Matchday 8 Awards
The Premier League is back and, while we do still have one more international break this calendar year, we’re definitely savouring the return of club football and all it has to offer.
Matchday 8 brough about some interesting results, with Bournemouth’s win over Arsenal certainly the most talked about. On Sunday Manchester City managed a very late come-from-behind win against Wolves, while Liverpool overcame Chelsea 2-1 at Anfield.
There was plenty of drama on Saturday as well, with Villa beating Fulham after trailing, Spurs delivering a scintillating performance against West Ham and Manchester United also sealing a comeback win at home versus Brentford.
You can also click here to check out all our reports from this weekend’s action.
So who gets our Premier League awards this week? Read on to find out.
Best Player
There are a couple of worthy candidates, but we feel like no one was as involved in everything his side did well this weekend as Liverpool’s Curtis Jones.
He got a penalty (two, if we count the overturned one), scored a goal and was just irresistible to watch. It’s just up to him to kick on from here and deliver on the promise that his young career has always shown.
Best XI
GK – Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa)
RB – Ashley Young (Everton)
CB – Joel Veltman (Brighton)
CB – Michael Keane (Everton)
LB – Josko Gvardiol (Manchester City)
CM – Mario Lemina (Wolves)
CM – Facundo Buonanotte (Leicester)
CM – Curtis Jones (Liverpool)
RW – Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
ST – Chris Wood (Nottingham Forest)
LW – Heung-min Son (Tottenham)
Best Goal
Yes, we could give it to the entire Tottenham left-hand side for Yves Bissouma’s goal against West Ham.
Sure, we could also give it to Everton for their goal finished by Michael Keane after McNeil just would not give up on a corner routine that didn’t work out at first.
But there can only be one winner: Josko Gvardiol’s rocket equaliser against Wolves was just one of those that we’ll be replaying in our heads all week.
Here it is, along with the extended highlights of a game chock-full of drama:
EXTENDED HIGHLIGHTS | Wolves 1- 2 Man City | Stones scores late again!
Best Game
Southampton vs Leicester didn’t exactly scream marquee matchup, but it certainly is our pick for the best game of the week.
The Foxes simply refused to lay down and take the loss, instead coming back from 0-2 to win it with the last kick of the game.
Have a look.
CRAZIEST COMEBACK EVER! 🤩 | Southampton 2 Leicester City 3
Best Stats
Fabian Hürzeler is definitely getting the best out of Danny Welbeck. After just eight games in 2024/25, the striker has been directly involved in as many EPL goals (six) as in the entirety of last season.
No Premier League team has had more corners in a single game than City’s 18 against Wolves. It was the very last one that did the trick.
And one more from the Wolves vs City game. At half time, the number of successful passes in the final third that Guardiola’s team had was 218. Wolves? FIVE.
Best/Worst VAR Decision
How was it a red for Saliba against Bournemouth but not for Tosin against Liverpool?
These were extremely similar situations, with arguably more contact in the Chelsea defender’s case, but the match officials (including VAR) decided that the outcomes should be different.
There is too much inconsistency in refereeing standards in the Premier League at the moment and we honestly don’t see it ending any time soon.
Best Substitution
We’ll deviate from the usual and go with an Unluckiest Substitution award.
Fulham’s Issa Diop was on the pitch for only a little over a minute when an unfortunate ricochet meant that he scored the goal to put Villa further ahead.
It can only get better from here.
Funniest Moment
It’s more of a stat than a moment, but we can’t help but chuckle at the fact that Darwin Nunez has more tackles in the Premier League this season than Declan Rice (9 vs 7).
Mental.