⚽ Premier League 2026/2027 Discussion Thread ⚽

[giammangiato]

The reason is simply that with the absent of pep in Manchester city, there is a degree of doubt that fans has towards Enzo maresca and quite a lot of fans don't think him capable of doing what Pep did while at Manchester city or that is is capable of being a worthy opposition to Arsenal. The 3:0 defeat that arsenal suffered came as a surprise to most persons and we can not conclude that city are now in better shape compared to arsenal. At least, it is getting clear that winning the league is not guaranteed for anyone and that anyone that will eventually get there will show an high level of consistency in her wins. Arsenal being the defending champions cant afford to continue dropping any further point.

If we want to criticise Maresca's work we can but with the right weights, they lost to Arsenal and so far no one can say otherwise. But Arsenal also lost to Brighton, what does that mean?
Does that mean Arteta isn't doing a good job? There are certainly gaps in every team in the world, but it's not always the coach's fault.
It happens to make mistakes, it happens to have drops in performance but that doesn't mean I feel like judging Maresca's work.
City have good potential to do well and better, like all Premiere teams, don't be so harsh on the coaches, because they are certainly there to give the best they can to the team, not just for the salary.

[Inwestour]

If we want to criticise Maresca's work we can but with the right weights, they lost to Arsenal and so far no one can say otherwise. But Arsenal also lost to Brighton, what does that mean?
Does that mean Arteta isn't doing a good job? There are certainly gaps in every team in the world, but it's not always the coach's fault.
It happens to make mistakes, it happens to have drops in performance but that doesn't mean I feel like judging Maresca's work.
City have good potential to do well and better, like all Premiere teams, don't be so harsh on the coaches, because they are certainly there to give the best they can to the team, not just for the salary.

I don’t know if Maresca should be criticized. Yes, they lost the Super Cup, but honestly, if it weren’t for that defeat to Arsenal, I would say that City are in excellent form and in terms of the game itself, they weren’t that much worse than Arsenal. They were simply unlucky in some attacking situations, while defensively they were not good enough. I really like the way they are playing in the league and in the Champions League, so I don’t think anyone will be criticizing Maresca right now.

[Charcol]

It will be difficult for any team in the Premier League to overtake Manchester City or Arsenal from their current position. Both teams have been showing some improvement this season. I didn’t expect Manchester City to be this good in their first game of the season, I thought they would struggle under Maresca, but nothing change as if they are still under Pep Guardiola.

Nothing changed because Haaland is there, the dude is like a goal magnet so of course no surprises there that they won all first 5 matches and yes while Arsenal's early season was going good, I genuinely wasn't expecting them to lose to Brighton but that just made me to thing, what if winning the league for Arsenal was just a one time thing. Don't get me wrong, their performance this season is good except the last match but the thought keeps coming to mind. What if they continue their usual second place seasonal run, oh my days, it will be so funny and well deserved for those their fans than can't keep shut.

Haaland is really important for Manchester City. Because he is a big force for Manchester City and we have seen before that Haaland's goal scoring ability has made the difference in many matches. However, I will not give all the credit for Manchester City's consecutive wins to just one player because that would exclude the rest of the changes in the team. Especially the contribution of the new coach, their style of play, the balance of the midfield and the contribution of other players are also important.

Arsenal's loss to Brighton is definitely a bad result. But at least I will not judge them based on this one match. Because we have already seen big teams sometimes play matches where nothing seems right.

[Gentle_Soul]

Seriously you would read posts here and wonder if some posters have even watched football before because what’s with this.

I think no matter how a team prepares ahead for a game they avoid defeat or dropping points in certain games look at even Finals we all know that every teams prepares for it but at the end one losses that game. This is because other teams or opponents also prepare. Although I would have blamed that lost on Arsenal’s attack that day.

Blames on Arsenal?! No! It shouldn't be that way. We should just give Brighton their props  they made sure they fight for everything that matchday. You can also the manager saying how they fought for everything, more like, winning every tackle, the first throw in and many more. Doing that gives you confidence and robs it off from the defending Champions. You can also see how they constantly launched shots from outside the eighteen and bot try to build into Arsenal's backline.
The defeat came by a suprise nevertheless. I never thought nor saw a win. The sporting director has got to get Mikel Arteta attacking players during the transfer market,I can agree to an extent that they looked blunt that day.

Of course Brighton deserved to win and Arsenal's attack was weak. Nothing will be settled by Arsenal losing a match. The team's attack, midfield and defence were not strong if you look at the match against Brighton. The team's weaknesses were exposed and they conceded 3 goals. Arteta needs to identify the weaknesses of his team and take effective measures so that the same mistakes are not repeated in the next matches. I would say that Brighton's victory was expected because it started with a big win against Aston Villa, which showed the team promise of more impressive performances in the future. When Brighton were behind ball position in the match against Arsenal, they increased their attacking momentum by setting their perfect targets and scoring goals regularly.

Brighton got a big win in the match with Arsenal, beating Arsenal by 3 - 0. But this win was very unexpected and no one ever expected the result of the match to be like this. Arsenal needs to identify their team's weaknesses very soon and get themselves back to their previous position. Because in this season, every Arsenal fan has only one hope and request from Arsenal, that Arsenal should win the UCL in this season. But if their position is like this, then they will not be able to win the UCL, but it will be very difficult for them to win the PCL in this season.

I was surprised with the outcome of the game against arsenal and Brighton I never saw it coming actually, Arsenal to me was to win in that game or at least play a draw against Brighton but instead it came a win against arsenal and not just a win but 3:0 win against arsenal I mean I was personally forced to say that arsenal broke my heart in this game against Brighton.
Arsenal shouldn't be expecting to win the league this season because they have already started showing some lapses in the season but however if they can identify there challenges and try to fix them while they can then it can be of a great help for the team.

[Franctoshi]

I agree with that part and that's what I've been saying too. Arsenal's success last season didn't come from pure strenght and PSG proved it.

However, I would say there is still a lot of uncertainty about the form of big English clubs. Manchester City is probably even worse off now than the last season. There's a good chance Arsenal will dominate the EPL again simply because the competitors are struggling yet again.

I think they won't go far in the UCL this season though. Maybe 1/4 or something.

You're right, it's a fact that Arsenal is leveraging the situation and the opportunity currently to dominate, and that's definitely for their good. But looking at Manchester city in the picture this season, I doubt Arsenal themselves will still find it such easy regardless of the staggering situation of the rest big team.

[GIF-JOBS]

If we want to criticise Maresca's work we can but with the right weights, they lost to Arsenal and so far no one can say otherwise. But Arsenal also lost to Brighton, what does that mean?
Does that mean Arteta isn't doing a good job? There are certainly gaps in every team in the world, but it's not always the coach's fault.
It happens to make mistakes, it happens to have drops in performance but that doesn't mean I feel like judging Maresca's work.
City have good potential to do well and better, like all Premiere teams, don't be so harsh on the coaches, because they are certainly there to give the best they can to the team, not just for the salary.

I don’t know if Maresca should be criticized. Yes, they lost the Super Cup, but honestly, if it weren’t for that defeat to Arsenal, I would say that City are in excellent form and in terms of the game itself, they weren’t that much worse than Arsenal. They were simply unlucky in some attacking situations, while defensively they were not good enough. I really like the way they are playing in the league and in the Champions League, so I don’t think anyone will be criticizing Maresca right now.

To be honest, after Manchester City's defeat against Arsenal, I also thought at first that they might not do very well under Enzo Maresca, because that was their first match under Maresca, and such defeats in the first match are really disappointing, and for this reason everyone generally thought that Manchester City would not be able to do well under Maresca. But currently their performance is really good. They are unbeaten in the Premier League, they also won their first match in the Champions League in a great way, after that defeat against Arsenal in the FA Community Shield, Manchester City have played a total of 7 matches, and they are unbeaten in all 7 matches. And so now no one will criticize Enzo Maresca, he is leading the team very well.

[Abbatty]

I agree with that part and that's what I've been saying too. Arsenal's success last season didn't come from pure strenght and PSG proved it.

However, I would say there is still a lot of uncertainty about the form of big English clubs. Manchester City is probably even worse off now than the last season. There's a good chance Arsenal will dominate the EPL again simply because the competitors are struggling yet again.

I think they won't go far in the UCL this season though. Maybe 1/4 or something.

You're right, it's a fact that Arsenal is leveraging the situation and the opportunity currently to dominate, and that's definitely for their good. But looking at Manchester city in the picture this season, I doubt Arsenal themselves will still find it such easy regardless of the staggering situation of the rest big team.

We can’t discard the work Arsenal did last season, even though as an individual they were not the best, but as unit arsenal was one of the best last season. We saw how many matches they won last season, without even conceding goals. I know most people will say the defense was good, it was the whole team, they put in so much work, especially when they are not with the ball.

This season, it might not be the same, of course that why it the premier league, teams will take time and look for your weakness, and we can see that Arsenal have conceded 4 goals already before the first international break.

[KTChampions]

What a great multi-bet! I also suspected that Roma vs. Inter would likely end in a draw, but I didn't put any real money on it. Inter has come back from a 0-2 deficit for the third time, such luck cannot last forever.
It's a shame your bet didn't work out - Brighton surprised not only by scoring 3 goals against Arsenal but also by keeping a clean sheet. I’m sure the BTTS market had such high odds because bookmakers were banking on Arsenal’s defensive reliability rather than Brighton’s performance in that regard.

[Cossyblack]

I don’t know if Maresca should be criticized. Yes, they lost the Super Cup, but honestly, if it weren’t for that defeat to Arsenal, I would say that City are in excellent form and in terms of the game itself, they weren’t that much worse than Arsenal. They were simply unlucky in some attacking situations, while defensively they were not good enough. I really like the way they are playing in the league and in the Champions League, so I don’t think anyone will be criticizing Maresca right now.

People were in a hurry to criticise maresca in the super cup because it was city first match that might be why many people were skeptical about him. Right from day one, many people were skeptical about him because they have been so attached to guardiola that they thought without him,no one else could manage Manchester city very well. There is a turn around in how people saw maresca, people have changed their mind about him because of city performance in their five matches. Their performance in their five games was superb as they won all five matches in a row. The criticism was because they lost to arsenal, after then,city performance improved greatly,so i don't think anyone would criticise him as their currently doing well in performance.

[Sammye3]

I don’t know if Maresca should be criticized. Yes, they lost the Super Cup, but honestly, if it weren’t for that defeat to Arsenal, I would say that City are in excellent form and in terms of the game itself, they weren’t that much worse than Arsenal. They were simply unlucky in some attacking situations, while defensively they were not good enough. I really like the way they are playing in the league and in the Champions League, so I don’t think anyone will be criticizing Maresca right now.

Maresca does not deserve any criticism whatsoever, even after losing to Arsenal in the Super Cup. He is the only coach in the Premier league to win all five matches at the start of the season, not even Arsenal was able to do that. It's not always easy starting at a new club but Maresca is making a first time impact on the club already, that's something that deserves an accolade and not criticism.

[cxtreenal]

I don’t know if Maresca should be criticized. Yes, they lost the Super Cup, but honestly, if it weren’t for that defeat to Arsenal, I would say that City are in excellent form and in terms of the game itself, they weren’t that much worse than Arsenal. They were simply unlucky in some attacking situations, while defensively they were not good enough. I really like the way they are playing in the league and in the Champions League, so I don’t think anyone will be criticizing Maresca right now.

People were in a hurry to criticise maresca in the super cup because it was city first match that might be why many people were skeptical about him. Right from day one, many people were skeptical about him because they have been so attached to guardiola that they thought without him,no one else could manage Manchester city very well. There is a turn around in how people saw maresca, people have changed their mind about him because of city performance in their five matches. Their performance in their five games was superb as they won all five matches in a row. The criticism was because they lost to arsenal, after then,city performance improved greatly,so i don't think anyone would criticise him as their currently doing well in performance.

Pep Guardiola was in charge of Manchester City for a long time so many were skeptical about the new manager Enzo Maresca. After Man City did not do well in that match against Arsenal, many suspected that the team's bad times might be starting but the experienced Maresca has started working perfectly to take the team to a better level. The team has won every match in the league and will create a challenging situation against Arsenal this season. Man City is performing surprisingly, the team has only conceded 5 goals in 5 matches and scored 15 goals against it. Looking at these impressive statistics, it is possible to understand how much the team has improved. Enzo Maresca will have to plan with the players to maintain this consistent form.

[sergiorus]

I agree with that part and that's what I've been saying too. Arsenal's success last season didn't come from pure strenght and PSG proved it.

However, I would say there is still a lot of uncertainty about the form of big English clubs. Manchester City is probably even worse off now than the last season. There's a good chance Arsenal will dominate the EPL again simply because the competitors are struggling yet again.

I think they won't go far in the UCL this season though. Maybe 1/4 or something.

You're right, it's a fact that Arsenal is leveraging the situation and the opportunity currently to dominate, and that's definitely for their good. But looking at Manchester city in the picture this season, I doubt Arsenal themselves will still find it such easy regardless of the staggering situation of the rest big team.

I'm not sure I agree on Man City here. They are definitely weaker now that the last season and still going through major changes. So doubt they could be serious competition to Arsenal.

Though they won their matches and currently lead, I don't believe they will stay in the championship race for too long.

[Alonso_]

If we want to criticise Maresca's work we can but with the right weights, they lost to Arsenal and so far no one can say otherwise. But Arsenal also lost to Brighton, what does that mean?
Does that mean Arteta isn't doing a good job? There are certainly gaps in every team in the world, but it's not always the coach's fault.
It happens to make mistakes, it happens to have drops in performance but that doesn't mean I feel like judging Maresca's work.
City have good potential to do well and better, like all Premiere teams, don't be so harsh on the coaches, because they are certainly there to give the best they can to the team, not just for the salary.

I don’t know if Maresca should be criticized. Yes, they lost the Super Cup, but honestly, if it weren’t for that defeat to Arsenal, I would say that City are in excellent form and in terms of the game itself, they weren’t that much worse than Arsenal. They were simply unlucky in some attacking situations, while defensively they were not good enough. I really like the way they are playing in the league and in the Champions League, so I don’t think anyone will be criticizing Maresca right now.

You must be talking about the FA Community Shield, I think Manchester City wasn’t a settled team because majority of their players participated in the just concluded FIFA World Cup, and they’ve not really settled in, the defense was conceding goals and still continues conceding goals up until now, but I think they only focused on spending outrageous amounts of money in the midfield and totally forgot about the defense, I think this Premier League title is going to be decided by winning and keeping clean sheets, so far Arsenal have shown they can keep clean sheets they’ve kept some consecutive clean sheets, Manchester City have to try and work on the defense and starts keeping clean sheets, Liverpool is looking solid in defense as well, so far they’ve kept 3 consecutive clean sheets.

I don’t really know why you should criticize Enzo Maresca, he is still doing a very good job in the Premier League.

[Oluwa-btc]

Maresca does not deserve any criticism whatsoever, even after losing to Arsenal in the Super Cup. He is the only coach in the Premier league to win all five matches at the start of the season, not even Arsenal was able to do that. It's not always easy starting at a new club but Maresca is making a first time impact on the club already, that's something that deserves an accolade and not criticism.

Who is even critical of Enzo Maresca?! Lol! There are subpar managers like Michael Carrick to bash and criticize but what have they done? Nothing! I was reading today and I saw that he was nominated for the manager of the month award for the month of September alongside, Andoni Iraola and Brighton Albion manager. I really do think that he deserves it and should be given the award. He remains unbeaten in the Premier League with one of the highest goals converted. I will not say this as his first time with Manchester City, let us not forget how he has also previously worked under Pep Guardiola. I'd say he knows the club inside and outside 

[WatChe]

I'm not sure I agree on Man City here. They are definitely weaker now that the last season and still going through major changes. So doubt they could be serious competition to Arsenal.

Though they won their matches and currently lead, I don't believe they will stay in the championship race for too long.

If current Man City is weak then I wonder how a strong Man City side will look like. City is yet to lose a game after week five and they have  scored 13 goals and conceded just 5 goals. Gunners also had a good start of the season but the way they lost game against Brighton have raised concerns that whether they will be able to defend their title this time or not. Still a long way to go and both clubs need to work hard to take an early lead which will help them in winning the title.   

[sergiorus]

I'm not sure I agree on Man City here. They are definitely weaker now that the last season and still going through major changes. So doubt they could be serious competition to Arsenal.

Though they won their matches and currently lead, I don't believe they will stay in the championship race for too long.

If current Man City is weak then I wonder how a strong Man City side will look like. City is yet to lose a game after week five and they have  scored 13 goals and conceded just 5 goals. Gunners also had a good start of the season but the way they lost game against Brighton have raised concerns that whether they will be able to defend their title this time or not. Still a long way to go and both clubs need to work hard to take an early lead which will help them in winning the title.   

Yeah they are having a good start and won all five games. But Brighton, for example, won 3 out of 5 and are currently on the 3rd place. Doesn't mean they have a chance to finish anywhere near the top-3.

Man City still has structure issues in the midfield since Rodri left. The players are still used to Guardiola's football although Maresca understands it and is doing surprisingly well not imposing serious changes yet. Overall i think they will finish 3rd or maybe even 2nd but I don't believe they will be champions this season.

[LUCKMCFLY]

Maresca does not deserve any criticism whatsoever, even after losing to Arsenal in the Super Cup. He is the only coach in the Premier league to win all five matches at the start of the season, not even Arsenal was able to do that. It's not always easy starting at a new club but Maresca is making a first time impact on the club already, that's something that deserves an accolade and not criticism.

Look at something very important that happens a lot, but few people truly understand. In fact, usually only those who know the most about football those who have played at some point or are currently playing get it. A team can play very well in one match and then lose or look bad in the next. They can play great and win, and then play even better and still lose. Or they can win five matches in a row and then drop one. It's completely normal, but casual fans struggle to accept it because they don't realize the massive physical effort behind playing football.

Take a look at a player's feet, for instance they are almost always battered and deformed. Those of us who have played football at a high level know that our feet take a beating. All that fatigue accumulates over 5 or 6 consecutive matches and directly impacts performance. Even if you're in peak physical condition, the human body eventually hits a wall where it can't operate at 100%, and that basically explains why teams suddenly drop points or lose games.

When we talk about teams like Real Madrid or Barcelona, they are under constant pressure because the fans demand non-stop winning. They know these players are stars earning top salaries and expect them to perform like they're from another planet. There are many factors at play, including having deeper squads and state-of-the-art recovery facilities that help them bounce back faster. But at the end of the day, fatigue is real, and that's exactly why even a team like City can lose against a defending champion riding high on morale.

[EarnOnVictor]

If we want to criticise Maresca's work we can but with the right weights, they lost to Arsenal and so far no one can say otherwise. But Arsenal also lost to Brighton, what does that mean?
Does that mean Arteta isn't doing a good job? There are certainly gaps in every team in the world, but it's not always the coach's fault.
It happens to make mistakes, it happens to have drops in performance but that doesn't mean I feel like judging Maresca's work.
City have good potential to do well and better, like all Premiere teams, don't be so harsh on the coaches, because they are certainly there to give the best they can to the team, not just for the salary.

I don’t know if Maresca should be criticized. Yes, they lost the Super Cup, but honestly, if it weren’t for that defeat to Arsenal, I would say that City are in excellent form and in terms of the game itself, they weren’t that much worse than Arsenal. They were simply unlucky in some attacking situations, while defensively they were not good enough. I really like the way they are playing in the league and in the Champions League, so I don’t think anyone will be criticizing Maresca right now.

One thing I want you to know is that no club/coach is perfect, and they could be surprised just as their fans. The way the FA Community Shield is being played and taken seriously is not the way the EPL itself is, and some clubs get to the field before it dawns on them about what's going on. I believe Maresca did his work, but the players disappointed him and their fans. I sensed trouble when Riccardo Calafiori scored the first goal at 23 seconds, and got even more convinced when Kai Havertz delivered the second one. That was when Man City tightened their defence, but this still didn't stop a third goal in the second half. But we should not forget that Arsenal is not a lesser club, but 3 goals to nothing is the shameful part.

[Primark]

I agree with that part and that's what I've been saying too. Arsenal's success last season didn't come from pure strenght and PSG proved it.

However, I would say there is still a lot of uncertainty about the form of big English clubs. Manchester City is probably even worse off now than the last season. There's a good chance Arsenal will dominate the EPL again simply because the competitors are struggling yet again.

I think they won't go far in the UCL this season though. Maybe 1/4 or something.

You're right, it's a fact that Arsenal is leveraging the situation and the opportunity currently to dominate, and that's definitely for their good. But looking at Manchester city in the picture this season, I doubt Arsenal themselves will still find it such easy regardless of the staggering situation of the rest big team.

I'm not sure I agree on Man City here. They are definitely weaker now that the last season and still going through major changes. So doubt they could be serious competition to Arsenal.

Though they won their matches and currently lead, I don't believe they will stay in the championship race for too long.

Is it fair to say that Manchester City are weaker than they were last season?
Of course they are still going through a transformation. It would be unfair to expect that after ten years of Guardiola's system, a new coach will be able to fix everything permanently in just a few weeks.

If we look at last season's statistics, it will be even more contradictory. Because last season, City probably lost two of their first five Premier League games and drew one, earning 7 points. This time, they won all of their first games and took 15 points.

[KTChampions]

I'm not sure I agree on Man City here. They are definitely weaker now that the last season and still going through major changes. So doubt they could be serious competition to Arsenal.

Though they won their matches and currently lead, I don't believe they will stay in the championship race for too long.

But Arsenal aren't the same team this year as they were last season, either. I remember that in the first third of last season, Arsenal's defense was incredible and they hardly conceded any goals, one clean sheet followed another, and now they have conceded 3 in one game. Bookmakers have already significantly changed their opinion on the title race:

Arsenal - 2.05

City - 2.40

I am certain that if the points gap remains unchanged over just two or three rounds, City's chances will be significantly reassessed upwards.