So the Premier League continues to be as unpredictable as ever. Defeat to Watford completed a dreadful week for Manchester United, while Liverpool picked up victory at Stamford Bridge over a disappointing Chelsea side. Manchester City kept up their excellent start to the season, while it continues to be a torrid start for Stoke City and Sunderland. Here are the 11 players who performed the best on matchday 4.
Jordan Pickford (Sunderland)
There are times when players don’t deserve to be on the losing side. This was one of them. In a side that seemed to have no intention to go forward to get a goal, Pickford had a lot to do against Tottenham. The 22-year-old made eight saves, the joint-most of any goalkeeper this season, including a brilliant save to deny Erik Lamela late on. He deserved to keep a clean sheet, and he would have done if it hadn’t have been for a Papy Djilobdji fluffing his lines after an hour.
Seamus Coleman (Everton)
Everton’s impressive start to the season under Ronald Koeman continues, as has Seamus Coleman’s. Defensively the Irishman looked good against Middlesbrough, and continues to look more of a threat going forward. He could easily have been mistaken for a striker after his excellent finish to put the Toffees ahead late on in the first half.
Scott Dann (Crystal Palace)
No defender has scored more Premier League goals than Dann since the start of last season, and he added yet another strike to that tally against Stoke on Sunday. His header virtually ended the game with Stoke as a contest after just 11 minutes, and at the other end he wasn’t beaten until the final minute, and even that came courtesy of a brilliant Marko Arnautovic strike.
Joel Matip (Liverpool)
Matip has impressed for Liverpool since being bought into the team, and this continued against Chelsea. The Cameroonian did a good job dealing with Diego Costa in the first half, and although he went to ground way too soon for the Spaniard’s second half goal, he looked pretty solid throughout the game.
Christian Fuchs (Leicester City)
Fuchs was one of the unsung heroes of Leicester’s incredible title success last season. He was a consistent performer as part of the strong Foxes back four, and he has continued his form this season. The champions kept their second clean sheet of the season against Burnley, while the Austrian also set up Islam Slimani’s second goal.
Etienne Capoue (Watford)
Few would have thought that out of the two French centre midfielders lining up at Vicarage Road on Sunday that Capoue would come out on top. Not only did he deal with the threat of Paul Pogba, but he has also found a goal scoring touch. Having scored just once in his first three Premier League seasons, he has scored four times already this term, including the opener against Manchester United.
Jordan Henderson (Liverpool)
Henderson has faced a lot of criticism for his performances as Liverpool captain, and rightly so on occasions. His performance was in fact not particularly special against Chelsea on Friday night, but his goal certainly was. Little looked on when he picked the ball up 30 yards from goal, but his spectacular strike left Thibaut Courtois with no chance, and doubled the Red’s lead.
Nacer Chadli (West Brom)
At £13 million, Chadli became West Brom’s most expensive ever player, and after two pretty average Premier League seasons, this could have been considered a huge risk to take. The Belgian lit up the Hawthorns on Saturday though, scoring twice as the Baggies picked up an impressive win over West Ham.
Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City)
Pep Guardiola said that only Lionel Messi was ahead of de Bruyne after City’s win over Bournemouth, and based on this performance, he may not be far off the mark. For the second week in a row, de Bruyne was on another level to everyone else on the pitch, and was involved in all four goals, including a brilliant free kick to open the scoring.
Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)
This was always going to be a big season for Sterling, especially after a tough Euro 2016 campaign. He has certainly stepped up this season, and has become a top player under the management of Pep Guardiola. He was once again on top form against Bournemouth, scoring once and setting up another. He may start appearing in Charlie Daniels’ nightmares soon.
Islam Slimani (Leicester City)
Not all of Leicester’s signings have bedded in quite the way they did last season, but Slimani might be a key addition. He offers the Foxes a physical edge up front, and he is off to the perfect start after a double on his Premier League debut against Burnley.
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