It was another weekend that created plenty of areas for discussion in the Premier League and it’s fair to say that one particular issue will be the centre of attention over the next few days.
Manchester City were beaten for the first time this season at Chelsea, but the result was overshadowed by the moronic behaviour of some fans at Stamford Bridge.
Sportslens takes a look at the main talking points from the latest round of matches.
Flush the morons out
Last week a banana was thrown towards Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. This week a group of Chelsea thugs think it’s acceptable to call Raheem Sterling a “black c***”. Welcome to 2018 folks.
Sterling took to Instagram on Sunday to call out sections of the media for fuelling racism and it was impossible to argue with the examples he highlighted.
Some idiots took to social media to question why there was such a furore to Sterling being on the receiving end of some “naughty words”. Racism isn’t merely naughty words. It’s vile, cretinous behaviour that needs flushing out of football once and for all.
Hopefully Sterling’s social media post will be the start of a process that achieves that.
City defeat is bad news for rivals
City’s defeat at Chelsea could actually turn into a positive, with Pep Guardiola now able to use it as a motivational tool over the coming months.
The result leaves Liverpool as the only side yet to lose in the Premier League, but don’t be surprsied to see that run ended when they face City in early January.
The last time City lost in the top flight they embarked on a 21-game unbeaten run – they are perfectly capable of doing the same thing again. They remain favourites for the title and rightly so.
Salah must step up against the big guns
Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah took his tally to 10 league goals this season with a hat-trick in Saturday’s 4-0 romp at Bournemouth.
However, Salah is yet to score against any of the current top seven sides and that is a statistic that needs to change if the Reds are going to win the title.
Games against Manchester United, Arsenal and City over the next few weeks could shape Liverpool’s season – Salah must get back to doing the business in those games.
West Ham on the up
West Ham United’s thrilling 3-2 victory over Crystal Palace put them within touching distance of the top half of the table.
Felipe Anderson’s stunning goal was the highlight of an excellent all-round performance from Manuel Pellegrini’s side.
They have now lost just one of their last seven games in the Premier League and with a favourable run of games over the next few weeks should soon find themselves in the top 10.
Torreira keeps Arsenal rolling
Lucas Torreira late goal secured an important victory for Arsenal over Huddersfield Town and took the club’s record to 21 games unbeaten in all competitions.
Signed primarily as a holding midfielder, Torreira has scored twice in his last three games to highlight that he brings more to the table than just his defensive attributes.
His £26.5 million fee looks like one the best bits of business done by a Premier League club during 2018.
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