Gameweek 10: The Headlines

In the Premier League, heavyweights can fall in the seconds between a corner kick and a goal. Momentum swings with every counter attack. Underdogs rise and (in the case of Nottingham Forest) keep on rising.

With Forest now sliding into Champion's League position, will this year be the most open title race we've seen in years? Are we finally going to crown someone other than Manchester City as Premier League champions come May?

Unfortunately for me, I'm not a Magic 8 ball. If I knew the answers to those questions, I'd be throwing all my money at DraftKings.

I can, however, give you the rundown on what happened in the league most recently and what it might herald for the upcoming weeks.

Vamos!

Manchester City and Arsenal lose

Arsenal's slump continues. The Gooners lost 0-1 to Newcastle at St. James' Park in what was a turgid, uninspired performance. There have been other instances this season–John Stones' late, late goal comes to mind, as does Declan Rice's red card –where I was upset because I felt Arsenal had been done dirty. But this time, I'll call a spade a spade. Arsenal played badly, and they deserved to lose.

It begs the question: what does this mean for Arsenal's title hopes? Arteta refused to talk about it. However, Arsenal legend Ian Wright laid into the Gunners, and the dude isn't wrong. Ian said,

"It was a very poor performance from a team that are supposedly title contenders. ...Yes, we are missing Odegaard, our chief creator. But for us to not be able to find a solution to that? ... If I'm going to be totally honest, it's one of those that the manager's going to have to have a serious think about what's going on with this squad at the minute, with the boys and their output.”

Elsewhere, Liverpool came from behind to beat Brighton. Arsenal's only Get Out of Jail card was the City loss.

City don't lose very often, so anytime they do it's a Big Deal. But this one is especially notable because City had just lost to Tottenham in the Carabao Cup at midweek. Following defeat at Bournemouth, City went on to lose 1-4 in the Champion's League.

The last time they lost three consecutive games was never 2018.

The Bournemouth game marked another in a string of games where City have conceded a goal in the first 15 minutes. With Phil Foden woefully out of form, Rodri out for the season, and Haaland not being fed pinpoint perfect balls, the glut of goals has dried up a bit. Defensive cracks are showing. The balance of power may be shifting.

The exciting thing is that this means the title race is now wide open. Liverpool are league leaders, but they've had an easier schedule than most, so can they keep it up?

And while everyone has been fixated on Arsenal and City, Nottingham Forest have quietly slid into third place.

Surprise of the season (so far): Nottingham Forest

The last time Nottingham Forest were third in the Premier League table after 10 games, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" had just been published in the U.K. and Google was a baby.

Nottingham Forest's 3-0 win over West Ham further cemented the point that this isn't a lucky fluke. They genuinely deserve to be in third place on their own merit.

Callum Hudson-Odoi, Ola Aina, and Chris Wood nabbed a goal apiece, with the latter having scored 8 goals in 10 games. This is the best football Forest have played in decades. A fully-fledged title challenge might not truly be in the cards– it's a long season, after all–but get on the bandwagon if you haven't already.

That said, has the taste of success gone to Forest's head? Big, breaking news this week (other than electing a new President in the States) was Edu's departure from Arsenal. On Monday, the Brazilian resigned as Sporting Director at Arsenal. Next up? Nottingham Forest.

There, Edu will join football owner Evangelos Marinakis in overseeing multiple clubs (including Forest, Olympiacos, and Rio Ave). In short, it's a role that gives him greater influence and power.

Fulham's epic comeback

In news just as unlikely as City and Arsenal's consecutive losses, Fulham beat the odds and scored two goals in stoppage time to defeat Brentford.

The stats paint a tale of many, many, many crosses. Apparently, Fulham crossed the ball approximately 8 billion times (OK, 43 times in total), but you'd think that amount of crosses would have yielded at least one goal in regular time.

It took a mid-air pirouette from super sub Harry Wilson to equalize. If Harry had done that move 100 times in a row, the ball probably would have made it in the net just the one time.

With such a huge momentum swing like that, goal #2 was only a matter of time. Once again, Harry was up for it.

Fulham have now made Harry Wilson their entire personality on Twitter. Honestly, good for them!

Fulham manager Marco Silva also demonstrated how the nuances of language can manifest in hilarious soundbites. Marco, whose first language is Portuguese, told media that,

"He [Harry Wilson] has the capacity to smell the right moments when inside the box. He can score and create goals."

Yes, because Harry is a bloodhound, apparently.

Is Angeball a success?

It pains me to write this, but Tottenham may have just had one of their most successful weeks playing "Angeball" to date. The lads beat Manchester City in the Carabao Cup in midweek, following it up by thrashing Aston Villa 4-1.

It was a game where striker Dominic Solanke had his day and even Richarlison had a part to play. After a cagey first half, Tottenham flew out of the blocks at 45 minutes. Whatever Ange told them at half time, it lit a fire under their a***es.

It was indeed a dramatic turnaround from defeat at Selhurst Park by Crystal Palace the week prior.

But that's Tottenham for you! With its dramatically high line, "Angeball" is by nature a high-risk, high-reward game. When it works, Tottenham will score lots of goals. And when it doesn't, it really doesn't.

Still, having beat two top teams back-to-back, people feel Ange Postecoglou's system might be clicking at last. The manager views it a little differently though, explaining,

"You don't fall off cliffs and you don't climb mountains within a week. It's all part of the same process for me."

Poetic. Also measured. And fitting, you know, because yesterday Tottenham lost to Galatasaray in the Europa League.

Ah, well!

Wrap-Ups

Please join me in congratulating Southampton on their first Premier League win this season!

All eyes now turn to the last two teams who have yet to win a game: Ipswich and Wolves. Ipswich have a tricky match-up against Tottenham, but Wolves play Southampton.

If I were a betting woman, I'd put money on Wolves to win.

This will be a big test for Gary O'Neil. If the manager doesn't win, his days at Wolverhampton are numbered.

Last but not least, Come On You Gunners (COYG)!!