GOAL US unpacks the main weekend storylines from the Premier League, La Liga and other top competitions in The Euro XI
Thanks for finally waking up, Premier League. In the takes economy of sports, it all seemed that this thing was rather boring. Arsenal, we were told, were strolling to the title. Man United are just plain bad. Liverpool are finished. All three of those things may yet be true, of course, but this weekend served up a little variety.
Arsenal are still very good, and have the upper hand early on. But United have some real fight and verve in them. Liverpool, meanwhile, remembered how to win a football match, which you'd imagine is fairly refreshing for those of a Liverpudlian persuasion.
Elsewhere on the continent, things are sort of cruising along. El Clasico last week suggested that there is a real gap between Real Madrid and Barcelona this year (Madrid issued a 2-1 battering). But the Blaugrana won this week, and got their season back on track before it could careen out of control.
And then, in Germany, there was simply some truly rude behavior from Bayern Munich, who are making a mockery of their league.
GOAL US presents The Euro XI, with 11 key observations from the weekend.AFP1Mo Salah is back
So much for being "washed." OK, Mo Salah hasn't been great for a while now. There have been some loose touches, some uncharacteristic misses, a bit of selfish play that was unlike the winger who was in with a shot of the Ballon d'Or last year.
Claiming he is "back!!!" in full might be a bit much, but he got himself on the scoresheet against Aston Villa, and looked a real menace for the first time in months, leading the way Liverpool's surprisingly comfortable 2-0 win.
AdvertisementGetty Images Sport2Man United, comeback kings?
Do we exist in a universe in which Manchester United are good at football now? Ruben Amorim supposedly has three years to get it right, which is a long time in the Man United universe.
True or not, he's certainly showing that he can conjure a few performances out of this markedly imperfect team. The latest one? A 2-2 draw at Nottingham Forest, complete with a cracking Amad Diallo equalizer. There might just be a team here.
Getty Images Sport3Chelsea win (very) ugly
Chelsea-Tottenham is meant to be chippy. It's one of those fixtures in the Premier League that doesn't necessarily have a geographical rivalry, nor a singular point of tension. Rather, it's just always angry. But it's usually also quite good, a truly high standard of football to match the vitriol.
Well, this one was just plain bad. Spurs and Chelsea played out a miserable contest over the weekend. Chelsea won it, and just about deserved to do so – with Moises Caicedo making a decent case for the arbitrary "best midfielder in the Premier League" title.
Getty Images Sport4Arsenal and set-piece goals strike again
How do you win if you don't have time to train? The answer, for Arsenal at least, is to squeeze every last drop of quality you can out of the controllable. Welcome to the world of set pieces, where the ugly becomes your biggest advantage. And the Gunners are the kings of it all, a nightmare to deal with from dead ball situations.
They delivered again against Burnley, scoring from one set piece and then strolling their way to a 2-0 win. Declan Rice was among the goals in a prancy midfield role – something that suits him wonderfully. But most impressive? They allowed just one shot on goal. If defense wins championships, then Arsenal have placed themself in a good spot.