Take a closer look at this weeks drama…
Going into this week, I really didn’t think we’d have the amount of drama we did – but here we are. We saw Fulham finally getting a win with their polished crosses, Wolves handing a win to Arsenal on a silver platter, City and Villa remain strongly in the title race, Nottingham Forest bounce back after Everton defeat, 8 goals for United v Bournemouth, and the return of the Tyne-Wear Derby. Here’s a few of my highlights.
What Happened There Then?! – Arsenal scrape a win against bottom of the table Wolves
I’ll start here so I can get it over with. I’ll try my best to be unbiased here but as an Arsenal fan I must admit my immense disappointment in Saturday’s performance. This season, I’ve been lucky enough to actually look forward to watching Arsenal play, even in draws and losses there has been a fighting team worth watching. This weeks game was nothing like that.
It’s safe to say that most people were expecting Arsenal to somewhat steamroll over wolves with their renowned defence, creative attack, and strength in set pieces. Fpl players were stocking up on Arsenal players and many captained Saka for the week. At the end of the day, its first vs last in the league and Arsenal are at home – of course you would expect Arsenal domination. However, the team were fractured and disconnected, players looked exhausted, and Arteta seemed to be running out of solutions and ideas. So far, we have struggled with defensive injuries and may have sustained another one, with Ben White being subbed off early for Myles Lewis-Skelly, but this weeks issues lie with a weak attacking presence. After the match, Mikel Arteta recognised that Arsenal “struggled once [they] arrived into those danger zones, to find a red shirt” which was certainly true; Rice and Saka had decent games in the midfield, finding crosses and significant passes, but there was absolutely no finishing power in the box.

Despite walking away with no points, all three goals of the 2-1 game were scored by Wolves, showing again the lack of firepower coming from Arsenal and a sloppy defence in Wolves. The goal that did count for Wolverhampton in the 90′ minute to equalise to 1-1 was an absolutely stunning ball in from Matheus Mane and a brilliant header to the back of the net from Arokodare. Honestly, Wolves deserved at least a point from that game (especially seeing as they scored all three goals) and it was a shame that their defence made such unlucky errors. With City and Villa creeping up to Arsenal on the table, some serious work needs to be done before the Everton game next week, should they want to hold onto their lead.
Player Profile – Harry Wilson
I’ve been discussing Fulham quite a lot recently and once again, I have been shown why. Midfielder Harry Wilson is my player of the week as he proved himself central to the good things that I believe are coming to Fulham. Beginning his football career with Liverpool at age 8, Wilson was often on loan across the country to Crewe, Hull, Derby, Bournemouth, Cardiff, and finally Fulham where he signed a permanent contract in 2022. Welsh national, Wilson also broke the record previously set by Gareth Bale for being the youngest ever player to represent Wales.

Since 2022, Wilson has had 104 appearences for Fulham beginning as a super sub and now as a regular starter. He seems to improve his goal involvements each season; 23/24 – 4 goals, 24/25 – 6 goals, 25/26 – in just 16 games Wilson has scored five goals, well on track to once again better his numbers. In fact, he’s had 3 goals and 3 assists in just the last 4 matches! This week in the prem, he was absolutely central to the Fulham win against Burnley which proved far more difficult than anyone would’ve thought. In the 9′ minute, Wilson rolled a lovely ball into the box from a corner where it met the feet of Smith-Rowe just a few feet away from the keeper, Emile easily tucks it into the net in a seemingly very polished set piece. In the 31′, after having conceded in the 21′, Wilson receives a great ball in the Burnley box and makes an incredibly controlled chip that finds Calvinn Bassey’s head and subsequently, the back of the net. Then in the 58′ Wilson receives a clinical pass from Chukwueze to the right of the penalty spot and calmly curls it past Dubravka leaving Fulham wth a 3-1 lead. Despite cnceding another goal, Fulham walked away from Turf Moor with their three points.
Win of the Week – Sunderland v Newcastle
Going into the weekend, I think everyone’s eyes were on this game, the first Tyne-Wear derby of the season. Before Sunday, the two had met 157 times throughout history and the overall stats are incredibly close. Of these 157, Newcastle had won 51, Sunderland 47, and the matched had ended in a draw 44 times. Newcastle had 227 goals across these games, while Sunderland had 232. Newcastle have a record of 5 consecutive wins in the derby, Sunderland slightly ahead with 6 wins in a row. Honestly every stat comes down to fractional differences and the game on Sunday was no different, well fought on both sides and so tight, either team really could have taken it. Both teams had four shots, Sunderland held 52 percent possession while Newcastle had 48 percent, they had 8 fouls each, 5 yellows for Sunderland, 4 for Newcastle… I could go on.

The atmosphere was, as expected, absolutely electric. The players were punching the ground with every near miss and punching the air with every free kick or corner, and the fans were with them for all of it. The one deciding goal came from Nick Woltemade, an unfortunate own goal as he tried to header the ball away from the Newcastle goal and simply caught too much of the ball. He found himself in the centre-back position when the cross came in and his lack of experience in that area led to the goal, labelled a ‘dreadful moment’ by Peter Drury. Jamie Carragher put the disappointing events of the game down to a fear f losing from the Newcastle side, rather than a desire to win – which certainly rings true as Newcastle avoided chasing the ball and putting pressure on defenders for fear of leaving space open for Sunderland to benefit from. Can’t wait to see what happens next time in the derby at Newcastle.
That’s all from me this week, thanks for reading.
See ya next time xx














