Is Marcus Rashford back to his best?
Marcus Rashford has had his fair share of criticism over the past year including the start of this season. He put that criticism behind him on Saturday by putting in a good performance in Man United's 3-0 win at Southampton where he scored an excellent curling strike. After the performance he put in, is he now back to his best?
His performance and goal will certainly give him confidence moving forward as good performances and goals breed that. Confidence was probably what he lacked last season as he struggled to perform and hit the heights he hit the season before, where he netted 30 goals.
Rashford is a player who can be good as anyone on his day and we all know that he can deliver when he's on it, like he did a couple of seasons ago. But since then he hasn't been able to do it and especially on a consistent basis.
He was a constant threat to Southampton on Saturday by causing them problems with his pace which is what he has done to teams over the years. It was his best performance in a long time and if he can play like that on a regular basis and add some goals to go with his performances, we'll hopefully see the player we saw a couple of seasons ago.
Are Nottingham Forest turning a corner away from home?
Nottingham Forest's away form has been one of their main issues ever since they've been in the Premier League but this season, they're showing signs that things are starting to improve after winning both of their away games this season. Including the one they picked up at Liverpool on Saturday. So are they turning a corner away from home?
Their wins on the road against Southampton and Liverpool will definitely give them confidence going into their other away games as winning games breeds confidence. But the main question is whether they'll be able to follow it up.
Their victory at Liverpool will certainly give them a lot of belief as they showed that they can put in a performance and get a result away from home. That win will have them believing that they can beat anyone on the road.
They frustrated Liverpool on Saturday by being well drilled and difficult beat before hitting them on the counter, which is where they got their goal from. If they can produce more performances like this away from home and get results to go with those performances on a regular basis, Forest could potentially turn their away fortunes around.
Sean Dyche under pressure at Everton
Everton are still chasing their first points of the season after throwing away another two-goal lead on Saturday against Aston Villa. Throwing away back-to-back two-goal leads will no doubt damage their confidence and their poor start to the season has definitely put pressure on manager Sean Dyche.
A typical Sean Dyche side is usually tough to beat and well drilled defensively. But we haven't seen that at Everton this season as they're looking leaky at the back after conceding 13 goals already this season. Jarrad Branthwaite has obviously been a big miss, but a Sean Dyche side shouldn't concede that many goals after 4 games.
Dyche might be Everton's best chance of staying up this seas because of the track record he has of keeping sides up. Also because of the job he did last season under difficult circumstances.
But he is still under pressure because of his side's poor start and he needs results fast because Everton already have a big battle on their hands.
Arsenal's ugly win at Spurs shows title credentials
If a team is to see themselves as serious title contenders, they will need to win some games by not being at their best and Arsenal did that on Sunday against Spurs in the North London Derby.
The Gunners weren't at their brilliant best on Sunday as Spurs had most of the ball and arguably the better chances on the day. But Arsenal remained defensively solid throughout and when they had the chance to grab the winning goal, they took it via a set piece.
What made their win more impressive was that they were without two of their best players in Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard, who were both unavailable through suspension and injury respectively. Winning a game without those players is a sign of their togetherness as a team and also their adaptability in that even without their best players on the pitch, they're still capable of finding ways to win games.
They had to win ugly because of them being without those players and what they bring to the team when they're available. They also knew how Spurs would play and that they would need to change their approach if they were to get something from the game.
There will be more games throughout the season where they'll have to win ugly. even with Rice and Odegaard in the side, because of the kind of opponent they could be facing and the stage of the season they're at. Especially the latter stages where the pressure is usually higher.
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