Manchester United, Arsenal, Gareth Bale, Southampton, Liverpool, Hakim Ziyech Lead Premier League Gameweek 7 Storylines

It’s November 1 and Manchester United have yet to win this season at Old Trafford. Other Big Six clubs were more successful, with Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool all winning on Saturday. Let’s get into this week’s top storylines.

Manchester United Remains Winless At Home This Season

During a driving rainstorm at Old Trafford, it was the same old impotence for Manchester United.

United’s attack looked limp in a 1-0 loss Sunday to Arsenal and now has its worst start to a season through six matches in seven years. Arsenal had most of the chances and was rewarded when Paul Pogba’s lazy challenge on Hector Bellerin was called a foul in the box.

Up stepped Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, looking to score his first goal in five PL matches and looking to send the Gunners to its first PL win at United since Sept. 17, 2006.

Aubameyang calmly crushed the ball into the right side of the net to hand Ole Gunnar Solskjaer a painful loss in his 100th Man United match at the helm. There were some late chances, including a ball that ricocheted off a defender, Arsenal goalie Bernd Leno and into the outside of the post, but the home side couldn’t get that one corner or cross in to level things.

It was Arsenal’s first real quality win of the season, one it hopes it can build on going into next week’s home match against Aston Villa before the international break. And while offseason acquisition Willian made the Gunners look better, new United additions like Edinson Cavani and Danny van de Beek didn’t provide very much off the bench.

United looked so good this week in a 5-0 Champions League thrashing of RB Leipzig but then looked incredibly meek and without spark on Sunday after a 0-0 draw against Chelsea last weekend. They’re going to have to look a lot better next week for a road match Saturday against Everton.

Southampton Continues Racking Up Big Wins

A 3-3 draw at Chelsea was followed by a 2-0 home win over Everton and now a 4-3 win away at Aston Villa to keep the surprising Saints toward the top of the table. And it was the James Ward-Prowse show at Villa Park on Sunday on his 26th birthday.

After delivering a perfect free kick to Jannik Vestergaard in the 20th minute to opening the scoring, Ward-Prowse took his 33rd-minute free kick a bit more directly.

He smashes the top left corner of the net well over the outstretched arms of goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez. But JWP was not. Done. Yet. Fast forward a dozen minutes just shy of halftime and he was given another dangerous free kick opportunity.

That’s what we call a productive birthday. Danny Ings put the game away in the 58th minute, though Southampton conceded two Aston Villa stoppage time goals by Ollie Watkins and Jack Graelish but the game was already out of reach by that point. While Villa is struggling after a searing start, it’s Southampton which is putting together a tremendous month of football.

Chelsea’s Young Guns Come Through

Despite a €40 million transfer fee paid last February to Ajax, Hakim Ziyech had played a total of 27 Premier League minutes this season before Saturday’s road match at Burnley.

After scoring Wednesday in its 4-0 Champions League win at Russian side Krasnodar, Ziyech started and had a goal and an assist in a 3-0 trouncing of Burnley where it had nearly 64% possession. Watch the 27-year-old Morocco international completely fool Burnley’s Nick Pope.

Frank Lampard has a wealth of young attacking options with the red hot Timo Werner and Kai Havertz, Mason Mount, midweek scorer Callum Hudson-Odoi, Tammy Abraham and Christian Pulisic, who pulled a hamstring warming up. And that’s before mentioning world-class Frenchman N’Golo Kante

It’s obviously a very good problem to have, especially when the current set of fixtures is a crowded one. But Lampard will have to make sure his offense remains strong while giving his high priced youngsters all time on the pitch. For this week, giving Ziyech some substantial minutes paid off big time as Chelsea looks to overcome an uneven start to the season.

Extra Time

-Gareth Bale has been largely disappointing for Spurs since his recent return on loan from Real Madrid…until Sunday. The Welshman’s second half header on a gorgeous ball from Sergio Reguilon, gave Tottenham a much-needed 2-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion, the team’s first PL home win of the season and Bale’s first goal for the club since 2013. Magnifique! Spurs are now second in the table.

–There have been few October transfers that have paid bigger dividends than Liverpool’s acquisition of Diogo Jota from Wolves. The midfielder delivered yet another winner Saturday in the 85th minute of a 2-1 home win against feisty West Ham on a tremendous nutmegging pass from Xherden Shaquiri.

–Another big move in the transfer window was Callum Wilson going from Bournemouth to Newcastle. His brace gave, including this tapper from former Cherries teammate Harry Wilson, helped the Toons a big 2-1 home win over Everton after a resilient road draw last week against Wolves.

Wilson now has six goals in seven matches, providing some immediate return on investment. Everton continues to slump away from Goodison Park, with just four scored in as many matches.

-Manchester City and Wolves continue to maintain the strongest defensive form in the league. City has allowed two total goals in its last four matches, including Saturday’s 1-0 win at anemic Sheffield United. And Wolves have kept three clean sheets in their last four matches, including Friday’s 2-0 win over Crystal Palace, since allowing four to West Ham on Sept. 27.

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