Premier League fans' verdict: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain shows he can replace Philippe Coutinho and Arsene Wenger's time is up

  • Liverpool handed Manchester City their first defeat of the season
  • Bournemouth came from behind to beat Arsenal at the Vitality Stadium
  • West Brom picked up a crucial three points against Brighton 

Another fascinating weekend of action saw Manchester City lose their unbeaten record as they were beaten by Liverpool in a thrilling clash at Anfield.

Meanwhile, at the bottom of the table, West Brom picked up a crucial three points against Brighton.  

Here, Sportsmail gets the fans' verdicts following the latest weekend of action... 

Mohamed Salah celebrates after scoring Liverpool's fourth goal against Manchester City

Mohamed Salah celebrates after scoring Liverpool's fourth goal against Manchester City

 

CHELSEA

Andy Seaby (Chelsea Daft)


There has been plenty of speculation over Antonio Conte’s position and this game only adds fuel to the fire. 

I love Conte as much as the next Chelsea fan but why on earth would you stick to the defensive 3-5-2 formation at the Bridge against a Leicester side who are a shadow of their title-winning team? 

Having changed formation in the second half, we could not break down 10 men which adds to our woes.

Star man: Thibaut Courtois

LEICESTER

Phil Simms (LCFC World)

Riyad Mahrez was the star of the show in West London, causing Chelsea a whole host of problems. 

When he wants to play, then he is unplayable but when he does not, we have to carry him. 

The owners will not let him go cheaply — £50million or no deal!

Star man: Riyad Mahrez

Riyad Mahrez was the star of the show as Leicester held Chelsea to a goalless draw

Riyad Mahrez was the star of the show as Leicester held Chelsea to a goalless draw

 

CRYSTAL PALACE

Jay Crame (The Eagles Beak)

This squad is almost down to the bare bones but this win was achived by hard work and passion. 

I have no idea what Roy Hodgson has done to these players — especially Bakary Sako — but long may it continue! 

From no win in our first seven, we are on the fringes of the top half. That is quite some effort.

Star man: Bakary Sako

BURNLEY

Tony Scholes (Up The Clarets)

The first disappointing Burnley performance I have seen this season. 

Against a Crystal Palace side who did not look too good themselves, we can have no complaints agbout the result. 

One positive was Charlie Taylor, who totally nullified Wilfried Zaha, but we were poor in the first half and could quite easily have gone in more than one goal behind.

Star man: Charlie Taylor

Bakary Sako celebrates after scoring the winning goal against Burnley on Saturday

Bakary Sako celebrates after scoring the winning goal against Burnley on Saturday

 

HUDDERSFIELD

Harry Greenwood (Better Than Klopp)

The worst performance of the season. West Ham came with the game plan of hitting Town on the break, and executed it perfectly. 

New signings Pritchard and Kongolo offered glimpses of quality, but it was too little to late. 

We’re in a relegation battle and Wagner needs to realise that.

Star man: Alex Pritchard

WEST HAM

Michael Oliver (Read West Ham)

David Moyes’ unexpected turnaround continued at Huddersfield and the improvement of Marko Arnautovic has been the defining factor behind it.

The attacker looks fitter and faster in recent weeks and is a perennial threat for opposing defenders. The rapport he has struck up with Manuel Lanzini is proving fruitful.

West Ham find themselves in 11th and with an attractive run coming up, they could really change the direction of their season.

Star Man: Marko Arnautovic

Marko Arnautovic was the star man yet again as West Ham beat Huddersfield

Marko Arnautovic was the star man yet again as West Ham beat Huddersfield

 

NEWCASTLE

Tom Bore (Read Newcastle)

A disappointing result when you consider Swansea are rock bottom, but Newcastle are not left in the perilous position many are making out. We are an equal distance from out-of-form Watford in 10th and managerless Stoke in 18th.

Joselu took his chance well and Ayoze Perez followed up his goal at Stoke last week with an assist for the equaliser.

Jonjo Shelvey reacting so negatively to being withdrawn following a week of speculation surrounding his future did raise a few eyebrows, but Rafa has insisted players will not be sold without replacements already lined up.

Star man: Joselu

SWANSEA

Declan Terry (Read Swansea)

We should have had a penalty after Diame’s clear handball when a goal-bound header collided with his elbow. 

We were unable to cling on to three points we desperately needed with Liverpool and Arsenal up next. 

A draw was far from ideal for either side but just about a fair result.

Star man: Mike van der Hoorn

Joselu of Newcastle United celebrates after scoring his team's first goal at St James' Park

Joselu of Newcastle United celebrates after scoring his team's first goal at St James' Park

 

WATFORD

David Anderson (Golden Pages Fanzine)

On the anniversary of Graham Taylor’s passing, our second-half fightback showed the kind of grit and determination our greatest manager would have been proud of.

But none of that was down to Marco Silva. Watford started with no direction and when Southampton’s first goal went in, heads dropped. 

Only after Silva’s reluctant introduction of Troy Deeney did we really look like we cared about getting a result. 

The equaliser was a clear handball, but it’s hard to feel sorry for Southampton when they spent 70 minutes time wasting after their opener. Silva’s head was clearly turned by the Everton interest. Now he needs to step up or get out.

Star man: Troy Deeney

SOUTHAMPTON

Aidan Small (Fresh Saints)

The equalising goal was a handball, but we should have never given the official a decision to make. There are no excuses.

Throughout our 10-game run without a Premier League win, we’ve thrown away one-goal leads against Huddersfield, Palace and Arsenal. But we’ve managed to go one step better this week.

After Saints’ controlled and fluent first-half display, the opposition switched to 4-4-2 and we lost our footing in the game.

There were plenty of positives, but sadly they have been thrown away by Pellegrino’s tactical incompetence.

Star man: James Ward-Prowse

James Ward-Prowse of Southampton scores his sides second goal against Southampton

James Ward-Prowse of Southampton scores his sides second goal against Southampton

 

WEST BROM

Alex Newton (Read West Brom)

We won a league game! That was our best performance in 18 months. Everybody gave their all and the Hawthorns was rocking. 

Dawson, Evans and Hegazi should become lawyers because that’s the best defence I’ve ever seen. 

Brighton were the worst team I’ve seen at the Hawthorns this season. We’re now only one point off safety and, with five favourable home fixtures coming up, we may just perform the great escape again.

Star man: Craig Dawson

BRIGHTON

Simon Cox (Brighton Fans)

What a pile of tosh! This was a massive game and we never turned up.

Not one, but two goals conceded from set-pieces, and that is simply stupid.

When cool, calm and collected Chris Hughton starts kicking water bottles up the touchline you know the players are peeving him.

Only forgivable if corrected swiftly. Is that the distant sound of alarm bells?

Star man: Glen Murray

West Brom's Craig Dawson celebrates after scoring his sides second goal against Brighton

West Brom's Craig Dawson celebrates after scoring his sides second goal against Brighton

 

TOTTENHAM

Barnaby Slater (The Football Republic)

Tottenham played some of their most sumptuous football of the season in this demolition of Sam Allardyce’s Everton. 

Harry Kane will dominate the headlines once again for breaking Spurs’s Premier League scoring record but Son gave a masterclass of wide attacking play, showing how much of a bargain he was at £22m.

If Coutinho’s value was £145m, Tottenham now clearly have four of five players who could be deemed worthy of such figures based on their goal scoring and assist records.

Star man: Son

EVERTON

Joel Parker (Toffee Analysis)

Absolutely painful. Spurs were always dangerous, making runs from all corners of the pitch and overlapping heavily on Cuco Martina.

Kane was handled very well in the first half but it all fell apart when Kenny misjudged and left a huge space for Son to run into.

Spurs deserved four goals and the second half was torturous.

Star man: Mason Holgate

Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son shone as Tottenham demolished Everton at Wembley

Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son shone as Tottenham demolished Everton at Wembley

 

BOURNEMOUTH

Peter Bell (Cherry Chimes)

Bournemouth put everything into this game and showed they have the fight to stay up. The three points are massive and the way the Cherries battled and scrapped proved they can pick up points playing less pretty football.

This is probably Bournemouth’s most important win of the season and should give them the belief they need to start out of trouble. Arsenal were ragged and simply didn’t have enough of a goal threat.

Star man: Jordan Ibe

ARSENAL

Peter Wood (Le Grove)

Pack your bags Arsene. Time to leave. Losing a lead to an average side is par for the course these days. 

The manager is past it, the team know it, and things are only going to get worse.

Star man: The referee’s final whistle

Arsene Wenger was put under more pressure as Arsenal lost to Bournemouth on Sunday

Arsene Wenger was put under more pressure as Arsenal lost to Bournemouth on Sunday

 

LIVERPOOL

Dave Usher (The Liverpool Way)

The talk all week was who Liverpool would sign to replace Phil Coutinho, but it was a man already at the club who staked a huge claim to be part of a new Fab Four.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored one, created another and produced a display full of energy and skill. 

He wasn’t alone — Jurgen Klopp’s players were absolutely brilliant to a man and the late wobble doesn’t change that. City are a great team and will be worthy champions, but Liverpool look to be the best of the rest and are definitely heading in the right direction.

Star man: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

MANCHESTER CITY

Steven Allweis (View From A Blue)

We were bound to lose at some point and this always felt the most likely game for it to happen. 

Liverpool played very well - they had the pace to threaten in behind, were comfortable on the ball and consistently pressed high - but our mistakes were down to individual errors as we lost our heads for that short spell in the second half. 

Anfield has always been a bogey ground for us and we needed to be at our best to turn that round. Unfortunately, too many players were completely off the boil and it was only De Bruyne who performed at something approaching his usual level.

Star Man: Kevin De Bruyne 

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored one and created another in a brilliant display

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored one and created another in a brilliant display