Premier League Talking Points: Matchday 3
By Lee Kilby
When will Wayne Rooney’s goalscoring form return?
Manchester United defeated Club Brugges 3-1 in their Champions League play-off first leg on Tuesday, and captain Rooney put in a good performance. However, at times he dropped deeper more than a striker should and he began to look like a number 10. This is no fault of Rooney, it just shows how much effort and work he puts into every game. More pressure has been put on the United captain this season with the departures of Radamel Falcao and Robin Van Persie, Rooney now has to be the main source of goals for United. However, Rooney now hasn’t scored in eight games and there have been questions whether Rooney should be played as the main striker. These questions seem ludicrous considering last season everyone wanted Van Gaal to play Rooney as his main striker.
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United play Newcastle in the early kick-off on Saturday. This is an important game for Rooney, he has a good scoring record against Newcastle and he will be hoping to prove Louis Van Gaal he was right to play Rooney as his main striker.
There have been positives from Rooney’s performances, he has formed a good partnership with new signing Memphis Depay and they linked well on Tuesday against Club Brugges. Manchester United could benefit from another striker being brought in before the transfer window closes, if Rooney got injured this season, United would look very light up-front. Rooney’s goal-drought will end sooner rather than later and a lot of eyes will be on him this weekend against Newcastle.
Can Liverpool compete with the ‘Top 4’?
Liverpool are one of four teams who have won both of their openings fixtures, but they have been very lucky to win both. In their first game, Stoke City deserved to get at least a draw out of the game. They had good chances to score and proved why they could challenge for a European place this season. Liverpool won thanks to a brilliant long-range strike from Coutinho but the result was far better than what Liverpool deserved.
It was a very similar story in their second game against newly-promoted Bournemouth. Bournemouth had an early goal disallowed for a foul in the area but they looked frail defensively at set-pieces. Their new signings are going to need time to gel but their goal should also have been disallowed because Coutinho was in an offside position when Benteke put the ball in the net for his first Liverpool goal. Neither performances have been convincing and Liverpool don’t look any better than they did last season despite Rodgers spending big sums of money on players.
This weekend though, will be their first real test of the season. Playing away at Arsenal is a tricky fixture but as West Ham showed two weeks ago, teams can get a result at the Emirates Stadium. Liverpool will need to be at their best this weekend and this game will be a good indicator of how far Liverpool have came since last season and whether they can compete with the top four teams and have a chance of qualifying for the Champions League.
Will Chelsea bounce back against West Brom?
Chelsea haven’t had the start to the season they would have wanted. One point from their opening two games is not what Jose Mourinho would have wanted. Most of the attention surrounding Chelsea has been about the fall-out between Mourinho and club doctor Eva Carneiro so not a lot has been said about Chelsea’s poor start.
This weekend Chelsea play West Brom away which is not an easy fixture. There is some uncertainty surrounding West Brom Striker Saido Berahino’s future after Tottenham had a bid for him rejected this week. Manager Tony Pulis has brought in some got reinforcements in that area with the signings of Rickie Lambert from Liverpool and their new club record signing Salomon Rondon for £12 million.
However, I think Chelsea will bounce back in this fixture and get three very much needed points. Chelsea’s new signing Pedro could make his debut and Mourinho will be hoping he can adapt to the Premier League quickly, not every player can cut it in the Premier Leauge – just look at Angel Di Maria.