Liverpool Fantastic, United Frightful, Everton Finished?: Around the Premier League Week 5

Man City and Liverpool continue to soar, United and Chelsea continue to disappoint and my fantasy team continues to lose.

Five weeks into the 2023 season, a record eight English clubs prepare for their European matches this week, let’s revisit some of the highlights of this past weekend and look forward to week six of the EPL.

Brighton Bash United

United's worries continue to mount in 2023. United’s right winger, Antony, has taken a leave of absence after multiple women came forward with accusations of sexual misconduct.

In its first game without the Brazilian, United played a red-hot Brighton at home. It was ugly. Not only did Brighton win the game 3-1, it only let up after Joao Pedro’s third goal effectively put the game on ice.

In the 42nd minute, it looked as though United had found an equalizer with its new forward Rasmus Højlund finishing a Marcus Rashford cutback.

VAR eventually disallowed the goal and Brighton finished off the game with an early second-half goal and a 71st minute sealer.

What’s worse is United’s schedule only gets harder. Its next match is Wednesday afternoon against European powerhouse Bayern Munich.

City Can’t Be Stopped

Congratulations West Ham, you are the first team to lead Man City in the Premier League this year. You held that lead for precisely 10 minutes.

Then Manchester City remembered who it was. Even with star midfielder Kevin De Bruyne out until boxing day, Man City hasn’t lost a step.

De Bruyne’s replacement Julian Alvarez notched two assists in this fixture. His first assist was a simple pass to Jeremy Doku who Vladimir Coufal passed the ball into the far corner beyond Alphonse Arriola. His second assist was just as good of a Kevin De Bruyne impression as possible.

A scooped pass to Bernardo Silva, who guided the ball past Coufal and into the corner of the net. City has now won all five of its first five matches, with a goal differential of +11.

Everton’s Premier League Tenure is Finished

Everton fans, would you like to see your team play more games than it already does? Would you like to see your team finish in the top six for the first time since 2014? Next year, you can because Everton looks relegation-bound this season.

The Merseyside club has looked awful this season with only one point against fellow bottom-five club Sheffield United. Its 1-0 loss to Arsenal at home was expected; Arsenal currently sits fourth, with four wins and a draw.

Everton sits 18th, with four losses and a draw. However, that’s Everton’s issue; it now expects to lose its games. It may have escaped relegation in the past two seasons but this is the year this once-great European club will be relegated from the league.

A Look Ahead

A full set of matches headlined by Sunday’s North London Derby between Arsenal and Tottenham. Week six should provide fantastic matches to keep fans entertained.

Arsenal vs Tottenham

The newest edition of the North London Derby sees Tottenham travel to the Emirates to take on Arsenal. The Spurs have a poor record at Arsenal’s stadium and have been winless at the Emirates since 2010.

Both teams have been red hot to start the season, each on 14 points, with Spurs ahead on goal differential. Look for fireworks on Sunday morning as these arch-rivals often produce spectacles.

Chelsea vs. Aston Villa

The former Champions League winners host the newcomers to European football as Chelsea take on Aston Villa. The Blues started the season as badly as they finished in 2022-23, currently sitting in 14th with five points out of a possible 15.

While Chelsea continues to disappoint, Villa continues to surprise its fans. After qualifying for European football for the first time since 2011, Villa has started out strong as it sits in seventh place off of a fantastic win over Crystal Palace.

Chelsea does have one advantage over Aston Villa. While the Blues get a week's rest, Villa must travel to Poland to take on Legia Warszawa on Thursday before turning around to face Chelsea on Sunday. Hopefully, the hosts can pick up some much-needed points to get them out of Premier League mediocrity.

Owen Cameros is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email ohc5024@psu.edu.