Gameweek 6: Hot Takes

Welcome to gameweek 6, where the most exciting thing to happen was the Internet plopping Graham Potter's face onto a bunch of viral images...

...just kidding!

The face swap thing did happen, but it was far from the only news to make headlines.

The other thing to happen was that Graham Potter lost his job, but not because of the face swap thing.

Poor Graham. He took a sabbatical after Chelsea (fair enough), only to reappear at West Ham and publicly state that it was “the right place” for him (the equivalent of moving into a structurally damaged house with mold in the walls and calling it your dream home).

Anyway, now that he's released the prerequisite cliché statement about how he's "incredibly disappointed to be leaving," let's get into this week's hot takes. There's lots to talk about and I have some thoughts.

Brentford v. Man United

Hot take: Ruben Amorim gets fired during the next international break; Gareth Southgate becomes next manager

Hate-watching Manchester United doesn't get any better than this. Between Bruno Fernandes missing another penalty, Brentford's Igor Thiago carving through Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw like a hot knife through butter, and Mathias Jensen's stoppage time goal, United fans are back in their natural state: despair.

The 3-1 loss wasn't shocking, just inevitable. At this point, United losing to a mid-table team feels less like a bad day at the office and more like part of the club's brand identity... or lack thereof. Things have gotten so bad that even United legends like Wayne Rooney are out here roasting the hot steaming pile of garbage that is the club's starting XI.

It’s impossible to see Ruben Amorim surviving this, short of some kind of miraculous turnaround when United come to Anfield. I think he has a better shot of getting hit by a meteor, honestly. So, we all know what happens next: another manager bites the dust, and United's carousel of fools keeps on spinning.

I've already said this, but I would be psyched to see Gareth Southgate back in action. Anything but Graham Potter, please!

Chelsea v. Brighton

Hot take: Yankuba Minteh is Brighton's next superstar & they sell him to Chelsea next season for a boatload of money

Brighton's whole thing is using sorcery data to locate the best young talent, develop them for a few seasons, and then sell them for profit ... usually to Chelsea.

Meanwhile, Chelsea wouldn't know what good business looked like if it hit them over the head with a shovel and buried them ten feet under. Nothing sums that up better than losing 1–3 to Brighton—the same Brighton whose players they’ve been poaching for two years straight.

Things unraveled fast when Trevor Chalobah got a red card and then Robert Sanchez let me down by continuing to do dodgy things in goal. While the whole Brighton team deserves credit for pushing hard after going 1-0 down and finishing 3-1 up, it was Brighton's Yankuba Minteh in particular who deserves his flowers.

I can therefore only conclude that Chelsea will sign Minteh on a 10-year contract next season, and that he'll leave after two years.

Arsenal v. Newcastle

Hot take: Arsenal will win the Premier League.

Few things satisfy me more in life than when Arsenal score a game-winning goal at the death. GET IN, BIG GABI.

Cry more, Newcastle.

It's definitely way too early to be talking about the title race, but this win matters.

For starters, we’ve struggled at St. James’ Park for the past two seasons. It’s one of the toughest away grounds in England, and we finally broke that curse. We also showed serious grit to come back from 1–0 down, especially after being robbed of a penalty in the first half and watching Nick Pope turn into prime Gianluigi Buffon.
Most importantly, we actually capitalized on Liverpool dropping points, which hasn’t exactly been our strong suit in recent memory.

Statement made. COYG!

Sunderland v. Nottingham Forest

Hot take: Sunderland stay up.

I have been full of praise for Sunderland since opening weekend, and I continue to do my best impression of a proud mama hen when watching them (the exception being when they play Arsenal, ofc).

This weekend saw Sunderland nab another win against a less-than-impressive Forest side (seriously, Ange Postecoglou has his work cut out for him). To have lost only once in the first six games of the season is a brilliant result for Sunderland; although to be fair, their fixtures have been kinder than most. Still, the club's decisive action in the transfer market is proving to have paid off. Nabbing Granit Xhaka was a master stroke, for example.

Forest had 22 shots on goal, but could not find a way to beat Sunderland 'keeper Robin Roefs, whose heroics between the sticks landed him on Alan Shearer's Team of the Week.

Meanwhile, Forest’s owner, Evangelos Marinakis, continues to be a cautionary tale of why you should always take your meds. Firing a perfectly good coach (Nuno) for no good reason at all is enough to disrupt any team. Nuno made managing a team look easy; Ange makes it look about as hard as it really is.

Everton v. West Ham

Hot take: With Graham Potter gone, Nuno Espirito Santo rights the sinking ship that is West Ham.

Speaking of Nuno ... do you think the man that transformed Nottingham Forest from a relegation-bound team to Champion's League contenders was going to be out of a job for long? Nah. It was just a matter of time, and Graham Potter happened to be the first manager of the 2025-26 season to get the ax.

Although...

Now, West Ham didn’t really have anywhere else to go but up, but watching them hold an up-and-coming Everton side to a draw was actually encouraging.

Contrast that with Potter’s tenure: apparently, he fell out with half the West Ham squad, including Niklas Fullkrug, Edson Alvarez, and Jean-Clair Todibo, so that's not great. Nuno, meanwhile, continues to be spoken about fondly by his ex-players, so he seems to be one of those "player's coaches," in the Jurgen Klopp or Eddie Howe mold.

Lots of words to say I think West Ham are going to be just fine now that Nuno's landed in London.

Liverpool v. Crystal Palace

Hot take: Mikel Arteta phones Eddie Nketiah weekly.

You, me, my neighbor, and my neighbor’s cat are all sick of Liverpool’s last-gasp goals. Week after week, they've somehow managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, until the football gods finally gave Liverpool a taste of their own medicine on Saturday.

Ironically, it came courtesy of ex-Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah.

My dad and brother had just been tearing Eddie apart in our family group chat for missing a sitter, only for Eddie to send us all into euphoric celebrations by scoring in the 97th minute to hand Liverpool their first defeat of the season.

It was a huge statement win for Crystal Palace, who remain the only undefeated Premier League side this season. Liverpool, meanwhile, still look a bit shell-shocked—they followed it up with a loss to Galatasaray in the Champions League on Tuesday. As for Eddie, let's just say I wouldn't be surprised if Mikel Arteta is still calling him with instructions on the DL.

I can totally see him being all: "Hey, Eddie. Remember who you really play for."

Manchester City v. Burnley

Hot take: Phil Foden is City's second highest scorer this season (after Halaand).

Everyone's favorite Viking is in devastatingly good form at the moment, but you know who else is rediscovering his own?

Phil Foden has been fumbling through parenthood like all the rest of us, but now that kid #3 is sleeping through the night and Ronnie is basically the same size as his dad, Phil's got more time to devote to training sessions, and it shows.

After a spell of inconsistent performances, Phil is finally looking like Phil again. In matches against Burnley, United, and Napoli (in the Champion's League), he's shown glimpses of the same brilliance on the pitch that won him the PFA Players' Player of the Year award two seasons ago. It's not just physical changes, either. Phil’s been open about battling some mental and emotional challenges last year, and you get the sense he’s come through the other side hungrier than ever.

Let's hope this good form continues as we come up to the World Cup!

Wolves v. Tottenham

Hot take: Tottenham are 💩

After a blistering start to the season for Spurs, the cracks are starting to show. Spurs have definitely improved defensively under new manager Thomas Frank, but I get the sense they also may have hit their ceiling. The match against Wolves was the second time in the last three games that they've conceded first and equalized after the 80th minute.

Eventually, that luck runs out, right?

Even in Europe, it’s not looking much better. Against Bodø/Glimt, a team seemingly made up solely of Norwegians, Spurs were lucky to escape with a draw, thanks again, to a late goal. And it would've been a different story if if Høgh (not to be confused with Hauge) hadn’t missed his penalty.

Shoutout to the Bodø/Glimt fans who stayed up all night setting off fireworks outside Spurs’ hotel. Not all heroes wear cape!

Hey, Spurs: Be a little less Europa League moving forward, why don't ya?! Or not, it doesn't matter to me.

Leeds v. Bournemouth

Hot take: Leeds will win their next three games.

No one was more surprised than me to see Leeds draw 2-2 against Bournemouth. And who knew Newcastle cast-off Sean Longstaff could shoot like that? Not me.

Elland Road is officially a fortress, where Leeds haven't lost a game in 380 days and 23 matches. Before you go getting too excited, know that the majority of those games took place in the Championship, and the Premier League is a whole different beast.

Still, it's impressive, and the promoted teams (minus Burnley, maybe) are telling us they're here to stay. Leeds have a pretty kind next 3 fixtures–home against Tottenham, away at Burnley, and home to West Ham–so I'm backing them to win all three.

Aston Villa v. Fulham

Hot take: Aston Villa stay in the bottom half of the table this season, but Unai Emery keeps his job

Much ado was made of the fact that this was Aston Villa's first win of the season. They've had a terrible start to the season, which I blame on all the PSR (Profit & Sustainability Rules) issues that kept them from refreshing/adding to the roster in the transfer window. Everybody looks tired and burnt out.

Fulham, historically cursed at Villa Park (1 win in their last 22 matches), kept the streak alive as Villa somehow found a way to score three goals.

Just look at how excited John McGinn was when he finally saw the ball going in the back of the net! Apologies sir, but this celebration screams “annoying boys in middle school finally winning dodgeball.”

But I worry that wins against Bologna in the Europa League and Fulham in the Premier League are only papering over the cracks. I think Villa's fatigue is real and they're destined for mediocrity in 2025-26.

And because football never stops, we have a 3PM EST game to tune into! Fulham get a go at Bournemouth (good luck lads) before our Saturday kickoff.

P.S. Don't miss Arsenal playing at home against West Ham–a bogey fixture for us in recent years, but we're breaking generational curses now, aren't we Arteta?