What we learned from Matchweek 22

Carrick’s tactical masterclass brings Man Utd DNA back to Old Trafford

The only way Michael Carrick’s second debut in the Old Trafford dugout could have been more perfect was if his players had really twisted the knife. It is no exaggeration to say 5-0 against Manchester City would have been a fair reflection of a tactical masterclass from the interim head coach that proved the "United Way" is not lost to history.

Restoring a 4-2-3-1 formation was clearly a good place to start. Bruno Fernandes was outstanding in the No 10 role, benefiting significantly from playing in his natural position and without having to think about how to interact with a second No 10, as in the 3-4-2-1 set-up.

Elsewhere, the back four was simply more comfortable, which translated to greater focus and energy in each individual duel.

But there was a lot more to it than that. Carrick instructed his players to pass incisively through central midfield into the feet of Fernandes or the dropping Bryan Mbeumo, cleverly targeting Man City’s two biggest flaws: their failure to press hard against opposition defenders and the isolation of Rodri alone at the base of midfield.

From here, the plan was to move the ball quickly out wide to sprint down the wings in classic ‘"United Way’" style. Counter-attacks and quick forward passing aligns with how the supporters see their club and, crucially, it does not mean Man Utd have to be a possession-centric or a high-pressing team.

Carrick’s side fell back into a 4-4-2 midblock without the ball, predicting, correctly, that Man City’s usual narrow attacking lines would be stumped by this shape.

It is only one game and nobody at Old Trafford is getting carried away. But Carrick did more than just re-energise the players and simplify the formation. Here was a detailed tactical strategy that out-thought Pep Guardiola, all while deploying a modern version of Sir Alex Ferguson’s football.

Rosenior's reactive tactics provide important clues in an unconvincing Chelsea win

There has been a surprising amount of pessimism surrounding Chelsea’s performance at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. Critics will point to Brentford looking the more comfortable side for stretches, and to Chelsea attempting just six shots (scoring both that went on target), their fewest in a Premier League home win since October 2014.

But despite teething troubles, there were some clues about the tactical direction Chelsea will be taking - and it should please supporters.

In direct contrast to his predecessor Enzo Maresca, Chelsea's new head coach Liam Rosenior showed flexibility, pragmatism and reactivity in his approach, adapting to the unique challenges of how Brentford play in three distinct ways.

Chelsea did not press particularly high, instead dropping back into a midblock, a negative move that sought to stop Brentford from counter-attacking through the middle as they would have liked. Rosenior also deployed both full-backs in inverted roles, jamming up the centre to avoid leaving his side open to fast breaks.

Finally, Chelsea were far more direct in possession than expected, playing lots of long balls forward, with goalkeeper Robert Sanchez in particular going long more often than not.

The aim, presumably, was to prevent the slow and short-passing football that could have got Chelsea stuck trying to break down a low block (as happened so often under Maresca). By being so direct, Chelsea turned Brentford around and disrupted their defensive game-plan.

Chelsea won’t be as ideologically driven under Rosenior. That is good news for a club that too often played the same way when Maresca was in charge.

Newcastle’s goalscoring woes away from home are a concern

Newcastle United's inability to consistently create chances (and score goals) away from home is the only difference between their 2025/26 and 2024/25 campaigns.

At home, 22 goals from 11 Premier League matches so far means their goals-per-game average of 2.0 is virtually the same as last season at St James' Park (2.1) but away from home, their 10 goals in 11 matches represents a drop from 1.4 to 0.9 goals per game.

As a result, Newcastle are on course to score 55 goals this season, down substantially from their usual level under Howe.

Nick Woltemade is now on a seven-game goalless run in the Premier League while this was Newcastle’s fourth 0-0 draw of the season, which means they have four times as many 0-0s in 2025/26 as they had across their previous two league campaigns combined.

The main reasons for this might be the departure of Alexander Isak, Yoane Wissa's injury-hit season and Woltemade’s adaptation period. But it could also be tactical.

Howe’s model is built on fast transitions; on winning the ball high and then counter-attacking towards goal, which is harder to do once teams realise they should counteract it by sitting back – even when playing at home.

Newcastle's average share of possession is 56 per cent away from home, compared to 51% at home, while their number of high turnovers is 90 on home soil and 66 on their travels.

Tellingly, their pass completion rate in the first half against Wolverhampton Wanderers (94 per cent) was the highest by any team in a half of football in the Premier League without recording a shot on target (on record since 2003/04).

Howe needs to find a way to break down stubborn opponents and inject some purpose into Newcastle’s possession play.

Wilson's late winner could be pivotal for West Ham and Spurs

Callum Wilson’s dramatic late winner at Tottenham Hotspur looks likely to be a pivotal moment in the Premier League campaigns of both clubs.

West Ham United’s 10-game winless run is finally over, thanks to one scrappy goal from a corner in the third minute of stoppage time. It leaves Nuno Espirito Santo’s side just five points short of Nottingham Forest, a gap that looks surmountable now the winning feeling is back.

With Sunderland (H) and Burnley (A) among their next four Premier League games, Nuno will see an opportunity here to turn the ship around and get West Ham out of the bottom three before the end of winter.

It isn’t often that stoppage-time winners are just as important for both teams involved, but this defeat for Spurs feels monumental.

They have collected only 27 points from 22 matches this season, just three more than at the same stage under Ange Postecoglou in 2024/25. The cacophony of boos around the ground on Saturday tell the story of a very challenging couple of years in domestic competitions for the Uefa Europa League holders.

Glasner's comments cap an unhappy week for Palace

Oliver Glasner's explosive post-match interview with Sky Sports completed one of the most difficult weeks in Crystal Palace’s recent history.

"The players gave everything they could. We made no substitutions - look at the bench, there are just kids there," he said.

"We feel like we're being abandoned completely. Selling our captain (Marc Guehi) one day before a game - there is no understanding for this.

"If your heart gets ripped out twice a year, with (Eberechi) Eze one day before a game in the summer and your captain one day before a game - I've just got no understanding."

One week earlier, Palace lost 2-1 to Macclesfield in the FA Cup third round, the greatest-ever FA Cup shock in terms of league places between the teams (117). That was followed by Guehi's reported sale to Man City, and now a damaging defeat at Sunderland and even more damaging words from the manager.

Palace’s 2025 was the very best year in the club’s history. The speed with which things have unravelled is scarcely believable.

Form against promoted clubs has denied Liverpool a shot at defending their title

Throughout their title defence, Liverpool’s problem has been defending; their vulnerability to fast transitions and the under-performance of Ibrahima Konate and Milos Kerkez is well-documented.

And yet the draw at home to Burnley on Saturday showed that, in this most unusual of seasons at the top, it is actually profligacy against the promoted clubs that has prevented Arne Slot’s side from entering the title race.

Liverpool, who have drawn six of their last nine Premier League matches, have failed to win any of their three home league games against the promoted sides for the first time since 1980/81, drawing all three.

Had Liverpool won these three games, taking six more points, they would be just one point behind Man City and eight behind Arsenal. From that position, a tilt at the title would not be out of the question.

Slot’s side were wasteful in the games against Sunderland and Leeds United, but even more so against Burnley.

They amassed an Expected Goals (xG) of 2.96 from 32 shots but scored only once, missing a penalty and several big chances to put the game to bed before Burnley’s equaliser.

Arsenal gain a point despite Arteta's strange team selection

By the end of the weekend, it looked like a good point for Arsenal, who moved seven clear of their title-race rivals Man City and Aston Villa, meaning they can put this game behind them and move on unscathed.

Yet it was an unconvincing performance, giving Arsenal their second consecutive 0-0 draw in the Premier League for the first time since 2012/13.

Mikel Arteta's team selection and formation were surprisingly cautious.

One could argue that the manager contributed to the tension and caginess of the performance with his decision to play Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi rather than deploy the more attacking Eberechi Eze alongside Martin Odegaard.

Instead, Bukayo Saka was rested and the use of Jurrien Timber in a back three limited support to the wingers and ensured there were five defensive players in the formation.

Arsenal's passing network highlights how often they played in front of – not through – the Forest shell.

Greater width via overlapping fullbacks, deploying more difference-makers and making more attacking substitutions earlier might have helped.

However, Arteta may argue that defending against the Forest counter-attacks was too important to take that risk – and being seven points clear at the top this morning vindicates those calls.

Villa's limited attacking options might explain Emery's mood

Unai Emery’s comments after Villa's home defeat to Everton suggest he was deeply frustrated, which may simply reflect the fact that the result puts a serious dent in any title challenge. Given that Villa were always rank outsiders, they needed perfection to keep up with Arsenal. Their tired performance on Sunday tells us that won’t happen.

Allowing their Dutch forward Donyell Malen to join Roma has arguably left Villa light on options from the bench, possibly explaining Emery’s post-match mood and his assertion that his team are "not contenders to be in the top five", a reference to the club's financial constraints compared to the traditional "Big Six".

However, it should be noted that Emery regularly uses the word "contenders" to mean "favourites". As he has done many times this season, Emery was referring to Villa’s status more generally, not the club’s likelihood of finishing in the top five this season.

Nevertheless, Villa need to refresh their attacking line following the departure of Malen, who scored on his Roma debut as they won 2-0 at Torino this weekend.

Leeds moving away from relegation thanks to defensive improvements

Lukas Nmecha's winner in the first minute of stoppage time was a hugely significant moment in Leeds' season because, despite their improved form over the last month, Daniel Farke's side were just seconds away from extending their winless run in the Premier League to five.

With victory, we can flip that stat on its head to say Leeds have now lost just one of their previous nine in the competition. Their 4-3 defeat to Newcastle is an anomaly in more ways than one.

Take out that loss, and Leeds have conceded one goal or fewer in each of their last seven matches in all competitions, having conceded two or more in seven of the eight games before that.

Newfound defensive resilience has provided the foundation for Leeds' unexpected rise out of danger.

Kostoulas gets his breakthrough moment to lift Brighton's spirits

This was not the first time he impressed the Brighton & Hove Albion faithful nor was it even his first goal for the club, but Charalampos Kostoulas’ sensational overhead kick to rescue a point on Monday night against AFC Bournemouth was the 18-year-old’s breakthrough moment.

There has been serious buzz around Kostoulas ever since his reported £30-million arrival from Olympiacos, where he scored seven goals in 22 games in the Greek Super League last season, but there is always significant risk when spending so much money on potential.

Seeing the ball ripple around the corner of the net at the Amex Stadium – and seeing Djordje Petrovic so stunned by the goal he simply shrugged as it flew past him - suggested the risk was worth taking.

The timing was perfect, too. Danny Welbeck has been excellent this season, scoring eight Premier League goals but the 35-year-old is not the long-term striker Brighton need – and have needed for a long time.

Not since 2018/19 have Brighton had a player score more than 10 goals in a Premier League campaign (Glenn Murray, 13), and while it would be unreasonable to put pressure on Kostoulas to start scoring regularly, that statistic does highlight what Brighton require more than anything if they are to become a regular European contender.

Kostoulas, whose assist in the 2-0 victory at home to Burnley makes it two goal involvements in his last two games, is currently scoring a goal every 91 minutes of Premier League action following his header at Old Trafford earlier this season.

Watching that overhead kick on repeat, as so many Brighton fans will be this morning, it’s easy to imagine Kostoulas keeping to that strike rate for the foreseeable future.