored parity through a Trent Alexander Arnold’s corner kick flicked on by Luis Diaz for Virgil Van Dijk heading home ten minutes later.Liverpool had a torrid period of the game, conceding possession in dangerous areas and giving unnecessary fouls. One such situation led to Arsenal’s second goal underlining Arsenal’s prowess on setpieces. Declan Rice’s swerving cross found Arsenal newbie Mikel Merino in the box who headed home in the 43rd minute. The call was a close one as he was marginally onside and the goal was given after a long delay. Arsenal went into the break with a 2-1 lead.

Liverpool did have an improved outing in the second half with Arsenal surprisingly going on the defensive. The Merseysiders threatened the away goal with Diaz dribbling past Arsenal defenders in the box but couldn’t find the goal or a teammate.Their efforts paid dividends when Trent Alexander Arnold’s delightful long ball found Darwin Núñez on the counter,who unselfishly teed up Mohammed Salah for the goal in the 81st minute. Both teams tried to get a winner but it ended all square at the Emirates.